Posted by Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov 

In the News...  

The Edmond Sun 

Locals to protest climate change policies

Mark Schlachtenhaufen

November 30, 2010

Link to Article 

Some Edmond residents are heading to Cancun, not to escape Oklahoma’s seasonably cold winds, but to protest “hypocrisy” at the 2010 U.N. Climate Change Conference.

Stuart Jolly, of Edmond, director of the state’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a handful of Oklahomans and a total of 200 AFP representatives from across the country are converging on Cancun, part of the AFP’s Hot Air Tour, which is aimed at exposing the high cost of environmental alarmism, they said.

Jolly said carbon regulating policies, such as proposed cap-and-trade legislation, result in lost jobs, less freedom and higher taxes.

Oklahoma is an energy-producing state, and last year the state Legislature passed a non-binding resolution opposing the cap-and-trade proposal thus sending a message to Congress, Jolly said.

“Oklahomans don’t want to regulate carbon emissions, and yet Washington bureaucrats continue to run wild with taxpayer dollars,” he said. “At a time when Oklahoma taxpayers are struggling, the government should not be spending millions on the whims of radical environmentalists who hope to raise our taxes and regulate our lives.”

Regarding hypocrisy, Jolly said many government leaders talk about taking steps to reduce their carbon footprints. Many of the same leaders are flying down to the conference in private jets and renting all of the limos in the area.

“They’re telling us not to do it and doing the opposite,” Jolly said.

The AFP Oklahoma delegation will be busy while they are in Cancun defending pro-energy, pro-growth policies, Jolly said. AFP will have several press conferences and host a live Web case viewing event Thursday night in Tulsa featuring state Sen. Randy Brogdon.

University of Central Oklahoma student Sierra George, an Edmond North High School graduate, is part of the AFP contingency from Oklahoma. George said she was leaving early this morning from Oklahoma City and scheduled to be back Friday evening.

George said she does not support what the Obama administration is trying to do, and she is going to fight climate change hypocrisy and to stand up for pro-growth policies.

George said she has been volunteering with the AFP the past couple of years, and received AFP scholarship funds designated for educating individuals like herself, which will pay for her airfare.

“It’s a great organization,” she said.

EPA ENDANGERMENT FINDING

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, applauded AFP efforts, and said it is important that Americans know what’s going on in Cancun.

Last year’s conference in Copenhagen was the epic battle, and some key Obama administration officials attended. This year, few U.S. officials are going, and global warming critics are emboldened, Inhofe said.

“They’ve lost the battle on the science,” Inhofe said.

Meanwhile, the balance of power in Congress has shifted, and while cap-and-trade legislation may be dead the Obama administration will attempt to further related policy via regulation through Environmental Protection Agency endangerment findings.

In December 2009, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson signed two findings regarding greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.

In an “endangerment finding,” the administrator found that the current and projected concentrations of the six key well-mixed greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride — in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.

In a “cause or contribute finding,” the administrator found that the combined emissions of these gases from new motor vehicles and new engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution which threatens public health and welfare.

Earlier this month, the EPA finalized two rules that seek to address safety and emissions at sites where carbon dioxide is injected and stored underground to prevent global warming.

The rules were seen as a step toward widespread adoption of carbon capture and storage technology.

In July, the Obama administration proposed the Transport Rule, which would replace the Clean Air Interstate Rule when final. The Transport Rule would require significant reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions that cross state lines.

States in the eastern half of the country, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, would be covered by the Clean Air Interstate Rule. Under the Transport Rule, Oklahoma would be controlled for ozone only.

###