Read Liberty and Tyranny Online
Authors: Mark R. Levin
Liberty and Tyranny (15 page)
How would this be policed?
The federal government would need to create a vast IRS-type bureaucracy to set allowance levels and process permits, collect data, monitor and audit compliance, investigate alleged violations, and ultimately enforce emission standards and levels through penalties, fines, and litigation. Every company that uses fossil fuels and emits carbon dioxide would likely be affected. Individual companies and entire industries would be at the mercy of the federal government’s arbitrary determinations. And since the government’s role will be the enforcement of its own emission rules and regulations—since there would be no bureaucracy serving as a counterweight, promoting economic growth and free markets—it would be little concerned with the economic consequences of its decisions. Indeed, the stringency of the emission standards would never permit a net excess of emission allowances to offset the amount of emission overages, because to do so would defeat the purpose of the scheme. For individual companies, buying excess carbon emissions would become extremely expensive, resulting in part from price competition. They might be required to reduce production and output, go out of business altogether if their profit margins are tight, or relocate abroad to avoid the emission standards. The jobs lost, wealth destroyed, progress stymied, and resources diverted are of minor import to the Enviro-Statist, who is in a rush to adopt the cap-and-trade scheme.
The Heritage Foundation estimates that one of the more recent cap-and-trade proposals would result in cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses of at least $1.7 trillion and could reach $4.8 trillion by 2030; single-year GDP losses of at least $155 billion that realistically could exceed $500 billion; annual job losses exceeding 500,000 before 2030 and that could reach 1,000,000; and the average household paying $467 more each year for natural gas and electricity, or an additional $8,870 to purchase household energy over the period 2012 through 2030.
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Just how far would the Enviro-Statist push his man-made, global-warming, anti-carbon-dioxide agenda? Very far. British officials are considering the issuance of a “carbon ration card” to every adult. The card would be used when an individual pays for gasoline, household energy, or airline tickets. Each year, the government would allocate CO
2
credits—with penalties to those who exceed the allotted energy use.
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California is considering mandating the implementation of “programmable communicating thermostats,” or PCTs, in all new homes and new heating/air-conditioning units. The devices allow power authorities to remotely set the air-conditioning or heat levels in your home to a temperature they deem appropriate.
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And the EPA recently issued an “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” respecting greenhouse gas emissions from cars and “stationary sources,” which could one day include regulating and/or taxing methane emissions from livestock.
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But the coming invasion of the home and workplace, the restriction on individual liberty, independence, and mobility, and the deconstruction of America’s economic system and impoverishing of the citizenry are justified in the name of a long and growing roster of preposterous assertions that must be listed to be believed.
Dr. John Brignell, retired professor of industrial instrumentation at the University of Southampton in Britain, composed a list
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of alarmist claims in news reports that man-made global warming causes or has caused:
acne, agricultural land increase, Afghan poppies destroyed, Africa devastated, African aid threatened, Africa in conflict, aggressive weeds, air pressure changes, Alaska reshaped, allergies increase, Alps melting, Amazon a desert, American dream end, amphibians breeding earlier (or not), anaphylactic reactions to bee stings, ancient forests dramatically changed, animals head for the hills, Antarctic ice grows, Antarctic ice shrinks, Antarctic sea life at risk, anxiety treatment, algal blooms, archaeological sites threatened, Arctic bogs melt, Arctic in bloom, Arctic ice free, Arctic lakes disappear, Arctic tundra to burn, Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty, atmospheric circulation modified, attack of the killer jellyfish, avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, Baghdad snow, Bahrain under water, bananas grow, beer shortage, beetle infestation, better beer, big melt faster, billion dollar research