Behind Obama’s greenhouse emissions math

Washington Post ^ | January 15, 2015 | By Stephen Stromberg

[Brad from Tennessee]

When you’re setting goals for combatting climate change, a lot depends on when you start. The White House announced Wednesday new rules on methane, the primary component in the massive amounts of natural gas that the country produces. The administration’s goal is to cut methane emissions by 45 percent by 2025, based on the emissions level in 2012. By contrast, the goal for total greenhouse emissions — mainly carbon dioxide — is a cut of 28 percent by 2025, based on the emissions level in 2005. Why use different years as the nation’s starting point? Because it makes President Obama’s programs look better.

Two thousand and five was a high year for total greenhouse emissions. A few years later, the Great Recession forced energy-intensive industries to slow or shut down, reducing emissions, particularly CO2, dramatically — by 728 million metric tons between 2005 and 2012. So a 28 percent cut from 2005’s high total would bring the country to a higher level of emissions than a 28 percent cut based on another year. Put another way, Obama gets to tout a 28 percent emissions cut from the 2005 level, but he would only be able to publicize a 20 percent cut if the administration used the 2012 level — or a mere 16 percent cut if it used the 1990 level, which is Europe’s base year for calculating emissions goals. . .

[Brad from Tennessee]

The hand is quicker than the eye.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Obola doesn’t want to cut American carbon dioxide emissions.

He wants to gut the American economy, and prophet the Muslim and Communist economies overseas ......

[Paladin2]

And the projected decrease in the global Erf Temp is?

[justlurking]

In a previous discussion about the methane “hotspot” in the Four Corners region, another FReeper completely destroyed the claim that methane contributes to “climate change”.

If you like, I can dig it up. But, the gist of it is that methane is a very small percentage of the atmosphere, it only absorbs heat in a couple of small infrared wavelengths, and those are overwhelmed by water vapor.

The only thing these restrictions will accomplish is increase the cost of drilling and recovery of oil and gas. And it isn’t hard to realize that is the only goal.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[And it isn’t hard to realize that is the only goal.]

It will probably be 20 years before objective historians begin to conclude that the Obama White House engaged in deliberate and unrelenting sabotage of the U.S. economy with the goal of replacing the existing system with a socialist, command economy.