Posts Tagged ‘air’

The Tebow Ad Controversy

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

CBS’s decision to air a Super Bowl ad that tells the story of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow’s miraculous birth has caused an uproar among liberals. NOW condemned the commercial, which details Tim’s mother’s decision to give birth to Tim despite a doctor’s recommendation to abort because of possible health complications, as “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning” and “hate masquerading as love.” The Feminist Majority Foundation launched a campaign to get the “anti-choice super bowl ad removed.”

The Left is complaining that the ad is too controversial. But as I explain in my Human Events column today, the real reason for their outrage is exactly the opposite: that the commercial is so inoffensive and, in fact, so inspiring that they worry it might actually win hearts and minds for the idea that all human life is sacred. You can read my column at www.humanevents.com.

Copenhagen Climate Scandal

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit kicked off this weekend with 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders expected to attend. Despite the ongoing “Climategate” investigation, another scandal is brewing in Copenhagen – the rank hypocrisy of leftwing elites. At a conference filled with the true believers of the gospel of global warming, one would think they would set an example by minimizing their “carbon footprint” as much as they can. But like members of the Soviet Politburo, living lives of luxury that their people could hardly imagine, many of these global warming advocates are doing the exact opposite of what they preach.

The managing director of the largest limousine firm in the Danish capital said she had more than 200 limousines booked on the opening day of the conference. On a normal day, she has 12 reservations. Between her company and others, she estimated that there will be more than 1,200 limousines on the road. How many of those limousines are powered by alternative fuels? Five.

The Copenhagen airport is also expecting 140 private jets during the peak time of the conference. The number is so great that the airport doesn’t have the capacity to hold all of them, so many are being re-directed to nearby cities. Including travel, the 11-day conference will use 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide — greater than the daily amount produced by 30 countries.

While the delegates in Denmark debate what steps we should take in response to the theory of global warming, reality in the United States is running contrary to the idea of warming. The central U.S. is bracing for its first blizzard of the year. The wind chill in the northern plains will reach 30-40 degrees below zero. In southern California, at the San Bernardino mountain range, up to 3 feet of snow is expected, and some areas set a new record low. Dallas, Texas, had its earliest snowfall in 90 years, and Houston experienced its earliest snow fall on record.

Why It Matters

In case you’re wondering why all the hot air about the weather should matter to you, here’s the bottom line: If the bureaucrats get their way, their theory is going to cost you – and it’s going to cost a lot. Germany is often looked to as a model for the green economy. It has been at the vanguard of environmental regulation, and the Washington Post recently featured a story about “The High Price of Going Green” in Germany.

According to the Post report, “A kilowatt of electricity costs three times as much [in Germany] as it does in the United States, supercharged with high taxes to discourage use and to help fund renewable energy development. Meanwhile, a 50 percent ‘eco-tax’ has sent the price of gasoline soaring to $8 a gallon.”

The Left wants to follow that example here. The Obama Administration just announced that the EPA will declare carbon dioxide a “dangerous pollutant” that must be vigorously regulated. What economic sectors produce the largest amounts of carbon dioxide? According to the Wall Street Journal, “Electricity generation, transportation and industry represent the three largest sources of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.” Get ready to pay three times as much for electricity, $8.00 a gallon for gasoline and watch even more jobs get shipped overseas to escape radical environmental regulations.

ABC and Obama Ratings Bomb

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

ABC’s one hour infomercial with President Obama promoting his socialized healthcare plan was a ratings bomb for the network. Despite airing in primetime at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the president attracted fewer than 5 million viewers. The show had the lowest ratings of all the major networks for that hour. It wasn’t as if the other networks aired their most popular shows either. NBC debuted a new show titled “The Philanthropist” and CBS aired a repeat episode of “CSI: NY.”

It appears the American people are getting sick of seeing Barack Obama everywhere. The argument the major news networks use when they receive complaints for giving Obama too much air time is that he is a ratings booster. That argument has lost credibility after Wednesday’s bomb. It is getting harder and harder for Big Media to disguise its true intentions, which is to promote a radical leftwing agenda to the American people. But evidently the American people aren’t that interested in the new ABC — the “All Barack Channel.”