Los Angeles is likely to vote to ban plastic and paper grocery bags

On May 23^rd, Los Angeles is likely to vote to ban plastic and paper grocery bags and mandate the use of virus-spreading and diarrhea-inducing reusable bags.   A number of conservatives online have weighed in on this issue and the sheer “idiocy” (to quote one) of this needless and jobs-killing government overreach. (See below)

Just to underscore the stupidity of it all, I thought I would send you one leftist environmentalists point of view as a parting shot before Los Angeles takes the plunge.  This is the brilliance on display:

“Think of all the jobs we’d create here in California if everyone were allowed to have their own nuclear bomb. My neighbor Phil might even think twice before blowing all his leaves over on my yard if he suspected I had the power to send him and his leaf blower to another dimension.

“Everyone would want one, and the manufacturing jobs with great benefits would bless this Golden State. What? Too dangerous? But what about the jobs?

“This is the major complaint the Los Angeles City Council is facing as it prepares to vote May 23 on whether to phase out the use of plastic and paper bags at supermarkets.”

As I said, it’s pretty stupid.  Here’s what some smarter people have had to say:

Flash Report: Jon Fleischman

Idiocy Alert: LA City Council Prepares A ban On All Paper and Plastic Grocery Bags

Weekly Standard: Daniel Halper
L.A. Readies Plastic Bag Ban

Hot Air: Jazz Shaw 
Yet another plastic bag ban to save the world

Daily Caller: Betsi Fores
Reusable shopping bags may give consumers the ‘runs’ for their money

The Blaze: Becket Adams
Anti-Bag Ban Group Targets L.A. 

PJ Media: Bryan Preston
Don’t Kill Our Jobs with a Plastic Bag Ban

NH House Leadership Statements on Passage of SB 154 (Shoreland Protection Act)

CONCORD – The House today voted to pass reforms to the Shoreland Protection Act. It is supported by the NH Lakes Association, the Department of Environmental Services, home builders and property rights advocates.  House leaders released the following statements:

 “We need to minimize burdens on property owners but also ensure that we have one common state standard for clean water. SB 154 maintains important environmental and water quality protections while also respecting the rights of property owners,” said House Speaker William O’Brien.

 “The state of our environment is directly related to our economy and quality of life. Senate Bill 154 will continue to improve the water quality in our state, but will simplify much of the paperwork and red tape faced by landowners under the current law. It will also ensure that we guard against erosion and contain contaminants found in storm water, thus protecting fish and other wildlife. The reform of this legislation was a shining example of bipartisanship and cooperation among usually opposed interest groups. This legislation if passed in to law would simplify the permitting process and give a boost to the depressed construction industry in the Lakes Region,” said Bettencourt.

NYT Prints enviro-groups talking points as story - Group Memo Uncovered and Falsehoods exposed

A great and un-reported story idea needs to be broke-

Andrew Langer at the Institute for Liberty exposed the NYT article “As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Billions From Subsidies” as part of an environmentalist effort to levy extra taxes on the energy industry.  A response is posted here - http://www.instituteforliberty.org/index.php?src=blog&category=Blog&submenu=media. 

The smoking gun?  A copy of a memo from Clean Energy Works details the talking points used in the NYT article! http://www.scribd.com/doc/34382420/Clean-Energy-Works-Memo

(Langer and other experts can be made available for your story)

The Times was duped into misrepresenting US tax code and energy policy to push the enviro-agenda.  Where is the MSM?

The NYT and CEW are calling for an end to the dual capacity rules which are tax laws that grant American companies who generate income in foreign countries tax credits to offset the U.S. income tax on that same foreign income. By eliminating this tax payment treatment, the government will be double-taxing our domestic oil and natural gas producers, further impairing their ability to compete in the global energy marketplace.  Dual capacity will only be eliminated for the energy industry!

This proposal is part of Obamas 2011 Budget and in Congress!

If Congress approves these energy tax proposals that, among other new burdens, tax U.S. energy companies’ international income twice, it will be handing big subsidies to foreign competitors such as BP.

BP, China, Russia and other competitors will be given a distinct advantage over US companies.  Domestic companies will be taxed while competitors are given subsides. 

This is the BP Bailout.

After following the rules with safety, ethics, etc… the Obama administration and the CEW plan to punish US energy companies with double taxation while letting BP reap the subsidies.

And the New York Times fell right into their talking points.

Please contact (nhinsider@myway.com)  for any further information or interview requests.

Thanks for your help!

REP - Climate Education Campaign Features Reagan

Radio Ads Praise Reagan's Climate Stewardship

Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a national grassroots organization, announces the launch of its "What Would Reagan Do" radio ad campaign. The campaign started running in New Hampshire today - with other states to follow in the coming weeks.

