Earth To Connecticut Legislators: The Sky Isn't Falling! by Tim Siggia

Earth To Connecticut Legislators:

The Sky Isn't Falling!

By Tim Siggia

May 08, 2008

"He who would trade his freedom for security deserves neither freedom nor security." - Benjamin Franklin

It seems some things are axiomatic, and one of those truisms is that for every politically correct liberal bandwagon that comes down the road, we can always count on Connecticut's legislature not only to be onboard, but to be the entire trumpet section. So it is with the much overstated global warming controversy, in which the legislature has passed a bill committing $500,000 yearly to cut "greenhouse emissions" that supposedly contribute to global warming. This bill would be largely paid for, say the legislators, by DMV funds committed to the same end. So where do they suppose those funds come from? The bill passed the State House overwhelmingly, and the Senate unanimously -- which goes to illustrate just how much difference there really is between the political parties in Connecticut. Now it is up to Governor Rell to either enact the bill or veto it. Given her past inclinations, would anyone care to give an educated guess on which way she'll go?

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant on this same subject, so much of what I say here may be repetitive. Since the odds are against that letter being published, however, I will say it all again since the only ones to see it the first time would most likely be myself and Lew Bresee, the Courant's letters editor. There seems to be a double standard in effect when it comes to what ordinary citizens do and what politicians do. If any of us, for example, were to pull the handle on a fire alarm box where there isn't any fire, we could be fined or even sent to jail for turning in a false alarm. But when former U. S, senator and vice president Al Gore sounds the global fire alarm, and says the whole planet is going to burn up unless we all do as he says (but not necessarily as he does), he gets critical acclaim, Oscars, and Nobel Peace Prizes. Gore, of course, is not the only self-ordained environmental "expert" out there trying to tell us the sky is falling. He has plenty of company, and it's more than just mere coincidence that nearly all of them are of the same political stripe.

As are so many others, Connecticut's legislators are acting on a false premise: that the alleged phenomenon of man-made global warming is a proven scientific fact. It is not. As many of us are well aware, there are at least as many logical arguments against the global warming theory as there are in support of it. It can best be described as 5 percent science and 95 percent politics, and all the current brouhaha about man-made global warming is in all likelihood much ado about nothing. Recent studies, in fact, indicate that during the past two years the earth's temperature has actually cooled, not warmed. Incredibly, the global-warming proponents argue that this too is the result of global warming! It's enough to make the rest of us wonder which planet those who would "save the planet" are talking about! Yet these are the people our legislators -- and, sad to say, many of their colleagues in the U. S. House and Senate -- are listening to. And because they listened to these quacks, look where we are today.

Because we listened to self-styled environmental experts, we have curtailed all domestic exploration for petroleum, and have neither built any new refineries nor improved any existing ones in the last 20 years. The result? Today we are at the mercy of Canada, Mexico, and the OPEC nations to provide us the oil we once provided for ourselves. Then we wonder why we're paying over $3.70 a gallon for regular gasoline, and that's the bottom price. Because we listened to self-styled environmental experts, we became convinced that it was necessary to turn to alternative fuel sources such as corn-based ethanol, instead of sticking with what was already proven to work. The result? The price of corn and other food commodities has been artificially driven up. Because we in Connecticut listened to self-styled environmental experts, we no longer produce our own electricity, but must import it from our neighboring states, making us dependent upon them where we were once independent. The result? Has anyone looked at his electric bill lately, and compared it with what it once was? There was one celebrated instance in which we did not listen to self-styled environmental experts. That was some 30 years ago, when they tried to tell us the Alaska pipeline could not be built because it would threaten the Alaska caribou. For once, common sense prevailed, and the pipeline was built -- and the caribou, which were supposed to be harmed by this, thrived!

Now, once again, Connecticut's legislators are listening to the self-styled environmental experts and marching to their drumbeat. Know why? It has nothing to do with the environment. Our legislators know full well that our efforts to cut so-called greenhouse emissions won't amount to diddly if others aren't doing likewise. Furthermore, if they did just a little more research on the subject from sources other than Al Gore & Co., they might just learn that the earth goes through periodic episodes of warming and cooling, and has done so since the days of the dinosaurs. But it isn't really about that at all. What it is really all about is empowering government and taking away our freedom and independence. In just about every instance where we have listened to self-styled environmental experts, we have exchanged independence for dependence, and had restrictions put on our personal freedom. I, for example, do not own an SUV, nor do I intend to buy one. But in my case, it's a matter of personal choice, and I appreciate the fact that had I chosen to buy an SUV instead of a 4-door sedan, I would have been free to do so. The self-styled environmental experts, however, are of a totally different mindset. Does no one find it curious that the "environmentalists" of today have pretty much not only taken the place of yesterday's communists, but in a good many instances are in fact the very same people?

All of this puts Governor M. Jodi Rell in the hotseat. The legislature has shown where it stands, now it is up to her to either confirm their wishes or, hopefully, to for once allow common sense to override liberal doctrine and political correctness. We do not need this measure, plain and simple. It will serve only to not only drive up our cost of living, but to even further restrict the liberty our country is supposed to stand for. Remember what Benjamin Franklin said on that subject. Governor Rell, where are you on this?

Please call Governor Rell today and tell her the sky isn't falling!

Governor's Office: (860) 566-4840 or (800) 406-1527

E-mail: Governor.Rell@po.state.ct.us

(For more information including Global Warming talking points please download energy08.pdf.)