Over the last few years, one of the funnier aspects of president Obama's public pronouncements has been his claim that he has increased American oil and gas production. The truth is that Obama has done all he can to try to limit US production of these fuels. Obama has managed to cut production on federal lands by over 20%. At the same time, the revolution in drilling brought about by horizontal drilling and hydrofracking has increased production of these products on private land where Obama has no control. The huge increase on private land has outstripped the decrease Obama caused on the federal land. So, despite fighting to limit oil and gas production, Obama has nevertheless taken credit for the surge in production in locations beyond his control.
It may be time for Obama to adopt the same strategy with regard to global warming. Through his entire presidency, Obama has struggled to limit the coal industry, to increase production of "green energy" and to otherwise limit emission of carbon dioxide. His efforts have mostly failed. Indeed, the push for green energy has been more of a payoff for Obama's big bucks donors than anything having to do with global warming. But here's the rub: for the last 17+ years, there has been no warming of the atmosphere as precisely measured by satellites. So Obama's efforts have failed, but there has been no warming. Wouldn't it be better for both Obama and America if the president switched to taking credit for the end of warming while stopping his moves that harm the economy in the name of overboard environmentalism? If we can get Obama to stop putting up roadblocks to growth, we all benefit.
It may be time for Obama to adopt the same strategy with regard to global warming. Through his entire presidency, Obama has struggled to limit the coal industry, to increase production of "green energy" and to otherwise limit emission of carbon dioxide. His efforts have mostly failed. Indeed, the push for green energy has been more of a payoff for Obama's big bucks donors than anything having to do with global warming. But here's the rub: for the last 17+ years, there has been no warming of the atmosphere as precisely measured by satellites. So Obama's efforts have failed, but there has been no warming. Wouldn't it be better for both Obama and America if the president switched to taking credit for the end of warming while stopping his moves that harm the economy in the name of overboard environmentalism? If we can get Obama to stop putting up roadblocks to growth, we all benefit.
No comments:
Post a Comment