Utah's House of Representatives have passed a resolution (56-17) that declares their skepticism about climate change and called for the federal government to halt programs that work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, this is a non-binding statement with no legal force. It's more a declaration (and a sad one at that). The resolution and its proponents condemned "climate alarmists", disputed the science of climate change, and declared that emissions are "essentially harmless". The original version of the bill said that climate science was a "well organized and ongoing effort to manipulate and incorporate tricks related to global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome." It also accused those seeking action on climate change of riding a "gravy train" and their efforts would "ultimately lock billions of human beings into long-term poverty." Representative Mike Noel said that environmentalists were part of a vast conspiracy to destroy the American way of life and to control world population through forced sterilization and abortion. He also said, referring to their recommendation to halt carbon dioxide reduction programs, "Sometimes...we need to have the courage to do nothing." (That definitely needs to be his re-election campaign slogan).
In the final version of the bill, after some debating and compromise, the bill dropped the word "conspiracy"; said that climate science was "questionable" instead of "flawed"; and dropped the mention of the "gravy train" (I can't believe that embarrassingly colloquial phrase even made it in the bill in the first place). (Full Story)
You heard it here: Utah House members know more about climate change than scientists. And that you don't need any evidence to make a point or declare a resolution. Thank goodness it's non-binding and has no sort of power at all. And this news story is being picked up by international news; now that's embarrassing.
Furthermore, a U.S. state department spokesman said there was strong indications that the telephone network had been taken down, text messages blocked, and internet communication was "throttled". The White House spokesman said that Google (and their e-mail provider, Gmail) and other internet service providers had been "unplugged" in Iran. The US accused Iran of using a "near-total information blockade."
On Thursday, the day of the anniversary, the government instituted a day-long security clampdown in the capital, which succeeded in preventing any large-scale opposition protests. (Full Story)
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