THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 84, May 13, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE GREAT CAP-&-TRADE SCAM
By Alan Caruba
GLOBAL WARMING & GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS -- POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM, PARTISAN POLITICS, & U.S. PUBLIC
POLICY: CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS, IN LEAGUE WITH POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS & GLOBAL WARMING
ALARMISTS, ARE POISED TO MANDATE A CAP-&-TRADE PROGRAM, SUPPOSEDLY IN ORDER TO OFFSET CARBON DIOXIDE
EMISSIONS -- WHAT ARE THE HORRORS OF SUCH A PROGRAM? IF ENACTED, HOW WOULD IT AFFECT AMERICAN
CONSUMERS? WHO ARE THE GREATEST SUPPORTERS OF CAP-&-TRADE EMISSION CREDITS? FOLLOW THE
MONEY!
FULL STORY:
Of all the crazed global warming proposals being put forth by the new masters of Congress, U.S. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi and Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairperson of the Senate Public Works Committee, by far the worst would be a
mandated cap-and-trade program that would supposedly offset carbon dioxide emissions.
This program is horrid on several counts. First, there is not a scintilla of scientific evidence — other than disputed and
dubious computer models — to suggest that any significant global warming is occurring. The warming and cooling of the
Earth is an entirely natural phenomenon.
Second, carbon dioxide (CO2) plays only a minor role as a socalled greenhouse gas. The predominant greenhouse gas is
water vapor produced by the world’s oceans. The Earth has been warming since the last Ice Age and, even if a mild
warming were to occur, the only result would be an extended period to grow more crops and to enhance the growth of the
world’s forests that generate the oxygen on which all humans depend for life.
Third, the notion that man-made CO2 emissions — the result of industrial activity, the use of cars and trucks for
transportation, and a host of other things humans do — is a major contributor to “climate change” is almost too silly to
believe. Recently, the European Union identified cow and sheep burping as an even greater threat than human activity,
but ruminants have been doing this long before human civilization began.
Similarly, climate change went on long before industrialization occurred and continues today as always, almost entirely the
result of the Sun’s cyclical activity, the oceans, volcanic activity, and other factors totally beyond the control of mankind.
To get an idea how bogus cap-and-trade emissions credits are, one need only look to see who is behind this spurious
campaign. At or near the top of that list is the United Nations, for whom global warming has become the Holy Grail. By
positioning itself to save the Earth, the UN sets itself up to control all aspects of life upon the planet. Supporting the UN
program are the endless non-governmental organizations that benefit from keeping people fearful the Earth will come to an
end without their programs to save it.
The adage, however, is “follow the money” and here’s where we find the greatest supporters of cap-and-trade emissions
credits. Huge financial firms such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are betting they can make billions through
government mandated programs in which vast amounts of money move back and forth through “climate exchanges,” where
companies trade their alleged emissions reduction activities for credits, i.e., real cash.
Just as Al Gore tells us that he can continue living an extravagant lifestyle, using private jets and living in a home that uses
many times more electricity than the average home, because he buys carbon “offsets,” this obvious fiction will be embraced
as large and small corporations realize what a cash cow cap-and-trade can be.
It’s already happening. In April, 2007, the Financial Times revealed the results of its investigation. It turned out that
“... some organizations are paying for emissions reductions
that do not take place. Others are meanwhile making big
profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and,
in some cases, for clean-ups that they would have made
anyway.”
The Financial Times investigation concluded that there were “widespread instances of people and organizations
buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.” Further charges included the fact that the
brokers for these credits were “providing services of questionable or no value.” Think back now to those “climate exchanges”
the large banking houses have embraced.
When even The New York Times, one of the oldest and greatest global warming propaganda sheets around, ridicules
a carbon neutral lifestyle, you have got to know just how idiotic it is. A recent Times article quoted Dennis Hayes,
one of the gurus of environmentalism, as saying, “The worst of the carbon-offset programs resemble the Catholic Church’s
sale of indulgences back before the Reformation.”
The absolute worst part of these cap-and-trade emissions programs is the way they will affect the American consumer. A
recent report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) delivered a devastating indictment of the proposal.
In brief, the CBO concluded that the CO2 cap-and-trade scheme would increase home energy costs and the price of gas,
unfairly punishing the poor, while transferring wealth to the rich who have investments in these industries. U.S. Senator
James Inhofe (Republican - Oklahoma) noted:
“Today’s report confirms what Europe, Canada, and
many other nations have come to realize about CO2
cap-and-trade schemes: The entire carbon debate has
been skewed toward the least effective and most
economically damaging of the various approaches.”
Not one of the nations that signed onto the Kyoto Protocol to limit their CO2 emissions has ever met the standards to which
they agreed, and none ever will. The cap-and-trade scheme is just another version of these meaningless limits, but one that
is designed to enrich those who engage in the smoke-and-mirrors trade in such credits.
If a Democratic Party-controlled Congress permits this to occur, the global warming scam will have been brought to its full
culmination and purpose, the enrichment of those who have been perpetrating it and those who seek to benefit from it.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition:
Elections, PACs, & Political Parties
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a
clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary, "Warning Signs," posted
on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba’s new book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press.
© Alan Caruba 2007
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity