Actually there is more than one Senator from Exxon, but for the moment lets give that title to Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (f/k/a Sarah Palinland) who knows a good publicity stunt when she sees one led a brazen Republican Senatorial rush to sign their names as co-sponsors of a bill to ban the EPA from regulating carbon emissions.
The agency has declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to be a threat to human health and the environment and is moving to write regulations to restrict emissions from vehicles, power plants and other major sources. The action could impose significant costs on the economy but would also rein in production of the heat-trapping gases that most scientists link to worrisome changes in the global climate.
“Make no mistake,” Ms. Murkowski said in a floor statement, “if Congress allows this to happen there will be severe consequences.” She said businesses would be forced to close or move overseas, domestic energy production would be curtailed, housing would become more expensive and agricultural costs would rise.
Yes, regulating greenhouse gases will cause big business to move overseas. And how sad, that domestic oil production would be curtailed. And housing prices would shoot through the roof (wouldn’t that make all those folks with homes worth less than their mortgage debt happy, though?)!
Note to Lisa Murkowski: if you’re going to tell lies, at least make them believable lies. For one, Oil companies are already shipping jobs overseas.
Major oil companies including Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP have been cutting jobs, capital spending budgets and other costs in response to the global economic downturn that has sapped demand for petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel.
And it’s nothing new for multinational companies to move U.S. jobs to lower-wage countries to save on labor costs.
Gee, I wonder why Republicans can’t seem to work in a bipartisan fashion to create more jobs, especially in a way that would help our environment and move our country forward to help America become the leader of the the 21st century’s new wave of green technologies?
“There is no disagreement that it would be better than E.P.A. regulation for Congress to pass bipartisan comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that creates jobs, improves our energy security and invests in making our economy and businesses more efficient and globally competitive,” [Harry Reid’s] aide, Jim Manley, said. “But, thus far, very few Republicans have shown any willingness to work with us to get that done.”
Why am I not shocked by that statement? (Except for a few dunces in the Obama administration that was a rhetorical question, my friends).
But hey, Lisa, at least you have a lot a fans where it counts: among the people who can now spread their money around use their God given free speech rights to help needy politicians like you, for example.
Her effort was applauded by a broad swath of industry, agriculture and energy lobbies, which fear the prospect of what they consider capricious and heavy-handed regulation by the E.P.A.
Welcome to the first round of the 2010 election campaign, where saving the planet is the worst thing anyone can do, especially if you are a Democrat, because it means you hate babies, apple pie, the troops, jobs for “Real Americans” and America (not necessarily in that order). I can’t wait to see the TV ads Big Oil rolls out this year, can you? Much fun will be had by all.
