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The Spectacle Blog
Yesterday Gov. Chris Christie announced that New Jersey would exit the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap and trade program. NorthJersey.com quotes him as saying that “RGGI has not changed behavior and it does not reduce emissions,” and that “RGGI does nothing more than tax electricity, tax our citizens, tax our businesses, with no discernible or measurable impact upon our environment.”
Christie prefaced his remarks, however, by establishing that he has no doubts about global warming:
“In the past I’ve always said that climate change is real and it’s impacting our state…. There’s undeniable data that CO2 levels and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are increasing. This decade, average temperatures have been rising. Temperature changes are affecting weather patterns and our climate.”
…
“I’m certainly not a scientist, which is the first problem,” he said. “So I can’t claim to fully understand all of this, certainly not after just a few months of study. But when you have over 90 percent of the world’s scientists who have studied this stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role, it’s time to defer to the experts.”
By withdrawing from the cap and trade agreement, Christie bolsters his conservative credentials, and will likely earn even greater popularity among Republicans nationally. Although he has stated repeatedly that he won’t run for president in this upcoming election, his record on cap and trade is now similar to those of Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and Mitt Romney. All three, as governors, expressed concern about carbon emissions and proposed or implemented cap and trade programs before ultimately backing off such measures on the basis that they were not economical.
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More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/05/27/christie-on-cap-and-trade
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martin j smith| 5.27.11 @ 7:55AM
Chris Christie is very inconsistent wavering between Red and Blue lines regularly. I would NOT PREFER HIM AS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. I do not see him the guy I would like in the WH>
Dai Alanye | 5.27.11 @ 7:56AM
Here we see the problem with Christie. On a few things he is quite sound, but on matters like global warming, immigration and others he is simply a doofus. Nor do we know how he stands on critical matters like foreign affairs, where he might also turn out to be doofus-like.
Too many conservatives have gone gaga over this guy before learning all his quirks, just as they previously went gaga over Scott Brown.
I say again: Santorum.
Bob K.| 5.27.11 @ 8:51AM
I'm from PA.
Santorum could not carry PA if he ran for president. He won't be nominated either.
David T| 5.27.11 @ 10:36AM
I hate to admit you're probably right about Santorum, even though he has the best developed, most consistent positions on fiscal, social, and foreign policy of anyone in the race. If only that 18-point loss had been a tad bit closer...
PCC| 5.27.11 @ 11:20AM
Santorum is running for vice president.
Margaret| 5.27.11 @ 12:49PM
How about Cain/Santorum? Cain is naturally conservative, thinks through problems effectively, has been on the receiving end of changing govt regulations and Santorum has the political know how to help "work the congress"?
OregonBuzz| 5.27.11 @ 9:30AM
Gov. Christie "has no doubts about global warning" ? I'm really disappointed that this seemingly intelligent, thoughtful man would succumb to "junk" science and embrace a socialist agenda to control the means of production.
I now have a lot of doubts about Gov. Christie.
PCC| 5.27.11 @ 11:28AM
The global warming, er, climate change, science has been hopelessly politicized. Even if the "90% of scientists" are correct in their conclusions, the credibility of the whole lot of them has been compromised. The only sensible approach to this issue is one of healthy scepticism, to say the least.
Personally, I think it's a giant scam fostered and maintained by bearded professors with mortgages
Steve| 5.27.11 @ 11:31AM
Could not agree more.
Why seemingly intelligent people buy into to this nonsense of AGW is one of the many things I don't understand.
martin j smith| 5.27.11 @ 10:11AM
Another point, Christie like Newt G did not realize the Political Damage on himself especially if he has Presidential aspirations --I not know if he has them though.
David T| 5.27.11 @ 10:29AM
Of course he has presidential aspirations--his ego is as big as his waistline.
James| 5.27.11 @ 12:15PM
That must make him an egomaniac.
JP| 5.27.11 @ 10:39AM
Christie is trying to have it both ways politically. He bolsters his conservative creds by dropping out of Cap and Trade. But, he continues to sing the same lousy song. And of course he changes his narrative from AGW to Climate Change.
If he really believed in AGW he would personally sign his state up for Kyoto.
Diana| 5.27.11 @ 11:05AM
Christie needs to cap his weight and reduce. Gee what a tele tubby he is. Women want a leader who is physically fit and looks presidential. Christie looks like a barrage balloon.
Bob K.| 5.27.11 @ 3:39PM
Admit it! You are just trying to start trouble by getting some man to state what kind of looks and dress he likes in a woman running for President, aren't you?
Well don't hold your breath waiting for me to do so!
randyinrocklin| 5.27.11 @ 11:17AM
He's nothing but a big blowhard and a big fat RINO!!!!!He is for GUN CONTROL, he is against more drilling of the Atlantic coast, and he is for big government.
darcy| 5.27.11 @ 2:10PM
Not to mention his willingness to promote endless immigration, and not only the legal kind.
David W| 5.27.11 @ 12:39PM
I believe that global warming could be happening (though warming and cooling, both local and worldwide has been going on for millions of years). It might even be possible that humans are contributing to it. However, the science is not settled by any means. The so called science appears to be nothing more than politicized pseudo scientists running around waving their hands based upon incomplete/missing/bad data. Those yelling the most about the human impact are the same people (mostly non-scientists) who will benefit the most from the solutions (Al Gore, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, etc.).
I currently view the proponents of Cap/Trade and the push for renewables as charlatans and carnival barkers (no offense to carnival barkers intended). They have lied and exaggerated so much that I cannot believe them - even if they are 100% right.
TrueBlue| 5.27.11 @ 2:35PM
Funny thing is, the ones pushing for renewables, don't consider hydro-electric as a renewable resource.
Oh, and the fact 2010 was one of the coldest on record kind of kills the whole warming theory anyway. The Global Warming activist response of "It's going to get colder before it gets warmer" makes me laugh too, since generally that would be a called a natural cycle. Plus, they're the same people that were claiming Global Cooling in the late 70s early 80s; it's all a scam for them to make money.
Ore Gone| 5.27.11 @ 2:24PM
The local government in my place of residence spent thousands of dollars to fend off Y2K! It was going to make the electrical grid drop and your water stop and just about anything else you could dream of. It was a wonderful scam that the media could run with and made everyone pay out a ton of money with no measurable return. They take an issue based on a fact and build it into the end of the world scenario. If we survive this era of gross incompetence the history books should consider this another enlightened Dark Age!
TrueBlue| 5.27.11 @ 2:36PM
My theory on how news agencies work: Hope for the worst, plan for the best.
The reverse of how most people actually live.
Cindy| 5.28.11 @ 9:53PM
This is why I can never support Christie. He clearly has not followed the email trail or listened to any scientist who is not paid by the government who has an opinion that is skeptical of the "consensus" as if science was ever a consensus ideology.