Big Coal and Big Oil put big money on EPA bashers
An open pit coal mine on public land in Wyoming. Bureau of Land Management photo.
NPR recently ran a story reporting that most Republican candidates for U.S. Senate assert that human activities are not contributing to climate change. One has even called climate change a "hoax." Never mind that the facts show otherwise.
And, armed with these beliefs, many in the GOP are preparing for an all-out assault on the EPA's proposals to protect our air and planet.
What's happening here? Some see fundamentalism. But others point to political contributions from Big Coal, among others. As Tim Rutten of the LA Times observed on Saturday, Big Coal and Big Oil appear to be stealing pages from Big Tobacco's playbook:
Some of the tea party's biggest funders, including Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, are creatures of the oil and coal companies. They've also supported virtually the entire network of fringe scientists, think tanks and publishers who over the past few years have raised a host of spurious questions and allegations concerning the consensus on climate change among reputable scientists.
They're the same individuals and companies putting up big money to support Proposition 23, which would gut California's attempts to reduce carbon emissions. Koch Industries and Murray Energy Corp. already are major givers to the U.S. Senate's biggest deniers, including James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), who has called global warming "the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."
Think back to the billions Big Tobacco spent on the long guerrilla war to stave off regulation of its death-dealing products and you've pretty much got the picture here, although this time around, the corporate manipulators are hoping that they've co-opted the climate skeptics in order to fill the oil and coal companies' coffers for years to come.
When the facts are against you, buy disbelief. And maybe an election or two. And if Big Oil and Big Coal can stave off regulation for a few decades, the shareholders can be kept happy, even if that means keeping the planet on a path to unstoppable, drastic change. After all, what's really important here?
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The key thing to keep in mind is that, according to CARB, AB 32 will do NOTHING to help global warming, will cost jobs and have a negative effect on the economy. This comes from the very people who drew it up!
AB 32 does nothing for local pollution.
Prop 23 leaves us with the toughest pollution laws in the country, among the toughest in the world. It will NOT increase local pollution
If Proposition 23 is rejected, here is what will happen according to expert sources:
•A 60 percent increase in your electricity bill according to the Southern California Public Power Authority.
•An 8 percent increase in your natural gas bill according to CARB’s economic analysis.
•$50,000 more for the price of a new home according to an analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
•$3.7 billion a year more for gasoline and diesel according to Sierra Research.
•A $1,000-$3,000 additional cost for a new car according to CARB and automaker studies.
On top of all that, a study conducted for the California Small Business Roundtable found that AB 32 regulations would cost small business alone nearly $200 billion, and would result in more than 1 million lost jobs.
The more I learn about AB 32, the more I fear it. It just gets worse. Please vote yes on Prop23.
For months, John and Ken have made Prop 23 their top priority, calling it a necessary step to stop a law they say will kill jobs and cost Californians a fortune in higher gas and energy prices. With an estimated one million listeners per week, these two guys usually manage to rally enough votes to get their way.
""2 Guys on the Bay Area Transportation Board told the CARB people, "If you try to do what you are going to do(AB 32) we'll have gas at $9.07 a gallon and we have freeway tolls at up to $4,500 a year to drive during rush hour."
"Part of the plan is to stop suburban development, get people to stop driving, make driving too expensive for people to live out there, force them to live in high-rises, condos, in the city."
The video has John and Ken explaining why they think this bill is the most important measure on the ballot.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39853750
Points to ponder on AB 32:
° AB 32 is not a pollution law, it is a global warming law, but it won't have any effect on global warming.
° CARB over-estimated diesel emmisions by 340%. What else have they over-estimated?
° Key CARB personnel caught lying about credentials and then failing to reveal this after it is discovered internally before AB 32 passed, until after AB 32 passed. What else are they lying about and with-holding?
° CARB has admitted that California alone cannot have an impact on reducing global warming and CO2 emissions.
° US EPA acknowledges that US action alone will not impact the world CO2 levels;
° US EPA (11 July 2010) said that bills in Congress will not reduce the total use of gas and oil of 20 million gallons per day for decades.
° LAO (CA Legislative Analyst Office) stated: CA economy at large will be adversely affected by implementation of climate-related policies that are not in place elsewhere. (Letter to Dan Logue, 13 May 2010)
° Even CARB’s own economic experts have recognized the fact that jobs will be lost because of AB 32. In fact, they recommend establishing a “Worker Transition Program” to provide assistance to people who lose their jobs because of AB 32 regulations.
° AB 32 does nothing for local pollution, nor does Proposition 23 do anything to increase local pollution.
° 5.5% unemployment for 4 consecutive quarters has occurred 7 times since 2005, 14 times since 1999, and 22 times since 1987. See for yourself, the data is right here;
http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/?pageid=164
When the loudest objections to any candidacy or initiative are focused on vilifying its financial backers, this often indicates that its opponents' arguments on its merits are weak.
Vote yes on Prop 23 and suspend AB32.
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