Posted on 12/04/2006 5:33:28 AM PST by Zakeet
Washington has no shortage of bullies, but even we can't quite believe an October 27 letter that Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe sent to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Its message: Start toeing the Senators' line on climate change, or else.
We reprint the full text of the letter here, so readers can see for themselves. But its essential point is that the two Senators believe global warming is a fact, and therefore all debate about the issue must stop and ExxonMobil should "end its dangerous support of the [global warming] 'deniers.' " Not only that, the company "should repudiate its climate change denial campaign and make public its funding history." And in extra penance for being "one of the world's largest carbon emitters," Exxon should spend that money on "global remediation efforts."
The Senators aren't dumb enough to risk an ethics inquiry by threatening specific consequences if Mr. Tillerson declines this offer he can't refuse. But in case the CEO doesn't understand his company's jeopardy, they add that "ExxonMobil and its partners in denial have manufactured controversy, sown doubt, and impeded progress with strategies all-too reminiscent of those used by the tobacco industry for so many years." (Our emphasis.) The Senators also graciously copied the Exxon board on their missive.
This is amazing stuff. On the one hand, the Senators say that everyone agrees on the facts and consequences of climate change. But at the same time they are so afraid of debate that they want Exxon to stop financing a doughty band of dissenters who can barely get their name in the paper. We respect the folks at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, but we didn't know until reading the Rockefeller-Snowe letter that they ran U.S. climate policy and led the mainstream media around by the nose, too. Congratulations.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Senators:
Your credibility is already shot for multiple reasons;
1) You don't understand science at all,
2) You don't care that you don't understand it, since the politics use to promote bad science is your own,
3) You don't understand economics and think the American people are equally stupid!
4) The oil companies don't pay any taxes, the taxes are simply passed on to the consumers,
5) The only impact taxes have on oil companies is to disincentivize exploration!
I would suggest that Exxon shut down its operations in West Virginia and Maine. Afterall, that would reduce greenhouse gases by almost 4% nationwide.
The only time any politician finds science useful is when that science supports some policy of principle followed by said politician. Politicians are the worst for exploiting selective science.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1748082/posts
Already posted.
Senator...on the other hand, go screw yourself
BTTT
I assume that Rockefeller is the senator from Exxon, anyway. But NY and Nj are in the tank to Exxon big time, too. This is just disinformation nitwits who think Bush is an oilman.
XOM should just move their Corporate HQs to Hong Kong to show these idiots once and for all.
"This is amazing stuff. On the one hand, the Senators say that everyone agrees on the facts and consequences of climate change. But at the same time they are so afraid of debate that they want Exxon ...."
Yep, note the words "climate change" instead of global warming. Even I have to agree there is going to be climate change.
We don't know what the weather will be next week. There is no sense of history here. My folks on the farm experienced several seasons of a series of dry and wet years on the farm.
I wish these filthy rich globalonies would come clean and just tell the American people by how much they plan to reduce their standard of living in the name of protecting the earth from global warming. The bottom line is that certain things will be taxed out of existence for some, while the rich blithely pay surcharges and life for them goes on as usual. There will no sacrifice on their part.
But hey...I am in fly over country [CO]. Who am I?
It makes one wonder how much CO2 emissions would be reduced if all that assinine bloviation were eliminated.
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