Michele Bachmann again--not accusing the Obama administration of Marxist conspiracy this time, but inviting a non-scientist Exxon beneficiary to make the case that man-made global warming is BS.
(continued)
April 10, 2009
Forum takes on cap-and-trade
Bachmann opposes plan to cut emissions
By Lawrence Schumacher
lschumacher@stcloudtimes.com
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann brought her opposition to President Obama’s plan to reduce carbon emissions to St. Cloud State University on Thursday, repeating a discredited claim about how much the plan would cost Minnesotans in the process.
...Among other reasons, she said it was because she believed it would cost each Minnesota family $2,500.
...One of the scientists involved has called the Republican estimate "nearly 10 times the correct estimate of $340" per year on average.
Bachmann introduced the crowd of about 400 to her expert--Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., free-market think tank that opposes cap-and-trade.
...Derek Larson, environmental studies program director at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University said "(Horner) is not a scientist and he’s misrepresenting everything. He’s coming from the CEI, which is funded by Exxon...And Rep. Bachmann is not interested in any dialogue, or she would have invited both perspectives on the issue."
Bachmann spent much of last summer calling for drilling for more oil in protected areas, including the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.
Bachmann took no questions from the audience Thursday and left the room without addressing requests to substantiate her claim.
The last is important. Local media here in Minnesota (including Minnesota Public Radio) had announced that this presentation by Bachmann was to be a "town hall meeting." That announcement took many local Bachmann watchers by surprise--because Bachmann does not "do" live town hall meetings anymore(ie, answering questions in a live forum from constituents that have not been pre-screened.) Instead, she's substituted "tele-town hall meetings", which allows her to screen the questions and the questioners before she agrees to answer. She gave up traditional "town hall meetings" a long time ago, and her most recent allegations of international socialist conspiracy and anti-Americanism in the White House and Congress indicate that she's not likely to be taking un-screened questions from citizens in the future.
Nonetheless, the official journalistic record will record this "no questions on this or any other topic I don't want to discuss" event--as a "town hall meeting." This kind of reporting by local media, where they take Bachmann at her word for what she will do, is part of the reason that this nut can represent my district.
The thing I'm curious about is: was Horner paid to make a presentation on behalf of the non-scientist, "Exxon sponsored view" of global warming and its causes? If so, who paid him? I hope it wasn't me, with taxpayer dollars. Because I know that Exxon has wheelbarrow fulls of money laying around the office that they can use to pay people to pimp for them.