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Focus Friday: Red light on Obama’s climate change rules

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The Supreme Court temporarily blocked President Barack Obama’s climate change rules that aim to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. It’s a major blow to Obama, who is trying to add to his legacy before leaving office.

Where do you stand on climate change? Do you think the measures that Obama tried to pass are even necessary?

The Clean Power Plan is based on a strong legal and technical foundation, but the Justices are worried this isn’t true. What do you think should be done?

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Assistant opinion editor Thom Dwyer

Climate change is one of the biggest issues of this decade. The refusal of some politicians to even acknowledge the scientifically supported phenomenon as valid is mind-boggling.

Obama’s attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions is certainly a good start for regulating climate change. But it’s a lot like putting a Band-Aid on a wound that needs more extensive treatment.

Even UN treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol have floundered, as CO2 emissions continue to rise thanks to the U.S., China and India.

Unless all the countries that lead in energy use can curb their own emissions, there will be no point in fretting over our country’s lack of legislation regarding greenhouse gas emissions. There is no clear course of action for this dilemma.

Cutting back on unclean energy means cutting back on existing jobs and using costlier methods to generate power. A developing country like India would never agree to something like that. We can’t afford to reduce our own emissions and suffer an economic slump unless the rest of the world will follow suit.

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Opinion columnist John Brucato

The proper question here is not whether Obama’s measures are necessary, but rather if he has the authority to pass such legislation.

He doesn’t.

The Obama administration has formed a habit of overstepping presidential authority and that leads the country down a dangerous path. Similar to Obamacare, the president seems to believe that governmental regulations will solve all of U.S. problems.

The reality is, however, that government regulations typically cause more problems instead of offering solutions. We have the Fed manipulating financial markets and the Affordable Care Act crippling the insurance industry.

Obama should be less concerned with his legacy and more with staying within his role’s boundaries.

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Opinion columnist Caprice Carter

Money trumps logic again when it comes to what would be beneficial for society as a whole. My thoughts on climate change remain the same.

It is happening, and skeptics purposefully ignore data to continue lining their pockets. Greenhouse gases are one of the largest contributors to global warming, beginning with the carbon dioxide emitted from power plants.

To remedy the damage humans have caused to the atmosphere, I believe that  Obama’s Clean Power Plan is absolutely necessary. The issue should be pushed further before climate change reaches an irreversible state.

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Focus Friday contributors can be reached at [email protected]

2 Comments

  • There is NO data to even marginally support the “climate change” argument, as over 30,000 scientists world-wide have written. The eruption of one spews out more CO2 than man has in all of recorded history. It is only arrogance for us to think that anything we can do can or would affect something as large as global conditions on this scale. This is about control of our lives and livelihood.

  • Progressives love to hamstring us when it comes to environmental rules.

    Why don’t they clean up The World first.

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