“Cap-and-trade is a hidden regressive tax, benefiting the select few who have managed to get themselves written into the … bill…. Think revolving door between the government and Wall Street.  Think revolving door between Congress and lobbyists.”

– James Hansen, “I Just Had a Baby, at Age 68,” (2009).

“Ontario and Quebec to sign cap-and-trade deal Monday ahead of premiers’ summit on climate change,” the headline from the National Post (Canada) read over the weekend. Yesterday, in fact, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne signed an agreement with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard to price (regulate) carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such joins California, which has an operating cap-and-trade program pursuant to the Western Climate Initiative.

Cap-and-trade has been lambasted by the father of climate alarmism, James Hansen, whose testimony in mid-1988 brought the issue of the enhanced greenhouse effect to a national audience.…

“Tom Steyer emphasized that ‘three quarters of the public and 97 percent of the scientists believe with us’ that global warming is ‘one of the top three issues’ facing the world. Moderator Terry McCarthy then asked why Steyer spent $4.7 million opposing Republican candidate Joni Ernst in the Iowa mid-term national election only to fail. All totaled, Steyer spent $73 million but ‘greens had a rough time at the polls’.”

Global warming may be a hot, contentious topic. But few people were warmed-up enough to want to hear billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer and the former Secretary of H.U.D., Henry Cisneros, address the issue at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council that I attended a week ago at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City.

Steyer and Cisneros spoke before a small crowd of about 110 people.…

“The $3.7 million system is projected to reduce power bills by $3.5 million over the 25-year lease agreement. Unfortunately, as PSC Commissioner Stan Wise pointed out, ‘By the end of the agreement, Dublin taxpayers will actually pay $7.5 million in SPLOST sales taxes for debt service, and this does not include other costs such as operations and maintenance and insurance.’”

Solyndra was a visible black eye for the Obama administration in 2011, when the solar panel manufacturer went bankrupt after taking in more than $500 million from taxpayers and private investors. Closer to home, the silence is deafening: Few even know of the failure of Mage Solar, a company that set up shop in Middle Georgia with great fanfare in 2011.

What started out as a Georgia Public Policy Foundation commentary (by me) to mark Sunshine Week (March 15-21), and the two-year anniversary of Dublin High School’s award-winning solar array, led to a trail of lofty projections, broken promises, unpaid bills, questionable math, and taxpayers left on the hook.…

“The climate-crisis industry is much larger than merely the IPCC and vaguely defined government agencies. Other major players include wealthy, powerful Big Green pressure groups; wind, solar and biofuel companies that offer supposed alternatives to fossil fuels; politicians who have tied their careers, influence and campaign contributions to the global warming/climate change/extreme weather mantra; and journalists and media outlets that have also hitched their wagons to this global movement.”

Georgia Institute of Technology climate sciences professor Judith Curry has perceptively interpreted a recent analysis by economists William Butos and Thomas McQuade on how “Big Players” can distort climate research and other scientific endeavors. Their discussion, and hundreds of comments that followed, deserve careful consideration.

Big Players are institutions and officials who have the funding, influence and power to dictate who receives grants, what research gets published, whose evidence and conclusions receive wide coverage, and whether the findings and related policy proposals will be debated.…