PoliticalAction.com Blog

So, far this year the U.S. Forest Service has spent $967 million fighting wildfires. They have been forced to divert $600 million from timber and recreation to aid the fire fighting budget.

“I recognize that this direction will have significant effects on the public whom we serve and on our many valuable partners, as well as agency operations, target accomplishments and performance,” Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell wrote. “I regret that we have to take this action and fully understand that it only increases costs and reduces efficiency.”

So far this year there have been over 33,000 fires that have burned more than 5,300 square miles.

Many people question whether the government should be spending any money fighting fires.

“The Forest Service, when it lobbied for the FLAME Act, said, `Look, if you give us this reserve fund for large fires, we won’t need to raid other parts of our budget,”‘ said Andy Stahl, director of the watchdog group Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. “The Forest Service instead used up the FLAME money and is now using other parts of its budget. That is giving the agency a blank check and it just keeps putting more zeros on it.”

President Obama lays out his vision for the steps we need to take to prepare our country for the impacts of climate change and lead the global effort to fight it. In the video below, he describes why this is the time to take action.

Learn more about climate change and global warming.

For many years, the United States government has been in denial about global warming; however, a new study mandated by congress, National Climate Assessment and Development Climate Assessment, highlights the impact of global warming on health, infrastructure, water supply, agriculture and in particular more volatile weather.

1. Global climate is changing now and this change is apparent across a wide range of observations. Much of the climate change of the past 50 years is primarily due to human activities.
2. Global climate is projected to continue to change over this century and beyond. The magnitude of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally, and how sensitive the climate is to those emissions.
3. U.S. average temperature has increased by about 1.5°F since record keeping began in 1895; more than 80% of this increase has occurred since 1980. The most recent decade was the nation’s warmest on record. U.S. temperatures are expected to continue to rise. Because human-induced warming is superimposed on a naturally varying climate, the temperature rise has not been, and will not be, smooth across the country or over time.
4. The length of the frost-free season (and the corresponding growing season) has been increasing nationally since the 1980s, with the largest increases occurring in the western U.S., affecting ecosystems and agriculture. Continued lengthening of the growing season across the U.S. is projected.
5. Precipitation averaged over the entire U.S. has increased during the period since 1900, but regionally some areas have had increases greater than the national average, and some areas have had decreases. The largest increases have been in the Midwest, southern Great Plains, and Northeast. Portions of the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Rocky Mountain states have experienced decreases. More winter and spring precipitation is projected for the northern U.S., and less for the Southwest, over this century.
6. Heavy downpours are increasing in most regions of the U.S., especially over the last three to five decades. Largest increases are in the Midwest and Northeast. Further increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events are projected for most U.S. areas.
7. Certain types of extreme weather events have become more frequent and intense, including heat waves, floods, and droughts in some regions. The increased intensity of heat waves has been most prevalent in the western parts of the country, while the intensity of flooding events has been more prevalent over the eastern parts. Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense in the future.
8. There has been an increase in the overall strength of hurricanes and in the number of strong (Category 4 and 5) hurricanes in the North Atlantic since the early 1980s. The intensity of the strongest hurricanes is projected to continue to increase as the oceans continue to warm; ocean cycles will also affect the amount of warming at any given time. With regard to other types of storms that affect the U.S., winter storms have increased slightly in frequency and intensity, and their tracks have shifted northward over the U.S. Other trends in severe storms, including the numbers of hurricanes and the intensity and frequency of tornadoes, hail, and damaging thunderstorm winds are uncertain and are being studied intensively.
9. Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100.
10. Rising temperatures are reducing ice volume and extent on land, lakes, and sea. This loss of ice is expected to continue.
11. The oceans are currently absorbing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere annually and are becoming more acidic as a result, leading to concerns about potential impacts on marine ecosystems.

Fred Krupp President of the Environmental Defense Fund wrote, “Congratulations to President Obama on his re-election to a second term, and to all of those who will be serving in the 113th Congress. We look forward to working with them to solve our country’s most pressing environmental problems, including global climate change. As the President declared last night, ‘we want our children to live in an America … that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.’

