Posts Tagged ‘Storm Clouds’

DNR Publishes Controversial Climate Change Textbook

MacIver News Service | July 14, 2010 [Madison, Wisc...] Critics claim the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is trying to indoctrinate students into becoming environmental activists by distributing thousands of copies of a textbook called the “Climate Change: A Wisconsin Activity Guide.”

“The goal of the project is to give teachers, and through teachers the students, basic information that they use to explore the topic of climate change. Obviously it’s in the news a lot, so they can explore and decide for themselves what they believe about it,” said Mary Hamel, one of the guide’s co-authors.

The book quotes the beleaguered United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and includes images of the planet Earth on fire, a polar bear stuck on an ice-floe and a gasoline pump tied up in knots under the heading: Causes of Climate Change.

Hamel says the guide presents straight facts and allows students to draw their own conclusions about whether or not climate change is even occurring. However, Representative Jim Ott (R-Mequon), who worked as a meteorologist for several decades prior to becoming a legislator, argues the guide only presents one side of the story.

“It completely leaves out the fact that there are some very respected scientists who take the opposite view of the view they call the consensus, the overwhelming evidence,’ Ott said. “Well there are some very respected scientists that take an opposing view. That in itself, I would think is not accurate science.”

Ott says many of the practical exercises in the guide involve students taking up the role of environment activists, aggressively pursuing global warming policy changes.

“They basically are telling students to lobby for climate change legislation,” Ott said as he quotes from the book. “‘‘Everyone, including young adults, can bring about change by being active and engaged citizens. They can encourage lawmakers that alleviate or lessen the impacts of climate change.’ The DNR is telling students they should be calling me and telling me that I should enact policies that will fight climate change that they assume is happening and being caused by us? I have some real problems with that.”

The DNR wrote the 86-page guide two years ago to address a perceived need in the classroom. A grant from the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (from UW-Stevens Point) helped pay for its production.

The DNR does not keep track of how the guide is being used in classrooms. Officials with the department say they are looking for ways to encourage teachers to provide feedback, which has been lacking.

So far, 6,000 copies of the guide have been mailed out or downloaded, although DNR officials said they could not identify which schools were using the guide.

Bill Osmulski has more in this video report from Madison; and, the MacIver News Graphic, seen below, includes excerpts from the text book.

This online and video material is free to be reproduced, with attribution.

In Defense of Oil Exploration

How in good conscience can someone defend the practice of off-shore oil drilling in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

I don’t know how one’s conscience could allow for anything but.

The incident in the Gulf is obviously a tragedy from which lessons must be learned, but it shouldn’t scare us away from the natural resource that is oil.

The Left seems to think sun and wind are free gifts from mother earth but that oil is some nefarious un-natural concoction created by Dick Cheney and Dow Chemical. Oil, too, is from the earth. It is just as natural as the sun or the air.

Our ability to harness the earth’s petroleum resources has perhaps been the single most impactful discovery…ever. It fueled the second Industrial Revolution; helped end society’s acceptance of child labor; brought clean water and heat and electric light to the masses; helped us advance from an agrarian society where our lives were dictated by the seasons; helped women become recognized as productive wage earners; lengthened the life expectancy and increased the standard and quality of life for peoples across the globe.

We can’t run away from Oil because it is icky or because people and animals die when tragedies like this happen.

We must appreciate that our ability to safely and efficiently harness natural resources helps promote freedom, liberty and equal opportunity for prosperity. We must do all that we can to manage and mitigate the risk associated with this endeavor, but we cannot walk away from it. Oil is essential to fuel prosperity in a modern world. Certainly, the oil supply is extremely volatile both due to the risks associated with exploration and the political realities of OPEC. While we obviously need to continue to explore more politically-viable sources of energy for the future, we can’t abandon the resources we know are available.

Oil and natural gas account for sixty percent of our energy supply. Disrupting this equation would result in a massive transfer of wealth from the private sector. Trendy ‘green’ sources of energy like solar and wind are heavily subsidized and not particularly efficient (I’ve  written in the past about the inefficiencies and high cost of solar and wind). When consumers pay for solar and wind, a substantial portion of those monies go to fund the government subsidies which promote their use.

