Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck Should Give Us A Call

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

By Norris McDonald



O'Reilly & Beck Are NOT 'Fair and Balanced' When It Comes To 'Cap-&-Trade'

Bill O'Reilly rails against Cap-and-Trade every chance he gets. Give me a call Bill. I will show you the error of your ways. I watch your program all the time and you are mostly kind of fair and balanced. I never understood your opposition to the oil companies though until you admitted on air that they mistreated your Dad. Then it made sense from a personal standpoint. But as a matter of public policy, the oil companies power the American way of life. But I digress. Cap-and-Trade is the best tool in our arsenal for fighting the most important of environmental issues: climate change. I cannot believe you are drinking the Kool-Aid on this one. This untenable position, particularly by you, makes it look like FOX News has an agenda against President Obama. Call me. Let's talk this out. Use the GREEN PHONE at right.

Glenn Beck rails against Cap-and-Trade as another communist tax tool of the evil progressives. Fine. I don't like commies and I am a capitalist. The Center is a conservative environmental group. And we, unlike the two political parties, have been consistent on Cap-and-Trade, which is a market tool for addressing atmospheric problems. I am shocked that you oppose a capitalist market tool for addressing climate change. Oh that's right: you're a denier aren't you? Or are you? I think you and Bill are not being 'fair and balanced' when it comes to this issue. And if your logic does not add up, then something is amiss. Give me a call on the RED PHONE Glenn. The color was your idea.

The Center was one of the only environmental groups [besides Environmental Defense] to support President Bush's Clear Skies Initiative that would have used a Cap-and-Trade methodology to fight air pollution and address global warming. The Center supported President Herbert Walker Bush's amendments to the 1990 Clean Air Act that established the Cap-and-Trade Acid Rain Program, which is universally praised as a model for fighting harmful emissions. The Center strongly supports the current Cap-and-Trade proposals pending in Congress (with modifications: free allowances among them). The Center has been consistent in supporting Cap-and-Trade as a legitimate and effective tool for mitigating atmospheric problems. Yet politics seems to be getting in the way of passing a program that would work.

President Obama voted against the Cap-and-Trade Clear Skies Initiative when he was in the U.S. Senate. Democrats opposed Cap-and-Trade back then. Now President Obama is promoting a Cap-and-Trade proposal to address climate change. Senator James Inhofe and Representative Joe Barton supported a Cap-and-Trade mechanism during the Clear Skies Initiative legislative battle. Republicans supported Cap-and-Trade back then. Now Democrats are supporting it and Republicans are opposing it. Politics. But I expect more from O'Reilly and Beck.