Mark Begich, and the EPA (in which I finally get to use the word ‘sphygmomanometer’
I have to admit the other day when I read that Mark Begich opposes the EPA regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, I started to feel intense pressure in my capillaries.
After all, this is Lisa Murkowski’s position, and Lisa Murkowski is the former reasonable Republican senator who has now grabbed her teddy bear, crawled in bed with the right wing and turned on the electric blanket.
But Mark Begich? Had I had a pocket sphygmomanometer on me, I would have used it. (Actually, I’ve just been looking for an excuse to use the word sphygmomanometer in a sentence since junior year in high school when it appeared on the verbal SATs) Suffice it to say, I was able to sense my pulse in my extremities and my eyeballs at the same time. Not good.
Because, not only does Lisa Murkowski think that the EPA shouldn’t be regulating greenhouse gas emmisions, but she thinks congress ought to be doing it. Yes, congress. If congress were a bunch of scientists, they wouldn’t be in congress. They’d be….I dunno…. scientists.
But, perhaps now that corporations like Conoco Phillips and BP, and big coal companies can donate limitless amounts of money to promote the elections of congresspeople, and to smear those who oppose them, they can take all the time they would have spent fundraising and take some science courses in their spare time. Or not.
Sssssssssssssssssssssss….thump. thump. thump. thump. sssssssssssssssssssss.
No, the news from the sphygmomanometer was not good.
Fortunately, the office of the Senator had some answers. And the answers were not bad. They talked me down.
First and foremost they told me that The Associated Press story is wrong. Senator Begich does not oppose the EPA’s powers to regulate greenhouse gases.
Hm.
And furthermore, he did not say that the EPA lacks the power to restrict greenhouse gases and realizes that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the EPA to make a determination on how to move forward.
Oh.
What they DID do is ask the EPA for clarification on the implementation and timing of new regulations, whereupon the EPA responded that regulations will be phased in and that Congress will be able to write its own energy/climate change bill.
And finally, the Senator recognizes that Alaska is ground zero for climate change and that Congress needs to act.
Ssssssssssssssss……………………………….
OK, I feel better.
Here is the original letter, and the response.
Republican Visionaries
HEALTHCARE: Yes, the system’s broken, but the slightest possibility of a future Canadian-style system is so paralyzingly terrifying that it’s best to do nothing at all. “Be very afraid”.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Yes, it’s undeniable, but we’re not one hundred percent, unanimously certain of the cause, so why the urgency to do anything? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it! “Don’t worry, be happy”.
Thanks for the post. I am glad to hear what his position on climate change regulation really is.
Another bill that has me upset is the Sealaska land trade bill for southeast Alaska. Murkowski and Young are the prime sponsors but Mark has reportedly signed on as well. This is the one where state senator (and Sealaska board member) Kookesh was caught on tape threatening the city council if they didn’t support the bill. It sure sounds like a corrupt land swap to bail out a good old boy native corporation with public lands. Mark should run away from this as fast as he can.
Glad this got straightened out. I read about this elsewhere and wondered what Begich was up to.
Whooo feckin hoo, the news channels will be flooded tonight. Can’t wait to see what the crazies have to say, they got a great (finally) smackdown by Obama and the Democrats there. Worth my entire afternoon to watch! Everything in the government should be done this way. Everything. Whew! And watching the R have to say “Thank you Mr. President…” and be all respectful and polite instead of spewing their Faux Noise crud and calling him “Obama.” Wow, great!
Thank you for the clarification. I also feel better.
Yet another reason to thank you. I was pretty hot under the collar about Mark’s stand on the EPA issue as well. It is VERY reassuring to find out that it was “misreported.” Thank you so much for talking to his office and clearing that up.
I don’t feel better at all. I wrote Begich’s office when this first broke. A day later, I received this:
====================
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) endangerment finding. As you know, Alaska is feeling the effects of climate change more than any other state, with rural villages eroding into the ocean, changing weather patterns and potentially enormously expensive other impacts.
