Fred Thompson, the Global Warming President?

American Writer ^ | 11/12/07 | Alexander J. Madison

[pissant]

Perhaps the biggest fraud ever to be perpetrated onto the American people is Global Warming. Al Gore is just the symptom. If not given cover by a group of supposed climate scientists and other left-wing academics, Mr. Gore would be easily seen as the nutcase, phony alarmist that he is. Alas, nearly the entire left of the political spectrum has bought into this hoax, and more than a few ‘conservatives’ have also succumbed to the hysteria, including Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee.

Fred Thompson, at least since he started campaigning for the GOP nomination, has provided some biting remarks regarding this issue, including pointing out that Mars is experiencing Martian Warming, with nary a human influence (Richard Hoagland’s theories not withstanding).

But what did Fred do and say during his time in the Senate, representing the good folks of Tennessee?

Well for starters, Fred had this to say on April 23, 2002 during the Senate debates on the 2002 Energy bill:

"I would like to thank my colleagues for their statements and indicate my support for the agreement that we have reached with regard to Title X. A lot of hard work has gone into this agreement. It is my belief that there are still many uncertainties with regard to climate change. However, I also believe that the potential risks of climate change warrant study, research and technological development. This substitute to Title X goes a long way towards achieving those goals. This amendment also recognizes that there are many contributors to climate change beyond CO2, and I appreciate that black soot is included. (snip)

This would seem a fairly harmless statement, if one just skimmed over the Congressional Record. Unfortunately for Mr. Thompson, not everyone skims over it. Title X was part of Tom Daschle’s

[Calpernia]

They do want to be left alone. But I meant the info about the livestock flatulence was ‘added on’ to that thread. It starts at post 3.

[WildcatClan]

The government subsidized alternative, ethanol, is going to give the PantSuit some ammunition. It looks like the cornball is rolling and is going to hit nearly every consumable with a price increase on it’s journey.

This is going to increase inflation significantly. West Virginia and Kentucky, independently have greater energy reserves than Saudi Arabia. I don’t think the Government wants energy independence. We have energy independence, all that it is needed, is to utilize it. We can go diesel from coal and let the “viable alternatives” work themselves out in the interim. I promise OPEC and terrorists will be far more hurt than the Polar Bears.

[pissant]

Yes, I have seen that before as well. They are deadly serious about it too. Idiots

[redgirlinabluestate]

We agree.

We won't ever agree 100% of the time with any candidate on everything, however.

[pissant]

Hunter had a great answer to this in WY, I believe. I’ll see if I can find it.

[Politicalmom]

And Senator Inhofe, the biggest enemy of man-caused global warming in the Senate.

[pissant]

That is very true. Inhofe has been nothing short of stellar.

[ellery]

And then there's Romney's *record* on global warming. Romney spent the first three years of his term aggressively pursuing global warming solutions...then backed out at the end of 2005 (also the year that he established his "testing the waters" campaign for the presidency and had changes of heart on any number of issues):

Governors of 10 Eastern States Form Regional Approach to Global Warming.

COPYRIGHT 2003 The Boston Globe

Byline: Stephanie Ebbert

Jul. 25--Governor Mitt Romney and five other Republican governors this week joined forces to tackle an issue that environmentalists say their fellow Republican, President Bush, has ducked: Curbing carbon dioxide emissions to control global warming. A total of 10 eastern states, convened by New York Governor George E. Pataki, plan to spend two years developing a regional market-based system to limit carbon emissions, in an acknowledgment that global warming is a current problem.

"Climate change is beginning to affect our natural resources and . . . now is the time to take action towards climate protection," Romney wrote in a letter to Pataki, sent Monday.

--------------

All this is being translated into political action - often led by major Republicans. This month, Massachusetts has adopted aggressive measures to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, making Mitt Romney the third Republican governor of an important state (after George Pataki of New York and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California) to depart from the White House line. The states responsible for most of the US emissions - mainly in the Midwest and South - remain unmoved, but a dozen others have now either adopted such measures or promised to do so, creating a political momentum that is already affecting national politics.

http://www.newstatesman.com/200405170020

---------

Romney doubts seen delaying emissions pact.