The ads, which include clips from Ronald Reagan's speeches, honor the former president's memory as a conservationist and remind listeners that good environmental stewardship, including action to address climate change, is consistent with true conservative values.

"With talk radio personalities constantly peddling an anti-stewardship message under the guise of conservatism, it is a good time for a reminder about President Reagan's legacy as a good steward of our environment," David Jenkins, REP's vice president for government and political affairs, said.

"We especially want people to remember Reagan's leadership in negotiating the Montreal Protocol treaty, which began the phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals and has done more to safeguard the earth's atmosphere than any other law or treaty ever passed," Jim DiPeso, REP's vice president for policy and communication, said.

"Too often, Reagan is not remembered for his environmental accomplishments. The political left refuses to give him the credit that he deserves, while some on the right ignore his environmental legacy because it doesn't fit with the image of Reagan that they cultivate to support their own agendas," Jenkins said.

In conjunction with the radio ad campaign, REP and its sister organization ConservAmerica have launched the website www.climateconservative.org, which provides information about climate change and explains why responsible stewardship of our climate is conservative. The site also allows visitors to listen to the ads and read the entire speeches that Reagan quotes used in the ads come from.

"We are reminding the public, and especially our fellow conservatives, that despite what they hear from talk radio showmen, climate change is real and conservatives have, as Reagan said, 'a great moral responsibility' to take prudent action in defense of future generations," DiPeso said.

REP's ads began airing during the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck shows on the following stations: WGIR (610 AM) Manchester/Nashua, WGIN (930 AM) Rochester, WQSO (96.7 FM) Portsmouth, WKBK (1290 AM) Keene, and WNTK (99.7 FM) New London.

If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources.

                                 Ronald Reagan, July 11, 1984

# # #

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Jim DiPeso

Policy Director

Republicans for Environmental Protection

NRN - Real Science Should Trump Politics

Bill Wilson, the author of the below post, is the President of Americans for Limited Government of which NetRight Nation is part.

From the Washington Examiner:

Remember when President Obama vowed to "restore science to its rightful place?" His inaugural commitment, followed by executive orders, carried a message that methodologically sound science would trump politicized, ideological science.

It turns out, however, that the president's love affair with science isn't quite as clear-cut as it first seemed. Shortly after his inaugural pledge, Obama issued an Executive Order directing his chief science advisor to ensure that administration policies be based on sound science.

The EO called for the appointment of science advisers on credentials rather than political leanings, and transparency about scientific decisions. "The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions," he said. One year later, Obama has yet to earn a passing grade on his scientific integrity pledge.

For one thing, Obama simply has not acted, a point driven home by the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, a left-wing advocacy group that normally supports the administration. They point out that Obama last year called for a science strategy to be developed within 120 days of his inauguration.

Yet the Office of Science and Technology Policy has still not finalized a plan, which leads to uneven application among federal agencies.

Other shortcomings are apparent as well. Sunshine is indeed a disinfectant, allowing the public to identify ideologically-based "science" that has driven public policy decisions in the wrong direction.

But too many Freedom of Information Act requests for underlying scientific data used to formulate conclusions still languish too long in federal bureaucracies, effectively denying the public from being able to identify ideologically-driven "science".

Foot-dragging on transparency is one of Obama's greatest failures. He still has not established guidelines for promoting open communication among scientists, the media, policymakers and the public. Nor has it set a process to release all scientific papers early in the policy process, before they might be altered by political appointees.

Another troublesome development involves the scientific advisory panels that are vital in agencies, especially the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, an FDA scientific advisory panel was directed by Congress last year to make recommendations on the impact of menthol in cigarettes. It's a question for which sound scientific studies would seem to be needed.

Yet, according to one Wall Street analyst, some members of the administration-appointed panel have already come out for a menthol ban. And yet others have what appears to be a clear conflict of interest as they have worked for pharmaceutical firms that sell smoking cessation products. Given these viewpoints and conflicts, it's questionable whether the public could trust their analysis.

It's a bit like having a Red Sox fan call balls and strikes at a Yankees baseball game

To "restore science to its proper place," the Administration still must convince the public that it has washed ideologically biased science from government and that appointees to scientific positions throughout government are dedicated to methodologically sound science, not to a pre-determined agenda.

It may be that the Obama administration never really had any intention of doing what it discussed with lofty rhetoric in its executive orders. If that is the case, substituting left-wing "science" under the ruse of "sound science" is no way to ensure that the public trusts the scientific process, and ultimately for the Obama Administration trust is the issue.

Bill Wilson is the president of Americans for Limited Government.

Check out more stories at NetRightNation.com.

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Adam R. Bitely
Executive Director
NetRightNation.com


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