We need oil. We know where to get it. We shouldn’t let accidents scare us off from pursuing it. Instead, when a mess like the Deepwater Horizon disaster takes place, we need to fix it, learn from it and prevent it from happening in the future.

But the Left, predictably, simply uses tragedies like the one on the BP rig as an opportunity to bash business once again, and to push for a Luddite-inspired, pre-Industrial Revolution, horse-and-buggy/windmill economy wherein citizens must rely upon the State, and not themselves, for opportunities to improve their lot in life.

Each week, the website WisOpinion.com asks me and lefty Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now to engage in exchanges on a topic of our choosing.

From my latest ‘That’s Debatable’ entry, wherein oil exploration was the topic:

You offer the false choice of no drilling or status quo.  Personally, I support the “Drill, Baby, Drill” and everything else plan. Let’s build some damn nuke plants while we’re at it.  We should be pursuing all domestic sources we know exist; that includes the oil in the Gulf of Mexico, ANWR in Alaska and public lands in the Dakotas and elsewhere. And we should invest in creating new technologies and exploring new sources of energy that make economic sense. Scot, how is our national security improved if we fail to tap into the resources we have here and instead are beholden to foreign government cartels like OPEC?  How is our economic security improved if we abandon oil and coal and instead rely totally on the more expensive, less reliable and less efficient solar and wind?  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m obviously not silent about this. The incident in the Gulf is a tragedy, but it shouldn’t scare us away from the natural resource that is oil. I thought PROGRESS was the root of progressive? Why the call for retreat?

The Left’s demand for a risk-free world is not only pure fantasy, it is dangerous. A retreat from proven sources of energy, without affordable and efficient alternatives, not only denies the benefits society has reaped from oil, it destabilizes our economy and our national security.

But it certainly won’t stop the Left from using this tragedy as a bogeyman.

By Brian Fraley
A MacIver Institute Perspective

Repackaged Cap and Trade Bill Unveiled

MacIver News Service  – The revamped, and repackaged global warming bill was unveiled in Washington, DC on Wednesday, but leading conservatives expect the environmental focus will be publicly downplayed.

“Environmentalist are like car alarms now,” notes  Christopher Horner, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “People hear them all the time but nobody pays attention.”

Horner, who two weeks ago warned that the bill would be introduced this month, says the ‘doom and gloom’ mantra has severely hurt the environmentalists’ credibility. Because of that, he explains, they now have changed tactics–packaging and marketing environmental bills as economic development proposals.

“Well now they realize it’s not selling, so they’re changing the title,” said Horner. “It’s exactly what they did in Wisconsin; I know it’s now called the Clean Jobs Bill, yeah, that’s it, it’s about jobs.  No it isn’t it’s about power. These guys have always wanted to control your lives. ”

The latest proposal by Senators John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Joe Liebermann (I-Connecticut) is expected be marketed as a pollution reduction and investment plan.

“Their [Environmental activists’] whole life is dedicated to claiming global warming is the greatest threat to mankind, except for all the others,” Horner says as he deconstructs the problem with that line of logic.

“Climate Change: The greatest threat facing mankind. Ok, great, so we’ll replace that coal with nuclear power right now, right, it’s the only thing we can do. But, your atoms, they frighten me.  Ok, so millions will die [from global warming] but you atoms frighten you? I sense a moral tension there.  So nuclear power is a greater threat than the GREATEST threat. Ok.

“Let’s go on down the list. Lot’s of dams, then right? No! We need to fish. Nature didn’t want our rivers to run that way. Ok, so dams, a greater threat than the greatest threat to mankind. How about Windmills?  Well, ok, but just not where birds fly or where Kennedy’s live. Alright, so the Kennedy’s’ having their views ruined is a greater threat than the greatest threat facing mankind….and it goes on down the list”

Horner made his comments after appearing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh earlier this month to deliver a speech sponsored by the UW-Oshkosh College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation. He is the author of several books including Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed and the recently-released Power Grab: How Obama’s Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom and Bankrupt America, which he describes exposé of the green movement’s rise to political power and the consequences of green-friendly energy mandates on the economy and social order of our nation.