Previously, Nat Keohane Vice President of the EDF, stated, “…The magnitude and urgency of the challenge have not diminished. If we needed any reminder of that fact, Hurricane Sandy should have provided it—especially coming on the heels of devastating drought, record-breaking temperatures through the spring and summer, and a record low in the extent of Arctic sea ice.

“…Addressing global warming will be politically challenging—but presidents are not elected to do the easy things, and political realities are not set in stone. The first step to tackling climate change is to start talking about it, not just once in a while but routinely, as a fact of life rather than a special-interest issue.

“The next president must build public understanding of the issue, connecting the dots between our own actions and the extreme weather we are already seeing. He must engage folks from across the political spectrum on the possible solutions. And he must be willing to spend political capital to get something done.”
“Exit polls confirm that for millions of American voters, Hurricane Sandy and climate change were decisive factors in this election. As the historic storm just reminded us, we have no time to waste; we must get serious about climate solutions in order to protect our loved ones and communities from terrible impacts — extreme weather disasters, droughts, heat waves, and other dangerous consequences of global warming. Especially in the wake of Sandy, which demonstrated that doing nothing about climate change is much costlier than taking action, this issue clearly should be a top priority for our leaders in government.”

Reference: Global Warming Has Caused Irreparable Damage

by the New York Times

A Non-Issue in Campaign

During the 2012 presidential campaign, neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, spoke much about climate change, despite the fact that both men agree that the world is warming and that humans are at least partly to blame. None of the moderators of the four general-election debates asked about climate change, nor did any of the candidates broach the topic.

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney have seemed most intent on trying to outdo each other as lovers of coal, oil and natural gas — the very fuels most responsible for rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Mr. Obama has supported broad climate change legislation, financed extensive clean energy projects and pushed new regulations to reduce global warming emissions from cars and power plants. But neither he nor Mr. Romney has laid out during the campaign a legislative or regulatory program to address the fundamental questions arising from one of the most vexing economic, environmental, political and humanitarian issues to face the planet

As governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney considered joining a regional cap-and-trade system, then abandoned it because of uncertainty over costs. He has opposed Mr. Obama’s steps to regulate emissions from power plants and vehicles. He has said he would reverse Mr. Obama’s air quality regulations and would renegotiate the auto efficiency standard of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 that automakers agreed to this year.

ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. Warnings from the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide jumped by the largest amount on record in 2010, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery. Emissions rose 5.9 percent in 2010, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists. The increase solidified a trend of ever-rising emissions that scientists fear will make it difficult, if not impossible, to forestall severe climate change in coming decades.

However, the technological, economic and political issues that have to be resolved before a concerted worldwide effort to reduce emissions can begin have gotten no simpler, particularly in the face of a global economic slowdown.

For almost two decades, the United Nations has sponsored annual global talks, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty signed by 194 countries to cooperatively discuss global climate change and its impact. The conferences operate on the principle of consensus, meaning that any of the participating nations can hold up an agreement.

The conflicts and controversies discussed are monotonously familiar: the differing obligations of industrialized and developing nations, the question of who will pay to help poor nations adapt, the urgency of protecting tropical forests and the need to rapidly develop and deploy clean energy technology.

But the meetings have often ended in disillusionment, with incremental political progress but little real impact on the climate. The negotiating process itself has come under fire from some quarters, including the poorest nations who believe their needs are being neglected in the fight among the major economic powers. Criticism has also come from a small but vocal band of climate-change skeptics, many of them members of the United States Congress, who doubt the existence of human influence on the climate and ridicule international efforts to deal with it.

We are ONE MONTH AWAY FROM DISASTER!!
Right now, we must SEIZE THE MOMENT!
December’s Climate Treaty is nearly here, and even though those who respect and honor the free enterprise system in the United States have made tremendous strides and even some victories, even still . . .

