The Case for HB 2470: The Virginia Atmospheric Sovereignty Act

Last week, the house held a hearing on HB 2470 and referred the bill out to another committee, knowing that such an action would effectively table the bill for consideration this year. The bill prevents the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions in the Commonwealth of Virginia by any agency (federal or state). Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment (VA-SEEE) enthusiastically endorses this bill for the following reasons; 1.) There is no scientific basis to regulate CO2, and 2.) The economic consequences to the state for regulating CO2 emissions are dire. There is no scientific basis to regulate CO2 The federal government has been trying to regulate the burning of fossil fuels, and presumably, the generation of energy, for years. The first attempt was to tax carbon emissions to drive up the price of burning fossil fuels. These fuels include coal and natural gas for electricity production and oil for the production of fuels to power automobiles, trucks, and aircraft. This was the cap and trade legislation, which in addition to driving up the price of fossil fuels, made billions for Wall Street traders, carbon trading exchanges, and ex-politicians. When the legislation was defeated, the administration implemented plan-B. In this approach, the administration would unleash the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon dioxide emissions by a distortion of the Clean Air Act of 1971. The EPA prepared the groundwork for this unlawful activity by declaring that CO2 was a danger to humans and the environment. This was known as the Endangerment Finding and was justified by the EPA’s slight of hand arguments using the flawed scientific findings of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC’s mission was not to determine the cause of global warming, but rather to attribute the warming to human-released greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide. This mission statement clearly foretells the outcome of the IPCC and reflects their scientific bias and real agenda, which was to blame man-made CO2 emissions for the warming caused by a natural climate cycle. The ultimate goal of the UN, the IPCC, the current US administration, and the EPA is to ban burning of fossil fuels. The theory of man-made greenhouse gas global warming is the vehicle to get there. The conclusions of the IPCC have been contradicted by the Non-Governmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), which found no evidence that man-made CO2 causes global warming. In their report “Climate Change Reconsidered,” the NIPCC concluded that the cause of recent increases in temperature was due to natural cycles that have occurred many times in the past and were independent of man-made CO2 emissions. So, not only did the EPA fail to produce their own independent and original research and analysis on the cause of climate change (as mandated by the clean air act) but they used the results, analysis, and conclusions of a flawed study (the IPCC’s 4th assessment report), which has been scientifically and repeatedly discredited. Therefore, the EPA’s endangerment finding and contention that man-made carbon dioxide is a pollutant is scientifically flawed and likely illegal. This completely undercuts any basis for regulating CO2 emissions by stationary sources of production in Virginia and is the root basis for HB 2470. The economic consequences to the state for regulating CO2 emissions are dire. Regulation and reductions in CO2 emissions has consequences. CO2 emissions derive from the combustion of fossil fuels that are used to produce energy in the state. This energy runs our homes, businesses, and factories, all of which power our economy and provide our current quality of life in Virginia. In their fervor to ban fossil fuel use, the administration (state and federal levels) has mandated the use of renewable fuels that either do not emit CO2 (wind and solar) or emit short term CO2 that can be recaptured by the carbon cycle (biofuels). This approach will devastate the Virginia economy because we lose the cheap fossil fuels that power our economy now and because the substitute power sources (green renewables) are not marketable. Renewable sources have been around for decades but have failed to make it in the free market. Given a free choice, the market will use fossil fuels because extracting power from the alternative sources is extremely expensive and unreliable. Additionally, the amount of power required for our state could not be produced by saturating the state with wind turbines and solar arrays. The physics is simply not there. It is interesting that nuclear power, which is both economical and CO2 free, is not being considered as a serious alternative energy source. This fact demonstrates the hypocrisy of the green energy proponents. We have to look no further than Europe to see a natural “laboratory” of the effects of green sustainable energy on an economy. Denmark and Spain are both leaders in wind power and also lead the EU in unemployment and low economic growth. The green jobs argument is also overturned by the Spain experience, where they lose 9 conventional jobs for every 4 green jobs that are produced. Produced green jobs means that the money to fund these positions comes from government sources in the form of subsidies and tax incentives to green energy companies and not from the private sector, where real economic growth occurs. In fact, green alternative CO2-free energy can only occur with massive governmental subsidies because these forms of energy cannot compete on the free market with fossil fuel sources of power. These subsidies come from taxpayer money, which strangles economic activity by tying up private capitol for technologies that don’t work. In conclusion, HB 2470 should become law in Virginia to protect our energy production, or economy, and our standard of living. The regulation of man made emissions of CO2 is both pointless and economically destructive. The long term solutions to Virginia’s energy demands lies in the rational development of nuclear power and the use of our own vast supplies of fossil fuels in the Commonwealth. Martin Mangino received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in physiological chemistry in 1985. He currently serves as a professor and scientist in the departments of surgery and physiology and biophysics at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia. He was appointed president of the Central Virginia Chapter of Virginia Scientists and Engineers for Energy and Environment in July 2009. SEEE-VA is a not-for-profit organization of Virginia's professional scientists and engineers that promotes education and analysis on environment, climate, and energy issues to Virginia's citizens and policymakers. Contact Mangino at mjmangino@vcu.edu.