Lil' Normie Coleman Wants To Eliminate State, Local Action On Climate

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed that California would take the lead in the fight against global-warming when he signed a bill last month aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

But Sen. Norm Coleman is suggesting that Congress strip California and all other states, along with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, of much of their authority to control carbon dioxide emissions. Under a draft proposal that has been circulated by the Minnesota Republican, carbon dioxide would not be considered a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

Coleman found himself in the middle of the fray over global warming when a little-known Washington newsletter, Inside EPA, posted a copy of Coleman's draft on its website. "My intention in this draft proposal is to find the quickest path to carbon-dioxide reduction -- that means finding a proposal that doesn't cripple the economy, that is nationally based and that will not be trapped in the courts," Coleman said in a statement Friday. His office said the senator was unavailable for an interview.

EDIT

In his statement, Coleman said "a strong national policy" is needed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. "Let me be unequivocally clear, our goal is to strengthen emission standards and any assertion to the contrary is simply false," he said. "I support mandating a significant reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions. However the first step must be to generate a discussion." And Coleman said he's willing to be flexible in working with environmentalists.

EDIT/END

Well, thanks, Senator Pantload. We really appreciate your flexibility. How about you bend over, put your head between your legs and kiss your own ass?

[rodeodance]

1. "discussion" is over Mr. Col....! Climate change is HERE-ask Arnie!

.....However the first step must be to generate a discussion." And Coleman said he's willing to be flexible in working with environmentalists.

[rodeodance]

2. Despite Federal Resistance, Cities Continue To Embrace Kyoto Goals

guess Colyman is not keeping in tune with THE PEOPLE!



Sat Oct-21-06 11:05 AM
Original message
Despite Federal Resistance, Cities Continue To Embrace Kyoto Goals
EDIT

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels launched the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement initiative last year and Rayson and more than 300 other mayors have followed his lead, promising to strive to meet Kyoto targets in their own communities. “I think it's a common interest that we have that rises above politics,” Nickels said. “This really has to do with the survival of our world.”

Nickels started the mayors' effort after Kyoto took affect without U.S. participation. At the same time, he said he was experiencing climate change first hand, as Seattle was tracking decreased snow mass in the mountains, a concern because the melted snow contributes to the city's water and power supplies. “I decided to challenge my community and at the same time challenge other mayors,” he said. “I knew it would resonate in Seattle. What I didn't expect was that in many other parts of the country people are experiencing these things too.”

The response has been staggering. Efforts are being undertaken by mayors of cities in 46 states, representing more than 50 million Americans. There are big cities like New York and small ones like Easton, Conn.; liberal ones like San Francisco and conservative ones like Hurst, Texas, launching all sorts of programs aimed at meeting the Kyoto standards.

Lincoln, Neb., is now running its public buses on biodiesel, has begun operating wind turbines at its electric utility and has established miles of bike and pedestrian trails. Lexington, Ky., has replaced incandescent traffic signal bulbs with more energy-efficient LED ones, added hybrid cars to its municipal fleet and began picking up trash just once a week to trim vehicle emissions. And in Salt Lake City, stricter guidelines aimed at making public buildings green have been passed, wind energy is being more widely used and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions has been cut to 106 percent below 2001 levels.

EDIT

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20061020-10...

[peacetalksforall]

3. Incredible edible - they are using him. He's eating himself and

his future up with the causes they assign him

The ranking on a credibility scale is rock bottom.

They must think he is exendable. Maybe he's an experiment - see how many people will believe his absurd positions and explanations.

Doesn't he suffer any embarassment for the credibility of his assigned causes? How can he defend himself?

What a joke.

[thunder35]

4. he's a joke

only reason he got elected was because Wellstone died.

[peacetalksforall]

6. And maybe killed by man's hand, not God's hand (to put it in

terms of religion for all those God-fearing people everywhere.)

