Just Do It (Tom Friedman on Cap and Trade)

New York Times ^ | 06/30/2009 | THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

[iowamark]

There is much in the House cap-and-trade energy bill that just passed that I absolutely hate. It is too weak in key areas and way too complicated in others. A simple, straightforward carbon tax would have made much more sense than this Rube Goldberg contraption. It is pathetic that we couldn’t do better. It is appalling that so much had to be given away to polluters. It stinks. It’s a mess. I detest it.

Now let’s get it passed in the Senate and make it law.

Why? Because, for all its flaws, this bill is the first comprehensive attempt by America to mitigate climate change by putting a price on carbon emissions....

What are Republicans thinking? It is not as if they put forward a different strategy, like a carbon tax. Does the G.O.P. want to be the party of sex scandals and polluters or does it want to be a partner in helping America dominate the next great global industry: E.T. — energy technology? How could Republicans become so anti-environment, just when the country is going green?

[iowamark]

An interesting example of socialist thinking. Tom believes that Green socialism is the inevitable wave of the future and just cannot understand why anyone would want to resist.

[cynwoody]

Please go away, Tommy.

[smoothsailing]

[ZULU]

You can’t go wrong if you do the direct opposite of what the New York Times recommends.

[beagleone]

Tom Friedman is an egomaniac. I stopped reading his crap years ago.

[iowamark]

Tom Friedman's Maryland estate: (imagine his carbon footprint!)

[Brad from Tennessee]

From Wikipedia:

[Friedman's wife, Ann, is a graduate of Stanford University and the London School of Economics.[2] Her father, Matthew Bucksbaum, was the chairman of the board of General Growth Properties, a real estate development group.[3] As of 2007, Forbes estimated the Bucksbaum family's assets at $4.1 billion, including about 18.6 million square meters of mall space, but the firm’s value later plummeted.[4][5] The family's trust declined in value from $3.6 billion to $25 million.[6] On April 16 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after failing to reach a deal with its creditors. [7] The GGP collapse marked the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history.[8]

Ann and Thomas Friedman live in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The July 2006 issue of Washingtonian reported that they own “a palatial 11,400-square-foot (1,060 m2) house, currently valued at $9.3 million, on a 7½-acre parcel just blocks from I-495 and Bethesda Country Club.” Friedman is paid $75,000 per speaking engagement.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Friedman

[period end of story]

Friedman’s writing and thinking has devolved into drivel, unfortunately.

[Dahoser]

Does the G.O.P. want to be the party of sex scandals and polluters or does it want to be a partner in helping America dominate the next great global industry: E.T. — energy technology?

Party of sex scandals, Tom? I guess I missed when Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Mel Reynolds, Barney Frank, Gerry Studds, Jesse Jackson, Bob Beckel, and Eliot Spitzer switched from Democrat to Republican.

[ReadTheLaw]

Carbon emissions are important to the growth of all green things. They will also lessen the impact of the next Ice Age. Instead of taxing them we should give tax credits to encourage more carbon emissions.

[D-fendr]

A simple, straightforward carbon tax would have made much more sense

But then the BTU Tax Bill cost the democrats dearly when they tried it. So "straightforward" is out. It's not a tax donchaknow. It's "Energy Security".

[sheik yerbouty]

Another millionaire Marxist..

[truthguy]

There are a group of fools out there who think Thomas Friedman of the NY Times is some sort of guru on Technology and Energy. The truth is Thomas Friedman (TF) doesn't know a thing about either Science, Engineering , Technology or Energy. He doesn't know his *ss from a hole in the ground. People think he does because he writes for the NY Times and that makes him some sort of expert. These people are as dumb as a box of rocks.

Friedman is a fool but he is an influential fool. He does have people who pay attention to what he says. This is regrettable but true. I wish Thomas Friedman and the NY Times would both go away. They both are almost always wrong.

[smokingfrog]

In other words, I’ve got mine, screw you.

[JerseyJohn61]

“Do as I say’ not as I do”

Can't wait for Friedman's reaction when he has to start
refitting that lavish pile of bricks of his with L.E.D.s.

What a rude awakening he'll have trying to retrofit
that compound to bring it up to Federal resale standards.

JJ61

[Tzimisce]

I hope the left keeps thinking this way.

Their day is coming.

[Roccus]

This will pass in the Senate. Some minor changes will be made to provide some cover for the Republicans who will vote for it, but it will pass.

[nathanbedford]

I fear you are correct.

It will be done by co-opting industry after industry. The rest will be intimidated. Please note what Wal-Mart do position on the issue of healthcare. Please note the support for Obama's policies coming out of General Electric.

[omniscient]

There is an air of panic in this piece. Perhaps these warmists sense that the jig is up, given the emerging skepticism of scientists in light of the now obvious fact that man-made influence on climate is statistically insignificant. Hence, the urgency of ramming this through before the general population catches on. And like Gore, Friedman probably has a huge financial stake in this scam.