U.S. Republicans Axe Global Warming Panel
House Republicans will scrap the committee set up by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate global warming, the panel’s top Republican announced Wednesday.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) made official what many had already expected – the GOP majority will axe the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which Pelosi created in 2007.
“This hearing will be the last of the select committee,” Sensenbrenner announced.
Committee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called Wednesday’s hearing to give witnesses a chance to warn of the perils of climate change before the GOP launches efforts next year to roll back the Obama administration’s climate policies.
Sensenbrenner, a vocal climate change skeptic, had pushed to keep the panel alive to probe the White House’s energy policies. But it was seen as unlikely that GOP leadership would devote resources to the panel created by Democrats at the same time that they called for scaling back government spending.
The Wisconsin Republican may still play a key role in leading investigations into climate science next year. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who’s vying for the chairmanship of the Science Committee, told POLITICO Tuesday he’d like to see Sensenbrenner lead the panel’s climate science probes.
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For the Chop: Republicans Put Global Warming Panel Out Of Business
Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey will hold one last media spectacle at his Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming today, allowing such oracles as green activist Robert Kennedy Jr. to preach about the imminent catastrophe of climate change. Let’s hope Speaker-designate John Boehner makes it the committee’s last hurrah.
Current Speaker Nancy Pelosi created this outfit in 2007 as a way to outflank then Energy Committee Chairman John Dingell, for whom climate change is not a religion. The committee provided Mr. Markey a prominent perch from which to work closely with California’s Henry Waxman (who later deposed Mr. Dingell) on the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House and helped so many Democrats lose their seats in November.
Mr. Markey held more than 50 hearings, at which he demeaned reputable scientists, attacked oil and gas companies, and in general evangelized about the need to replace carbon energy with windmills and solar panels. With no bill-writing powers, committee Members spent $8 million or so on hearings, global “fact-finding” missions and reports of little consequence. Oh, and Mr. Markey elbowed his way into investigating the BP spill, which he used as a platform to demonize oil exploration.
h/t to The GWPF
It’s a start, but no way this allows them to wrest the covenanted fossil of the day award away from Canada. Go Canada. You can match that retreat somehow.
Kongressman Murkey
One of the reasons the GOP did well in the mid-term elections this past November was the Democrats were addressing issues that were not the public’s priority; such as climate
warmingchangedisruption. Therefore, to show respect to the electorate the GOP does well to cancel the Pelosi committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Cancelling it confirms to the public that climate warming wasn’t the right priority. : )The GOP would do better to address, in other standing committees, all the problematic climate science endorsed by IPCC.
NOTE: The EU cartel on carbon emissions is a little more naked now in the cold cold world of political reality.
John
One small step – but a marathon is not won in the first 100 meters.
Henry chance says:
December 1, 2010 at 12:29 pm
This is a progressive move. i like.
Well, no – Pelosi’s creation of the committee was a Progressive move.
This is a Conservative move, albeit it certainly progress.
🙂
Yes, but now there is a Bill coming that will put you in jail if you keep some seeds or grow a Tomato in your own garden. Please read this excellent article.
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/grow-a-tomato-go-to-prison/
In the old days crazy hacks like Markey would end up in front of a firing squad.
Good news – another tiny nail in the coffin of AGW…
As an aside – but a bit of an ‘elephant in the room’ question nevertheless – what is it that our political servants/masters/whatever, have against carbon dioxide..?
You do know, I hope, folks – that tomato growers pump this ‘evil’ gas (to concentrations of 800-1000ppm) into their tunnnels to – how can I put this – INCREASE YIELDS..??
Maybe – here’s an idea – instead of burying the stuff at vast expense – we just cover all our crops with polytunnels – pump in the CO2 – hey, presto – better crops..!!
Aside from reducing political clatter on climate alarmism, American taxpayers also get some savings with the abolition of one noisy but useless congressional committee.
ShrNfr says:
December 1, 2010 at 11:22 am
Britain is now snowed in and frozen to a virtual standstill… Comments from the CRU were not forthcoming.
i am sure they will tell us unprecedented global warming is accelerating worse than previously thought!
Alexander K says:
December 1, 2010 at 12:39 pm
This is OT, I am not sure if the windmills in the north of the UK are working
You jest?
All the windmills in the north of England have 4″ of ice on their blades. I’m busy digging logs out of the snow for my woodburner.
This is the problem with the fourth branch of government – the bureaucracy. It isn’t elected, it only gets bigger and more powerful, and is totally unaccountable. The EPA is a prime example.
Even Ronald Reagan was powerless to get rid of the Energy Department “which hadn’t produced a barrel of oil yet” in 1980.
Well there is a way to reduce and/or get rid of any Bureaucracy; don’t fund it!