[joemurphy]

5. An Open Letter to Sen. Norm Coleman from Lazlo Toth

Office of Senator Norman Coleman
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Your Decision Not to Run for President

Dear Senator Coleman:

My wife (Elsbeta Toth) and I are both long-time Republican voters. We are also two of your biggest fans. We’ve been following your political career ever since you lost the Minnesota Gubernatorial Election to that ex-wrestler, Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Since that dark day, we’ve watched with pride your political comeback and reemergence as one of President Bush’s top guys in Congress.

Elsbeta and I know you agonize over all the important decisions you have to make up there in the Senate. You never do anything rash or stupid -- unlike a lot of other people. We think it's also a mark of your intelligence and heart that after all your agonizing, you've voted 98% of the time in favor of President Bush’s key programs! You’re clearly a deep thinker. This is just one of the many reasons Elsbeta and I like you so much.

But don’t think we haven’t also appreciated your principled stands in other areas. Take family values, for example. Elsbeta and I actually had tears in our eyes watching you vote to prolong the life of Teri Schiavo. (It wasn’t your fault that she was brain dead at the time. No one can blame you for that. Heck, even Bill Frist, a recognized man of medicine, thought Teri was OK. She certainly looked vibrant and alive in all those videos!) We have also appreciated your support for the President’s War in Iraq and his generous tax cuts that have done so much to stimulate our economy. We always like it when money is put back into the working man's pocket. (As good Republicans Elsbeta and I actually framed the $20.47 check that we got back from the IRS as our refund from that tax cut. It’s still hanging proudly in our living room, right next to your smiling picture).

Heck, I could go on praising you forever. But I'd better get to the real reason for my letter:


Senator Coleman, I take pen in hand today to express my shock and dismay on learning that you have decided not to run for President in 2008. I learned about this terrible news in an article in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. The article quoted you as saying:

“I'm not running for vice president. I'm not running for president. ... If nominated, I won't run"

Given my past support for you (You're probably my most favorite Republican!), you can well imagine my reaction when I learned of this horrible development. I’ve been in a state of depression ever since. I still haven’t had the heart to tell Elsbeta about it. She'll be devastated too.

You see, Elsbeta and I recently sold our home and most of our furniture here in Indiana. In fact, we have to move out per our contract later this week. Just yesterday I made arrangements to rent a U-Haul. We sold our home and other belongings to raise money so that we could relocate to Minneapolis by 2008 and contribute money to your Presidential campaign. It was our fervent hope that, on arrival, we could attend the Republican Presidential Convention, see you get the GOP nomination for President, and then proudly watch you make your acceptance speech.

I know from your voting record that you’re a decisive, but thoughtful, man. That’s why I still harbor a faint hope that maybe, somehow, in some way, you’ll see fit to change your mind about not running for President. If you do, our family’s long-held dream of seeing you in the White House could yet become a reality.

I’m know that this letter is probably only one among many in an avalanche of similar correspondence that you're undoubtedly getting on this matter. But please, Senator Coleman, don’t treat it lightly. Bow to the calls of your supporters! Please, please, please reconsider! Your country so needs you! Don't turn your back on her, Senator Coleman!

I’d imagine that right now you’re thinking: “Wow, Poor Mr. And Mrs. Toth! They should have checked with me before taking that big step and selling their house!”

Yes, I guess we should have. But Elsbeta and I read a long time ago that Karl Rove was "grooming you for higher office". Then, we learned that you had spent thousands of dollars to have all of your teeth capped. This was enough to convince Elsbeta and I that your “hat was in the ring” for 2008. Elsbeta and I are political junkies. We can read the tea leaves. Given these obvious hints at a candidacy, we didn’t think that directly asking you about a 2008 Presidential run was really necessary. I really never occurred to us that you'd have had so much cosmetic dental work done if all you planned on doing was to make another run at a measly Minnesota Senate seat. Sadly, I guess we were wrong.

I don’t mean to imply, of course, that your dental work wasn’t worth the money. Far from it. I’ve seen for myself the “Before” and “After” photos of your mouth that your dentist posted on his Internet website. In fact, his website still has them up. Here’s the address in case you want to take a look for yourself:

http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/norm_coleman_featured_smile_124.htm

Quite a contrast, eh? I guess you sort of made dental history, didn’t you? Heh, heh.