COPYRIGHT 2005 The Boston Globe

Byline: Beth Daley and Scott Helman

Nov. 22--A group of Northeast states has postponed the announcement of a landmark agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants after Governor Mitt Romney raised objections to the pact late last week, two government sources familiar with the agreement said yesterday. Massachusetts is one of nine states slated to be part of the agreement, but Romney's chief of staff, Beth Myers, has called at least three other participating states in the last month saying the administration was deeply worried about key aspects of the plan, according to the sources.

On Friday, state Secretary of Commonwealth Development Douglas Foy asked the other states in a conference call to delay a planned Dec. 1 announcement until Dec. 15, and representatives of the other states agreed as long as negotiations continued, the sources said. The delay and the call were confirmed by a third source yesterday; all three declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the negotiations over the agreement. News of the delay comes two weeks after Romney indicated his overall support for the initiative at a conference in Boston, calling it "good business" because it would prompt Massachusetts companies to develop state-of-the-art clean-energy technology. Since then, power plant owners and other businesses have intensified their lobbying, urging Romney to reject the deal, which would freeze power plant emissions at their current levels and then reduce them 10 percent by 2020. The critics' chief concern has been that the deal would send energy costs higher.

Though New York has led talks on the pact, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Massachusetts is considered a critical component to its success, and a decision by Romney not to participate would undercut what environmental groups, some businesses, and other supporters have touted as a watershed agreement to combat global warming. Romney indicated earlier this month that he had concerns about the project, but exactly what they were became clear yesterday.

The sources said he wants to include a price cap on how much power plants would have to pay to emit certain amounts of greenhouse gases, a proposal that other negotiating states and environmentalists have staunchly rejected. A Romney spokeswoman said that a cap was his biggest priority. "Governor Romney believes we should reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but we need to make sure that we do not harm the energy-consuming businesses in Massachusetts," said spokeswoman Julie Teer. "The governor wants to continue the discussions on [the initiative] until an agreement is reached that makes sense environmentally, for employers located here, and for the energy consumers."

Rhode Island is also wavering on the agreement, the sources said. Officials there did not return phone calls yesterday. The Northeast states have been hammering out their plan for 2 1/2 years. The prospective deal is being watched closely by environmentalists, regulators, and utility industry officials around the country as the first major effort to bypass President Bush's refusal to enact strict limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, and many scientists say the earth is heating up more rapidly because of man-made releases of the gas. In addition to New York and the New England states, Delaware and New Jersey are part of the emissions plan. The intense debate over the greenhouse gas initiative is also rife with political implications. Romney and Governor George Pataki of New York are both weighing a 2008 presidential bid, and the agreement would to some extent put their states at odds with the Bush administration. Bush declined to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to stem global warming. Organizers of the Northeast pact were hoping to sign the agreement in time for a key climate change meeting in Montreal early next month with Kyoto participants and observers.

At a clean-energy conference in Boston on Nov. 7, Romney sounded exuberant about the Northeast state agreement, saying in his speech that it was "a great thing for the Commonwealth." "We can effectively create incentives to help stimulate a sector of the economy and at the same time not kill jobs," he said. Later that day, however, Romney outlined to reporters several fears he had about the proposed agreement. After the Globe reported Romney's remarks the next morning, Romney aides expressed concern that the governor's speech had been misinterpreted as an endorsement of the pact. Environmentalists said yesterday they feared that Romney's concerns were delaying tactics aimed at killing the entire program. The regional plan rests on limiting overall emissions and then letting companies buy or trade individual credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit. Environmentalists say putting a price cap on each ton, as Romney wants, would discourage companies from lowering emissions because they could simply buy the right to pollute even after the cap is reached. "Raising this issue is troubling and unnecessary," said Dale Bryk, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Environmentalists have been lobbying hard for Romney to sign the proposed agreement, he said. "Every issue was discussed -- we had a two-year public process so everybody could participate in that conversation, and price caps were not seriously considered." In addition to the price caps, the overall cost of the program to businesses and individuals has been vetted in recent weeks. Last week, a study commissioned by initiative organizers indicated that individual household bills would rise nominally, somewhere between $3.01 to $33.23 annually over the next 15 years under the agreement.

