McCain Echoes Hansen: Waxman-Markey is a ‘Farce’ (The Civil War widens among climate alarmists)
by Robert Bradley MasterResource
August 3, 2009
“[The Waxman-Markey] 1,400-page bill is a farce. They bought every industry off—steel mills, agriculture, utilities…. I would not only not vote for it. I am opposed to it entirely, because it does damage to those of us who believe that we need to act in a rational fashion about climate change.”
– Senator John McCain to Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal, August 1-2, 2009, p. A9.
“The truth is, the climate course set by Waxman-Markey is a disaster course. It is an exceedingly inefficient way to get a small reduction of emissions. It is less than worthless….”
-James Hansen, “Strategies to Address Global Warming,” July 13, 2009.
The death of federal climate legislation in 2009 will not only be because traditional Republicans and conservative Democrats said “no”. It will also be because true believers like Senator John McCain realize that politicized cap-and-trade is all pain and no gain. A scorched earth economic policy that does not meaningfully address a feared “scorched earth” to come is worse than no policy at all.
Consider the conversation between Stephen Moore and Senator McCain in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal:
Since Mr. McCain was the co-sponsor of the McCain-Lieberman bill last year to limit CO emissions through a cap-and-trade system, I ask him about the climate change bill that passed the House last month and he surprised me with his opposition. “I believe climate change is real . . . but this 1,400-page bill is a farce. They bought every industry off—steel mills, agriculture, utilities,” he says.
So you wouldn’t vote for the House bill? “I would not only not vote for it,” he laughs, “I am opposed to it entirely, because it does damage to those of us who believe that we need to act in a rational fashion about climate change.”
And compare this to what NASA scientist, climate alarmist, and Al Gore confidant James Hansen has said about the original version of Waxman-Markey:
“Governments are retreating to feckless ‘cap-and-trade,’ a minor tweak to business-as-usual….
“Why is this cap-and-trade temple of doom worshipped? The 648-page cap-and-trade monstrosity that is being foisted on the U.S. Congress provides the answer. Not a single Congressperson has read it. They don’t need to – they just need to add more paragraphs to support their own special interests. By the way, the Congress people do not write most of those paragraphs—they are ‘suggested’ by people in alligator shoes.”
And Dr. Hansen later spanked harder on the final bill:
“The alternative approach is Cap & Trade, or perhaps more honestly Tax & Trade, because a ‘cap’ increases the price of energy, as a tax or fee does.
Other characteristics of the ‘cap’ approach: (1) unpredictable price volatility, (2) it makes millionaires on Wall Street and other trading floors at public expense, (3) it is an invitation to blackmail by utilities that threaten ‘blackout coming’ to gain increased emission permits, (4) it has overhead costs and complexities, inviting lobbyists and delaying implementation.
The biggest problem with [cap and trade] is that it will not solve the problem. It may slow emissions, but because of the long lifetime of atmospheric CO2, slowing the emissions does little good. As long as fossil fuels are the cheapest form of energy they will be used eventually. There is no hope that cap and trade can get us back to 350 ppm CO2.
Hansen also addressed his critics on the Left who are politically stuck with Waxman-Markey:
Some environmental leaders have said that I am naïve to think that there is an alternative to cap-and-trade, and they suggest that I should stick to climate modeling. Their contention is that it is better to pass any bill now and improve it later. Their belief that they, as opposed to the fossil interests, have more effect on the bill’s eventual shape seems to be the pinnacle of naïveté.
The truth is, the climate course set by Waxman-Markey is a disaster course. It is an exceedingly inefficient way to get a small reduction of emissions. It is less than worthless, because it would delay by at least a decade or two the possibility of getting on a path that is fundamentally sound from economic and climate preservation standpoints.
And Hansen will not kow-tow to the Administration:
Officials in the Obama administration privately admit that the science demands much more rapid emission cuts than Waxman-Markey would yield, but they say that their hands are tied by a recalcitrant Congress. Is that so? Has President Obama provided direction or guidelines for what he expects from Congress?
Waxman-Markey–aka the Enron Revitalization Act of 2009– is in deep trouble because it fails to either help the economy (the ‘green jobs’ myth) or address alleged climate change. Its death will be bipartisan.
