It was snowing irony in Washington on Monday
when global warming activists descended on the District
like a storm -- but got beaten to the punch by a blast of wintry weather that incapacitated the city.
FOXNews.com - Monday, March 02, 2009
Global warming activists stormed Washington Monday for what was billed as the nation's largest act of civil disobedience to fight climate change -- only to see the nation's capital virtually shut down by a major winter storm.
Schools and businesses were shuttered, lawmakers cancelled numerous appearances and the city came to a virtual standstill as Washington was blasted with its heaviest snowfall of the winter.
It spelled about six inches of trouble for global warming activists who had hoped to swarm the Capitol by the thousands in an effort to force the government to close the Capitol Power Plant, which heats and cools a number of government buildings, including the Supreme Court and the Capitol.
The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York -- on one of the coldest days in the city's history.
Protest organizers said about 2,500 people braved the blizzard to oppose greenhouse gas emissions, but the shroud of snow wasn't the only wet blanket in the nation's capital Monday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called on the architect of the Capitol to stop burning coal at the power plant last week, cancelled her appearance at the rally because her flight to Washington was cancelled.
Michelle Obama canned a public "Read Across America" event and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan canceled a meeting with the Democratic Caucus because the members of Congress couldn't get to D.C. An honor co rdon at the Pentagon for Afghanistan's defense minister also had to be called off.
Some protesters couldn't make it as dozens of flights in the area were delayed or called off, and some couldn't face the dangerous roads or blustery weather, leaving hundreds safe, if sorry, back at home.
One protester named Kat had planned to get arrested and be bailed out Monday but decided to stay put and donate her money to a good cause instead.
"I don't want to travel in the snow today. However, I am donating my bail money to fight mountaintop removal," she wrote to the Climate Action Web site.
Even marchers in gloves and parkas were wringing their hands to stay warm, and some protest leaders were having trouble providing updates on blog sites like Twitter.
"I admit, it's hard to tweet with cold hands!" wrote the author of the Capitol Climate Action Web site, who said the activists were "staying warm with a chant: 'Clean coal is a dirty lie.'"
The plant has been seized as a symbol of the government's energy excess, and the 99-year-old facility accounts for a third of the legislative branch's greenhouse gas emissions.
Protesters gathered earlier Monday in the Spirit of Justice Park near the Capitol and marched a few blocks to the power plant, where D.C. police set up a careful cordon.
In a press release supporting the protest, Greenpeace wrote that "coal is the country's biggest source of global warming pollution" and that "burning coal cuts short at least 24,000 lives in the U.S. annually."
On a blustery, frigid day, it might be worth noting the government's own stark numbers: pneumonia kills twice as many each year.
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http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/03/02/morano-mocks-deadly-storm/
The Wonk Room Inhofe Staffer Marc Morano On Deadly Snow Storm: ‘HA! HA! HA!’ By Brad Johnson at 4:27 pm Inhofe Staffer Marc Morano On Deadly Snow Storm: ‘HA! HA! HA!’ Last night, Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-OK) office responded to forecasts of a dangerous storm with mockery. A winter storm sweeping up the East Coast with rain, snow, and ice has caused 350 car crashes in New Jersey, a 15-mile-long traffic jam in North Carolina, and four deaths from car accidents in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Long Island. Hundreds of thousands of households lost power from Georgia to Maine. Marc Morano, Sen. Inhofe’s environmental communications director, mocked the threat of the storm by pointing out it would take place at the same time as a protest of fossil-fueled global warming in Washington D.C.: BREAKING: Not again! Big DC Snowstorm to Greet ‘Largest public protest of global warming ever in U.S.!’ - Unseasonably Cold March Temps! [Note: All I (Marc Morano) can say is: HA! HA! HA! - The ‘Gore Effect’ Strikes again – this time it impacts NASA’s James Hansen! See also: GORE HEARING ON WARMING MAY BE PUT ON ICE – Jan. 26, 2009 ] Spurred by his email blast and pumped by Drudge, the conservative blogosphere went into a tizzy that the East Coast has a snowstorm in the beginning of March: Drudge Report: “‘Largest public protest of global warming’ ever in USA faces DC March snowstorm!” Stop the ACLU: “As usual, great timing by the Climahysterics.” Gateway Pundit: “The global warming religionists have been planning this protest in Washington DC for months. They’ve billed it as the largest public protest of global warming in the United States ever. Today, Mother Nature greeted the junk science enthusiasts with a record storm and a foot of snow.” Watts Up With That reprinted part of Morano’s email and writes: “It seems like the Climate Crew has had some trouble getting their messages across.” In addition, The Politico’s Glenn Thrush blogged:John=2 0Bresnahan correctly points out that it seems that a disproportionate number of GW events coincide with winter storms (and no, we’re not going to provide other examples). The Politico has run with this line of argument before — in print. The Wonk Room checked with Bresnahan, a veteran reporter, and he explained in an e-mail that it was “a joke” that “was never meant to be posted.” He continues: As someone who wrote his first story on global warming and climate change while.....??
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Dear Marc, On this reasoning, those who are causing global warming should be morally commended for lessening the number of deadly blizzards. Unfortunately, I was out there at our counter-protest today and it was cold. There were 6 or 7 hundred anti-coal protesters and about thirty of us. We spent a couple hundred bucks, they spent a few hundred thousand, and we got a significant fraction of the media. I'd like to do a cost benefit comparison of them and us using carbon dioxide emissions as the unit of value. A highlight was the Greenpeace truck and trailer with a big solar panel on top. It was covered with snow, so they had to use their generator for the sound system. We got photos and video of the solar panel and also of a Question (Al Gore's) Authority bumper sticker pasted to the windshield. I don't think many of them got arrested--maybe no one. ??
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The following is worth reading, for comes from a young twenty-something man:
Roni,
I was up on the Hill lobbying today and saw this crew.
The anti coal crowd were the most clueless and disrespectful bunch of kids I have ever seen. I saw some of their classy banners and posters pitched in the corner of the entrance to our Nation’s Capital buildings. Very ironic since their goal is to CLEAN UP THE ENVIRONMENT!!!!
I doubt any of them could come up with a plan for how we will provide power for the millions of people in this country without the use of coal. Furthermore, I doubt they have a plan that will ensure electricity would be provided at reasonable rate.
Environmentalists in Montana were successful in their lawsuit to block a coal fired energy plant from being opened. Despite the fact this plant would be one of the CLEANEST in the country. Because of the increased financial burdens several of the electric coops that were invested in the plant had to pull out. In order to cover costs the coops had to raise electricity rates.
Thanks to these environmental extremists - my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are now enjoying a $100 increase on their monthly electricity bills.
I am all for wind, biodiesel, and any clean versions of energy production—but we have to keep in mind experts agree we are still decades away from being able to completely utilize this technology.
So in the meantime—let’s find ways to use our vast resources of coal and use it until alternative sources of energy are able to bear the full load!
Sorry I just got ticked when I saw them today.
Our economy is struggling and they want people to literally go broke and freeze to death doing it.
WAKE UP people!!!
Oh Mama’ Roni—how do I live in this place?!
Jess Peterson
Good Neighbor Committee
P.O. Box 155 - La Salle, CO 80645
info@goodneighborlaw.com
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