New admissions in CRU documents?

I don't know if anyones picked up on this yet but here is an email I found in the leaked CRU files...Its from a certain Joseph Alcamo, click his name for a bio.

In it he basically instructs the recipients to stop screening scientists credentials, and basically get as many names of scientists as possible..Its a fairly short email, so read it for yourself..

From: Joseph Alcamo alcamo@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
To:
m.hulme@xxxxxxxxx.xxx, Rob.Swart@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
Subject:
Timing, Distribution of the Statement
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 18:52:33
0100
Reply-to: alcamo@xxxxxxxxx.xxx

Mike,
Rob,Sounds like you guys have been busy doing good things for the cause.I
would like to weigh in on two important questions --Distribution for
Endorsements -- I am very strongly in favor of as wide and rapid a distribution
as possible for endorsements. I think the only thing that counts is numbers. The
media is going to say "1000 scientists signed" or "1500 signed". No one is going
to check if it is 600 with PhDs versus 2000 without. They will mention the prominent ones, but that is a different story. Conclusion -- Forget the
screening, forget asking them about their last publication (most will ignore
you.) Get those names!full email here...

HMMMM, so these so-called "scientists" aren't adverse to ignoring data or manipulating the media and public at all...WHO KNEW?!?

The real cost of the carbon tax

Councillors Warn Liberals Green Shift Will Cost $3.5 million

Josh Pringle
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Two Ottawa City Councillors suggest the Liberals Green Shift plan would cost Ottawa taxpayers at least an additional $3.5 million.

In a letter to Liberal leader Stephane Dion, Doug Thompson and Glenn Brooks say preliminary research into the impact of a carbon tax on Ottawa's operating budget has "alarming results."

They claim the Liberals carbon tax would increase OC Transpo's diesel fuel bill by $2.74 million, and Ottawa's fleet vehicle budget by $791-thousand.

Thompson and Brooks ask Dion if he is prepared to amend the tax to mitigate the new costs that the Green Shift plan will impose on Ottawa's "already tight budget."

If this is the expected increase for one city alone, then the cost Canada-wide would be horrendous.

Lets do a little rough math.

The population of the City of Ottawa in 2006 was 865,553.

That works out to a per capita ammount of $4.04 in increased costs for City transportation and fleet vehicles. Seems like a modest amount, doesnt it?

Bear in mind that this doesn't factor in anything else, like heating of buildings, sewers, construction, etc. JUST fuel for city vehicles.

As a simple calculation, what does that work out to if all of Canada's urban population is factored in?

In 2006 the urban population of Canada was stated as being 81 percent of total, which factors out to 26,390,025 people. So how much would that end up costing municipalities?

$108 million...in extra fuel costs for fleet vehicles and public transportation expenses alone!!

This is only one small portion of the harm that the "Green Shift" plan will cause. Once farming, trucking, manufacturing, private construction, home heating, and fuel costs at the pump (to name a few) are factored in, the resulting damage to our economy will dwarf that number. How will Dion's $15 billion in revenue from the carbon tax help all the segments of the economy that are devastated?

Your guess is as good as mine...

Full article here.

revenue neutral? Not a chance...

John Williamson was on CTV today explaining how the Liberal Green Shift plan is in no way revenue neutral. While I couldn't find a clip of the interview, I did manage to find an article he wrote last March on the same subject. (while some people may view this as 'old news' I feel it's worth another look)

For those who don't know, John Williamson is federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which is described as Canada's leading taxpayer advocacy group.
From their own website:

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is a federally incorporated, non-profit and non-partisan, advocacy organization dedicated to lower taxes, less waste and accountable government ... All CTF staff and board directors are prohibited from holding a membership in any political party. The CTF is independent of any institutional affiliations.

This is not the political posturing of a partisan organization. This is not election spin or rhetoric.
In fact if you look on their website they seem to target all major political parties regardless of their leaning.

With that out of the way, the key points of the article:

The (British Columbia) government says (its carbon tax) will be "revenue neutral" because it is lowering income taxes at the same time. But it certainly isn't neutral for families. A two-income family earning $90,000 with two kids will save $85 this year in lower personal income taxes. Yet, according to the B.C. budget, that same family will pay an additional $100 in gas taxes and another $35 in home heating costs. B.C.'s tax shifting translates into a middle-class tax increase.

...

