Yes, New Jersey, there is global warming
Last week, as expected, Christie followed up by vetoing a Democratic attempt to force Christie back into the initiative. But in his veto message, the former skeptic on global warming came out fully behind the belief that human beings have a role in warming the planet. This puts him at odds with all but one of the Republicans running for president, and pretty much the entire vocal base of the GOP.
Yes, New Jersey, there is global warming
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Christie mingles on the boardwalk in Belmar earlier this month. At his beachside news conference, he discussed the state's beaches as well as environmental protections and economic growth. (TOM SPADER/Associated Press) (TOM SPADER / Associated Press)
Earlier this year Gov. Christie broke ground in the politics of the environment by pulling the state out of a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Environmentalists expressed shock and awe. No other governor in any other state had done this before. Christie said the treaty simply wasn't effective.
Last week, as expected, Christie followed up by vetoing a Democratic attempt to force Christie back into the initiative. But in his veto message, the former skeptic on global warming came out fully behind the belief that human beings have a role in warming the planet. This puts him at odds with all but one of the Republicans running for president, and pretty much the entire vocal base of the GOP.
"While I acknowledge that the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are increasing, that climate change is real, that human activity plays a role in these changes and these changes are impacting our state, I simply disagree that RGGI is an effective mechanism for addressing global warming."
He says RGGI did not encourage energy producers to lower their use of carbon-based fuels. He uses a free-market, conservative argument to make his point: "Reduced emissions have occurred as a result of the increased use of natural gas, the decreased use of coal and a drop in total demand for electricity. In other words, the market -- and not RGGI -- has created incentives to reduce the use of carbon-based fuels."
Democratic Assemblyman John F. McKeon, chairman of the environment committee, will pursue an override of Christie's veto. He called the veto "a giant step backwards in our march towards a clean energy economy and the creation of thousands of clean jobs."
Comments (36)
When did people start believing that, just because they have internet connections, they're experts in everything?
If 3 doctors tell me that I have a specific medical condition and prescribe a certain course of treatment, I'm going to follow that plan. I'm not going to ignore it because the mechanic who lives next door says he knows better, but has no actual experience in the matter. I think the majority of people would agree, right?
So why is this different? Why is Joe Taxpayer suddenly an expert on long-term weather patterns, sea level and temperature measurements, and the potential impact of a 2-3 degree increase in average global temperatures on low-lying coastal areas around the globe? Why is Senator John P. Promiser, who used to be a lawyer, the go-to guy for information on scientific experiments carried out all over the world?
Show me their qualifications, and I'll be more than happy to listen to their opinion on the matter. Otherwise, I'll stick with the guys and gals who have spent their lives studying this topic, and have the knowledge-base to gather, analyze, and interpret the data for me. Thanks.— KatieB32- Our insistence in cheap energy has kept inefficient coal plants on line polluting out environment (fish warnings due to mercury), contirbuted to poor health due to lack of state of the art controls and wasted precious resources since there is no incentive to conserve. If we truely believe in the free market then remove the rate caps, stop the energy subsidies and let the true cost be reflected in the price of gas and electricity.— meteo30
- If we follow the Milankovitch Cycles we should be heading into an ice age albeit this global cooling event should occur over many millennia and be largely imperceptible to humans. Current CO2 levels have increased dramatically since the industrial revolution as recorded in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The thermal properties of CO2 are well known; the higher the CO2 levels the more warmth radiated back to the earth and thus rising temperatures. Ice core records indicate we are well in excess of what CO2 levels have been over the last 500k years and by the time we exhaust all of our fossil fuels we’ll have increased CO2 levels to somewhere on the order of 10x preindustrial levels. This is approximately the same level as the Cretaceous when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were no permanent ice caps anywhere and the deep oceans ere anoxic.— meteo30
- Strange- I have lived in So Cal since 1996- 75 degess and sunny 85% every year.....— Manny Trillo
- once the fraud of "warming" was pointed out, the scientists switched to "change" to keep their grant money (jobs) flowing in.