THE STAGE IS SET IN COPENHAGEN FOR THE . . . . .
WORLD CLIMATE ORDER!!
This is where I need your help IMMEDIATELY!

YOU CAN HALT THE OBAMA “GREEN EXPRESS” IN COPENHAGEN!
FAX Obama And All 100 Senators – STOP Obama’s CLIMATE TREATY! https://secure.conservativedonations.com/cdfe_greentreaty/?a=3253

Through your fax blasts and your giving, the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (CDFE) can greatly assist the disruption of such a disastrous decision! If Obama, Al Gore, and their cronies have their way, we will be ratifying this “greenhouse debacle” within days.

STOP THE COPENHAGEN GREEN WORLD ORDER!

We have prepared special faxes (see below) to be sent to President Obama and every Member of Congress. Let’s put the brakes on this very bad blow to our American free enterprise system. Will you assist the CDFE today?

All the G20 nations know perfectly well that “adaptation” to global warming would destroy their economies! It is my hope that someone, anyone who is a key insider adviser to President Obama, will let him know!

The last United Nations negotiating session before next month’s Copenhagen summit on climate change has ended in Spain, yet there is no agreement yet. There is still a change for good to win over evil.

Unfortunately, most Americans are uninformed about this climate change issue. You see, that is one of the main reasons why we exist—to use research and education to PROPERLY INFORM Americans on these free enterprise matters. Unfortunately, this treaty is a matter of life and death to us as a sovereign nation. In 1776 the United States was formed as a completely sovereign nation.

We must do everything within our power
to keep that sovereignty!!
This takeover of our sovereignty amounts to real TREASON!!

The Copenhagen Climate Treaty has two basic objectives:
* Prescribe energy use and consumption to the “haves”!!
* Shift wealth from the “haves” to the “have nots”!!
The accomplishment of these two objectives amounts to outright socialism at best – and global totalitarianism at worst. Both are NOT a win-win!!

Obama stands ready to sign the treaty!

That’s why our Senators must hear from us right away!

YOU CAN HALT THE OBAMA “GREEN EXPRESS” IN COPENHAGEN!
FAX Obama And All 100 Senators – STOP Obama’s CLIMATE TREATY! https://secure.conservativedonations.com/cdfe_greentreaty/?a=3253

Copenhagen can lead to a significant political agreement, but if it happens it will be a major disaster for the developed world, with the United States the biggest loser, since it would bankrupt the nation to bribe poor countries into surrendering their own development.

Insiders at the negotiating session in Spain said the missing ingredient – even more than the absence of agreement on targets, money and technology – was trust.

But treaty organizers are determined to have it pass. And with the help of our U. S. Senators and President Obama, it will! Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said at the close of the Spain session, “There will be a deal in Copenhagen, that’s quite clear. We won’t solve the problem in Copenhagen, but there will be progress.”

It is up to you and I to STOP THAT PROGRESS!

Part of the Copenhagen Climate Treaty unbelievably reads: “Industrialized countries have a dual obligation under the Treaty, representing their overall responsibility for keeping the world within limits of the global carbon budget and ensuring that adaption to the impacts of climate change is possible for the most vulnerable.

THIS DUAL BINDING OBLIGATION TAKES THE FORM OF EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS AS WELL AS THE PROVISION OF SUPPORT TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.”

Yes, that means we are giving away a part of our great country’s sovereignty!

If all elements of the Treaty (which hardly anyone knows a lot about!!) were to be voted in place, this December, it would establish a GLOBAL GOVERNMENT for the first time in history!!

This tyranny must come to a screeching HALT!

It is time for YOU to choose: tyranny or freedom?

