http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/28/0628weather.html
Link: Austin headed for record June heat.
(((Meanwhile, in the nation's capital:)))
http://climateprogress.org/2008/06/29/is-450-ppm-politically-possible-part-6-what-the-boxer-lieberman-warner-bill-debate-tells-us/#more-3236
"Here are the highlights — or, rather, lowlights — from the GOP side that make clear just how far conservatives are from understanding climate reality:
Sen. Inhofe (R-OK) lead the Senate opposition to the bill, claiming “The vast majority of scientists do not believe that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributor to climate change” and called it “The largest tax increase in the history of America.”
Sen. Barrasso (R-WY) said he opposed the bill because Wyoming family budgets would lose $1000 to $3000 in the next 13 years.
Sen. Grassley (R-IA) was the first designated compassionate conservative, claiming “Household with limited incomes will be affected the most by this bill,” and “This would raise energy bills for the poorest fifth of Americans by $750 to $1,000 a year.”
[If only conservatives cared about the poorest Americans on the days they weren’t filibustering climate legislation.]
Sen. Enzi (R-WY) said “I am an environmentalist” but opposed the bill and urged people to “visualize” their electricity bill being 50% higher the first year the bill goes into effect.
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) said the bill would add $8000 in additional energy costs on Texas households, and actually blamed Democrats in Congress for the recent spike in gasoline prices.
Sen. Sessions (R-AL) said the bill was a “… complex and sneaky cap and trade tax system” that “will raise taxes, will raise substantially energy costs and gasoline prices, will cause worker layoffs and hurt our economy, and leave us less competitive in the world marketplace.” Thus, the bill “just the opposite of what the American people (our dutiful citizens who send us here) would expect us to be doing.”
Sen. Chambliss (R-GA) cited a University of Georgia study he claimed that showed temperatures have dropped in the last century, and said “This bill will attack citizens at the pump” and “increase job losses.”
Sen. Bond (R-MO) said the bill would raise gasoline prices $1.40 a gallon by 2050, warned that “if prices keep going up, we may not have a trucking industry,” and concluded confusingly, “We need to cut carbon, we don’t need to increase energy prices.” He asserted, ‘Nobody in their right mind’ believes we can get half our power from wind and solar or drive a ‘fleet of golf carts.’
Sen. Vitter (R-LA) warned that by 2030, gasoline prices would go up $.41 to $1.01 a gallon.
Sen. Cochran (R-MS) said the bill would be “especially harmful to lower-income families.”
Sen. Thune (R-SD) said the bill “could bankrupt US air carriers” which has already been crippled by high oil prices and argued it would add $5 to $10 billion to the US aviation fuel bill.
Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) said the bill means “people must turn off air-conditioning in the summer.” (((And die in droves from record Greenhouse temperatures.)))
