By Marc Sheppard in the American Thinker

When Ellen Goodman likened climate skeptics to holocaust deniers last February, she raised more than a few eyebrows.  Yet, hers was not the first reprehensible use of that fetid analogy, nor, unfortunately, would it be the last.  In truth, environmentalists’ deplorable trivialization of Hitler’s genocide can be traced as far back as the late 1980’s (by an ambitious senator from Tennessee) and as recently as last month by the scientist considered to be the world’s premiere global warming researcher. 

Read more here.

Marc Sheppard is a technology consultant, software engineer, writer, and political and systems analyst. He is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. American Thinker is a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans.

By Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy

Total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 7,075.6 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) in 2006, a decrease of 1.5 percent from the 2005 level according to “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2006”, a report released today by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Since 1990, U.S. GHG emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent. The 2006 emissions
decrease is only the third decline in annual emissions since 1990.

U.S. GHG emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or “U.S. GHG-intensity,” fell from 653 metric tons per million 2000 constant dollars of GDP (MTCO2e/$Million GDP) in 2005 to 625 MTCO2e /$Million GDP in 2006, a decline of 4.2 percent. Since 1990, the annual average decline in GHG-intensity has been 2.0 percent.

Emissions of carbon dioxide from energy consumption and industrial processes, which had risen at an average annual rate of 1.2 percent per
year from 1990 to 2005, declined by 1.8 percent in 2006. The decline in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 to 2006 can be attributed to a one-half percent decline in overall energy demand and a decrease in the carbon intensity of electricity generation. Favorable weather patterns, where both heating and cooling degree-days were lower in 2006 than 2005, and higher energy prices, were the primary causes of lower total energy consumption. The decline in carbon intensity of electricity generation was driven by increased use of natural gas, the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel, and greater reliance on non-fossil fuel energy sources.  See full report here.

Washington Post-ABC News Poll

Even among Democratic voters, ‘global warming’ is less than nothing politically. I thought you all might delight in seeing the revealing results of this ‘Washington Post-ABC News Poll’ (Question 9), which was conducted by telephone between November 14-18, 2007, among a random sample of 500 Iowans likely to vote in the Democratic caucuses (the results have a four percentage point margin of sampling error, and the percentages are rounded, thus giving slightly higher than 100%). 

When asked “What is the single most important issue in your choice for the Democratic candidate for president?”, Iraq/War in Iraq 33%, Health Care 26%, Economy/Jobs 10% and Ethics/Honesty/Corruption In Government 5%. Global warming ranked dead last among 16 identified issues with less than 1%.