Copenhagen Climate Conference Praises EPA Carbon Dioxide Decision

The recent decision by the EPA that carbon dioxide is a "threat to human health" has garnered praise at the Copenhagen Climate Conference, even as certain European countries demand that the United States do more to curb "green house gasses."

Obama administration officials are claiming that President Obama still prefers to prefer to address carbon emissions through the legislative process. Obama administration officials claim that the EPA announcement and the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Conference are "coincidental."

Critics of climate change legislation are having none of it, though. Hot Air Allahpundit suggests that the EPA , in declaring carbon dioxide a "threat to human health" has reserved onto itself the power to regulate almost every aspect of human life and commerce in the United States, bypassing the Congress, and in effect grabbing unprecedented power for the federal government.

"Don't kid yourself into thinking the EPA doesn't understand the scope of its power. By classifying CO2 and methane (among other so-called greenhouse gases, it can inject itself into just about every industry in the US. Energy production will be its primary target, but the EPA has also gone after coal mining on the basis of the Clean Water Act; it will certainly not be shy about using this new authority to kill coal mining altogether. It will also impact agriculture, especially dairies and cattle ranching, as well as transportation. The entire manufacturing sector will have to answer for its output."

If socialism means that the government controls the means of production, the EPA has essentially declared that it can impose socialism on the United States by government fiat in the name of the environment. This threat is seen as a warning to the Congress to hurry up and pass cap and trade, or the EPA will impose cap without the trade. Years of litigation are certain to follow if the EPA moves forward on its threat. Critics point out that the kind of draconian cuts on carbon emissions being proposed at the Copenhagen Climate Conference would cripple world economies now struggling to emerge from an economic downturn.

Also, in light of the climate-gate revelations, arguments over how much to arbitrarily cut carbon emissions have taken on a sense of the surreal. If the data supporting global warming theories have been compromised, casting the whole idea in doubt, the rationale reaction would not seem to be to go ahead anyway.

Indeed, the sudden classification of CO2, which is after all necessary for the survival of plant life on the planet, as a dangerous substance, brings to mind a common prank that critics of environmentalism like to play. They would visit environmental meetings and protests with petitions demanding the banning of "Di-hydrogen oxide", a dangerous substance that can kill in sufficient quantities, is used by the nuclear and pesticide industries, and is often accompanied by other pollutants. Of course, the proper term for "Di-hydrogen oxide" is "water", also necessary for life on this planet.

However one would not be surprised to see the over abundance of H2O becomes the next environmental crisis. It makes as much sense as classifying CO2 as dangerous.

Sources: US body aids Copenhagen conference, Morton Anderson, UN Climate Change Conference, December 8th, 2009

Copenhagen Climate Conference Begins with Fanfare, Doom, Gloom and a Big Carbon Footprint, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, December 7th, 2009

EU Urging US To Boost Emission Cuts At Copenhagen Climate Conference, RTT News, December 8th, 2009

EPA declares air a danger to human health, Allahpundit, Hot Air, December 7th, 2009

Cimate-Gate Scandal Continues to Spread, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, December 2nd, 2009