PrintFebruary 10, 2009
Obama Drops Warming Hype for News Conference
Last night, Barack Obama promised the nation that the so-called "stimulus package" would "create or protect" 4 million jobs that "America desperately needs," and offered a few examples. But there was a curious omission on his part when so-called "green jobs" were incorporated. In promoting the building of wind turbines, solar panels, and fuel-efficient cars, the only benefit he attributed was lowering "our dependence on foreign oil." Not a single word about "global warming" or its intellectually dishonest surrogate, "climate change."
Very strange.
Remember, it was just last November that the newly elected Obama told the Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles that "few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change," adding the Gore inspired lie that "the science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear." And we let him have it then for naively spreading the hype, as we did more recently for loading up so many vital administration "science" posts with warming ideologues.
But when pushing "renewable" energy last night, not a word about greenhouse gases or melting ice or even rising sea levels was spoken. Nor, for that matter, at any time during the ensuing questions about his energy policy.
Sure, more than a few hot-headed greenies will no doubt rationalize that the subject was the economy, and, indeed it was. But when discussing the so-called "infrastructure" jobs, the president added the repair of dams and levees "so that we don't face another Katrina." And that "modernizing a costly health care system" will "save us billions of dollars and countless lives."
So he wasn't exactly shy about adding a little off-topic fear-factor when such alarmism suited his sales pitch. So what would compel him to cool the hot hype?
Perchance he and his advisors have finally grasped the significance of 59% of Americans who don't believe that warmists have met their burden of proof that manmade emissions are cooking the planet? And have chosen not to add another helping of incredulity to a porcine spending bill that only 54% of the country, zero House Republicans and a paltry 3 Senate Republicans support?
If so, policy makers throughout Washington would do well to take note. The president's reminder to CBS's Chip Reid that we're "importing more foreign oil now than we did back in the early '70s when OPEC first formed" will likely assuage many more renewable energy skeptics than will ignoring the perspective of the growing number of manmade global warming skeptics.