Update:  The Hill has posted an advance copy of the bill online, here.

CEI’s Christopher Horner Warns of Federal Cap and Trade Bill

MacIver News Service – Although unconfirmed, rumors persist throughout Washington that the majority Democrats will advance a revised global warming bill, including a cap and trade system, this month.

“The Cap and Trade bill will pop any day,” said Christopher Horner, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “It won’t be the one that ultimately goes to the floor, because [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid is going to write that, but, this is about our last chance to stand up and stop this and make a statement, before you have an opportunity to vote.”

Horner is outraged that Congressional leaders appear willing to circumvent the traditional committee work in order to speed up the process.

“Harry Reid has vowed to suspend the committee process once again, for Cap and Trade, because Cap and Trade it turns out would impact every aspect of your life so Cap and Trade would have to go through six senate committees,” said Horner.  “Oh and it would allow scrutiny and public input and it would never get through so he is going to write the bill behind closed doors.”

Horner made his comments after appearing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh last week. He is the author of several books including Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed and the recently-released Power Grab: How Obama’s Green Policies Will Steal Your Freedom and Bankrupt America, which he describes exposé of the green movement’s rise to political power and the consequences of  green-friendly energy mandates on the economy and social order of our nation.

Horner’s speech, sponsored by the UW-Oshkosh College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation was well attended and, despite some concerns to the contrary, went off without incident.

“There’s often an organized, nasty element to campus because that’s what the Alinskyites are about, speech threatens them., they want a monopoly on it,” said Horner. “The tolerant left is highly intolerant, but ultimately, it’s usually the good folks who show up and that’s what happened when I came to Oshkosh.”

In an interview with MacIver News, Horner elaborated on his claim that the debate over Global Warming has little to do with the environment.

“This is not about the climate. It isn’t,” said Horner. “What we have is something else. In Power Grab, I explain what it’s about. The title gives a pretty good hint. It’s about stealing your freedom.”

Horner said his concerns are not hyperbolic and that to the contrary the heated, apocalyptic rhetoric from the left is merely an attempt to pass liberty-limiting legislation through fear.

“When they have to make up the reason for such a power grab, you know it must be bad,” he said.

Horner drew parallels between the evolving debate in Washington, D.C. and how the terminology and rationale for legislation changed in Wisconsin over many months.

“John Kerry told The Hill and Politico ‘Oh, this isn’t an environment bill.’ That’s spectacular,” said Horner. “The Global Warming Bill is no longer about global warming. Look, it’s designed exactly like the other bills. It’s a Cap and Trade energy rationing / tax scheme. It looks, smells, operates, is written, uses the same language as the global warming bills. It’s now that they just realize the issue never was the issue. They are just using what they thought would sell.”

In Wisconsin, The so-called ‘Clean Energy Jobs Act,’  originated as recommendations from the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force.

“Well now they realize it’s not selling, so they’re changing the title,” said Horner. “It’s exactly what they did in Wisconsin; I know it’s now called the Clean Jobs Bill, yeah, that’s it, it’s about jobs.  No it isn’t it’s about power.”

Coming soon: Horner deconstructs the arguments in favor of sweeping legislation aimed at combating global warming and predicts what could happen in Washington over the next few weeks.

Legislature Adjourns

MNS – [Madison, Wisc...] The Wisconsin Legislature adjourned its regular session without passing controversial legislation to regulate energy production, revamp the  election process or establish non-elected taxing authorities for transit across the state. The Senate and the Assembly most likely will only reconvene next month to take up state contracts and technical corrections to previously-passed legislation.

The State Senate met and adjourned early Thursday afternoon before the State Assembly even began to tackle the bulk of their calendar. This move effectively killed the global warming bill as well as efforts to change the election law and establish several regional transit authorities.