In his speech two weeks ago, Romney downplayed concerns from business leaders that the agreement would send energy prices skyward, citing analyses showing energy prices were unlikely to increase beyond 1 or 2 percent. But industry officials say they believe the price would increase much more, especially if energy prices remain high. The new study "has certainly confirmed our view that this is a very complicated regulatory structure, and it has in our view significant price impacts," said Robert Ruddock, general counsel for Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

[Bobbisox]

GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! Have you all fallen for the same MSM brain washing? GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! I repeat... GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! And don’t start posting all the crap you have gathered to support their claims. I’ve read all I want. GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX! Environmentalists and the democRATS are keeping America from telling the Mideast to take their oil and shove it. American has enough oil, if we had the proper leadership in congress to get to it. It is now a matter of National Security and Fred Thompson will have to force the issue.

Fred Thompson has the right ideas. This hoax is not only on the American people, but on the whole world. When it is proven, and it will be proven...Gore and the gullible democRATS and their equally gullible environmentalists, will look as stupid as they sound. GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX!

Just how many reasons do you need to avoid uniting behind the only true Conservative to have a realistic chance of beating Rudy then Hillary? When the dust settles, we must unite as Conservatives or we will truly loose as Americans, and GLOBAL WARMING IS STILL A HOAX!

[Politicalmom]

Why are you yelling at ME??? :p

[Politicalmom]

I want to adopt you. You can be my sister. :)

[festus]

When the left seizes power this will just be tacked on the end of a very long list of reasons for which they’ll send me to the reeducation camps.............

[Bobbisox]

NO...NO. NOT at you. These stupid articles keep cropping up that are so outrageous they are beginning to take hold. I even read a headline that the UN said countries of not meeting standards they set will be held criminally negligent.

I know you are on Fred's team. I was just ranting over the nature of the reasoning of some of the Hunter people. When this is all over, we must unite behind one candidate. If somehow Duncan Hunter came from nowhere (where he is now) and leaped to the front of the pack and Fred lost out, I would support him. But everyone reading these posts has to be realistic at the late date. Hunter has been in the race twice as long as Fred and is going nowhere. Fred has come out with some very serious proposals for immigration and fixing social security. He has taken positions which are generally federalist positions. Why are we talking about something as stupid as this hoax? I read every one of your posts. I'm sorry you thought for one minute I was venting at you, please forgive me.

This entire situation is getting very serious and I am also very sensitive. I want my candidate to win the entire contest and then go on to take the White House. It is realistic if WE THE PEOPLE choose wisely.

[ellery]

Thompson did vote in favor of cloture on the Daschle’s amendment. I took a look at that vote, and noticed something that doesn’t track with the author’s contention here. The author claims that Thompson’s vote in favor of cloture on that amendment was a bad vote. But that isn’t supported by when who voted in favor of cloture, and who voted against.

Among the 86 senators who voted in favor of cloture, you’ll see Thompson, Nickels, Santorum, Sessions, and Smith from NH.

On the other hand, here is the full list of senators who voted against cloture: Boxer, Cantwell, Clinton, Feingold, Feinstein, Graham, Kyl, McCain, Murray, Reed, Schumer, Stabenow and Wyden.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00077

From that information, this vote obviously wasn’t as clear-cut as the author represents (that’s not to say it was a good bill — but given the seantors who supported cloture, it certainly warrants more digging). I will investigate more deeply, but I’m unimpressed by the author’s lack of intellectual honesty in his omission of the fact that most conservative senators also voted for cloture, and some of the worst liberal hacks in the senate voted against.

[ellery]

Oh, Inhofe also voted with Thompson for cloture on this bill.

[Calpernia]

I’ll save you a place online. I’ll be there too.

[ellery]

Aaaand, now it’s clear where the author erred (or lied, but let’s say “erred”).