Be sure to visit Robert Bradley’s MasterResource for more insight
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Why not just put a $2.00 tax on gasoline? That might help pay for this unbelievable
string of bailouts and “stimulus” spending.
The problem with GHG warming is their models can’t explain where the heat is hiding. It’s not in the atmosphere it’s not in the oceans..it isn’t in melted ice. But it’s there and it is coming to get us. Not to worry the
Chinese and Indians will laugh themselves to
the bank and we will revoke this monstrosity
of a bill like New Zealand did.
Up to now, only Sarah Palin (and Czech president Vaclav Klaus) dared openly to say the whole AGW is BS. McCain says cap-and-trade is BS, because it won´t help even if AGW is real. Both are correct, but Palin is one step ahead. Hats off.
Noob Question for you pro’s out there. What is the relationship between High Pressure systems-High temperatures and Co2? Does Co2 in anyway contribute to high pressure? Thanks
This is all good and fine, but though I have an indescribable respect for John McCain’s military life,I think he has bumbled his way through politics completely relying on his war service reputation to get him to the level he is at in politics, and doing more harm than good on the way.
All the same, thank God Waxman–Markey is running in to resistance.
————
p.s. THANK YOU Mr. McCain for your service in the military!!
McCain’s gutless pandering to the Hysterical Left is the reason we have the worst administration in history. Now he joins Jim Hansen in decrying the Wacky-Malarkey non-solution to the flagrantly imaginary End of All Life from Boiling Seas Like Venus Effect.
I am impressed. Thanks a heap, John Boy, “Friend to All.” Next election I hope somebody runs (for any office) who is not a complete zero. America deserves better than woodenheads running our Gummit. And that’s a bipartisan assessment!!!
Of the pair, I think Palin is the smarter. McCain is an honorable man but he often falls for shallow feel good thinking.
Spent a couple of years in the Alaska bush back in the 70’s, was also involved in that states politics. Checked out Sarah Palin’s resume, was very impressed, and very few can do that.
To my thinking CO2 of 700ppm would greatly improve the habitablity of this planet.
Might even help with the coming cooling as the sun takes a rest from the last hot period.
Better vegetation growth in the shortened growing seasons and better energy balance in the biosphere.
Just the ruminations of an old farmer.
Poor Hansen he’s not playing university politics anymore
This is indeed good news: “…and divided they fall”
And these same legislators are expected to run health care!! Yikes!!
PG
The radiative greenhouse effect of CO2 at its current 390 ppm concentration is pretty much exhausted. 700 ppm could lead to a warming of a tenth or two tenths of a degree. That’s it.
Finally it appears America is waking up from this Obama spell they’ve been under the last year or so.
Hansen has tire-tracks on him.
Taken for a ride by con artists and thrown under the bus.
He’s just now waking up to the realization that he was used, and that he’s not a buddy to the politicians.
McCain was also used, but not on the science level.
Climate change is real, allright, and climate changes.
Some are just now discovering that nature is not dependent upon man to change the rules of the game. It’s fully capable of taking out most lifeforms on the planet with no help from anybody. Ask the dinosaurs and Ice-Age denizens.
This bill cannot die soon enough for me….
Good news: McCain opposes the WM Bill. Bad news: McCain is still a true believer in AGW.
BJL (23:36:26) :
“Noob Question for you pro’s out there. What is the relationship between High Pressure systems-High temperatures and Co2? Does Co2 in anyway contribute to high pressure? Thanks”
I am not a pro… But I can answer your question easily enough.
It tends to get hot in high pressure areas because these areas are associated with lack of clouds. More sunshine-hotter weather.
There is absolutely no relationship between CO2 and high pressure systems.
And the reason there are generally few clouds in high pressure areas is because of the sinking air in them. When air sinks, it warms by compression. As the air warms the humidity falls and the clouds dissipate.
Here in New Hampshire, Sen. Judd Gregg is also opposed to H.R. 2454. The disheartening thing is that he does believe in manmade climate change, saying “we must invest in cleaner energy and enhance our research and development of alternative energy, including solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass, which will result in reduced emissions across the country.” They never seem to go the extra step and figure out, ok how much is this “investment” going to cost, and where is all this money going to come from? The unquestioning acceptance of AGW, even by supposed conservatives is mind boggling, and troubling.