“The Legislature did what was best for families and employers by not voting on the global warming bill,” said James Buchen, Vice President of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. “The bill would have increased utility bills, energy taxes, and hampered job creation without making an impact on global warming.”

The Senate’s action left Assembly Democrats visibly, and quite publicly, upset with their Senate colleagues.

Democrat Helen Kelda Roys (D-Madison) displayed her anger in a post on her Twitter feed. “Wow…I guess Senators get too tired to work more than a 2-hour workday.Tough life for them,” she wrote to her followers on the social media site.

After taking up some initial pro-forma matters in the morning The Assembly remained off the floor until around 5 pm Thursday, took a nearly four hour break beginning at 10:30 pm, and did not conclude their work until after 4 am Friday.

Assembly Republican Leader Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) called the entire session a failure and said the Democrats embarrassed themselves with how they ran the legislature and what they accomplished the last two years.

“With unemployment still ravaging the Wisconsin economy, Assembly Democrats ended the legislative session without meaningful action on jobs” said Fitzgerald. “The session started with $5 billion in tax increases and continued with an agenda popular only in Madison.”

The Assembly was able to pass a few measures onto the Governor for his signature, including a bill to give sweeping new powers to the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction to intervene in some failing schools, a proposal to regulate payday lenders and a bill which legalizes farm-to-consumer sales of untreated, raw milk.

Black and other supporters of the global warming bill said they hope to convince Governor Doyle to call the legislators back for a Special Session to deal, specifically, with that bill. However, Capitol observers believe such an option appeared unlikely given the public outcry in opposition to the legislation.

The Bad Ideas Are Hard to Kill

When playing football against Zombies, don’t reach for the celebratory Gatorade bucket until all the time has run off the clock.

Blame it on a combination of the lack of sleep as a result of monitoring late-night legislative sessions and a healthy cynicism from two decades of working around the Capitol in Madison, but that sentence made complete sense to me as I wrote it this morning.

What’s of primary concern to our readers/viewers/followers/friends/fans today?

  1. The Global Warming Bill
  2. The Elections Fraud Facilitation Act
  3. The Madison Educational Bureaucracy Empowerment Plan
  4. The establishment of non-elected Regional Taxing Authorities for transit

As of this writing, all four of these proposals are on life support. But they are not dead yet.

As my colleague Brett Healy pointed out in his instant classic on the Silly Season, anything can happen in the waning days (and especially hours) of a legislative session.  Most of the action takes place behind the scenes and it will be weeks, if ever, before the citizenry of Wisconsin know exactly what deals were cut and why they were made.

The horse trading, deal making, ego stroking and amendment drafting could be fierce today.

Supporters of each of those aforementioned bills will be pursuing every plausible and many improbable avenues to get their ideas passed by both houses today. While it is possible that all four proposals could stall and die today, it’s also possible that all four could be in the mix with other pieces of legislation (like the wage lien bill) and that Democratic leaders could strike a massive deal behind the scenes at any point in the next few hours.

So, it’s a scary thought but entirely possible that all four proposals could pass in both houses, in rapid succession, over the course of less than an hour. The majority party has extraordinary parliamentary powers to limit debate, and we’ve seen these powers abused on more than one occasion.

At the same time, the Senate could whip through just their publicized calendar and adjourn by 1pm, before the Assembly ever gets to the floor today. The only certainty in Silly Season is uncertainty.

Today, the last day of the regular legislative session, has dawned. We’ll continue to track the zombies here and on our Twitter feed and Facebook page. If something happens today, we’

ll let you know.

The center-right coalition, the fiscal sanity caucus and others who are hoping to limit the damage coming out of Madison must forget about the victory celebration until the final gun sounds. The defensive coordinator must remain vigilant and shouldn’t get the Gatorade shower when the undead are on the field and there is time left on the clock.

Oh, and did I mention that even then, it may not be over? There is a limited floor period scheduled for May wherein bills that have passed one house may still be considered, with a little maneuvering*.

