Posted on June 11,
2017
Pitt-Squeaker
Peduto’s Paris pledge is pathetic
by
Daniel
Clark
Here in the longtime Democrat stronghold of
Pittsburgh, media and politicians have taken umbrage at President Trump’s
explanation that he acted in the interest of our city by walking away from the
Paris Climate Agreement. “I was elected
to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” he declared.
Naturally,
Mayor Bill Peduto was offended, although it was
unclear exactly why. Peduto
has made no secret of his admiration for avant-garde European cities. Perhaps it’s Trump’s stated preference for
American cities that has struck a nerve.
Setting out to prove that childish tweets are a
bipartisan phenomenon, Peduto pointed out that Trump
lost Pittsburgh by a wide margin in the general election, as if elected
officials only represented those people who voted for them. Peduto also pledged
to uphold the Paris agreement on the city’s behalf. A day later, the mayor participated in a downtown
protest against Trump’s decision called the “March for Truth.”
If he and the other participants had any regard for
the truth, they’d recognize that the United States was never a signatory to the
agreement in the first place, which is why we, in this country, don’t call it a
treaty. President Obama had signed the
deal with no intention of submitting it to the Senate for ratification. Therefore, his signature conveyed only a
personal agreement on his part. Our
nation had never agreed to its terms, and therefore had never been a party to
it, as those boorish European leaders now expressing mock outrage are perfectly
aware.
Peduto’s
marchers could easily look up the truth if they wanted to, and realize that the
Paris agreement is remarkably short on specifics, let alone any enforcement
mechanism. In fact, it leaves it up to
each party to determine its own requirements.
For example, China has agreed that its greenhouse gas emissions will
“peak” in 2030, before starting to decline.
If you believe in manmade global warming, think about
that for a minute. Supposedly, we’ve
been on the cusp of global annihilation since the early 90s. The world’s most populous nation, which is also
a burgeoning industrial power, promises to continue increasing its emissions
for another 13 years. Why are you not
joining Trump in refusing to endorse such an agreement?
Obama had pledged to cut our emissions by 28 percent
below 2005 levels by 2025, which was an irresponsible thing to do, knowing that
he’d be leaving office eight years sooner.
Presumably, it is this with which Mayor Peduto
will now force Pittsburgh to comply.
Mind you, there is no reliable way to measure greenhouse gas emissions
from a particular country, let alone a city, a fact that further erodes the
agreement’s credibility. Peduto must mean to achieve the desired results, as nations
do, from extrapolations based on changes in government policy.
How
realistic would that be, really? Peduto’s most noxious “green” initiative has been the
proliferation of bicycle lanes, for the purpose of restricting auto traffic to
fewer lanes on many roads and bridges.
The aim is to inflict hardship on motorists so that they’ll drive less
frequently. To the degree that it is
unsuccessful, however, it is causing people to sit in traffic longer, or take
circuitous detours, burning more fuel in either case.
Perhaps he hopes to reach his goal by reducing the
number of Pittsburgh residents to 28 percent below what it was in 2005. If approximately 80,000 more people were to
flee the city in search of better schools, roads you’re allowed to drive on,
and a mayor who doesn’t attack the cops while they’re trying to protect us, our
little corner of the planet would officially be saved!
As the leaders of the totally dishonest “March for
Truth” surely know, the true purpose of the Paris Climate Agreement is global
wealth redistribution, under the guise of helping developing nations pay the
costs of compliance. The Green Climate
Fund, the UN-created entity through which the transactions are to take place,
has a stated goal of raising $100 billion per year, although it offers no
specifics about the presumptive sources of that funding. Trump thinks he knows where the bulk of it is
expected to come from, and the hysterical reaction of the “international
community” to his rejecting the deal has proven him right.
So, Mr. Peduto, what do you
figure Pittsburgh’s share of this financial commitment to be, and how do you
plan to collect it from us? Those of us
rotten, CO2-producing constituents still defiling your city would like to know.
The Shinbone: The
Frontier of the Free Press