John Kerry's Quest for Relevance
Daffy Duck (D)
Kerry's article left out an important factor. The anthropogenic global
warming myth (AGW) has not been proven.
There has been atmospheric cooling the last 8 years, and no new high
global annual temperatures in the last 11 years. Anthropogenic (or man
caused) global warming is not proved. None of the computer models
replicate this fact.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/15/what_gov_palin_forgot_97464.html
What Gov. Palin Forgot
By Sen. John Kerry
Writing in Tuesday morning's Washington Post, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
wrote, "many in the national media would rather focus on the
personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of
these challenges."
Unfortunately, her promise to roll up her sleeves and tackle serious
issues is followed by a column that focuses on everything but the
single grave challenge that forms the basis of all of our actions: the
crisis of global climate change.
Yes, she manages to write about the climate change action in Congress
without ever mentioning the reason we are doing this in the first
place. It's like complaining about the cost of repairing a roof
without factoring in the leaks destroying your home.
The global climate change crisis threatens our economy and our
national security in profound ways. Governor Palin need look no
further than the view from her front porch in Alaska to see how
destructive this crisis can be. The small native village of Newtok is
being literally wiped off the map because of a melting permafrost and
disappearing sea ice. The New York Times reported nearly two years
ago:
"The earth beneath much of Alaska is not what it used to be. The
permanently frozen subsoil, known as permafrost, upon which Newtok and
so many other Native Alaskan villages rest, is melting, yielding to
warming air temperatures and a warming ocean. Sea ice that would
normally protect coastal villages is forming later in the year,
allowing fall storms to pound away at the shoreline.
Erosion has made Newtok an island, caught between the ever widening
Ninglick River and a slough to the north. The village is below sea
level, and sinking. Boardwalks squish into the spring muck.....The
ragged wooden houses have to be adjusted regularly to level them on
the shifting soil.
Studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade. Along with
the villages of Shishmaref and Kivalina farther to the north, it has
been the hardest hit of about 180 Alaska villages that suffer some
degree of erosion"
Since then, the citizens of Newtok voted to move their village to
higher ground nine miles away.
Around the world, the effects are already being felt. The Himalayan
glaciers, source for almost all the major rivers of India and China,
are shrinking, putting the future water resources of billions of
people in doubt. Shifting weather patterns may turn the American
"breadbasket" into a dustbowl. And stronger storms and rising sea
levels can devastate coastal communities across our country and around
the world.
All of these effects (and many, many more) will have a devastating
effect on our economy and threaten our national security. For example,
just imagine the situation in India and Pakistan if the rivers on
which the region depends for agriculture dry up. Imagine how much
worse the problems of poverty, terrorism, and instability would become
in that situation.
Reading Gov Palin's op-ed too often it sounds like the only threats
America faces are solely economic. But that's not what our
intelligence experts and military leaders tell us. General Anthony
Zinni, a rock-jawed military man and former commander of our forces in
the Middle East who is tough to peg as any sort of climate alarmist
warned that without action -- and I quote -- "we will pay the price
later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will
be a human toll."
We can't afford to ignore this reality -- in an op-ed column or in our
public debate over an entire piece on legislation designed to meet
these challenges. An op-ed on Guantanamo policy that fails to
acknowledge the existence of terrorists would not be taken seriously.
Neither should an op-ed on energy reform that fails to mention the
irrefutable reality of climate change.
And, unfortunately, even in the areas Gov. Palin does focus on, she
gets things wrong. She focuses on energy production, but ignores the
huge expansion of new, clean energy sources made possible through
smart energy reform legislation.
She says that, "The Americans hit hardest will be those already
struggling to make ends meet." That's incorrect: The Congressional
Budget Office's analysis says, of the measurable costs, "Households in
the lowest income quintile would see an average net benefit of about
$40 in 2020, while households in the highest income quintile would see
a net cost of $245."
Governor Palin also states of energy reform legislation: "It is an
enormous threat to our economy." Once again, this is just wrong. Palin
confidently claims job losses are "certain," she somehow neglects to
mention that jobs in our emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two
and a half times faster than overall jobs since 1998. And objective
analysis indicates, at most, a nominal cost to the economy and, at
best, a significant benefit.
And here's the big thing: almost all of these models don't take into
the account the enormously destructive effects of doing nothing. This
legislation will be a clear win for the economy -- and for our future
economic security.
We need a 21st century economy that is powered by clean, renewable
energy sources, and uses that energy efficiently and wisely. But the
reality is that we will reform our energy economy not only because of
the upside, but also because we must do so if we are to avoid a
climate catastrophe. Our climate demands it, our economy needs it, and
our security depends on it.
To get this right, we need an honest debate that focuses on the real
issues. Both Democrats and Republicans will be better off if Governor
Palin joins the debate we need to have -- one about climate change as
well as energy security -- rather than leaving so many important
details on the editing room floor.
-
D.Duck to B.Obama, "You're dithpicable."
Or was that Barney Frank to Barack Obama?