The Title X text for which the author erroneously claims Thompson voted cloture *is not* the bill Thompson (and Inhofe, and Santorum) voted on — the Title X text the author includes is the amendment as Daschle originally submitted it.

The Title X Daschle amendment that Thompson spoke favorably about, and on which Thompson, Inhofe, Sessions, Santorum, et al voted cloture, had been subject to many amendments (see below for a complete list of amendments submitted, many of which passed). The final Title X Daschle amendment included:

-An amendment “to direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program within the Department of Energy to develop advanced reactor technologies and demonstrate new regulatory processes for next generation nuclear power plants.” (passed by voice vote)

-An amendment “to direct the Secretary of Energy to study designs for high temperature hydrogen-producing nuclear reactors.” (passed by voice vote)

-An amendment to prohibit increased fuel standards for pickup trucks (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00048)

-An amendment “to provide for access to the Alaska natural gas transportation project and other purposes.”

-An amendment to facilitate timely action on oil and gas leases and applications for permits to drill and inspection and enforcement of oil and gas activities.

-An amendment to “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a credit for the production of Alaska natural gas.”

-An amendment “to direct the Secretary of Energy to submit to Congress a report that identifies current and potential research at Department of Energy nuclear facilities relating to the production or use of hydrogen.”

No wonder anti-global-warming folks voted in favor of cloture (and Thompson spoke in favor of all the work/additions to the original amendment). No wonder the votes against cloture were overwhelmingly from global warming and environmental zealots.

Very poor research by the author. It’s interesting that with all the research the author clearly did, he didn’t mention any of this, nor did he provide a link to the cloture vote so we could see for ourselves how the votes broke down. Pathetic.

