From William Happer and Harrison Schmitt at the once-but-no-longer respectable newspaper known as the Wall Street Journal…
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For most plants, and for the animals and humans that use them, more carbon dioxide, far from being a “pollutant” in need of reduction, would be a benefit.
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Nowadays, in an age of rising population and scarcities of food and water in some regions, it’s a wonder that humanitarians aren’t clamoring for more atmospheric carbon dioxide. Instead, some are denouncing it.
If you have no idea why the nonsense above — beloved by the fossil-fuel industry, assuredly, but embarrassingly shameful when offered in an op-ed by the WSJ — is “dangerously wrong,” as Phil Plait at Slate describes it, see his response to it, which begins like this…
After reading dozens, hundreds, of such mind-numbing articles, I think we’ve found a winner. One that is so sweepingly wrong and based on such a ridiculous premise that it’s weapons-grade denial.
Plait’s response is worth reading in full if you are unclear on any aspect of the issues here about which the WSJ — now owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp — is hoping to hoax you in support of doing nothing to fight climate change. But this particular passage of his is particularly on point: “They claim that CO2 is just a natural and ‘harmless byproduct of nature’, which is bonkers; try living on Venus to see why.”
BUDGET BRIEFER
2014 BUDGET
EXPENDITURES-(3777 Billion)
Social Security-Unemployment-Labor-33%
Medicare-Health Care—25%
Military—17%
Interest 5%
Vet Benefits-4%
Transportation—4%
Food-Agriculture—4%
Housing-2%
Education- 2%
Energy % Environment-1%
International Affairs-1%
Service-1%
Government 1%
REVENUE—(3033 Billlion)
Individual Income Tax-46%
Payroll Tax—34%
Corporate—11%
Misc 5%
Excise—3%
Custom duties—1%
Deficit-744 Billion—(2008 Budget last one under 1000B Deficit)
Recall fuss over Bush not budgeting two wars? 20143 Budget does not include Afghan War funding
Why cannot we pay our way with a 14,000B Income and 3777 outlays? Simple. Most of Income is at top and they have power ($$$$) to control Congress. Yes! They pay Most but lesser part (%) of income.
Source:OMB.GOV
Interesting that the threat to humanity’s survival posed by carbon-based global climate change is preceded by the death of meaningful journalism that accompanies acquisition of both print and electronic media by right wing billionaires.
What we are seeing today emerging from the pages of the Wall Street Journal is what we will see emerge from the pages of Los Angeles Times if the Koch brothers succeed in their quest to acquire the Tribune Company.
Oh, and Mr. Swinney @1, your right-wing deficit hawk mumblings are off topic and economically ill-timed.
You might try reading End This Depression Now by Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman.
Sad to say a lot of the denial is not a choice by the believer, it is a mental disorder known as dissociation.
We have had our share of visionaries who we have ignored at our peril:
(MOMCOM’s Dissociation). Some of our most revered are the ones who unwittingly brought this on us (The Universal Smedley).
We passed 400 PPM at a dangerously high rate of speed, a place that is ~90% toward the point of no return (~450 ppm) … the place where the bridge to the future is out.
This is not just “weapons grade” denialism, but “weapon of mass destruction” denialism!
Wonder how Princeton students will respond to Happer’s claptrap. One can only hope they will give him tons of shit. Require accountability for being suicidally stupid.