Thread: The 'Government' is Smarter than You about the Environment

The 'Government' is Smarter than You about the Environment

Posted by Bobby Eberle
September 23, 2009 at 7:08 am

We all know the mindset of the left-wing elite... put a few of the "chosen ones" together, and they will decide what is best for the rest of the country. They believe that Americans are idiots and it is up to them to save the country by having the government take over as much as possible.

A typical example of this is Barack Obama and his team of environmental advisors. It is this group which championed the cap and trade legislation that will lead to higher energy prices for all Americans. (Yes... another "tax" that they aren't calling a tax, but we covered that yesterday.) In a recent statement, Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu likened the American people to teenagers who need the proper "adult" supervision when it comes to the environment. In other words, put your faith (and freedom) in government.

Wall Street Journal writer Ian Talley http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapit ... to-energy/ notes in a recent column that Secretary Chu is convinced that the American people are not able to "do the right thing" on their own.

Speaking on the sidelines of a smart grid conference in Washington, Dr. Chu said he didn't think average folks had the know-how or will to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

"The American public...just like your teenage kids, aren't acting in a way that they should act," Dr. Chu said. "The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is."

As pointed out in the column, the Obama administration's next move to influence children in the classroom is focused on the environment. In partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and the Parent Teacher Organizations Today (PTO Today), the EPA is starting a "Change the World, Start with Energy Star" http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.ns ... enDocument tour to "encourage kids and their families to fight climate change while saving energy and money."

Encouraging children to care about the environment is nothing new, and it's a good thing. When I was in Cub Scouts, we held "paper drives" in order to recycle old newspapers. Showing children that there are ways to waste energy versus ways to save energy is great, but at the same time, indoctrinating them on "climate change" is not.

The earth's temperatures go up and down. We've had several ice ages. Were those due to cavemen running amok? The point we should drive home to our kids is that our planet is special and that there are ways to save energy and not be wasteful.

However, I will not fall into the climate change trap. This issue is being used world wide to force the hand of nations like the United States into new forms of energy penalties and taxes, all in the name of protecting the planet. In reality, the policies once again transfer power from the many to the few.

Secretary Chu, Obama, and others may believe that government knows best. I believe that common sense, a little education, and faith in the American people can go a much longer way.

Oh by the way, as Talley notes at the end of his column, an Energy Department spokesman piped up and said, "Secretary Chu was not comparing the public to teenagers. He was saying that we need to educate teenagers about ways to save energy." Nice one. I'm not buying it.

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=1970

Another example of Fascist propaganda.