projects, billion homeless, billions face risk, billions of deaths, bird distributions change, bird visitors drop, birds confused, birds return early, birds driven north, bittern boom ends, blackbirds stop singing, blizzards, blue mussels return, bluetongue, brains shrink, bridge collapse (Minneapolis), Britain Siberian, British gardens change, brothels struggle, brown Ireland, bubonic plague, budget increases, Buddhist temple threatened, building collapse, building season extension, bushfires, business opportunities, business risks, butterflies move north, camel deaths, cancer deaths in England, cannibalism, cataracts, caterpillar biomass shift, cave paintings threatened, childhood insomnia, Cholera, circumcision in decline, cirrus disappearance, civil unrest, cloud increase, cloud stripping, cockroach migration, coffee threatened, cold-climate creatures survive, cold spells (Australia), cold wave (India), computer models, conflict, conflict with Russia, coral bleaching, coral reefs dying, coral reefs grow, coral reefs shrink, cost of trillions, cougar attacks, cradle of civilization threatened, crime increase, crocodile sex, crops devastated, crumbling roads/buildings/sewage systems, cyclones (Australia), cyclones (Myanmar), danger to kids’ health, Darfur, death rate increase (US), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, depression, desert advance, desert retreat, disappearance of coastal cities, diseases move north, Dolomites collapse, ducks and geese decline, dust bowl in the corn belt, early marriages, early spring, earlier pollen season, Earth biodiversity crisis, Earth light dimming, Earth lopsided, Earth melting, Earth
morbid fever, Earth on fast track, Earth slowing down, Earth spins faster, Earth to explode, Earth upside down, Earth wobbling, earthquakes, El Niño intensification, erosion, emerging infections, encephalitis, English villages lost, equality threatened, Europe simultaneously baking and freezing, eutrophication, evolution accelerating, extinctions (human, civilization, logic, Inuit, smallest butterfly, cod, ladybirds, pikas, polar bears, gorillas, walrus, whales, frogs, toads, plants, salmon, trout, wildflowers, woodlice, penguins, a million species, half of all animal and plant species, mountain species, not polar bears, barrier reef, leaches), extreme changes to California, fading fall foliage, fainting, famine, farmers go under, fashion disaster, fever, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish sex change, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices soar, food security threat, footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi invasion, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, golf Masters wrecked, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, greening of the North Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late, HIV epidemic, HIV increasing, homeless 50 million, hornets, human development faces unprecedented reversal, human fertility reduced, human health improvement, hurricanes increasing, hurricanes decreasing, hydropower problems, hyperthermia deaths, ice sheet growth, ice sheet shrinkage, ice shelf collapse, inclement weather, India drowning, infrastructure failure (Canada), infectious diseases, inflation in China, insect explosion, Inuit displacement, Inuit poisoned, invasion of cats, invasion of herons, invasion of jellyfish, invasion of midges, island disappears, islands sinking, insurance increases,
itchier poison ivy, jets fall from sky, jet stream drifts north, kidney stones, kitten boom, krill decline, lake and stream productivity decline, lake empties, lake shrinking and growing, landslides, lawsuits increase, Loch Ness monster dead, lush growth in rain forests, malaria, mammoth dung melt, maple production advanced, maple syrup shortage, marine diseases, marine food chain decimated, Mediterranean rises, megacryometeors, melanoma, methane emissions from plants, methane burps, methane runaway, melting permafrost, Middle Kingdom convulses, migration, migration difficult (birds), microbes to decompose soil carbon more rapidly, minorities hit, monkeys on the move, Mont Blanc grows, monuments imperiled, moose dying, more bad air days, more raw sewage, mortality increased, mountain (Everest) shrinking, mountains break up, mountains melting, mountains taller, mortality lower, narwhals at risk, national security implications, natural disasters quadruple, new islands, next ice age, NFL threatened, Nile delta damaged, noctilucent clouds, oaks dying, oaks move north, ocean acidification, ocean deserts expand, ocean waves speed up, opera house to be destroyed, outdoor hockey threatened, ozone repair slowed, ozone rise, Pacific dead zone, pest outbreaks, pests increase, phenology shifts, plankton blooms, plankton destabilized, plankton loss, plant viruses, plants march