Many Democrats Don't get it on global warming Perhaps that is because they think long-term means the next election cycle. Perhaps they are so wedded to their local industries that they can't see beyond their own district. Whatever the reason, John Dingell has demonstrated the same kind of vision on global warming as Joe Lieberman has on Iraq.
John Dingell said:
on Friday that he planned to propose a steep new "carbon tax" that would raise the cost of burning oil, gas and coal,
However, his plan is to write the bill in a way that will be offensive to much of the electorate so that they will voice strong opposition. He plans to play the jerk.
Only a real jerk introduces legislation to divide his own party, but that's what John Dingell is planning to do.
Mr. Dingell, in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on C-Span, suggested that his goal was to show that Americans are not willing to face the real cost of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. His message appeared to be that Democratic leaders were setting unrealistic legislative goals.
"I sincerely doubt that the American people will be willing to pay what this is really going to cost them," said Mr. Dingell, whose committee will be drafting a broad bill on climate change this fall.
"I will be introducing in the next little bit a carbon tax bill, just to sort of see how people think about this," he continued. "When you see the criticism I get, I think you’ll see the answer to your question."
Mr. Dingell, you don't have to wait to get criticism. Only a real asshole would come up with a plan like this. A real asshole.
In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Dingell the west is suffering from record heat, Los Angeles had the least rainfall in recorded history last year and Pakistan has been hit by record flooding. And they were lucky. The first category 5 cyclone ever observed in the northern Indian Ocean lost strength at sea well before landfall. And it has been kind of soggy in Texas, but that could just be weather, right?
Have you looked at the weather forecasts Mr Dingell? Hot and getting hotter. We're not talking normal summer heat in the west. We're talking record setting heat. This summer.
If Los Angeles has another year like the last one, they will be more concerned about water than the price of gas. Over the long term, the whole western US is at risk from unprecedented drought caused by global warming.
You see, Mr. Dingell, the cool water off of California caused by the upwelling of cold deep water doesn't provide enough moisture to the atmosphere to support summer rains. But global warming causes the jet stream to move north so that California is dry in the winter. Global warming will cause desertification across the subtropical belts, including southern California.
I'm afraid we are literally going to global warming caused Hell in this country and that many Democrats aren't doing a damn thing to stop it. Don't believe me?
Many economists like the idea of a carbon tax, saying that it would be simple to administer and could profoundly affect energy choices.
But most Democrats are staunchly opposed, saying that a tax would raise the costs of travel, commuting and heating and cooling homes, and that it would be wildly unpopular at a time when voters are already angry about high energy costs. Republicans, they said, would seize on any such proposal as proof that Democrats were bent on raising taxes and increasing the size of government.
Al Gore has an answer to the complaints about costs. Replace the regressive payroll taxes with a carbon tax. That way the average person pays the same amount of taxes but has incentives to use less fossil fuel.
It's past time that the Democrats stop behaving like jerks and follow the leadership of Al Gore, the politician that gets it. Taxes and fuel costs are minor details compared to water, food and a habitable planet.