Comments on: "Optimistic" Obama Distances Himself from "Malthusian, woe, Chicken Little, the earth is falling" http://www.masterresource.org/2009/03/optimistic-obama-distances-himself-from-malthusian-woe-chicken-little-the-earth-is-falling/ A free-market energy blog Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:41:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Charles Battig http://www.masterresource.org/2009/03/optimistic-obama-distances-himself-from-malthusian-woe-chicken-little-the-earth-is-falling/comment-page-1/#comment-811 Charles Battig Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:33:34 +0000 http://masterresource.org/?p=1527#comment-811 I fear that your excellent exhortations for a scientifically rational and cost effective approach by industry i.e."corporate responsibility" have fallen on mostly deaf corporate ears. I hope that I am proved wrong. Industry in general has figured out how to game the political/environmentalism system to their profit. I see it as "Green Fascisim". Get the government, at any level, to write legislation jointly with industry inputs overtly favoring climate change mitigation. Corporations are then in competition with each other to gain an individual advantage in the formulation of political policy relating to climate change. For example, greater energy efficiency levels mandated by legislative edict are a bonanza to industries that help set the levels. The public is effectively forced to upgrade by a concurrent increase in government mandated energy cost. As you state , it is a business matter, but it seems that business is all that matters. The government reaps its "reward" from this collusion process by the imposition of taxes to drive both industry and consumer into compliance with its own goals. The Obama administration is already treating energy taxes via "tax and charades" as just another revenue source. Once such a tax spigot is opened by the politicians, it is just about impossible to close. The issue of climate change impacts has served its purpose as an initial rallying point to all the groups that you mention. They have all moved on to the next step of making money out of it. The true science of climate change is no longer needed by these parties. Again, I hope that I am wrong. I fear that your excellent exhortations for a scientifically rational and cost effective approach by industry i.e.”corporate responsibility” have fallen on mostly deaf corporate ears. I hope that I am proved wrong.

Industry in general has figured out how to game the political/environmentalism system to their profit. I see it as “Green Fascisim”.

Get the government, at any level, to write legislation jointly with industry inputs overtly favoring climate change mitigation. Corporations are then in competition with each other to gain an individual advantage in the formulation of political policy relating to climate change. For example, greater energy efficiency levels mandated by legislative edict are a bonanza to industries that help set the levels. The public is effectively forced to upgrade by a concurrent increase in government mandated energy cost. As you state , it is a business matter, but it seems that business is all that matters.

The government reaps its “reward” from this collusion process by the imposition of taxes to drive both industry and consumer into compliance with its own goals. The Obama administration is already treating energy taxes via “tax and charades” as just another revenue source. Once such a tax spigot is opened by the politicians, it is just about impossible to close.

The issue of climate change impacts has served its purpose as an initial rallying point to all the groups that you mention. They have all moved on to the next step of making money out of it. The true science of climate change is no longer needed by these parties.

Again, I hope that I am wrong.

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