Just heard the furnace cut on again, making me wonder when it’s really going to be spring. Somehow I’m not really worried about global warming any more. Seems as though all the spring snow has put it on the proverbial back burner, which –surprise —worries NYT’s Gail Collins.

In the process of advocating for a carbon tax, Collins takes a shot at North Carolina:

But a carbon tax/fee is the key to controlling climate change. That or just letting the next generation worry about whether the Jersey Shore is going to wind up lapping Trenton. Currently, majority sentiment in Congress is to hope for the best and pass the baton to the grandchildren. (When it comes to rising-sea-level denial, the champion may be North Carolina, where the Legislature has voted to base state coastal management policy on historic trends rather than anything the current experts have to say. “This means that even though North Carolina scientists predict 39 inches of sea-level rise within the century, North Carolina, by its own law, is only allowed to prepare for 8. King Canute would be so proud,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island in a recent speech.)

Here’s your primer on King Canute. As for rising sea levels, do a search and you see both extremes —- they’re rising at dangerous levels or it’s all a big lie. Given such extremes in opinion, it seems foolish to rush into costly policies that are nothing but a sham.