north, polar bears aggressive, polar bears cannibalistic, polar bears drowning, polar bears starve, popcorn rise, porpoise astray, psychiatric illness, puffin decline, railroad tracks deformed, rainfall increase, rape wave, refugees, release of ancient frozen viruses, resorts disappear, rice threatened, rice yields crash, river flow impacted, rivers raised, roads wear out, robins rampant, rocky peaks crack apart, roof of the world a desert, Ross river disease, ruins ruined, salinity reduction, salinity increase, salmonella, satellites accelerate, school closures, sea level rise faster, seals mating more, sewer bills rise, severe thunderstorms, Tuatara sex change, sharks attacking, sharks booming, sharks moving north, sheep shrink, shop closures, short-nosed dogs endangered, shrinking ponds, shrinking shrine, ski resorts threatened, skin cancer, slow death, smaller brains, smog, snowfall increase, snowfall reduction, societal collapse, songbirds change eating habits, sour grapes, space problem, spiders invade Scotland, squid aggressive giants, squid population explosion, squirrels reproduce earlier,
storms wetter, storm water drains stressed, street crime to increase, suicide, swordfish in the Baltic, tectonic plate movement, teenage drinking, terrorism, threat to peace, ticks move northward (Sweden), tornado outbreak, tourism decrease, tourism increase, trade barriers, trade winds weakened, transportation threatened, tree foliage increase (UK), tree growth slowed, trees could return to Antarctic, trees in trouble, trees less colorful, trees more colorful, trees lush, tropics expansion, tropopause raised, truffle shortage, turtles crash, turtles lay earlier, vampire moths, Venice flooded, volcanic eruptions, walrus pups orphaned, walrus stampede, wars over water, wars sparked, wars threaten billions, water bills double, water supply unreliability, water scarcity (20% of increase), water stress, weather out of its mind, weather patterns awry, weeds, West Nile fever, whales move north, wheat yields crushed in Australia, wildfires, wind shift, wind reduced, wine—harm to Australian industry, wine industry damage (California), wine industry disaster (US), wine—more English, wine—German boon, wine—no more French, wine passé (Napa), winters in Britain colder, winter in Britain dead, witchcraft executions, wolves eat more moose, wolves eat less, workers laid off, world at war, world bankruptcy, world in crisis, world in flames, yellow fever
The Enviro-Statist’s agenda, like much of the Statist’s agenda, is increasingly immune from the popular will. In addition to creating and controlling much of the administrative state, the judiciary can usually be counted on to give the Statist’s policies legal sanction. Policy becomes the law and the law must be adhered to. Consequently, meaningful debate is, in fact, ended, compliance is mandated, and violators are punished.
Indeed, the Enviro-Statist has relied heavily on litigation to achieve his ends. As Case Western Reserve University Law School professor Jonathan Adler has noted, “To some environmental activists, ‘litigation is the most important thing the environmental movement has done’ since the 1970s. Most major federal environmental laws contain so-called citizen-suit provisions, which are actually limited to empowering environmental groups to bring lawsuits in the public’s name. As a result, environmental citizens’ suits are now ‘a central element of American environmental law.”
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The Sierra Club confers the William O. Douglas Award—named for one of the most egregiously activist Supreme Court justices ever—on those “who have made outstanding use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals.”
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And in 2007, in a case called
Massachusetts v. EPA,
the Supreme Court delivered the Enviro-Statist one of his biggest victories. Over the objections of the executive branch and without support from legislative history, a 5–4 majority of the Court, led by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, ruled that the Clean Air Act covered carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions from automobiles. Moreover, while the Court did not direct the EPA to regulate the emissions, it left the agency with no real alternative. So, five justices, trained not as scientists but lawyers, determined that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, which the government must regulate.
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Just like that, the Enviro-Statist position is now the law. The imposition of restrictive regulations and lawsuits against carbon dioxide “polluters” will now expand in ways that will resonate throughout the economy and society resulting from the dishonest application of law and science.