Representative Pricey Harrison, a proud liberal, co-chairs the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change with the mistaken belief that (even if true) that NC can help quell the evil of supposed man made global warming. Notwithstanding the fact that we’ve had 10 years of stable temperatures now or that more and more data is finding that there is actually doubt. No, this hasn’t stopped our legislators from finding a way to ignore actual science in favor of the religious faith that man is inherently evil and legislators can stop them. From Pricey Harrison’s (D-Guilford) newsletter:
Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, Nobel Prize-winning chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, presented the science of global climate change, what kind of changes we could anticipate in NC, and what we could do about it. The commission adopted a resolution stating that Global Climate Change is indeed real, and further, that human activity is a factor in that change. (THE IPCC didn’t even go THAT far stating that humans are most likely a factor.)
The Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change is considering policy recommendations for the General Assembly. Some of these include setting a cap for carbon emissions, establishing a cap and trade system for carbon emissions, developing a market for carbon offsets that could help our farmers, and adopting cleaner car standards as 11 other states have done. The commission is also considering developing more renewable energy opportunities such as offshore wind and wave energy along with other policies. The commission will make formal recommendation to the Legislature in May. (Simple code for increasing utility costs dramatically and creating a faux market with carbon offsets. Both of which HURT farmers and the poor.)
John Garrou, my co-chair, and I, along with two staffers from the General Assembly, and colleagues from Georgia and South Carolina, are heading to the UK next week at the invitation of the British Government to discuss strategies for states to tackle climate change. Given the lack of leadership at the federal level, states have taken it upon themselves to do what they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The southeastern states have been the slowest to react, in fact the Georgia legislature recently held a hearing “Climate Change, Fact or Fiction”. It is hoped the trip will inspire our neighbors. (Oh yes, those crafty Brits and their cheap and abundant energy? And what would the Brits know about states in the U.S., sounds like a junket!)
