Government and some universities should offset carbon emissions and avert US consumer tax

The Guardian (UK), a self-declared left of center newspaper often cited by status quo pundits and wire services, featured a story on Friday about President Barack Obama’s refusal to restore President Jimmy Carter’s solar panels on the White House roof. The panels heated water for the kitchen.

Obama’s refusal is bizarre, considering his support for legislation to limit and tax carbon (Cap and Trade/HR 2454) and the fact the small business loan package (possibly HR 5297—Obama does not cite the bill he’s promoting) he’s touting is geared directly to energy tech and enviro-tech companies—those are two of the targeted industries in addition to others like photonics and digital media. Obama gives the impression the bill is some sort of boon to mom and pop businesses. It isn’t.

But our president’s refusal to go Carter on the panels set me to thinking. Obama has grown the federal employee roster to 2.15 million and thus far has no plans to downsize. How many buildings do the feds occupy? Imagine the size of the carbon footprint these employees create when they travel. Imagine the size of the carbon footprint politicos create when they gather in a locale like Copenhagen to commiserate on the damage the rest of us humans create when we exhale (Mass. vs. EPA).

Policy has a trickle down effect. Speaking in China, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave an idea what’s in store if the current leadership in Washington remains: “Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory…of how we are taking responsibility.” This was after energy adviser Steven Chu told us we should all paint our roofs white—that occurred after Chu said BP would save the world. And all that occurred after Americans elected a president who expressed a wish to see policy put in place that would send electricity rates skyrocketing.

So as a result of policy set forth by the Democrat Congress and by the Obama administration, I offer suggestions that will actually avert sacrifices on the part of the people. There are simple ways to limit American carbon emissions and we don’t have to tax Main Street to do it. Immediate action can be taken by the US government and the UN, exempting US law enforcement and the military because those two sectors actually do earn their keep.

Congress should write a resolution requiring:

•All non-defense federal government buildings set their thermostats at 78 degrees in warm weather and 65 degrees in cold weather. The Environmental Defense Agency should do without heating and cooling entirely unless extreme heat or cold occurs---to set an example for the rest of us after persuading the Supreme Court to, in essence, agree that when we exhale, we pollute.

•All universities receiving funding to study global warming (now called climate change) should do the same, in every building on campus.

•All government-related travel (except for military and defense) should be reduced by 50 percent.

•Climate change conferences should be conducted by teleconference. The technology exists and the group leading the charge to tax us  for carbons should set an example.

•The UN building in New York should be held to a rigorous standard like standards suggested for federal buildings.

•The White House should set a rigid standard as suggested for federal buildings. In addition, entertainment should be reduced by 50 percent—all those bodies create a huge carbon footprint especially when people dance and sing and consume large amounts of food and alcohol. As an aside, imagine the impact on Washington sewers!

•Any legislator voting for the House-passed Cap and Trade bill should have his thermostats set as suggested for federal buildings.

I could go on and on but I think you see where this is going. Tongue in cheek aside, it’s obvious the political class isn’t concerned about an Earth meltdown. The whole issue of climate change, a phenomenon in progress since Earth was formed, is nothing more than a means of removing wealth from private pockets to government coffers, and much of the time, those government coffers are not in the US but in other countries. Do what Democrats who voted for HR 2454 did not do—read the bill.

Leftwing policy always trickles down to you and me, and when it does, you can kiss your greenbacks and your liberty goodbye.


(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Sept. 12, 2010)