And the next domino to fall is Japan
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/the-ghost-of-kyoto-visits-cancun/?scp=1&sq=kyoto&st=cse
Seems 2 Jags presence at Cancun is not helping much 🙂
“”””” Alexander K says:
December 1, 2010 at 12:39 pm
This is good news, but as a Kiwi residing in London, UK, for a while, how can this be leveraged into getting our NZ government to roll back their ridiculous ETS legislation? “””””
Well Alexander, I am on John Keys, “Keynotes” mailing list, and I wrote to him and sent him some stuff, and suggested that NZ could lead the world in repudiating this silliness; which would be good for NZ, because like the USA, those Kyotans, won’t allow NZ or the USA to offset their carbon (sheep farts) with their man madse forests, and other agriculture. The USA is a net carbon sink; and the only land based one of any size on earth. NZ I believe is also a net cabon sink taking their agricultural productivity into accounts.
Well eventually PM Key did refer my input to his “Environmental Minister”, and we exchanged a couple of e-mails; which ended up with him saying that he was following his “Science advisor” who was a Lord somebody; so the science was settled. He slaso has a science degree himslef (the E-minister).
So I got cold shouldered by the appeal to authority. Apparently Vincent Grey and Chris de Freitas, back there can’t make any headway either.
Dear Moderators,
The Wall Street Journal link above isn’t loading fully, like if subscription/registration is required.
I Googled this one which currently works:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575646763823952070.html
Looks like the same address but without the “?mod=googlenews_wsj” on the end.
This could be a problem just for me, of course.
Just put the dog to bed, i.e. let her outside for a pee and she is in raptures at all that global warming falling out of the sky here in s-w UK. Hard to get her back in. Last year, fab weather for Copenhagen, this year even better. I suppose they had to go to Mexico to bury their heads in the sand to avoid seeing the climate back home. Good on you lot in USA but I doubt whether the EU will follow any time soon, I’m sorry to say. They have got their fingers firmly plugged in their ears, singing La la la la, We can’t hear you.
Pelosi’s Global Warming Panel gets the axe
Ooooh yes, I see it
Snow in Scotland meant that my friend phoned 3 Scottish companies today and all were at kinda standstill, one had 3 out of 200 employees there, another had all computers for Royal Bank of Scotland inoperative, etc.
One place in Wales (don’t know which) had the lowest recorded temperature EVER (even comparing with January), at minus 21 deg C.
I luuuuuve all this Gore-bull Warming – for the sake of getting more truth out – except that colder winters are uncomfortable expensive health risks.
Seems like good news…. but why am I waiting for the other shoe to drop?
Lucy Skywalker says:
December 1, 2010 at 4:53 pm
One place in Wales (don’t know which) had the lowest recorded temperature EVER (even comparing with January), at minus 21 deg C.
Do you have a link, please?
Mr. Malarky is one of the main reasons I switched parties, turning my back on my own democratic public servants I had previously voted for many times.
Well, I did my part here in New Hampshire by helping to flip both of our Congressional representatives from D to R :^) Wait till next year…the (supposed) government salary “freeze” is just the beginning…
“”””” Frank K. says:
December 1, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Well, I did my part here in New Hampshire by helping to flip both of our Congressional representatives from D to R :^) Wait till next year…the (supposed) government salary “freeze” is just the beginning… “””””
Well Frank, Don’t count your chickens until they are hatched. Obama’s governmnet salary freeze for two or three years is actually a lock in for all of those surplus Government workers that are killing the golden goose. They are guaranteed those overpaid useless jobs for the next three years; Obama is laughing his A*** off. Forget the freeze; fire the bums.
The solution to the problem is not a pay freeze but a hiring freeze, and mandatory reduction in force. Tell every department to reduce head count by 10%, with limited trade offs but enforce a Federal Government labor force cut back in head count of 10%.
Then a year or two later go back and do it again. That has been happening in the private sector for years IBM and other large corporations have had repeated “waves” of staff reductions over the last decade or so.
Each pass takes out more of the free loaders than the productive workers (although internal politics will save a few goof balls). It also forces an intense focus on increased productivity with remaining workers to get things done.
Since it is across the board it is harder to manipulate politically. There will be a few agencies the scream that they are high priority and must not cut staff, but unless they can show that everyone is putting in 60 hour weeks that is a load of bull.
This is coming from someone that worked in state government for 14 years and saw first hand that when certain employees were on vacation productivity increased rather than decreased. Sometimes no one noticed they were gone except their supervisor. In many cases 80% of the work load is handled by about 10%-20% of the staff. The rest are dead wood and just get in the way.
A long term plan like this to cut back staffing to the same per capita staffing we had in the 1990’s would make a huge cut in government spending, and the inherent uncertainty would get a few of them to go find real jobs.
The top of the list for this sort of action should be the agencies like EPA that have gone far beyond their original intent, and becomes laws unto themselves, and essentially immune to outside control by the elected branches of government.
Larry
Mmmm yes. Now where are those dratted little czars kept?
The House needs to remove Jim Hansen and his lackeys from GISS. They should also look at what leverage they have for removing Phil Jones at East Anglia. It would be appropriate to have a real hearing on Climategate in Congress where expert witnesses can testify on the corrupt science of the CRU group and the intentional misuse of proxy data and statistical analysis to eliminate the Medieval Warm Period. Now is the time to expose this sham.