Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
A few months ago I wrote a post about the previous head of the EPA, Carol Browner, and her risible claim that she was creating jobs. Her successor, Lisa Jackson, is worse.
Lisa has just ordered that in the future, American coal will be burned in the most polluting way possible. She ruled that coal can’t be burned in new US power plants, so it’s going to be exported to shabbily built highly-polluting furnaces in third world countries. That’s environmental protection at its finest.
Having done that, now she has jetted off to Paris with her usual granola entourage, which consists mostly of nuts and flakes. I guess when the party is in Paris, video-conferencing is soooo last week …
CONTACT:
Alisha Johnson
Johnson.alisha@epa.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2012
EPA Administrator Leads U.S. Delegation to Paris for Meetings on Economic and Environmental Cooperation
WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson arrived in Paris, France to meet with environmental leaders from more than 40 nations to discuss the Agency’s international efforts on urban sustainability. During the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Environment Policy Committee’s ministerial meeting, Administrator Jackson will represent the United States in discussions about the upcoming Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, and talk about ways in which the environment committee can support the global conference’s efforts.
EPA has a long history of international collaboration on a wide range of global environmental issues. In recent years, EPA’s bilateral and multilateral partnerships have increased efforts to address environmental and governance challenges. In collaboration with other nations through the OECD, EPA is furthering its mission to protect the environment by ensuring national security, facilitating commerce, addressing climate change, and promoting sustainable development.
“Furthering its mission”??
Y’know, it’s funny but I don’t recall any of those things being in the EPA’s mission. Foolish me, I thought the Environmental Protection Agency was about, well, protecting the environment …
The EPA sees “ensuring national security” as part of their mission?
The EPA thinks their job is “facilitating commerce”?
The EPA believe in the fairy tale of “sustainable”, and sees their task as “promoting sustainable development“?
Please, someone, anyone, put these folks out of their misery. Why are they babbling about national security? Why is some unelected bureaucrat jetting to Paris to discuss “urban sustainability”?
What does that even mean, urban sustainability? The cities of the planet have sustained themselves for centuries without clueless, gormless bureaucrats meeting in Paris to discuss how to sustain them.
My advice?
Hey, I’m never one for putting people’s emails up on the web, but Alisha Johnson drew the short straw and they list her email at the start of their press release above as the person to contact about this colossal waste of money in time of scarcity. So I’d let her know how you feel about Lisa’s little shopping trip.
Then email your Senator and Congressman, and tell them the same. The EPA, and indeed the US, should not be involved in international efforts on urban sustainability. That’s not its mission any more than “national security” is the mission of the EPA. Name me one thing that these international conferences have actually achieved … it’s just another excuse to hang out at very large government expense in a glamorous foreign city.
I’d write more, but this subject angrifies my blood mightily, and I fear I might wax wroth and utter wildly entertaining but eventually counter-productive speculations as to the species and familial inter-relationships of Ms. Jackson’s various antecedents, and cast aspersions on her personal habits, genetic challenges, and cranial horsepower … wouldn’t want to do that, so I’ll stop here.
My regards to all,
w.
“I’d write more, but this subject angrifies my blood mightily, and I fear I might wax wroth and utter wildly entertaining but eventually counter-productive speculations as to the species and familial inter-relationships of Ms. Jackson’s various antecedents, and cast aspersions on her personal habits, genetic challenges, and cranial horsepower …”
Besides, Ace of Spades will probably take care of all that, and he’s had lots more practice.
EPA is furthering its mission to protect the environment by ensuring national security, facilitating commerce, addressing climate change, and promoting sustainable development.
In the military, that’s known as “mission creep” — but in this case, “creep” would be understating it…
In the Younger Days of the environmental movement, the people who wanted to save the environment were the ones who enjoyed going to natural or wild places. Not so anymore, the save the world people are strictly urban and the environment doesn’t mean what it used to. Now it is saving The World, not usually particular beauty spots.
Dear Miss Pinenuts,
Mercury levels are still too high in many rivers. Pay attention to that in our own backyard Miss Pinenuts, instead of jetting off to some other country. Let these other countries decide to treat their land, air, and water in whatever way they wish. It is none of your blankety blank business, and especially so in this time of belt tightening. You have work to do here from your office. I want to eat fish more often than once a month. When can I expect your report on that? [crickets]
Damn it. Why, why did I vote you all in in the first place? I cannot measure the extent of my disappointment in your work.
Just one more reason in a ship load of reasons to not ever vote the democratic ticket again. My vote will be for Ron Paul, even if I have to write him in. He won’t shove AGW or religious nosiness and edicts down my throat.
Sincerely,
A one-time democrat, now not
With a budget that has ballooned by about $3 billion in the last three years, blowing a few bucks on international air travel is really small potatoes for this outfit:
http://www.ishn.com/articles/88059-presidents-proposed-epa-budget-largest-in-agencys-39year-history-227
Moving some pollution to another place, should be proof to everyone that it has…..
…..absolutely nothing to do with pollution
In recent years, EPA’s bilateral and multilateral partnerships have increased efforts to address environmental and governance challenges.
