U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks trial on global warming

The business lobby, hoping to fend off potentially sweeping emission limits, wants the EPA to hold a 'Scopes'-like hearing on the evidence that climate change is man-made.


By Jim Tankersley

August 25, 2009

Reporting from Washington - The nation's largest business lobby wants to put the science of global warming on trial.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, trying to ward off potentially sweeping federal emissions regulations, is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a rare public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change.

Chamber officials say it would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" -- complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect.

"It would be evolution versus creationism," said William Kovacs, the chamber's senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs. "It would be the science of climate change on trial."

The goal of the chamber, which represents 3 million large and small businesses, is to fend off potential emissions regulations by undercutting the scientific consensus over climate change. If the EPA denies the request, as expected, the chamber plans to take the fight to federal court.

The EPA is having none of it, calling a hearing a "waste of time" and saying that a threatened lawsuit by the chamber would be "frivolous."

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In the coming weeks, the EPA is set to formally declare that the heat-trapping gases scientists blame for climate change endanger human health, and are thus subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act. The so-called endangerment finding will be a cornerstone of the Obama administration's plan to set strict new emissions standards on cars and trucks.

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The EPA’s endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, as proposed in April, warned that warmer temperatures would lead to "the increased likelihood of more frequent and intense heat waves, more wildfires, degraded air quality, more heavy downpours and flooding, increased drought, greater sea level rise, more intense storms, harm to water resources, harm to agriculture, and harm to wildlife and ecosystems."

Critics of the finding say it's far from certain that warming will cause any harm at all. The Chamber of Commerce cites studies that predict higher temperatures will reduce mortality rates in the United States.

jtankersley@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times


more at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate-trial25-2009aug25,0,901567.story


time to boycott businesses that chose to remain as members of the Chamber of Death-dealers.

Nice idea, but most folks wouldn't be able to buy most anything, it's membership is so pervasive. I'd wager that every big box chain in the country belongs, and so on.

An organized, prepared general strike might do the trick but we are probably years from that. And to be honest such action is unlikely to congeal around this issue until some really dramatic shit is right in our face, probably to late. Rather than waiting for that to happen we should be laying the ground work for taking down the Chamber of Commerce once and for all.

I was only being half facetious about boycotting COC members. though, I pretty much do that in my personal life. I doubt if they miss my buck twenty five, but it gives me a dribble of satisfaction. Perhaps if enough stop feeding the leeches and start feeding each other we can break their stranglehold.

of which we have none.

But before we can do that we must understand what we are doing and what has been done in the past, which is what all of the hullabaloo has been about. Given that we Americans are likely the most propagandized people in history there is a lot of crap to cut through, it is so deeply ingrained.

It's a crying shame that the environmental movement from the beginning has been dominated by elitism and sentimentality. Near forty years and so much lost, so much effort wasted, and we continue in a death spiral. An examination of the basic operating features of capitalism show it to be the enemy of nature, implacable and relentless. Anyone who claims to be an environmentalist must also be anti-capitalist. To say otherwise is ill-informed at best, or a lie.

The environmental movement succeeded - a critical mass of the public has been persuaded. But that means nothing organization. Yet so many liberals continue to insist that the task on every issue is to change people's personal attitudes. They think that "organize" means organize to do a sales and marketing campaign to change people's attitudes.

is that the EPA and the COC are both members of the same organization. The EPA, like most other governmental agencies has numerous tasks - not the least of which is to manage those who want to control the dangers to our world of unbridled industrialization. The EPA is not "on our side" - but then most of those who pass for "environmentalists" are not on "our side", either.

Man has a place in nature as does all other animals, but he also has a place in society that he creates himself. It is the combination of these and other aspects and conditions of life and "the environment" that must be part of any development of human needs. And it is human needs that must be addressed when dealing with all or any of this. But as long as all these individual "parts" are addressed in isolation from one another, the results will be for the benefit of the owner class at the detriment of everyone else. It's a status quo thing...

it doesn't take much time in Washington before you see how this all plays out. Working as a paralegal in large law firms I was sent to numerous agency meetings to gather info, then comments would be submitted on various things to influence regs, legislation etc... This stuff is on-going all the time, a lot of money is spent on it, and it works the same no matter who is in office. It's really not that big of a city, and the lawyers/lobbyists remain there (and remain friends) as the politicians cycle in and out every 2/4/6/8 years.