What Makes America Great

I’m often critical of aspects of the US polity. Here’s an example of the immense strength and energy of the US federal model.

In 2003, on a party-line vote, Maine passed legislation implementing the New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The CCAP, a regional version of the Kyoto Protocol, committed New England and Eastern Canada to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below that by 2020, and eventually by 70-80% or more.

Usual awful science: water vapor represents 95% to 99% of greenhouse gasses, and cutting that by 10% is physically impossible. Of course they mean CO2.

Policymakers have not been concerned that the CCAP is constitutionally suspect, expensive and ineffective. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) crafted the plan and decided not to discuss either the costs or the averted global warming benefits explicitly, but rather to focus on other environmental benefits (such as an alleged reduction in asthma) and to ignore or obscure the likely impact on energy bills. The plan would not be submitted for an up or down vote, but rather implemented piecemeal by executive order, litigation, statute, rule-making and public education.

However, help was at hand.

Representative Henry Joy (R-Crystal) had a different idea and submitted LD 72, An Act to Promote Sound Science in Climate Change Policy.

LD 72 was short (under 200 words), clear and concise: it required that “when the Department of Environmental Protection adopts rules designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the department must issue an estimate of the amount of global warming that will be prevented and the costs that will result from the rules requiring reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

And the enviro-freaks crumbled.

The result is a first for Maine environmental policy: economic factors will be considered, however faintly. Some minimal increase in honesty, transparency and accountability will be expected. Maine’s climate change policy now has at least a patina of bipartisan consensus and legitimacy which it previously lacked.

This shows strong local government driven by scientifically educated pols woks, unlike the centralized bureaucracies run by failed lawyers that dominate Europe.

Negotiating With Hamas

I suspected Brit involvement in the story that the US would now negotiate with Hamas. I was right:

The BBC reported a genuine scoop on the Today programme (0732) this morning. In the wake of last month’s victory by Hamas in the local election, reporter James Reynolds went to see the new acting mayor — only to bump into two medium-ranking British diplomats leaving a meeting with said Hamas apparatchik. Thus the BBC stumbled across Britain’s dirty little secret — that despite the fact that it has declared Hamas to be a proscribed terrorist organisation, it has quietly started to treat it as a legitimate political party and deal with its representatives.

The good news is that this story broke while Jack Straw, the appropriately named Brit Foreign Minister, was in Israel & he no doubt had the crap beaten out of him.

Blair Refuses To Commit Suicide

In the House of Commons today:

The Prime Minister has vowed he will not allow the UK’s rebate from the European Union to be negotiated away.

With pressure mounting from other EU leaders over the rebate, Mr Blair told the Commons today: “The UK rebate will remain and we will not negotiate it away – period.”

The WSJ EUnuch brigade will be heartbroken, as were Chirac and Schroder on hearing the news.

Maybe You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover

This is John Kerry as a student. He looks exactly like my visualization of the creep that seduced poor Charlotte Simmons in Tom Wolfe’s novel of that name.

The EUnuchs Still Don’t Get It

An EU apologist argues in the WSJ (subscription required) that the way forward after the constitution kerfuffle is for Blair to do 3 things which one or more nations in the EU will not accept. If this is representative, the EU has not long to run.

The three proposals are for Blair to implement when he starts next month a 6 month slot as rotating Chair of the EU.

1. Over double the net Brit payment to the EU

With the current six-year budget due to expire in 2006, a new agreement… will require major concessions from Britain, understandably attached to the rebate skillfully negotiated by Margaret Thatcher 20 years ago….

This would have the Brits paying net 9 billion euros annually, more than the combined net payments of Germany (6 billion euros) and France (2 billion euros). Brit voters just won’t accept this. And neither should they – if the EU finds this money from farm support cuts, it will import more food from Africa. Which really would help.

Adopt part of the rejected EU Constitution

Another part of the constitutional treaty that Mr. Blair might be able to salvage is the institution of a European president for a term of two-and-a-half years (but not renewable, unlike what the constitutional treaty proposed). That would give the EU the public face it needs, and after the proverbial dust has settled might even open the door for Mr. Blair himself to assume that role as of March 2007 when the 50th anniversary of “Europe” will coincide with his likely retirement from national politics.

Over 80% of Brits in a recent poll said that they would insist on a referendum if the EU tries to sneak through parts of the rejected constitution. No doubt the French and Dutch will feel the same. Especially if it’s a deal to set Blair up with a retirement job. Brits will think this yucky, and the French will see him as a bound to import nasty Anglo business models into the EU. Which he won’t, but that’s what they think.

Start negotiating Turkey’s membership

Third, Mr. Blair should preserve existing EU commitments to enlargement…and the start of negotiations with Turkey this fall. Admittedly, negotiating with Turkey will be even slower than had been anticipated, especially after the expected election of a new German chancellor whose opposition to Turkey’s membership in the EU is well known.

What part of No To Turkey does this guy not understand? It’s very sad of course, since for all sorts of reasons Turkey needs help. But until the French, Dutch and Germans are comfortable with the assimilation of the Muslims they currently have – and that is years out, if ever – there is no way any pol is going to go near this.

Makes me feel good about dumping my euros though.