Puppet power for poor people

Out of my commitment to being a kinder, gentler James, I mostly try to ignore the tiresome talking points emanating from Art Pope's Puppetshow. But every now and then the Puppets write something so sublimely ignorant that it's hard to let it pass. That's what happened today, with the latest "report" produced by Daren Bakst.

Recent high energy prices are taking their toll on the economy, Bakst said. “A Congressional Budget Office study that examined the impact of high gasoline prices on the economy found Gross Domestic Product in 2006 is probably lower by about one percent, or $132 billion, than it would have been if energy prices had not risen,” he said. “In addition, the average household’s annual spending on energy goods and services rose by about $1,700 between 2003 and 2006, and their saving rate dropped sharply.”

Some policymakers recognize the importance of low-cost energy, but they ignore that critical need in their quest to fight global warming, Bakst said. “Many misguided energy proposals are based on the fear of global warming and the dubious notion that cutting carbon dioxide emissions would help cool the planet,” he said. “Even global warming alarmists admit there’s nothing that the whole world could reasonably do to have any meaningful effect on temperature in the next 100 years.”

Instead these policies would “drastically” increase energy prices, hurting groups that can least afford the higher costs, Bakst said. “Low-income families must use a larger percentage of their income to meet their energy needs,” he said. “They are disproportionately harmed by increases in energy prices.”

Whenever the Puppets start arguing that such and such a policy should be avoided because it hurts poor people, you know those guys are up to no good. And when they put "drastically" in quotes in their propaganda, well, it's worth a closer look.

So let's dissect the "report."

First off, I agree with Bakst that cutting carbon dioxide emissions will not help cool the planet. In fact, I'm not aware of any responsible person who thinks it might. From all my reading, those who want to adopt policies to reduce greenhouse gases are more interested in slowing the rate of warming. In other words, when you're doing something stupid, it might be a good idea to stop. That's a concept that seems beyond the reach of Puppet "intelligence."

Second, the incremental cost impact of policies focused on climate change mitigation is trivial in comparison to price increases driven by the dwindling supply of fossil fuels and the growing demand from China. Prices for carbon-based energy are going to continue to accelerate no matter what policies America adopts. Get used to it.

Third, the availability of cheap energy has nothing to do with the kind of innovation necessary to break out of the oil-and-coal dependent box America has built around itself.

Lawmakers could avoid harming low-income residents and other consumers by dropping schemes that raise energy prices, Bakst said. “Whether you agree that global warming is a problem or not, you should understand that the best way to address any future climate problems is through private innovation,” he said. “That means we need wealth. Wealth enables individuals to adapt better to extreme weather events. Low-cost energy is critical to wealth and to providing innovators the means to solve any real environmental problems.”

That a crock of sugar. The people with the capacity to innovate to solve real environmental problems already have more money than god, and they're spending it on lobbying to protecting their short-term oil-slicked asses. There is no shortage of wealth that could be directed to sustainable energy, the only shortage relates to public policies put in place by the Republican greeders that discourage real innovation in favor of special interests.

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Simply put, the Puppets are of the opinion that it's possible to crap all over the world and then just move on. Like hapless sailors in a sinking boat, they're scanning the horizon for the another raft that might just come along just in the nick of time to save their gluttonous butts from drowning in the rising seas.

Who cares, they say, if the ocean rises to New Bern or all the way to Kinston? It's gonna rise, and somebody's gonna make money off all the poor suckers who have to move inland and upland.

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There's not much one can depend on these days. Thank goodness we can count on Daren and the rest of the Show to keep us entertained with their oh-so-hand-wringing concerns about the plight of poor people.