There’s that word again. Just what do they have in mind for Rio?
“From the climate alarmism viewpoint, clipping the wings of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who’ve been engaged in some clumsy unilateral de-carbonisation of America, has already been well signalled but that’s not enough.”
http://thepointman.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/political-fracture-points-and-power-vacuums/
Pointman
I wish to start a new fund to purchase Skype accounts for all these bureaucrats. Heck, let’s buy them webcams as well. With this new, cutting-edge technology, these hard-working dedicated public servants can confer and collaborate without having to travel and meet face-to-face.
This is all made possible by some guy names Al Gore, who created the “Information Superhighway.”
~More Soylent Green!
BTW: /sarc
This is a Federal agency, not an international one. I’d say this is a misappropriation of funds.
Yet another reason for the French to hate America. Do YOUR job, not everyone else’s.
I think Lisa is envious of Janet, and is emulating her.
Thank you agin Willis.
This is a sad commentary of a radical leftist bureaucrat setting national policy to help destroy America while trying to live a lifestyle to emulate Nero.
One thing we know is that unaccountable power corrupts. The EPA is one of our best examples.
Another thing we know is that if you corrupt the culture and language it is easer to defeat a nation from within.
Gay used to mean happy. Environmental protection used to mean environmental protection, not a code word for leftist political agendas.
Sustainibility used to mean a system that balanced its inputs and outputs to maintain itself indefinitely. Kind of like logging and then replanting or conservation tillage and crop rotation.
Conservation of natral resources used to mean wise use, indenifitely (sound like real sustainibility?).
Wrong is right, up is down, slavery is freedom, etc.
We need to protect our culture and our language to begin rolling 1984 back.
That explains it!
All week on my daily commute the ‘info panels’ above the ‘periph’ have been warning of high pollution levels and ‘advising’ motorists to slow down to 70km.
Also I have never seen those messages so early in the morning or so late in the evening (been a tough week at work).
Found that puzzling as no way was Paris more polluted than ‘average’.
The city sits in a bowl in a plain and can get muggy if there is low cloud for a few days but it’s been clear and sunny all week. A lot of people sitting out in the parks enjoying the first days of spring.
I think those pollution signs were switched on to ‘welcome’ Lisa and her cronies to the city. In fact I’d bet on it.
so it’s going to be exported to shabbily built highly-polluting furnaces in third world countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html
In 2008, China’s National Development and Reform Commission adopted a standard requiring all new coal-fired power plants to be state-of-the-art commercially available or better technology. As a result, today most of the world’s most efficient (supercritical and ultra-supercritical) coal-fired power plants are being built in China.
No one with a brain would burn imported coal in a sub critical coal fired plant. The transportation costs make coal too expensive to ‘waste’ in an inefficient coal fired plant
Just a look at the recent construction history of coal fired plants in the US over the last 10 years.
31 Sub-Critical plants made up more then half of the plants constructed.
http://www.netl.doe.gov/coal/refshelf/ncp.pdf
If she wants to help save the planet in a sustainable way maybe she should set and example and stop eating all the pies?
In Britain the nutters talk about a zero carbon buiilding as if it is a reality like the fairies at the bottom of my garden?
Just another BIG reason to vote the current administration out. Everybody–make sure your kids and relatives vote. You might also pitch WUWT to them. Remember my challenge of everybody finding one new person a week to recruit?
Let’s do it.
Good report, Willis.
In this day and age, dumb ideas are considered a sign of intellectual brilliance. Fortunately, as we continue to enjoy the fruits of these dumb ideas we learn to be skeptics.
Small point, but the title is excellent. !
The rich western country of the United States maneuvers itself into a position of not being able to burn coal forcing it to export the coal to third world countries. The pollution caused by third world countries burning coal is justification for rich western countries, like the United States, to put shackles on the economic progress of third world countries.
See how this works?
The EPA has a long history of international collaboration on a wide range of global environmental issues. should read :-The EPA has a long history of international interference on a wide range of global environmental issues that are none of it’s concern.
Latitude says:
March 30, 2012 at 10:13 am
Moving so pollution to another place, should be proof to everyone that it has…..
…..absolutely nothing to do with pollution
Brian H says:
March 30, 2012 at 10:32 am
I think Lisa is envious of Janet, and is emulating her.
==================================================
If by Janet you mean Reno, then you’re correct! It isn’t about pollution, protection, or the environment. It’s about jackbooted thugs dressed in hemp clothes usurping individual liberties while destroying the economy.
[snip . . a joke too far. . kbmod]
Off to Paris, which sits atop the Roman ruins of its earlier days. I’d say that’s a model of urban sustainability.
EPA is too remote from the people. I suggest the next Congress move EPA headquarters and all its staff to somewhere out in the Heartland. Lenexa, Kansas comes to mind. Not too far a drive to Kansas City for a good time.
“What does that even mean, urban sustainability?”
That’s the true beauty of “sustainability.” It means absolutely nothing, and therefore can mean whatever you want it to mean.
The unmistakeable logic of John Brignell:-
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/2012%20March.htm#enemy
Brilliant