He does, at least, believe in producing more domestic oil and NG, as well as nuclear (which I believe may be too expensive, but that’s another story).
Hansen’s words certainly also apply to the juggernaut climate modeling program he helped create in the late 1980’s-
-The truth is, the climate modeling program at NASA GISS is a disaster course. It is an exceedingly inefficient way to get a small reduction in the uncertainty of future climate conditions. It is less than worthless, because it would delay by at least a decade or two the possibility of getting improved observational data on climate that is fundamentally sound from scientific and climate adaptation standpoints.-
*sigh*
McCain has just come to the realization that there are people out there with pitchforks and torches. He is still a disciple.
I respectfully disagree with the author’s conclusion. I hope he is right and I am wrong, but here is why they will pass the Waxman bill: the Right wing is about principle and believes the point of principles is to stand for them; the Left believes that principles are for when it comes time to vote, and then you ask for a buyout for your constituency and you vote the party line. Witness the cave-in of the so-called “Blue Dogs” on health care. The fix is in already.
So the Cap and Trade will pass the Senate, and the Senate Leadership will find a couple of Republican Senators to go along with it so they can drag “bi-partisanship pepper” over the trail. Hope I’m wrong. Bet I’m not.
Best,
Grant
Jack Winters (23:26:18) :
“Why not just put a $2.00 tax on gasoline? That might help pay for this unbelievable
string of bailouts and “stimulus” spending.”
It was the rising price of gasoline that triggered the avalanche that is our current recession.
Kill the ethanol program and subsidies (reducing the price of corn, beef, etc.) Invest in US drilling and plant modernization (reduces reliance on foreign imports, lower gas prices that can be taxed to keep current prices in place.) Invest in promising short-term alternative energy production and give tax credits for those as people purchase them. (ex: swamp coolers in the south, solar-enhanced geothermal pumps in the north.)
Never the less, McCain remains firmly in the AGW true-believer camp. The problem with fighting those people is many of them sincerely believe they must force the rest of us to do something in order to save the world. Those people can’t be reasoned with.
The rest of them? They’re trying to cash in. Why compete in the free market when a few lobbyists can get Congress to send $$$ your way, and protect you from competition? Waxman-Malarkey is load with pork and all they have to do is load it up some more in order to buy the votes needed.
Grant,
The Blue Dogs got an ear-full from their constituents after they voted for Cap’n’Trade, that’s why they’re digging in their heels on ObamaCare. All of Congress is either going to hear the riot act from their constituents during this recess, or else spend their time dodging said constituents.
The fact that no one had read (indeed, could have read) C’n’T before the vote has not gone over well either.
Don’t give up, don’t give into despair, and give your Members of Congress an ear-full yourself.
OT — William Connolley has once again censored the Satellite Temperature Measurements page. You can see the discussion regarding the need for an up to date accurate graphic depicting the RSS and UAH satellite data here RSS and UAH graphic update.
If you have a current wikipedia account, please weigh in on the discussion page (you may also sign up for an account they are free). If he continues the censorship I will take this matter to wikipedia arbitration but before that it is traditional to have people weigh in on the discussion page.
Thank you.
I was against it also but now that I see McCain and Hansen are speaking out against the bill I will need to reavaluate my position.
Steve in SC (06:04:29) :
McCain has just come to the realization that there are people out there with pitchforks and torches. He is still a disciple.
Steve this link is for you http://www.mcphee.com/items/11835.html
Bruce, here is a report on levelized costs of generation, and here is the 2007 EIA report on energy subsidies.
The levelized cost of nuclear is somewhat cheaper than geothermal, and almost the same as biomass. But biomass runs into serious issues of scale (water and land use, insolation, etc) while nuclear doesn’t. Consuming the “waste” from existing reactors is an advantage of more than one of the fourth generation nuclear reactor designs being worked on. And several of the designs, once started up, can be feed raw or even depleted uranium. And the Japanese have a technique for extracting uranium from seawater that is nearly competitive with mining.
Natural gas and coal are the only sources with levelized costs lower than nuclear.