YOU CAN HALT THE OBAMA “GREEN EXPRESS” IN COPENHAGEN!
FAX Obama And All 100 Senators – STOP Obama’s CLIMATE TREATY! https://secure.conservativedonations.com/cdfe_greentreaty/?a=3253

Here is precisely how this Copenhagen Climate Treaty will adversely affect you:
* Double digit inflation as a result of all goods and materials becoming much more expensive
* Raise the deficit through increased borrowing by our Treasury
* Transfer economic growth and profits from the United States to lesser-prepared countries
* Delay the recovery of the United States, which will affect EVERY SEGMENT of our society
* Increased U. S. manufacturing job loss through new cap and trade laws
* Be even more in debt to communist China
* Increase your state and federal taxes
* Regulation of personal spending on energy by law and high prices
* Move away from the U.S. Dollar to a One-World currency
* Increased costs per gallon of gas
THE LIST GOES ON AND ON!

And yet, too few Americans have ever researched this subject at all! Or, they’ve seen Al Gore interviewed on some television program; and believe all the “doom and gloom” that he professes.

You thought that Obama’s “Healthcare Reform” was the most important issue. Lord knows, we’ve lived through all the debates these past few months—and months to come! YET&..

If we do not stand firm against Obama and the U. S. Senate ratifying this Copenhagen Treaty, YOU may be enslaved to a new Green World Order!

This will not wait until someone else is president. This will not even wait until the elections of 2010. We are facing devastation next month!

YOU CAN HALT THE OBAMA “GREEN EXPRESS” IN COPENHAGEN!
FAX Obama And All 100 Senators – STOP Obama’s CLIMATE TREATY! https://secure.conservativedonations.com/cdfe_greentreaty/?a=3253

Let your voice, fax and check book be heard!

NO MORE SOVEREIGNTY SUICIDE!!
Even though President Obama pledged his allegiance to uphold the Constitution at his inauguration, his actions have not meshed with what can happen, literally, next month!

The U. S. Constitution dictates that treaty ratification must have approval votes by a TWO-THIRDS majority in the U. S. Senate.

Please join us in this SOVEREIGNTY SUICIDE STRUGGLE!

Act now! Don’t delay.

We will be looking for your urgent fax to the President and every U. S. Senator.

The nation you save will be your own.

Sincerely,

Ron Arnold
Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise
www.cdfe.org

P. S. I cannot underscore how important this issue really is. Do not let our President or our Senators SELL US OUT under the mis-guidance of helping other under-developed countries. Sure, we have compassion for others less fortunate, but NOT at the expense of losing our sovereignty.

YOU CAN HALT THE OBAMA “GREEN EXPRESS” IN COPENHAGEN!
FAX Obama And All 100 Senators – STOP Obama’s CLIMATE TREATY! https://secure.conservativedonations.com/cdfe_greentreaty/?a=3253

Or SEND your donation to:

Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise
Dept Code – 3253
12500 NE 10th Place
Bellevue, WA 98005

The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise is a non-partisan education and research organization which works on free enterprise studies, public policy research, book publishing, conferences, white papers, and media outreach. We are a tax-exempt educational organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Tax Code. The Center was founded in 1976 and has been exempt since 1977. The Center does not seek or accept government funds. Contributions to the Center are tax deductible.

Richard Morrison
Competitive Enterprise Institute
June 29, 2009

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is today making public an internal study on climate science which was suppressed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Internal EPA email messages, released by CEI earlier in the week, indicate that the report was kept under wraps and its author silenced because of pressure to support the Administration’s agenda of regulating carbon dioxide.

The report finds that EPA, by adopting the United Nations’ 2007 “Fourth Assessment” report, is relying on outdated research and is ignoring major new developments. Those developments include a continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that future hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.

New data also indicate that ocean cycles are probably the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, and that reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases. All of this demonstrates EPA should independently analyze the science, rather than just adopt the conclusions of outside organizations.

The released report is a draft version, prepared under EPA’s unusually short internal review schedule, and thus may contain inaccuracies which were corrected in the final report.

“While we hoped that EPA would release the final report, we’re tired of waiting for this agency to become transparent, even though its Administrator has been talking transparency since she took office. So we are releasing a draft version of the report ourselves, today,” said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman.cll