STUMPTALK: Cap and trade is based on a hoax!

Opinion

October 19, 2009

 By Jim Sykes / Chronicle contributor The Crossville Chronicle Mon Oct 19, 2009, 03:52 PM CDT

In the latest cap and trade bill known as the Kerry and Boxer bill, Senator Kerry removed the phrase “cap and trade” and replaced it with “Pollution Reduction and Investment.” Let’s examine the pollution that Senator Kerry is claiming to reduce. All of the discussion has been on reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere by the burning of so-called fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases make up no more than 2 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. Of this amount, 95 percent is water vapor and 3.62 percent is CO2. Of this 3.62 percent, 96.6 percent is produced by nature and only 3.4 percent is produce by humans. The human contribution to the greenhouse effect on the Earth’s warming is only 0.28 percent of the total. Over the past 400,000 years, the earth’s temperature and CO2 levels have varied and the CO2 levels have consistently risen and fallen hundreds of years after the increases and declines of the temperature. It has been proven that the current global temperature “crisis” has been created by manipulation of the data collected and used by some scientist seeking huge government grants for their research. Trillions of dollars would be required to implement the cap and trade legislation and it would not significantly affect the temperature of the earth or the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Global temperatures cooled in five of the last seven decades even though CO2 levels increased steadily throughout that period.

Global temperatures increased for twenty years from the late 1970s to the late 1990s but have actually been cooling the last twelve years. This warming and subsequent cooling were predictable using hundreds of years of historical trends and observation of the impact of variations in solar activity on the temperature. Solar activity is constantly changing. Sunspots are used to measure solar activity and have been observed and counted for hundreds of years.

Cooling periods on earth have occurred when there were fewer sunspots. Similarly, the earth has warmed (such as the second half of the 20th century) when there were more sunspots. The sunspot average from 1900 to 1949 was 576 annually, and from 1950 to 1999 it was 876, an increase of 52 percent. We are now in a period of reduced sunspot activity.

This administration estimates cap-and-trade would raise $645.7 billion annually. Wall Street companies, including Al Gore’s, will buy and sell these cap and trade allotments and make billions of dollars simply by transferring “paper.” The public, you and me, will pay these additional costs incurred by every company that produces energy, or other products, by burning or using fossil fuels for any purpose whatsoever.

The “global warming crisis” was renamed the “climate change crisis” and is now being renamed the “pollution reduction and investment crisis.” CO2 is not a pollutant anymore than water vapor. Carbon dioxide is essential for internal respiration in the human body and for plant growth. Without greenhouse gases, earth would be a frozen planet. As the United States begins to recover from a recession, is the country going to sacrifice the economy for these sudden amendments to the dictionary? Let’s hope not.

Text Only

Opinion

Gary's World: The magical Star Wars summer of '77
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

May 24, 2012
Lion and the Lamb: When politics and religion meet
Several wealthy contributors to the Republican presidential campaign are once again trying to figure out how they can use a video clip containing three words that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright used in a sermon on April 13, 2003. Wright, now retired, had been pastor of the 6,600-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago when Barack Obama was a member there.

May 22, 2012
Random Thoughts: Returning vets fight fire
Cemeteries are given special attention this week in preparation for Memorial Day next Monday. During the Civil War gracious ladies of the south laid flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers from both sides. The custom spread across the country and was called Decoration Day until the early 20th century.

May 22, 2012
Tidbits: Finding more time in your day
If we had another two hours in every day, we'd all probably still be begging for just a little bit more to get all our stuff done before that clock strikes midnight and it's game over.

May 21, 2012
Stumptalk: Hooray for the innovators
In his brilliant article in the Free Market, Daniel Sanchez says, “There will always be a one-percent. The well-being of the 99-percent depends on who makes up the 1-percent: innovative entrepreneurs or the state and its cronies. This in turn depends on the ideologies adopted by the 99-percent.” This is the way societies have always been organized and always will be.

May 21, 2012
GARY'S WORLD: Graduates, create your own opportunities
Time flies. One day you have a baby boy who is fascinated with stuffed Miss Piggy and Kermit rattles and the next day he wants to wear his cowboy boots and hat with every outfit no matter what the occasion. Before you know it, he's playing in the elementary school band, going into high school, learning how to drive, driving to school, going to prom and graduating.

May 17, 2012
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Truly a January in May
“It’s June in January” became a popular standard after Bing Crosby introduced the song in 1934. A strange thing happened last week. I call it a tale of ‘It’s January in May.’

May 15, 2012
LION AND THE LAMB: Our challenged nation
Three major social justice issues have been a source of contention in our nation over the years, and interestingly, each of them has involved the subject of equality.

May 15, 2012
WE THE PEOPLE: Repressing the ‘Grapes of Wrath’
Sometimes a hole appears, ever so briefly, in the curtain that hides the plans of those who control our government. One such opening occurred when Alan Greenspan testified to the Federal Reserve Board on Feb. 26, 1997. During that testimony, Greenspan revealed that “worker insecurity” was (in his view) a boon to the economy, allowing productivity to increase without causing workers to demand increased earnings.

May 15, 2012
TIDBITS: Never stop moving forward, grads
This week is a week of celebration. According to my files of graduating seniors, Cumberland County will see more than 550 students earning their high school diplomas this week. Now, those youngsters will venture out into the world, armed with the knowledge and character instilled in them by their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, teachers, principals, classmates, coaches and others.

May 14, 2012
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

STUMPTALK: Cap and trade is based on a hoax!

Site Map

Contact Us