Let's all cap and trade, the next New Deal!

In her article dated June 24, 2008, Deneen Borelli discusses what would happen to Maryland's economy as part of a cap and trade system for dealing with carbon dioxide. This same scenario can easily be extrapolated to the U.S. as a whole if Congress were to pass cap and trade legislation. Fortunately, the Senate did not pass this legislation this year. However, with the new incoming Congress, it probably will require a Senate filibuster to prevent its passage. That's really unfortunate considering many Republicans have now fallen for the global warming hype. I'm not saying that humans don't play a role in changing the environment around us, that'd be a stupid statement. I'm saying that I've looked at the science myself (although I'm not a climate scientist) and that it is clear that while humans might contribute to climate change, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that we do and even more, the evidence is certainly not enough to establish public policy around. The idea that there is a consensus (which is completely against the tenants of good science since those require you to question everything) is a falsehood. Sure, most scientists believe mankind plays a role in climate change, but after that, the "consensus" disappears. There is no consensus on what role we play, what the cause and effect scenarios are, or even whether that role would create a catastrophic result. Beyond the "possibility" that mankind effects climate, nobody really knows. Don't believe me, read "Shattered Consensus" edited by Patrick J. Michaels. If you can understand it, you'll agree with me, I suspect, or at the very least, you won't agree with the "consensus". At any rate, I expect to see our next Congress pass cap and trade legislation in the next two years and I believe our next President will sign it. Therefore, we can expect that energy costs nationwide will skyrocket which will continue the decline of our economy, not help it. That gives me hope that someone else will get elected in four years, but I don't really see that happening. President-elect Obama himself has said that cap and trade systems will likely bankrupt the U.S. coal industry. So tell me, how is passing legislation that we know for certain will bankrupt our coal industry, cause a loss of jobs from companies fleeing the system, cause energy prices to skyrocket at least 50 percent and do little or nothing to help the environment or stave off "global warming" a good idea? It isn't. However, that's what we've elected for ourselves. We now have a government that believes bailouts are necessary, that the government should play a greater role in our health care decisions because we just can't be trusted to do it ourselves, that nationalization of businesses is a necessary step to shore up our economy, that redistributing the wealth is the answer to low income, and that having a cap and trade system that doesn't effectively lower carbon emissions but does effectively kill the economy is the best option for saving the planet. There was a recent study out of UCLA that shows that the New Deal of FDR didn't help get us out of the Great Depression but rather extended it for an extra seven years. We have now elected ourselves a government that will achieve the same result (extending economic downturns) in the name of programs that likely will not work but will just cost money and will effectively put us in a permanent depression. So, I'm declaring that cap and trade systems are the new New Deal. Everyone will support them because it'll make them feel better about themselves, but it will hurt rather than help overall. That's the kind of "change" I can believe in for sure!