In April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA ordered that the EPA must scientifically determine whether greenhouse gases (GHGs) from new motor vehicles cause or contribute to air pollution which endangers public health.
Adhering the Supreme Court’s decision, the Bush Administration EPA began the research and current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson issued the endangerment finding this past December. The EPA determined the current and projected concentrations of six GHGs from new motor vehicles threaten public health and welfare. This scientific decision logically must also apply to larger, stationary sources of these gases.
While pollution of this type is an important problem we must address, I have concerns about EPA regulation. In the long-run, EPA regulation will not be the most cost-effective way of addressing the problem. I support Congressional legislation, which can more effectively address the problem. Legislation can also create incentives to encourage the development of clean-burning natural gas, create millions of clean energy jobs, develop renewable and non-renewable American energy supplies, and boost our economy.
I am in discussions with EPA Administrator Jackson to understand the timeline for further action on the endangerment finding along with which sources of GHGs in Alaska would be regulated.
I will continue to actively work with both sides of the aisle in the Senate to develop legislation which addresses Alaska priorities. Thank you for contacting me on this subject.
========================
My SO received the exact same form letter in reply to her letter. I responded to the Senator by asking for clarification on what ‘Congressional legislation’ he was touting as being more effective. I also asked him to take a stand and promote alternative energy options that are available here in Alaska–tidal power in Southeast and Southcentral; wind farm expansion and maintenance in Kotzebue and other Northwestern/Interior locations; small hydro for Southeast, and further support for the individual fuel cell project that’s being done at UAF. The Senator’s response?
Nope. I’m not feeling better about this at all.
Is Marky starting to tap dance a bit? He rode a very thin line to win the Senate seat. Now he seems to be showing shades of a Blue Dog Dem. I sent him a letter saying I was watching him closely and if I thought he was being more conservatative than progressive he’d loose my vote.
The “sphygmomanometer” thingy is the sort of thing I term standardized test debris. I’m still looking for a good use for “prolix” which was the darling of the test makers in my era.
sphygmomanometer sounds like a really nasty nasty type of catheter
Heh heh, Big Slick. Good one.
Hey Muddy;
Is the AP gonna print/issue a correction??
This story just hanging out there over Begich is ‘stinky’….
This should probably be posted on the open thread, but it’s related. Cook Inlet Beluga whales are extremely threatened. Take action for their protection at:
http://www.savebiogems.org/
Thanks, and health & peace to all.
Wow. Health summit, Palin touring with Rich, Beck & Wislon, O’Reilly saying Palin needs an education and I cannot find ONE blog mentioning any of them??? Yikes, what a crud of a Thursday night.
Go Polar Bears & Belugas!
There seems to be a witch hunt against Mark Begich right now. Rather than discuss the issues, facts, and actual positions the Republicans often try to demonize the other side in the eyes of the public. This works on the heartless and mindless. The news media is very influenced by multiple factors within and without the government. Everything that comes from the MSM has to be evaluated for facts. I don’t agree with Begich on everything, nor would there be anyone I would entirely agree with, but they are trying to make him look like something he is not.
There are some very heartening questions posed to the EPA director alongside the refinery/plant-protecting ones (and even the latter do represent the interests of his state). Like, no secret pal of Inhofe’s would include so many questions about the impact of striking down the endangerment finding.
In those questions they basically said, “Hey Director Jackson, here’s a platform for saying why that endangerment finding is so important!” And they tie in coastal communities, fisheries, & all sorts of other important concerns…
I too spent the afternoon watching the health summit. And YES—Sen McCain–the campaign is over!!!!!!
Our Sen Harkin of Iowa did a great job. Sen Grassley—–same old crap!!
As it happens, I was subjected to a sphygmomanometer measurement earlier today (132/80, so-so).
I am not particularly impressed with Senator Begich’s stand on this matter. The EPA has, in effect, now said that they plan to defer to the legislature regarding regulation greenhouse gasses. I do not find this reassuring.
lacy lady, i HEART harkin. yes, i do.