| Climate Change and Politicians: “Do As I Say and Not As I Do” |
 
 Politicians worldwide seem not to be familiar with quality management principles, as they are simply not "walking the walk." In fact, they are doing just the opposite where greenhouse gas emissions are concerned. Rather than conserving energy through less usage, more efficient vehicles, mass transit and carpooling, they are flying in private jets, driving gas guzzlers, and being chauffeured in limousines. All of these activities emit more greenhouse emissions than the alternatives: using commercial jets and carpooling in alternative fuel vehicles. The Climate Summit Copenhagen is awash with delegates from countries around the world for the climate summit. Not only are they awash with delegates, but they have hired over 1,200 limos and expect 140 private planes.[i] Not only are there insufficient limos in Denmark to meet the demand, but they have to hire additional limos from Germany and Sweden, hundreds of miles away. And, only five of these cars are fueled by alternate sources of fuel. Denmark, for example, has no hybrids because of taxes on those vehicles. Since Denmark's international airport cannot handle the 140 private jets that are expected to carry the VIPs, the planes will have to fly to regional airports or to Sweden to park and later pick up their passengers, when they are ready to depart. Further, these VIPs evidently do not realize that there is a recession, since rooms are going for 650 pounds per night and restaurants are gearing up their menus with scallops, foie gras, and caviar wedges. According to the organizers, the eleven day conference will create 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, equal to the amount that a small city would emit during that time frame. Other Cases of Interest Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, Michele Obama, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are other political figures who think they are immune to what they tell the general public. They seem to believe that the public is OK with making these elite people exceptions to the rules they make for the rest of us. However, the general public may not understand just how high the amount of greenhouse gas emissions these politicians essentially flaunt as they go about their daily lives. Last week, the Los Angeles Auto Show had a guest visitor; California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger drove up in a gas-guzzling, 500-hp, 19-mpg Porsche Turbo Cabriolet.[ii] And, he had the audacity to park illegally, flanked by a fleet of alternate-fuel vehicles that his policies have mandated. Schwarzenegger believes that California is at the forefront of setting policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that the nation should follow, including Assembly Bill 32 to monitor and limit greenhouse gas emissions and low sulfur fuel standards to limit emissions from vehicles. For Schwarzenegger, this is only icing on the cake. Arnold commutes to work in Sacramento by private jet from his Brentwood mansion in southern California. According to figures compiled by the Helium report, the governor's jet does almost as much damage to the environment in one hour as a small car does in a year. To ease his conscience, he buys credits to offset the environmental damages. However, the credits cost $43 per hour compared to $10,000 an hour to operate his jet.[iii] Obviously, for someone as wealthy as Arnold, it is a no brainer to tell his constituents "do as I say and not as I do." Obviously, the average Californian could not afford Arnold's lifestyle. Nancy Pelosi also commutes to California, but in her case the commute is longer than Arnold's. She travels 3,000 miles across the country from her office in Washington D.C. But, she needs to make it in a plane that does not need to be refueled. Prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks, the Speaker of House flew commercial, just like everybody else in Congress. But, those attacks provided a reason for the Speaker, seconds removed from the Presidency, to have a military-style passenger plane equipped with beds, galleys, and business-class seating that can make the flight in any weather and be in contact with the White House if so warranted.[iv] Again, it is an issue of "do as I say and not as I do." Al Gore can worry about greenhouse gas emissions in "An Inconvenient Truth," the film that brought him an Oscar, a shared Nobel Prize, and lots of money, but facts are that his home uses more than 20 times the energy of the average U.S. home. According to the Nashville Electric Service, Gore's mansion, located in a posh area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. In 2006, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in electricity and natural gas bills for his estate.[v] Apparently, if you are wealthy enough to pay bills of this size, it doesn't matter that you contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. When Michelle Obama was in France for D-Day commemorations with her husband, the President, she used the opportunity to use taxpayers' money to make a surprise visit without the President to London.[vi] The private jet and the accompanying limousines to ensure that Michelle and her daughters were safe emitted far more emissions than a commercial flight from Paris to London and back to the United States. Those emissions grew even larger, as the first family and their secret service agents used limousines, rather than a hybrid or alternate fuel vehicles. Conclusion Politicians seem to believe that they are immune to the standards they profess and the legislation that they pass because they are elitists tasked with running our country. However, management principles tell us that our leaders should "walk the walk." Why should the average citizen be asked to do what our leaders cannot do?
[i] Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges, www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-summit-1200-limos-140-lprivate-planes-and-caviar-wedges.html [ii] National Review Online, The ‘Green Governator', December 2, 2009, http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDBhYTRmY2UxMTIzMjc3MjIxNTVhZDVhNTI3ZDBhNzY= [iii] Los Angeles Times, Governor's private-jet commute comes under fire, March 6, 2008, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0306arniecommute06-ON.html?&wired [iv] Los Angeles Times, Pelosi gets nonstop abuse over air travel, February 8, 2007, http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/08/nation/na-pelosi8 [v] Al Gore's Energy Use, www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp [vi] The Huntington Post, Michelle Obama in London With Daughters For Surprise Visit, www.huntingtonpost.com/2009/06/08/michelle-obama-in-london_n_212622.html Comments (1)
Alex Majthenyi
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Please help me fight the "Global Warming" lies. We need truth. Not Cap & Tax snake oil: July 23, 2010 -- Penny Starr -- (CNSNews.com) "Sen. Kerry Predicts ‘Ice-Free Arctic' In '5 or 10 Years’" Speaking at a town hall-style meeting promoting climate change legislation on Thursday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) predicted there will be “an ice-free Arctic” in "five or 10 years." "The arctic ice is disappearing faster than was predicted," Kerry said. "And instead of waiting until 2030 or whenever it was to have an ice-free Arctic, we’re going to have one in five or 10 years." However, the Web site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says: "Using the observed 2007/2008 summer sea ice extents as a starting point, computer models predict that the Arctic could be nearly sea ice free in summertime within 30 years." April 8, 2010 -- James Heiser -- thenewamerican.com Arctic Ice Expanding, Not Retreating At last December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, former Vice President Al Gore shrilly proclaimed that “The entire polar ice cap ... could be completely ice free within the next five to seven years.” As implausible as Gore’s claim already was at the time, recent developments in the arctic have only served to make the fear of an ice-free polar zone all the more absurd. source April 4, 2010 -- Jonathan Leake, The Times Arctic ice recovers from the great melt. IF you thought it was cold in Britain for the time of year, you should see what is happening around the North Pole. Scientists have discovered that the size of the Arctic ice cap has increased sharply to levels not seen since 2001. A shift in the chilly winds across the Bering Sea over the past few months has caused thousands of square miles of ocean to freeze. Source: http://www.americansforenergy.org/ |
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