Taxpayers need a break, and I clearly need some sleep. Hopefully we can catch a little of both today.

Until it’s over, though, we’ll stay awake. You stay tuned.

By Brian Fraley
A MacIver Institute Perspective

 

*Clarification about May:

Under Senate Joint Resolution 1, the session schedule for the 2009-10 biennial session period, there are two floor periods in May. The first floor period, from May 4 to May 6, is a limited-business floor period.  Under SJR 1 and the joint rules, only the following items are eligible for action: revisor’s correction or revisor’

 s revision bills, reconciliation bills to correct mutually inconsistent acts of the session, proposals recalled because they cannot be properly enrolled, state employee contracts, and legislative citations. 

The second floor period, from May 25 to May 26, is a veto review floor period.  Under SJR 1 and the joint rules, only the following items are eligible for action: gubernatorial vetoes or partial vetoes, pending nominations requiring Senate confirmation, revisor’s correction or revisor’

s revision bills, reconciliation bills to correct mutually inconsistent acts of the session, proposals recalled because they cannot be properly enrolled, state employee contracts, and resolutions and joint resolutions introduced by either committee on organization.

But, and this is a big caveat, the Legislature always has the authority to extend a floor period, call itself into extraordinary session, or otherwise amend SJR 1 such as expanding the jurisdiction of a particular floor period (e.g., creating a list of bills which may be considered or allowing bills which have passed one house to be considered).  Moreover, the Governor could always call a special session. If we’ve learned anything it’s that in Madison, anyting (bad) is possible.

The Latest on the Global Warming Bill

MNS- [Madison, Wisc...] As the legislative session winds down, Assembly and Senate leaders as well as the Democratic sponsors of the global warming bill (which they dub the ‘clean energy jobs act’) are certain of two things: 1) the fate of the bill is uncertain, and 2) they are not to blame for that uncertainty.

See this video report for more details:

 

Critics Warn PSC Global Warming Bill Analysis Flawed

Commission had said proposal would actually lower costs to consumers

MNS [Madison, Wisc…] The Public Service Commission’s analysis of a controversial environmental bill was based on a “serious methodological error, that distorts the actual cost impact of the bill” according to the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC).

MMAC sent a letter to Senator Jeff Plale, co-Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Clean Energy Jobs, in which they outline their concerns.

“As you can see, the results, using PSC’s own study numbers, indicate that the CEJA Sub proposal would increase electric rates between 6.4% and 12.5% above the status quo, depending on the assumption made for CO2 regulation costs,” MMAC warned. “This would be an improvement from the original proposed bill, in which rates would increase between 7.8% and 20.8%, but it would still be a significant increase above the status quo.” 

MMAC’s revelation comes on the heels of continuing criticism that the Public Service Commission has become advocates for the legislation, rather than impartial, nonpartisan regulators.

“We are extremely concerned that these increased rate costs would have a dampening effect on the economy as electricity would cost more for everyone.  Those concerns are heightened further in light of  the current challenging economic climate,” said Steve Baas, MMAC’s director of Government Affairs in the letter to Plale.

The legislation, dubbed the ‘Clean Energy Jobs Act’ by its supporters, is scheduled for a vote in the State Assembly later Tuesday.

Attempts to reach Senator Plale for comment this morning were unsuccessful.

See the letter, here.

Republicans Contend Utility Regulators are Acting as Advocates

MNS- [Madison, Wisc ] Wisconsin Republicans claim Public Service Commission Chair Eric Callisto has crossed the line from regulator to that of advocate. They say the PSC’s analysis of the current global warming bill ignores the legislation’s true cost to manufacturers and homeowners and that the PSC itself has been tainted by his bias.  See more in this video report:

 

The Old Disappearing Legislator Trick

And Other ‘Magic’ with the Global Warming Bill

When the MacIver Institute called the end of this legislative session the ”silly season,” who knew it would include the “old disappearing legislator trick?”

