RUTHFULLY YOURS

Richard “Dick” Blumenthal is a clear and present danger to America.

Who is Dick Blumenthal? He is the Connecticut attorney general running to fill the seat of the retired Democrat Chris Dodd, who held the seat for three decades. Should he win on November 2, Americans will be at greater risk of higher energy costs and more energy dependence on dangerous foreign sources.

Blumenthal is an ardent believer that our way of life and the way we grow prosperity will destroy the climate of the future. His words and actions prove he is devoted to changing the way we make energy in the United States to save us from ourselves. He believes burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide “pollution.” According to Dick, continuing to use coal, oil, natural gas, and others will ramp up catastrophic global warming. He proved the depth of his devotion when he personally represented Connecticut and sued American Electric Power. The following is from his press release:

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today praised a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit reinstating Connecticut vs. AEP, a lawsuit filed by him and other state attorneys general seeking to compel the nation’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters to reduce harmful emissions.

Blumenthal personally argued the case. Blumenthal said, “This ruling restoring our legal action breathes new life into our fight against greenhouse gas polluters and changes the legal landscape to impose responsibility where it belongs. Our legal fight is against power companies that emit a huge share of our nation’s CO2 contamination, but it will set a precedent for all who threaten our planet with such pernicious pollution. This ruling vindicates our tenacious and tireless battle on behalf of a powerful coalition of states and environmental advocates — a battle that will now have its day in court.

“Our battle is not against the EPA or the federal government — which we have won already — but rather against the polluters themselves under federal nuisance law. Our goal is not money damages, but a change in company practices to stem the pollution and safeguard our environment and economy. This lawsuit is comparable to our fight against Big Tobacco, without the money. In the end, this legal crusade can help save lives and our planet from global warming.”

As you can see, Dick was the lead attorney for this landmark case. He argued that carbon dioxide polluters represent a “public nuisance,” the nuisance being global warming. Therefore the polluters must be stopped. What this lawsuit translates to is this: Anyone, including the vast number of environmental groups, would be able to sue any entity that produces greenhouse gases. That includes all companies that generate electric power by using fossil fuels. The cost of defending themselves would be potentially catastrophic. And this is the goal: to shut them down, permanently.

Has anyone bothered to tell Blumenthal there is no historical data to support his “fight against greenhouse gas polluters”? His lawsuit is completely frivolous, based on the relationship between carbon dioxide (the accused) and temperature. All measurements of the Earth’s temperature show there has been no global warming for a decade. Dr. Phil Jones from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in England said there has been no statistically significant global warming since 1995, despite the “pollution” of carbon dioxide rising steadily since then. Data from the worldwide network of measuring stations show an increase of 18 parts per million, or a 6% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the last decade.

Ironically this “pollution” is only dangerous if it does not exist. It is only dangerous if all of it were sequestered out of the atmosphere. In that case, all plant and animal life on Earth would die, including you, me, and Dick Blumenthal.

This is not the first time this “disconnect” of temperature and carbon dioxide has surfaced, although it is rarely cited. From 1945 to 1976, the Earth’s temperature was in a cooling trend. This “global cooling” continued for three decades despite carbon dioxide concentrations rising from about 310 parts per million in 1945 to 332 parts per million in 1976. That’s an 8% increase over the pre-industrial revolution baseline of 280 parts per million. Yet there was no global warming at all — there was cooling!

While Blumenthal has been attorney general for last two decades, electricity rates in Connecticut have gone up even faster than carbon dioxide readings. The Energy Information Agency says the residential electric rate in Connecticut is 19.03 cents per kilowatt hour. That is a hefty 37% above the U.S. average of 12.01 cents per kilowatt hour. Yet in his run for the Senate, he boasts about how he has reduced electric rates for Connecticut’s people.

These kinds of false statements are OK when you’re trying to save the Earth — it’s the greater good that matters, right?

If Dick Blumenthal is elected on Tuesday, another “green warrior” will go to Washington to tear down American prosperity for its sins of carbon pollution. Only this warrior will be in a much more powerful position to punish us for our sins. He will be a member of the United States Senate. He will be fighting to destroy what has been instrumental in making this nation great — accessible, affordable, plentiful energy. No number of windmills or solar panels will ever come close to replacing those assets. However, an unprecedented number of lawsuits from environmental groups might be a way to force these renewables down our throats, even if they don’t work.

Dick Blumenthal thinks carbon emissions from our way of life will cause global warming. I propose we declare Dick Blumenthal a “public nuisance” and permanently cap the emissions that spew from his mouth — including, by the way, the “pollutant” carbon dioxide — by dealing him an electoral loss on November 2.