---

S.AMDT.2917
Amends: S.517
Amendments to this amendment: S.AMDT.2979 , S.AMDT.2980 , S.AMDT.2981 , S.AMDT.2983 , S.AMDT.2985 , S.AMDT.2986 , S.AMDT.2987 , S.AMDT.2989 , S.AMDT.2990 , S.AMDT.2991 , S.AMDT.2992 , S.AMDT.2993 , S.AMDT.2994 , S.AMDT.2995 , S.AMDT.2996 , S.AMDT.2997 , S.AMDT.2998 , S.AMDT.2999 , S.AMDT.3000 , S.AMDT.3001 , S.AMDT.3002 , S.AMDT.3003 , S.AMDT.3004 , S.AMDT.3005 , S.AMDT.3006 , S.AMDT.3007 , S.AMDT.3008 , S.AMDT.3009 , S.AMDT.3010 , S.AMDT.3011 , S.AMDT.3012 , S.AMDT.3013 , S.AMDT.3014 , S.AMDT.3015 , S.AMDT.3016 , S.AMDT.3018 , S.AMDT.3019 , S.AMDT.3020 , S.AMDT.3021 , S.AMDT.3022 , S.AMDT.3023 , S.AMDT.3024 , S.AMDT.3025 , S.AMDT.3026 , S.AMDT.3027 , S.AMDT.3028 , S.AMDT.3030 , S.AMDT.3031 , S.AMDT.3032 , S.AMDT.3033 , S.AMDT.3037 , S.AMDT.3039 , S.AMDT.3040 , S.AMDT.3041 , S.AMDT.3042 , S.AMDT.3043 , S.AMDT.3044 , S.AMDT.3045 , S.AMDT.3046 , S.AMDT.3047 , S.AMDT.3048 , S.AMDT.3050 , S.AMDT.3051 , S.AMDT.3053 , S.AMDT.3054 , S.AMDT.3055 , S.AMDT.3056 , S.AMDT.3059 , S.AMDT.3060 , S.AMDT.3061 , S.AMDT.3062 , S.AMDT.3063 , S.AMDT.3064 , S.AMDT.3065 , S.AMDT.3066 , S.AMDT.3067 , S.AMDT.3068 , S.AMDT.3069 , S.AMDT.3070 , S.AMDT.3071 , S.AMDT.3072 , S.AMDT.3073 , S.AMDT.3074 , S.AMDT.3075 , S.AMDT.3078 , S.AMDT.3080 , S.AMDT.3082 , S.AMDT.3083 , S.AMDT.3084 , S.AMDT.3086 , S.AMDT.3087 , S.AMDT.3088 , S.AMDT.3089 , S.AMDT.3090 , S.AMDT.3091 , S.AMDT.3092 , S.AMDT.3093 , S.AMDT.3094 , S.AMDT.3095 , S.AMDT.3096 , S.AMDT.3097 , S.AMDT.3098 , S.AMDT.3099 , S.AMDT.3100 , S.AMDT.3101 , S.AMDT.3102 , S.AMDT.3103 , S.AMDT.3114 , S.AMDT.3115 , S.AMDT.3116 , S.AMDT.3119 , S.AMDT.3120 , S.AMDT.3121 , S.AMDT.3122 , S.AMDT.3123 , S.AMDT.3124 , S.AMDT.3125 , S.AMDT.3130 , S.AMDT.3132 , S.AMDT.3135 , S.AMDT.3137 , S.AMDT.3138 , S.AMDT.3139 , S.AMDT.3140 , S.AMDT.3141 , S.AMDT.3146 , S.AMDT.3147 , S.AMDT.3148 , S.AMDT.3149 , S.AMDT.3150 , S.AMDT.3151 , S.AMDT.3152 , S.AMDT.3153 , S.AMDT.3154 , S.AMDT.3155 , S.AMDT.3156 , S.AMDT.3157 , S.AMDT.3158 , S.AMDT.3159 , S.AMDT.3165 , S.AMDT.3166 , S.AMDT.3167 , S.AMDT.3168 , S.AMDT.3169 , S.AMDT.3170 , S.AMDT.3171 , S.AMDT.3172 , S.AMDT.3173 , S.AMDT.3174 , S.AMDT.3175 , S.AMDT.3176 , S.AMDT.3177 , S.AMDT.3178 , S.AMDT.3179 , S.AMDT.3180 , S.AMDT.3181 , S.AMDT.3182 , S.AMDT.3183 , S.AMDT.3184 , S.AMDT.3185 , S.AMDT.3186 , S.AMDT.3187 , S.AMDT.3188 , S.AMDT.3189 , S.AMDT.3190 , S.AMDT.3191 , S.AMDT.3192 , S.AMDT.3193 , S.AMDT.3194 , S.AMDT.3195 , S.AMDT.3196 , S.AMDT.3197 , S.AMDT.3198 , S.AMDT.3199 , S.AMDT.3200 , S.AMDT.3201 , S.AMDT.3202 , S.AMDT.3203 , S.AMDT.3204 , S.AMDT.3205 , S.AMDT.3206 , S.AMDT.3207 , S.AMDT.3208 , S.AMDT.3209 , S.AMDT.3210 , S.AMDT.3211 , S.AMDT.3212 , S.AMDT.3213 , S.AMDT.3214 , S.AMDT.3215 , S.AMDT.3216 , S.AMDT.3217 , S.AMDT.3218 , S.AMDT.3219 , S.AMDT.3220 , S.AMDT.3221 , S.AMDT.3222 , S.AMDT.3223 , S.AMDT.3224 , S.AMDT.3225 , S.AMDT.3226 , S.AMDT.3227 , S.AMDT.3228 , S.AMDT.3229 , S.AMDT.3230 , S.AMDT.3231 , S.AMDT.3232 , S.AMDT.3233 , S.AMDT.3234 , S.AMDT.3235 , S.AMDT.3236 , S.AMDT.3237 , S.AMDT.3238 , S.AMDT.3239 , S.AMDT.3240 , S.AMDT.3241 , S.AMDT.3242 , S.AMDT.3243 , S.AMDT.3245 , S.AMDT.3246 , S.AMDT.3247 , S.AMDT.3248 , S.AMDT.3249 , S.AMDT.3250 , S.AMDT.3251 , S.AMDT.3256 , S.AMDT.3257 , S.AMDT.3258 , S.AMDT.3259 , S.AMDT.3260 , S.AMDT.3261 , S.AMDT.3262 , S.AMDT.3263 , S.AMDT.3264 , S.AMDT.3265 , S.AMDT.3266 , S.AMDT.3267 , S.AMDT.3268 , S.AMDT.3270 , S.AMDT.3271 , S.AMDT.3272 , S.AMDT.3273 , S.AMDT.3274 , S.AMDT.3275 , S.AMDT.3276 , S.AMDT.3277 , S.AMDT.3278 , S.AMDT.3279 , S.AMDT.3280 , S.AMDT.3281 , S.AMDT.3282 , S.AMDT.3284 , S.AMDT.3285 , S.AMDT.3286 , S.AMDT.3287 , S.AMDT.3288 , S.AMDT.3289 , S.AMDT.3291 , S.AMDT.3292 , S.AMDT.3321 , S.AMDT.3322 , S.AMDT.3323 , S.AMDT.3325 , S.AMDT.3326 , S.AMDT.3329 , S.AMDT.3330 , S.AMDT.3331 , S.AMDT.3332 , S.AMDT.3333 , S.AMDT.3334 , S.AMDT.3335 , S.AMDT.3336 , S.AMDT.3337 , S.AMDT.3338 , S.AMDT.3339 , S.AMDT.3340 , S.AMDT.3341 , S.AMDT.3342 , S.AMDT.3343 , S.AMDT.3344 , S.AMDT.3345 , S.AMDT.3346 , S.AMDT.3347 , S.AMDT.3348 , S.AMDT.3349 , S.AMDT.3350 , S.AMDT.3351 , S.AMDT.3352 , S.AMDT.3353 , S.AMDT.3354 , S.AMDT.3355 , S.AMDT.3356 , S.AMDT.3359 , S.AMDT.3360 , S.AMDT.3361 , S.AMDT.3362 , S.AMDT.3363 , S.AMDT.3364 , S.AMDT.3366 , S.AMDT.3369 , S.AMDT.3370 , S.AMDT.3371 , S.AMDT.3372 , S.AMDT.3373 , S.AMDT.3380
Sponsor: Sen Daschle, Thomas A. [SD] (submitted 2/15/2002) (proposed 2/15/2002)

