Posted on 08/31/2009 6:35:14 PM PDT by markomalley
Strong signs that the Obama administration is close to declaring that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are dangerous pollutants are prompting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to request the EPA conduct a public hearing on the scientific evidence underpinning the belief that rising temperatures threaten public health and welfare.
Last week, the powerful business lobby filed a request that the agency provide a venue to rebut "largely undocumented and, in the chamber's view, insupportable claims" about the effects of climate change. Chamber officials said they are concerned that any rules capping greenhouse gas emissions could be unduly influenced by what it contends are spurious claims, including assertions that climate change may cause mental illness and that 150,000 people die every year from the effects of global warming.
The request is part of the widespread jockeying by business groups and environmentalists in anticipation of a finding that would trigger a requirement that the federal government regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act (PL 101-549), with or without new legislation.
The EPA in April issued a "proposed endangerment finding" that carbon dioxide and five other gases threaten the public by triggering global climate change and that emissions from motor vehicles are contributors to global warming. The agency recently sent a proposed rule to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the rule-making arm of the Office of Management and Budget. A final announcement could come within weeks.
The chamber said an open hearing would sync up with the Obama administration's desire for transparency and its stated deference to "sound science" in policymaking.
The chamber is trying to knock down claims from groups including Physicians from Social Responsibility and the Environmental Defense Fund while raising questions about the correlation between higher temperatures and death rates. For good reason. EPA regulation of greenhouse gases is a worst-case scenario for major industries, because they have little opportunity to influence regulations. But to avert such an outcome, business groups need to convince the Senate to finish a climate change bill this year and win a place at the negotiating table. That could prove difficult, with the Senate consumed with the health care debate, new regulations on the financial industry and other priorities.
The House passed its version of a climate change bill (HR 2454) in June.
One small voice. Where’s the GOP ?
...other priorities (getting re-elected in an economy where they might not find a job?)
Richard Lindzen of MIT has published what it supposed to be the definitve study showing that CO2 is not at all dangerous. There are 70,000 other scientists who agress. I read this on Drudge last week but find hide nor hair of it anywhere. It sure didn’t make the news.
Now you got me thinking:
Maybe 'BAM should cap&tax joggers, since jogging causes frequent exhaling.
Well, maybe not. Tax sneaker manufacturers instead: cap and trade tax for the joggers' CO2 and a windfall profits tax for peddling $5 dollars worth of molded petroleum byproducts at $100 a pair.
Good question. My personal opinion is that this fight will be won in court using the same tactic employed here: Make them prove that their climate models define future climate "truth" and that we should not believe what "our lying eyes" are telling us when we look at the scientific evidence. We all know that the climate models, and that is all they have, will not stand up to the scrutiny of any jury with half a brain. They can be stopped dead in their tracks if the law suits would start flying. And it it time for that to happen.
To be absolutely snide in my reply (of course, not to you), those that 'make' the news probably want to guest on "WHO'S Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" and in their 'refreshing', recalled photosynthesis.
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