The earth has been heating and cooling through cycles since its birth. ANY scientist that wants to pin slight changes on humans is doing it to keep his paycheck. nothing more.— NJ_taxpayer - My bad....let me start over again...Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Human Influenced Climate Change, Santa Claus....— kelprod2
- The most ironic thing is all of the people posting with such vitriol and anger towards "liberals" will also claim to be conservatives. A true conservative understands the meaning of the word, conserve, as in conserve our natural resources. The last true conservative to represent the Republican Party was Barry Goldwater. Since then we've had plenty of pseudo-conservatives in office and now we have millions of so-called conservatives that make the pseudos look like Goldwater himself. Evolution of a different and much more dangerous kind.— amg
- It amazes me how in this era of intense partisanship, EVERYTHING has to have not just a political spin, but in doing so, the "other side" has to be demonized. Look, climate change is real. Yes, it's cyclical, and Yes, it is occurring at a much faster rate than previous instances have occurred. The scientific evidence is clear. Now let's get past this silly argument and find common ground. For example, burning fossil fuels pollutes the air. Polluted air is bad. It makes people sick. Clean air is good health policy. Here's another one, it's expensive and we have to import much of it. Bad for the economy and bad for national security. You see? This isn't hard. Something for everyone.— tjrhcky
- What an idiot! We now know that "Global Warming" was a hoax and uneducated politicians seem to be the last to finally get it! Just read what NOAA says about the cooling of the oceans.
— MooseBreathMints - LoL @ the GOP and almost all of the comments to this story. Denying the human impact on global climate change is obtuse. Not only is the scientific evidence overwhelming but the affects are apparent in our area. Calling man-made climate change a hoax makes a person look, at best, willfully ignorant and at worst like a complete moron.— JoeinSouthPhilly
- Keep Hoax Alive!— fafafooey
- It has been proven that Liberal's brains are not able to understand Logic.
Let me ask you a question- was there "Climate Change" before humans were on the earth?
(I of course believe in Evolution- I do not believe in God- how about that?)— Manny Trillo - So what some places get warmer that were once colder, could mean more plant life, more things growing there. Arctic getting a bit more temperate? Maybe more things will grow in that area with a more temperate climate and maybe people from barren drought lands such as Somali, Ethopia can move up to the Artic and thrive better there rather than in the desert dirt bowl they live in. That is what happened thousands of years ago with people travelling and settling in different areas based on climate conditions.— uandwhosearmy
- Climate changes everyday, day to day. Its Seasons, rain, hot, warm, cold, Humid, not humid, cloudy, sunny. Silly all this rhetoric. DO you believe in evolution? Ice Age? How were the Great Lakes formed? Grand Canyon? Parts of NJ were under water before, the sandy Pine Barrens...all these are changes that go on as the earth and the climate is changing, warming trends and cooling treands...the dinosaurs, how did they exist and die? Global Warming/Climate Change who cares? the Earth will eventually cease in 6 Billion yrs or so.— uandwhosearmy
- Actually most people will acknowledge the planet is warming. What causes it and what to do about it is the problem. With 24 hour news and weather these days it is drilled into us. Hopefully they won't treat it like the "2nd Hand Smoke" scam and tax poor folks, take away their rights while rich guys like "Meathead" from "All in the Family" start "companies" that pay their buddies six figures to run useless advertising. Remember, back in 1970 at the first Earth Day they were talking next Ice Age. That alone gives reason for doubt.— sarah89
- It has been proved that many of the scientist cheated the testing to get more funding, but I do believe that everything you do has a reaction. The earth is meant to have co2 that's why trees use co2. We don't need some big government program we as a people should figure out how to keep our air water and our animals safe and clean. Remember we are the stewards of the earth.— skills
- I guess Mr. Christie is no longer going to be sought out as a Republican Presidential candidate.— Worker1
- answer the question n62- if the summer is really hot is that climate change? Summer is unusually cold- climate change?
thanks— Manny Trillo - Yes. That is correct. Pick up a book instead of listening to the same asinine GOP agenda that completely ignores facts, and makes a scientific question into a political issue. (Of course, by the nature of your comments, it appears you would be the type to think evolution is something to be "believed in," and that creationism is a valid scientific theory).
- Here is a PERFECT example of the "Global Warming..err, um "Climate Change" fools.....
