Published: September 19, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
Global Warming Peters Out on Navy Pier
Corporate welfare chieftans gather Monday
On September 22-24, hundreds of spokespersons for big corporations will gather on Chicago's Navy Pier to discuss how they can cash in on public worries about "global warming." The timing of the "Corporate Climate Response" event could hardly be worse for its sponsors.
Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute in Chicago, says, "More than 32,000 American scientists, including more than 10,000 with PhD's in their fields, have signed a petition circulated by the Oregon Institute for Science and Medicine that states in part, 'There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth'
"Two months ago, the U.S. Senate rejected a "cap-and-trade" bill when it became known that the legislation would cause an enormous increase in energy costs but would have no effect on the global climate. Most scientists now believe the effect of carbon dioxide on climate is too small to outweigh natural cycles.
"The Farmer's Almanac just announced the world is in for a long-term cooling trend. Global temperatures have been falling for at least the past eight years, and today are no warmer than they were when the false alarm was first sounded in 1988.
"The corporations sponsoring the Navy Pier event - including Exelon and Ford Motor Company - are begging for corporate welfare.
"Not content with making money the old fashioned way - by producing value for consumers - they want to manipulate government programs to take money from unwilling consumers. They are lobbying for laws that give them enormous subsidies, raise energy costs, and reduce consumer choices.
"Sometime in the past year or so, the 'global warming crisis' was cancelled. The corporations and environmental advocacy groups behind the 'Corporate Climate Response' event must not have received the memo."
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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