Mr. Dion similarly favours a so-called revenue neutral tax. But as in B.C., it won't be neutral for taxpayers: Higher energy prices will hit families with kids the hardest. And what will it accomplish? Premier Gordon Campbell's goal is to reduce the province's CO2 emissions by 40 million tonnes by 2020. Yet, the current carbon tax policy is expected to reduce greenhouse gases by only three million tonnes, about 7.5% of the total. If the price of a 7.5% CO2 reduction is more than $15-billion, taxpayers can only imagine what it will cost to cut the other 92.5%.

full article here

Dion's Carbon Tax Shell Game

The "Green Shift" Plan put forth by Dion and the Liberals is looking more and more like one of those shady carnival games (AKA Scams) where the operator puts a ball under a trio of sea-shells and challenges us to guess where it is. "Everyone's a winner!" shouts the carny.

Dion claims the tax will be revenue neutral, meaning that all the money he collects will returned as income tax breaks and incentives. Everyone's a winner. However, Paul Zed, Liberal MP, just implied that some might be more of a winner than others by saying that the tax will not apply to oil refineries in his home province of New Brunswick.

According to Zed, the refinery's emissions won't be taxed.

"The Conservatives are alleging that the Green Shift taxes (emissions). That's not true. That's the lie and the falsehood," Zed said.

"There is no tax on emissions. The Green Shift plan is not a detriment to the refinery. I wouldn't be supporting this if, for a moment, I thought the refinery was in jeopardy."

But in the Liberals own GreenShift Plan:

"Liberals will tax pollution in Canada for the first time by putting a price on Greenhouse Gas emissions that cause climate change."

According to the plan, "large final emitters (the worst polluters in Canada - mostly heavy industry and power plants) will account for a significant majority of the revenue within the Green Shift."

Oil refineries are very energy intensive. They use large quantities of fuel such as natural gas to heat the crude oil and perform various reactions on it to seperate it into the gasoline, diesel and heating fuels we use.

If the tax revenue isn't coming from major polluters (AKA large final emitters) like oil refineries, then who will end up paying for this plan?

Who knows?

Paul Zed's statement already shows that certain "chosen" industries will have preferential treatment under the Liberal carbon tax. Even if the "Green Shift" plan ends up being totally revenue neutral, some polluting industries will be given breaks, while others will be heavily taxed.

Should we trust a party which contradicts its own platform? If the Liberal tax plan changes daily depending on who in the party talks about it, how can you trust that in the end it will resemble what was voted for? Will you be a winner or loser under "the Green Shift"?

Your guess is as good as mine....


So which shell will it be? One, Two or Three? Everyone's a winner!!

Hign fuel prices didn't reduce consumption before...

...and the Green Shift wont do anything for consumption now...

Dion argues the only way to get people to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels is to put a price on it through a carbon tax. He says if Canadians are forced to pay more, they will use less.

Trouble is, Canadians have already been paying more for gasoline at the pumps since 2002 -- a lot more.

But instead of using less fuel during that time, Canadians have been using more, according to recent data released by Statistics Canada.

"Despite the steady escalation of gasoline prices since 2002, Canadian drivers have so far not cut back their consumption," a Stats Can study released last month concluded. "Overall, the retail sales volume of gasoline rose 7.2% from 2002 through 2007."

read entire article here

Canadian Trucking Alliance: Revisions to Liberal carbon tax scheme fall short

The Canadian Trucking Association has once again spoken out against the Green Shift plan.  

David Bradley, CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and an outspoken critic of Green Shift, says the changes will do little to help the trucking industry. "The trucking industry is already making the shift to smog-free engines, ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel and proven and available GHG busting technologies and devices," he said. "What we need is a rebate program to accelerate the investment, especially during these tough economic times."

"We still end up paying significantly more tax at a time when the industry is suffering from higher fuel costs, the appreciation of the Canadian dollar, border delays and a freight recession in both the United States and parts of Canada," said Bradley. "The goal of any environmental program should be to eliminate smog and reduce GHG's as quickly as possible. The technology exists in trucking to do that and our enviroTruck program lays out a clear and efficient plan for achieving this."

read the entire article here

Effects of Carbon Tax in other countries

If you want to see what a possible Liberal Carbon tax would do to Canada, you can start by looking at other countries that have already enacted carbon taxes, such as the UK and Australia.

FAMILIES are being ripped off by an average of £783 a year through Gordon Brown’s bogus “green" taxes, it emerged yesterday.
Hard-pressed households are being forced to pay far more than necessary in motoring taxes and council tax bills as well as a raft of other measures allegedly imposed to cover the cost of pollution.
In total, taxpayers had to hand over £19.6billion too much in so-called green taxes last year – and lower-income households are being hit hardest, said a report.
Last night the Prime Minister and Chancellor Alistair Darling were accused of exploiting environmental concerns to justify a punishing new round of stealth taxes
which critics branded “unfair and dishonest.”

Entire Article Here