"Exactly, because the scientifically correct term is "climate change". Global warming is an inaccurate descriptor that was grasped by the lay public. Hotter summers, colder winters, stronger storms, longer droughts, more floods...its all changing."....................
Now if Winters are hotter? CLIMATE CHANGE.....Summers colder? CLIMATE CHANGE....Less Floods? CLIMATE CHANGE......Weaker storms? CLIMATE CHANGE.......THEY HAVE IT ALL COVERED- any type of weather is CLIMATE CHANGE.......Gullible morons- Al Gore is a scientist?— Manny Trillo - And here's a perfect example of the uninformed. — n62
- It kills me when people completely ignore all the facts that point towards a) our planet is warming at an unprecedented rate and b) this warming is made "worse" by human pollution in the atmosphere. Sure, climate change is cyclical, but we're speeding up the process. Most people that have a problem with the idea of climate change (aka global warming) haven't yet seperated the politics from the true nature of what's happening. There's nothing wrong with wanting a cleaner environment for our grandkids to enjoy...as long as you first strip it of all and any political agendas.— PatXMM
- what is an unprecedented rate? what is the 'normal' temperature of the earth suppose to be? speeding up the process? would the melting of glaciers millions of years ago that formed Great Lakes and cliffs in Fond DU LAc be considered speedy or slow? — uandwhosearmy
- The current cycle of concurrent rises in temperature and CO2 levels has occurred several times over the last 400K years. Why would one think that this cycle, which started well before the Industrial Revolution, is caused by humans? Pollution can hurt the environment but do the right thing for the right reasons, not based on some erroneous interpretations of the data by some Nobel Prize wannabees.— 2ndNlong
- whether you think global warming is true or false - can't we agree that pollution is bad and unhealthy? IMO just as inhaling smoke into ones body (via cigarettes) is now accepted as unhealthy to oneself I think it's obvious that putting billions of tons of pollution into the environment is bad.— Hunter S. T
- There is something wrong with you people if you STILL keep drinking that Kool-Aid that thousand upon thousands of scientists AROUND THE GLOBE are somehow wrong about pollution's effects on the global climate...AT LEAST Governor Christie acknowledged the reality of climate change (what are you guys, like the Vatican, denying Galileo's claim that the earth revolves around the sun?!?!) though his veto makes it clear that he STILL cares more about big business than for our future.— lampreave
- Global warming is part of the normal cycles of weather. Man-made warming is a fiction invented by the Left to justify further enslavement of the planet in order to enrich the Liberal Elite. Sit, beg, roll over, believe in global warming.— Beethoven987
- Yeah you're probably right, the vast majority of the earth's scientists base their conclusions on a political agenda. Smart. — n62
- N, Knowing some of the people who helped write the Climate Change legislation for Congress Waxman, I asked them why they used the term climate change rather than the "at the time" widespread global warming tag. They noted that since there was no proof of the manmade global warming claim they needed to use something that no one could argue against. Thus "climate change" which has been going on since the beginning of time. On a side note you may want to check some of the recent NASA study releases that show the rate of cooling to space is far greater than previously expected, minimizing some of the CO2 warming claims. — cb54
- Climate change is real, but RGGI is ineffective policy.— palvar
- no such thing as global warming— section707
- Exactly, because the scientifically correct term is "climate change". Global warming is an inaccurate descriptor that was grasped by the lay public. Hotter summers, colder winters, stronger storms, longer droughts, more floods...its all changing. — n62
- With each passing day the global warming fanatics are exposed as frauds, at least their assertion that human beings are causing it. Global warming, climate change, call it what you will has been going on since the planet began. It is no more a new phenomena than the fact that the media is an arm of the democrat party.— fgomarty
- Your use of the term "global warming" is all we need to know about your qualifications to comment. — n62
- Human beings cannot destroy the earth.....Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Global Warming, Santa Claus....— kelprod2
Comment removed.
1
Popular Posts
About this blog
Reporter Matt Katz covers New Jersey's 55th governor, Chris Christie,
for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Matt Katz
Inquirer Staff Writer
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Search this blog:
Blog Roll
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners: