The American Spectator

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This is the Climate Change philosophy that North Carolina is getting ready to adopt. NC State Legislatures are lining up behind each other and handing Governor Easley the ceremonial golden machete to start hacking into the Climate Change jungle with no specific attainable goal and tangle North Carolinians with higher fees and taxes that will provide little or no climate benefit for years to come.

Below are excerpts from an article written by a leading economist Dr. Roy Cordato of the John Locke Foundation a policy think tank in Raleigh, N.C.

"The climate change commission in North Carolina is considering 56 policy proposals developed by the Climate Action Plan Advisory Group. At the request of the John Locke Foundation, Beacon Hill Institute, the research arm of the economics department at Boston's Suffolk University, researchers tested eight of the proposed policies. Those tested include a cap-and-trade program for CO2 emissions, a surcharge for high-emission vehicles, a California-style vehicle emission standard, and mandates for utility companies to spend money on energy-efficiency and demand-management programs. "The Beacon Hill Institute details what it calls 'serious methodological flaws' in the documents used to justify these new tax hikes, artificial price increases, and increased restrictions of consumer freedom."

p>It doesn't matter what state or the level of government that enacts "Green legislation," with falling revenues that flow into government treasuries, states legislatures are eager to grasp any type of revenue generating vehicle that will balance their budgets for the short term. So when a politician with a sardonic grin proselytizes that their state is going green, be sure to ask them specifically what green they are going after, the environment or your wallet because the Climate Change vehicle that NC Legislatures are jumping into definitely falls under North Carolina's Lemon Law? br> -- Melvin Leppla br> Jacksonville, North Carolina /p>

Our family lives in rural northern Iowa -- home to ethanol plants and biodiesel plants. I have a number of "reservations" about the ethanol plants, one of which is, so I am told, that for every gallon of ethanol produce, 3 gallons of water is required. In time, I fear that I will have to drill a deeper well as water tables are lowered. Funny, you never, ever hear talk of this fact when a new plant is on the drawing boards. You may also note that a nearly new biodiesel plant in southern Minnesota and a new biodiesel plant in Algona, Iowa are not in operation. Why? According to my farmer-sources, the price of soybeans is too high for these plants to economically produce biodiesel. I wonder if that factor was firmly entrenched in their business plans?

p>Enjoyed your article. br> -- Terry Hagen /p> p> Spending money on a program that does not work has never bothered a liberal. This is possibly because they always see someone else paying the price of the failure. When I hear liberals talking about cutting class size or curbing the cost of government to stop global warming or conserve energy, I will then take serious notice of their carping and moaning. So far I have seen no government energy program, except maybe nuclear, that would surpass the economic benefits of the government making sure everyone got a lucky rabbit's foot. At least you can eat the by product and the fur makes very nice mittens. br> --

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