[Rick_Michael]

It’s like you didn’t read what he wrote.

[FlashBack]

I'm with ya on that statement Finny!!!


Only a few days left fellow Freepers...I need your help, Check the tagline and take action!!! Thank You!!!!

[jellybean]

THOMPSON: Climate change is real. We have to take it seriously. We don't know the extent to which it changes. We don't know what the significance of it is going to be to us. We don't know how [inaudible]

A lot of things we don't know yet. We have to find out the answers to those things and do what is necessary--on a global basis. The United States alone cannot solve the problem.

... But global warming is not going to be a problem that can be solved overnight.

If we start doing things drastically, economically, not only before we [inaudible] ... not only are we going to hurt our economy, it's not going to do any good with the Chinese and the Indians not participating.

So we've got to do it on a global basis. Sit down and do some things that make some sense.

You seem to have left out quite a bit of what Fred said on that video. A rather important part. Let me help you out with the transcript:

Answer to the first question:

Climate change is real. We have to take it seriously. We don't know the extent to which it changes. We don't know the significance of what it's going to be to us. (inaudible). A lot of things we don't know yet. Need to find out the answers to those things and do what's necessary in order to fix it on a global basis. The United States alone can't solve the problem.

Answer to second queation:

Renewable energy has got to be a part of the problem--it's part of the energy problem. It's not just a global warming issue. That's part of it. Renewable energy, alternatives, no question about it we got to do a lot of different things well. Renewable, alternatives, using energy sources that we've got here already, nuclear We get about 20% out of nuclear. We've got to do better than that. Other countries are doing a lot better than that. But global warming's not gonna be a problem that's going to be solved overnight.

We start doing things drastically economically, not only before we know some answers to some questions, not only are we going to hurt our economy it's not going to do any good. The Chinese and the Indians are not participating, So we've got to do it on a global basis. Sit down and do some things that make some sense.