RGGI Public Hearing Afternoon Session – December 11, 2020
Topic: RGGI Public Hearing Afternoon Session – December 11, 2020
Host: Darek Jagiela
Friday, December 11, 2020 1:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
https://www.dep.pa.gov/PublicParticipation/EnvironmentalQuality/Pages/default.aspx
The audio-only hearing was on Pennsylvania’s desire to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or “RGGI”. RGGI is an agreement between many Northeast to engage in a cap-and-trade system in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Pennsylvania power plants will be forced to purchase permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) under the RGGI plan.
Marc Morano’s Oral Testimony – CFACT’s Climate Depot – December 11, 2020
Listen Here:
Verbal testimony Transcript: (Written testimony available here)
Our Next Speaker, number 61 is Marc Morano.
Marc Morano: Hi, this is Marc Morano from CFACT’s Climate Depot and the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow. We’re a free-market environmental group and we come out completely opposed to RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.)
I testified last year actually before your house committee last October in 2019, and it is amazing to me that everyone here believes that you can legislate in Pennsylvania — a better climate by raising energy costs harming yourself economically, and turning over energy decisions to politicians lobbyists and activists who are going to join up with other states and try to dictate Pennsylvania energy policy. This is one of the worst things, Pennsylvania, could possibly get itself involved in.
Your Governor Wolf has made a series of unscientific and absurd claims regarding the so-called climate crisis, and he goes through and he claims that that the recent weather is reason enough to pass RGGI. He said Pennsylvania had its wettest year on record in 2018, but if you look at the data, even from the United Nations, the National Climate Assessment, peer review, floods are not increasing. Floods are not changing on the number of chance alone. During a study in the journal hydrology no increase in floods. He tries to claim he makes other claims regarding local Pennsylvania weather increase in flooding and other things.
[See: Gov. Wolf declared: “2018 was Pennsylvania’s wettest year on record. the storms that came brought pounding rain, causing floods in communities of all sizes.” The first question is, are floods increasing? The peer-reviewed evidence and data clearly says no. A 2017 study found on floods found ‘approximately the number expected due to chance alone’ – No ‘global warming’ signal – Another 2017 study in the Journal of Hydrology found no increase in floods – ‘Compelling evidence for increased flooding at a global scale is lacking’ – Extreme Weather expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. comments on new study: ‘New empirical study: Are floods increasing in North America and Europe? No (and consistent with IPCC.)’ – Previous studies have unable to link extreme weather of droughts, heavy rain & storms to “global warming.”]
And this is the key, Pennsylvania has been the energy success story of America, you have led the way in our CO2 reductions if you really cared about CO2 reductions you would be embracing your fracking revolution you would be embracing Pennsylvania’s energy legacy instead you’re turning it over to a cap and trade carbon taxation scheme that’s going to raise the cost of energy for Pennsylvania’s have no impact not only on the weather, but it couldn’t they won’t even impact global CO2 levels in any way shape or form. (Global Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions Flat in 2019 – ‘The country with the biggest drop in energy-related CO2 emissions was the U.S.’)
How do we know that because even the entire United States can impact that John Kerry, the former Secretary of State, has admitted that as well. See: Flashback 2015: Then Sec. of State John Kerry explains climate futility: If U.S. zeroed out CO2 emissions, it ‘still wouldn’t be enough to offset the carbon pollution coming from the rest of the world’ & ‘It’s beyond catastrophic’: John Kerry Admits UN Paris Climate PACT Does NOTHING for ‘Climate Change’ – ‘Even if we did everything that was promised in Paris, the earth’s temps still going to rise’
So let’s not pretend that this is anything but a bureaucratic power grab and we’ve heard testimony after testimony, today of people in the solar industry people from environmental groups, people from different lobbying organizations all trying to get this passed because it gives them direct leverage in lobbying arm and how they can best juice the system and game the system for themselves, make no mistake about it.
I worked in the United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as a senior staffer I was there during the cap and trade debates in 2006- 2007-20088 & 2009. And that is exactly what RGGI is all about the United States.
