Then There Is This Drivel From Boehner

TW: The previous post was a brief snippet from an Obama press conference, below is an interaction last Sunday between George Stephanopoulos and John Boehner (House Minority Leader Repub OH). Lets try to parse Mr. Boehner as his discourse is a fine example of either Orwellian zig-zagging or mere BS run amok:

STEPHANOPOULOS: ...We showed your statement on the president's decision through the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. Also, you've come out against the president's proposal to cap-and-trade carbon emissions. So what is the Republican answer to climate change? Is it a problem? Do you have a plan to address it?
BOEHNER: George, we believe that our -- all of the above energy strategy from last year continues to be the right approach on energy. That we ought to make sure that we have new sources of energy, green energy, but we need nuclear energy, we need other types of alternatives, and, yes, we need American-made oil and gas.

TW: As you will note, Boehner never answers the questions re climate change, he never mentions climate change again. Boehner also never defines a single "green" project, he says "green" but does not put any meat on that bone. Republicans love to talk up nuclear but never provide details on how they would address the two huge problems with nuclear- what to do with nuke waste and where to build the plants since no one wants them anywhere near themselves (not to mention it is quite unclear whether enough uranium exists to service all those plants should they be built). The Republicans speak of oceans of 'Merican oil but never mention that most is either in very deep water and/or embedded in shale and sands making retrieval environmentally and economically dubious.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But that doesn't do anything when it comes to emissions, sir.
BOEHNER: When it comes to the issue of climate change, George, it's pretty clear that if we don't work with other industrialized nations around the world, what's going to happen is that we're going to ship millions of American jobs overseas. We have to deal with this in a responsible way.

TW: Huh? Clear as mud. I suppose he implies if we impose carbon related measures while no one else does we will suffer. There is some validity to that but the question was not- "what happens if the U.S. imposes carbon measures and no one else does?

STEPHANOPOULOS: So what is the responsible way? That's my question. What is the Republican plan to deal with carbon emissions, which every major scientific organization has said is contributing to climate change?
BOEHNER: George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know, when they do what they do, you've got more carbon dioxide. And so I think it's clear...

TW: Yo JB, no one is calling CO2 a carcinogen, the EPA says excessive emissions of CO2 are likely a problem but a carcinogen? No. But nice try it makes us enviro types seem silly but of course if his audience is not stupid someone else might come across sillier. Btw cow farts (and yours for that matter)release methane a related (carbon and hydrogen not carbon and oxygen) but different gas than CO2.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't believe that greenhouse gases are a problem in creating climate change?
BOEHNER: ... we've had climate change over the last 100 years -- listen, it's clear we've had change in our climate. The question is how much does man have to do with it, and what is the proper way to deal with this? We can't do it alone as one nation. If we got India, China and other industrialized countries not working with us, all we're going to do is ship millions of American jobs overseas.

TW: So does JB believe climate change is a real issue, who knows from these answers. Do the Republicans have an alternative plan, not a all.

The Dems do not have a monopoly on environmental ideas but these from a top Republican are not even competitive or really ideas, merely directionless drivel.