In Climate Controversy, Industry Cedes Ground

Wall Street Journal ^ | January 23, 2007 | Jeffrey Ball

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics.

For years, the fight over the Earth's rising temperature has been mostly over what's causing it: fossil-fuel emissions or natural factors beyond man's control. Now, some of the country's biggest industrial companies are acknowledging that fossil fuels are a major culprit whose emissions should be cut significantly over time.

A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit, or "cap." Some see a lucrative new market in clean-energy technologies. Many figure a regulation is politically inevitable and they want to be in the room when it's negotiated, to minimize the burden that falls on them.

The broadening, if incomplete, consensus that fossil fuels are at least a big part of the global-warming problem signals real change in the environmental debate. The biggest question going forward no longer is whether fossil-fuel emissions should be curbed. It's who will foot the bill for the cleanup -- and that battle is heating up.

Yesterday, 10 companies, including industrial giants that make everything from bulldozers to chemicals to electricity, joined environmental groups in calling for a federal law to "slow, stop and reverse the growth" of global-warming emissions "over the shortest period of time reasonably achievable." Tonight, President Bush, whose administration has rejected such caps as economically unacceptable, will deliver a State of the Union address in which he's expected to announce a bigger push for such things as low-emission alternative fuels.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BTTT!

[Lunatic Fringe]

Global Warming Claimed to Increase Asteroid Impact Risk

[Para-Ord.45]

There`s that word again,

"consensus" science.

[flashbunny]

Cowards. To hell with them.

[Pete]

I reject the premise of this piece outlined in the first few paragraphs because it is false.

[HighlyOpinionated]

I REPEAT MYSELF.

The Book: "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years"

What they say: ". . . scientific analysis of ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic found that there is a clear record of a moderate, abrupt 1500-year climate change cycle running all the way through all the major warmings and all the ice ages. Cores taken from the seabed of six oceans, including the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arabian Sea have also revealed the same unmistakable 1500-year cycle.

The authors relate that one seabed core from near Iceland that goes back a million years revealed that the 1500-year cycle runs through the whole million years.

. . . the degree of overall warming that can be expected will be relatively harmless and does not warrant the alarmism and extreme economic and political measures being proposed.

The highly influential scientific magazines, Science and Nature, are also called to account by the two climate experts for their serious omissions and misrepresentations on the entire global warming issue."

Global Warming is a smoke screen. It's a hoax, which, if repeated often enough, will be believed by leftist-socialist-animists.

[Shermy]

Wall Street Journal soon to make the jump to supporting carbon trading markets.

[traditional1]

"A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit"

Anyone who believes this on its face is out of touch with the reality of business.

This is an extortion payment to get the lawyers and MSM off their backs by "appearance" of concern for the lunatinc fringe non-science, and take the economic way out. If it's cost-effective to pay them off, then it's decided in the best interest of the business.

This is no different than settlements before trial of various businesses or deep pockets' groups when the ACLU or some class-action ambulance-chaser comes with a "discrimination", "church and State", "sexual harassment", "improperly informed users" complaint, etc.

[L98Fiero]

Bingo.

Notice most of those firms are pretty much in constant litigation and under constant attack from enviros. They are feeding the crocodile, hoping it will eat them last.

[SoothingDave]

Well, think about it. If there are "caps" on carbon emissions that means there is an artifical limit placed upon supply. That means people will pay more for the artificially-limited available supply. Pump less oil. Make more money. What's not to like?

[traditional1]

"Make more money. What's not to like?"

Sounds like a PLAN !

[calcowgirl]

Wall Street Journal soon to make the jump to supporting carbon trading markets.

It's just bizness, right? What a joke! Most of those companies are the same ones that joined with Environmental Defense in establishing the Partnership for Climate Action (PCA) seven years ago. Many were also among the early members of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), founded in 2003 by Richard Sandor (Milken alumnus and fellow of his "Institute". The article makes it sound like there has been some change in philosophy, or acceptance of "science." More than likely, these companies have spent the last decade acquiring land or resources across the world to generate carbon credits, situating themselves to be on the selling end of the market, offering millions of dollars for credits to the poor-industrious-schmuck American companies that are actually contributing to our economy and will now have to pay extortion money to meet their arbitrary carbon caps. It's maddening!

November 01, 2000
Corporations Form Partnership for Climate Action

A coalition of industrial giants join Environmental Defense in initiating market-based reductions to greenhouse gas emissions.

SocialFunds.com -- Many corporations have responded to the growing public concern about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change by adopting policies that will reduce their contribution to the problem. Now a coalition of leaders in this area have banded together to form the Partnership for Climate Action, with the goal of reducing their aggregate emissions by 15 percent from 1990 levels by 2010 using market-based mechanisms.

The Partnership was recently announced by Environmental Defense, the U.S. environmental advocacy group, which has joined forces with some of the world's largest corporations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The companies involved are oil giants BP and Shell International, DuPont, Suncor Energy Inc., Ontario Power Generation, the Canadian aluminum company Alcan, and the French aluminum company Pechiney.

[mysterio]

They want a cap so they can move the rest of their production to the third world. Third world countries won't be covered by the caps, and their workers work for much less.

Companies profit, American workers get screwed. Makes sense that they'd want these caps.

[Shermy]

Well said. You're expert.

[calcowgirl]

Ya got me a bit riled up there, lol. I'm no expert, I've just watched Milken and his protege's (as well as others) for years. The patterns become more evident every day.

[Sword_Svalbardt]

Chandler wobble - read about it, liberals hate it.

[Dan Evans]

Thanks for shining the light on that. Good post.

[CedarDave]

Public Service Company of New Mexico has joined those companies. Bill Richardson's legislature has required that up to 10% of the electricity generated be renewable. Therefore as the renewables come on line (mainly wind generation), PNM can sell its carbon credits which, to some extent, will offset losses in building new generating stations and transmission lines to meet the state renewable requirements.

[volunbeer]

Did the greens take shakedown lessons from Jesse?

Goreic science is doing what liberalism could'nt.