Wow My Globe Sure is Warm (O'Malley/Democrat Corruption)

With every do-gooder action there is an opposite reaction that is not necessarily equal in effect as the first action. I think Albert Einstein said that, and it applies very aptly to what Governor Martin O’Malley’s super secret climate change group is doing. First, for those that want a background on why the Climate Change Commission is so super secret, check out Mark Newgent’s reporting on how O’Malley sole sourced the development of the contract to his campaign supporters.

So Governor O’Malley is jumping on board the popular issue right now amongst liberals which is global warming. Al Gore recently won the Nobel peace prize because of his work in the field and the ambitious young O’Malley needs to burnish his credentials on the issue if he is going to move up. We all should remember him standing next to the solar panels that the previous administration installed in an attempt to claim how good alternative energy is, but Tom Pelton reports in to today’s Baltimore Sun on one appears to be political one upmanship on the issue.

California, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts have all decided to reduce green house gases by 80 percent by 2050. If O’Malley were to sign on to that, it wouldn’t get him noticed, he would just be following along with everyone else. But if he pushed it to 90%… wow, that’s “bold, visionary, courageous, valiant, gallant, intrepid and audacious leadership.”

In the “short term” the group recommends reducing the asses gases by 25% by 2025. Previous legislation puts the goal at a 15% reduction by 2015. So you give yourself 7 years for the first 15%, 10 years for the next 10%, and 25 years for the next 65%.

The reason for that breakdown is the same reason for “California Cars”. The cars specified under the California legislation that Maryland and a few other states have adopted do not exist yet. So the California lawmakers continue to push back the implementation, and in effect push back the Maryland implementation, but they still look like they are doing something noble, even if they don’t actually do anything.

But the other component of O’Malley’s climate change plan is the dangerous one. Yesterday the PSC was all over the news because they were predicting power outages and higher electricity rates if we do not add capacity. Guess what, most power plants cause greenhouse gas pollution. The “clean” sources of energy such as the wind power that they want to build off the shore of Ocean City or by the former State Democrat chair out in Western Maryland are great but we need to increase our power development by at least 30% just to meet current demands and reduce energy costs. Calvert Cliffs is attempting to build a second nuclear reactor at their facility, but at some point, that would be needed just to stand in for the retiring first reactor.

Maryland has an abundance of coal out in Western Maryland, the only problem is it has a higher level of sulfur than other coal so it costs more to use by installing specialized scrubbers. Coal power plants could supply the region with a significant amount of power and produce jobs for Western Maryland. Liquefied Natural Gas power plants could also be used in order to reduce the costs of energy in the region. The problem (amongst a few others in the case of LNG) is that these cause pollution. The dreaded greenhouse gases that O’Malley is targeting.

This is where Einstein’s theory comes in. The opposite reaction to O’Malley’s “cap and trade” program is going to be increased energy costs, lower supply, and less “blue collar” jobs for Maryland. It’s funny, I like to think that the union’s in this country pushed out half the manufacturing jobs and the environmentalists are pushing out the other half. What a coalition (get it, COALition) the Democratic Party has. Why would a power company build another generation facility in Maryland now that the State has increased taxes on power plants and is proposing to add fines on the facilities for providing electricity generation capacity to a state that badly needs it. Punishing companies through a “cap and trade” approach is one that is going to hurt the “hard working” citizens of Maryland through decreased jobs and higher electricity bills.

The reality is, the effects of man on global warming is debated. A Maryland environmental group released a report yesterday saying that because of global warming we are getting more severe rainstorms. Although, the response to that would be to point to the drought this past summer. It is also interesting to see that global warming, much like the issue of homelessness is one that only seems to come out during a Republican Administration. When Bill Clinton and Al Gore were in office, you didn’t hear about global warming or climate change task forces.

I will leave the merits of the argument of whether man has an impact on the climate change to David Keelan. All I can argue is that this legislation will have a detrimental impact on Maryland businesses and citizens.

Punishing companies through a “cap and trade” approach is one that is going to hurt the “hard working” citizens of Maryland through decreased jobs and higher electricity bills.

Yeah, but there are gonna be alot of ‘Carbon Traders’ getting rich on this scam and alot of revenue to the government largess.
After the Tech bust and now the housing bust, Carbon is the ‘next big thing’. At least until we can get some real sustainable renewable energy. Folks, this ain’t gonna be pretty.

speaking of Maryland, I got this:
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/457jcxov.asp?pg=1

Through the Roof!
Democrats fall in love with taxes again.
by Stephen Moore
12/17/2007, Volume 013, Issue 14
It wasn’t so long ago that politicians assured voters that they would “raise taxes only as a last resort,” as Michael Dukakis put it in 1988. When lawmakers did increase taxes, they would wring their hands and somberly declare how painful and distasteful this decision was. But nowadays in the Democratic party, raising taxes is regarded as a badge of honor and cause for celebration.

Consider the goings-on in Maryland. Three weeks ago Governor Martin O’Malley and the Democratic legislature in Annapolis passed a super-sized $1.3 billion tax increase. The package included higher income taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, computer taxes, tobacco taxes, and gas taxes. Pretty much anything that moves in the state got its taxes upped. It’s not just the largest tax hike in the state’s history but the first time in the history of the United States that a state has lifted its income tax, sales tax, and business tax all in the same year.

The mood in the state capital after the massive tax package was finally enacted at 2:00 A.M. November 19 was not grim, but joyous. The politicians and the entire House gallery, which was packed with lobbyists who figure to get a good chunk of these tax dollars, erupted in spontaneous and prolonged applause. The applause soon turned into a back-slapping standing ovation. One observer noted, “You would have thought the Baltimore Orioles had just won the World Series.” O’Malley had a grin on his face as large as the Baltimore harbor as he
raised his arms in triumph at the bill signing ceremony. E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post serenaded O’Malley as a Democrat who isn’t afraid of big government or raising taxes to fund it.

O’Malley is among a group of rising star Democrats in state capitals that seem to relish the opportunity to raise taxes—and not just on the rich. In Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle pushed a “universal” health care plan paid for with a 10 percent payroll tax surcharge levied on every working man and woman in the state. The measure would have made Milwaukee and Green Bay not just the highest-tax cities in the United States, but just about anywhere in the world outside of Sweden. Doyle is considered a “moderate” in the 21st-century Democratic party.

The entire “Global Warming” debate evolves from this quote 18 years ago, after the fall of the Soviet Bloc:

“We must embrace Environmentalism, for Socialism to survive”- Hans-Jochen Vogel, Chairman of the West German Social Democratic Party-1989

Gorbachev said in 1987 that ENVIRONMENTALISM would be the vehicle for Socialist control of the world.

The Religion of Climate Change is simply a vehicle to that end...

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