Last week State Representative Ann Hraychuk suddenly disappeared from the Assembly Special Committee on Clean Energy Jobs, which was considering the state Global Warming bill. Republicans wondered where she was. Turns out she was off the committee.

Democrats said her removal from the committee was the result of a Republican request to make the committee membership less unbalanced. Republicans, strangely enough, don’t remember making such a request. They suggested that the Democrats were trying to shield Hraychuk from an unpopular vote.

Hraychuk said she was taken off the committee when she expressed concerns about a substitute amendment being introduced just two days prior to the committee vote.  Reading a bill before passage is just so passé.

Such haste in the pursuit of passing the global warming bill was evident in the actions of the Democrat-controlled Public Service Commission, which took a unique interest in the pending legislation. In the hours after the substitute amendment was introduced, the Public Service Commission quickly passed judgment on the 150 page substitute announcing it would save Wisconsin energy ratepayers $1.4 billion between now and 2025. The Evelyn Woods speed-reading graduates echoed the bill’s proponents flawlessly in their enthusiasm for the global warming bill. Or, was their quick analysis more ‘magic?’

Interestingly, the PSC analysis claims the substitute amendment would result in greater savings in energy costs than the original bill because the substitute lowers the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for six energy providers and two wholesalers. It does not answer the question that if lowering the minimum required renewable portfolio standard will result in lower utility costs, why would having any renewable portfolio standard mean lower utility costs than if there was no standard?

The PSC analysis also still relies on passage of a federal carbon emissions tax to justify their claims of lower rates for electricity. It says,

Although bills increase over time for the average ratepayer under all scenarios, they increase more under the status quo than under the CEJA or CEJA Sub scenarios if CO2 compliance costs equal $10/ton or more.

Some in the legislature just aren’t buying the PSC analysis, including State Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston), who remains “adamantly opposed” to utility rate increases. When asked by WisPolitics if the current version of the bill does that, he said yes. He also said he does not believe the global warming bill currently has the votes to pass the State Senate.

Despite Decker’s belief the Senate will not pass the bill, Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan has scheduled a vote on Tuesday for the bill. It will be interesting to see if the Hraychuk story was a harbinger of trouble for the bill in the Assembly, too.

Business groups are not impressed with the PSC analysis, either. The Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group (WIEG) says the 25% renewable energy requirement will raise utility rates, despite what the PSC claims. Citing the necessary $15 billion in infrastructure investment that will be required to meet the renewable energy mandates, WIEG expects those costs will be passed along to consumers.

WIEG says utilities in Iowa and Minnesota are already raising rates to meet their renewable energy mandates. Otter Tail Power in Minnesota recently asked for a double-digit increase, with over half of that increase due to Otter Tail Power’s new wind power generation.

Rate increases are what legislators should reasonably expect. After all, no form of renewable energy as defined by the bill is cheaper than the current means of power production. If they were less expensive, power utilities would be using those renewable energy resources now.  By mandating use of the more expensive and less-efficient renewable energy sources, the state will guarantee rate increases.

Independent analysis of the state global warming bill has shown individual ratepayers can expect $1000 per year in higher utility costs.

Meanwhile, the provision allowing local governments to increase property taxes above the cap to finance energy efficiency projects remains in the bill, allowing local governments to raise local property taxes through the solar-paneled roof. The bill will likely result in 43,000 jobs lost. People building their homes will face new standards set by the state’s commerce department, raising those costs.

This bill is anti-employer, anti-consumer and anti-taxpayer. If there is one provision in the bill that sums up what Democrats are trying to do, this gem from the PSC stands out:

…the [substitute amendment] ensures that for the first four years following enactment an amount equal to 0.2% of electric utilities’ annual operating revenues will be devoted to grants and loans for certain, specified, small-scale, distributed generation (DG) renewable projects, with a preference for agricultural waste digester projects.

Yep. There’s a lot of bovine excrement about this bill. No wonder Democrats in the legislature are having a hard time making votes appear.

By James Wigderson
Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute

 

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