By the way, I hope you aren’t offended when I tell you that those old yellowish ones that you used to have (probably from all that marijuana you smoked back in your student radical days at Hofstra) -- well, let's face it, they just weren’t very flattering. It was also smart of you to have that big gap you used to have in the very front surgically corrected. (Hey! Maybe you could discreetly supply the name of your dentist to Condi Rice!) Anyway, the main thing is that now you're really photogenic! No wonder you have that big grin on your face in all your official pictures!

So, Senator Coleman, how about it? Couldn’t you reconsider about not running for President? Don’t feel like it’s too late to change your mind. After all, you’ve changed your mind in the past about other matters and it always worked out well for your career.

For example, remember back in your radical days at Hofstra when you told the campus newspaper:

“These conservative kids don't fuck or get high like we do (purity, you know).”

See, you don’t feel that way about conservatives now, do you? You weren't afraid to change your mind after "family values" became so important to you in your more mature years. Heck you probably were OK with abortion back then and maybe even had a few friends that were homosexuals. But you changed your mind!

And how about back in 1993 when you ran for Mayor of St. Paul and said:

“I am a lifelong Democrat. Some accuse me of being the fiscal conservative in this race — I plead guilty! I'm not afraid to be tight with your tax dollars. Yet, my fiscal conservatism does not mean I am any less progressive in my Democratic ideals. From Bobby Kennedy to George McGovern to Warren Spannaus to Hubert Humphrey to Walter Mondale — my commitment to the great values of our party has remained solid.”

Now you align yourself with Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. See? You changed your mind again!

And remember when you chaired Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone's re-election campaign in 1996 and were making his nomination speech at the 1996 state convention and said:

"Paul Wellstone is a Democrat, and I am a Democrat."

That didn’t stop you from again changing your mind, becoming a Republican, and running against Senator Wellstone in 2002, did it? Heck, if you hadn't changed your mind, you probably wouldn't even be in the Senate today – well, that and the minor fact that Senator Wellstone died in a plane crash in the middle of the campaign. But the main thing is that you changed your mind!

So don't be so squeamish about changing your mind on a Presidential run. Don’t feel like you can’t back out of your promise that you made to that stupid newspaper. There are higher principles at play than mere newspaper promises. We need a man of principle like you in the White House, Senator Coleman! Your decision not to run was then. This is now!

And think about this! Assuming you won (and Elsbeta and I know you’d be a shoo-in), you’d be the first President named “Norm” to occupy the White House! Repeat it out loud a few times! President Norm Coleman! President Norm Coleman! It certainly has a ring to it, doesn’t it?

Well, I guess that’s about all I have to say. I really hope you change your mind. But if you don’t, don’t worry about Elsbeta and me and all the money we lost selling our home. We’ll get along somehow. If we can’t have you as President, there are still a few other Republican “heavyweights” around that Elsbeta and I could probably that reflect our values and that we throw our support to. (I’m sort of leaning to Rep. Tom Tancredo or Gov. Haley Barbour – but only if Alan Keyes isn’t nominated. Elsbeta prefers Liddy Dole or Kay Bailey Hutchison. But remember, Senator Coleman, you’re still our first choice!).

So, keep on smiling, big fella! And keep on doing President Bush’s bidding up there in the Senate! We’re all with ya here in Indiana!

Your friend,

Lazlo Toth

Voting for Republicans (both unindicted and indicted) since 1952!

(Inspired by Don Novello’s Lazlo Toth Letters)

[bananas]

7. Here's a link to the article

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/757066.html

Coleman is knee-deep in global-warming fray
His draft proposal would block states and the EPA from regulating emissions of carbon dioxide.
Rob Hotakainen and Brady Averill, Star Tribune Washington Bureau

Last update: October 20, 2006 – 11:29 PM

WASHINGTON - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed ...

<snip>

[hatrack]

9. Sorry about that - posting in haste, I guess!

:toast:

[Festivito]

8. Thre is no global warning. And, we must be in charge of it. Hmmm. /nt