In 2018 the USA went from an energy importer to an energy exporter we have achieved energy dominance, for the first time since 1952 when Harry S. Truman was president. [See: American energy exports exceeded American energy imports for the first time since 1952 when Harry S. Truman was president.”]
Now, because of things like RGGI; because of things like the Green New Deal; because of things like the UN, Paris Agreement — We are going to be essentially ceding our way and giving up that energy dominance, and guess what it means. Unless solar and wind can magically fill that gap and make no mistake, solar and wind are 3% of global energy production. — Let me repeat that solar and wind combined are 3% of global energy production. If you go back to 1915 and look at the data, 80% plus of the world’s energy came from fossil fuels, if you look at the same numbers in 2017 and 2018 80% plus of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. See: Reality check: In 1908, fossil fuels accounted for 85% of U.S. energy consumption. In 2015, more or less the same
Passing RGGI; passing a Green New Deal; committing to the Paris Agreement doesn’t magically wave a magic wand that everyone’s gonna be like ‘Oh my gosh we’ve saved our planet and Pennsylvania is leading the way’ and all this nonsense that we’ve heard hour after hour here with this testimony.
We hear people like John Kerry and others warning of this national security threat of climate change, well what security dread is going to be, then to shoot ourselves and our own foot by hampering domestic energy production in Pennsylvania leading the way with fracking. What’s that gonna mean we’re going to rely on foreign sources of energy, we’re going to have to go back to fighting Middle East wars to get oil and energy when there’s no reason to when we’re energy dominant for the first time since Harry Truman was president.
I’m urging Pennsylvanians to wake up. Don’t let the lobbyists and activists and self-interested groups win. Take this debate over — stand up and fight this RGGI attack on your energy on your economy on your lives on science, on common sense. I am urging this to be defeated. And I look forward to future opportunities that continue to urge against joining RGGI. You can raise your energy costs, but it’s not going to change the climate, it’s only going to make Pennsylvania’s poor, so please do not go forward with this RGGI bill.
Thank you.
End Morano’s oral testimony
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Related:
Steve Milloy: “We know that unemploying people and making them poorer hurts their health.
That is certain to happen as Gov. Wolf’s RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) membership kills coals mining, fracking, power plants and their support industries.
What’s the bottom line? Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI will accomplish nothing for the environment, climate or public health. Instead, energy prices will increase, making Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians poorer.”
“The handling of the controversial hearing — the third on climate change featuring dissenting voices this year — by House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, led at least one Democratic lawmaker to walk out (Rep. Mike Zabel).
Metcalfe at one point turned off the microphone of the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Greg Vitali of Delaware County. He also threatened to have a University of Pennsylvania climate researcher (Prof. lrina Marinov) sitting in the audience thrown out when she cried “not true” during testimony by a noted climate skeptic (Marc Morano).
David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, an advocacy organization, argued that even inviting testimony from individuals who doubt the need to reduce carbon emissions was akin to debating whether whites were the superior race, whether the Sandy Hook shootings took place or whether the world is flat. [Climate Depot note: Masur also compared climate skeptics to Holocaust Deniers during his testimony.]
Morano comments: “This was a wild climate hearing. Invited witnesses comparing climate skeptics to Holocaust deniers, racists and there were tin foil hat protestors, legislators speaking out of turn, a warmist legislator walking out and my testimony being interrupted by my fellow testifiers at the hearing! This is the first time I have been heckled at a hearing by a fellow invited witness! Prof. Marinov, who heckled me during my testimony, was wound up and downright discourteous. Hopefully my testimony and the testimony of Kevin Dayaratna of The Heritage Foundation, Climatologist Dr. David Legates and Geologist Gregory Wrightstone, helped educate Prof. Marinov on the realities of climate change.
I want to personally thank House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe for the opportunity to speak. Chairman Metcalfe conducted a great hearing and would not allow the rabble rousers to take over. Kudos.”
