‘Bastardizing science, energy & politics’ – Watch: Morano on Fox on New York’s efforts to fine $75 billion from companies blamed for ‘climate damage’ – Gov. Hochul is ‘literally living in a climate La La Land’

Fox Business Channel – Evening Edit – Broadcast December 27, 2024 

Host Edward Lawrence: Climate Depot Publisher Marc Morano, what do you think about the Climate Change Superfund Act signed by Governor Hochul?

Marc Morano: It’s certainly the right name. This is a SUPER FUND that politicians have been seeking — $75 billion is an awesome amount of money that they want to use. To get this, they’re bastardizing science, energy and politics.

Here’s a simple way of looking at this. Even the United Nations says that extreme weather — hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and droughts — is either having no trend or declining trends on climate time scales of 30, 50, or 100 years. There’s no there — there, to say you caused these storms.

The second thing they’re doing is using so-called ‘attribution’ science, which says, ‘Well, this storm was caused X percent by Exxon Mobil. This one was caused by Shell.’ Even one of the architects of this ‘attribution’ science admitted — a University of Oxford climate expert — admitted that these ‘attribution’ studies are done for political reasons.

And then here’s the third thing: this isn’t necessarily just a tax on energy. This is an energy lockdown for New Yorkers because guess who used that energy freely, voluntarily, and plentifully during this time? New Yorkers. They were more than eager to use the products that these companies provided, and they’re the ones who are going to be punished as taxpayers under this charade of this super fund.

Edward Lawrence: This is what I wanted to ask you. Do you think this is going to push up prices?

Marc Morano: It can only push up prices. I mean, they’re going to they’re going to essentially regulate these companies, and the companies are going to tax them. These companies are going to pass it on in the form of higher energy costs and higher gas prices, which is going to have an inflationary effect. New York legislators and the governor are literally living in a climate La La Land, where they think they’re just going to pass these bills. First of all, the premises, we’re going to have less storms if we punish the companies, and they’re going to help pay for it. There’s just no there, there. The storms aren’t happening — but they bring up these storms. It’s like — your chance of winning the lottery is very low. But, the chance of someone, somewhere, winning the lottery is very high. They’re finding — ‘Oh, here’s a storm here, here’s a storm there.’ But there’s no climate trends, and their pushing the idea that somehow making companies pay is going to make a difference in the weather.

This is a political slush fund. It has nothing to do with climate change, nothing to do with science, and it’s punishing New Yorkers, the ones that are remaining. I should say this is another reason for the mass exodus from states like Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts.

Edward Lawrence: Yeah,  that’s the big concern. I appreciate it. We’re going to have to leave it there, Marc.  I could see you are a little bit passionate about this. I appreciate it. Thank you, Marc,

Marc Morano: I appreciate it. Thanks.

#

Related:

‘Climate Change Superfund Act’: New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion to pay for ‘climate damage’ – Hold them ‘accountable for more frequent & costly extreme weather disasters’

WSJ: New York Will Now Tax America for Climate Change: Its new extraterritorial levy will hit workers across the U.S. for fossil-fuel production

CLIMATE LITIGATION SUPPORTERS ADMIT THAT ATTRIBUTION SCIENCE IS FAILING IN COURT

NY Times Claims ‘Climate Change’ Behind Western Heatwave Using ‘Rapid Attribution’ Study – Physicist Koonin rebuts: ‘It’s like a spiritual adviser who claims his influence helped you win the lottery — after you’ve already won it’

NYT reveals how climate ‘attribution’ is tool to silence ‘denialists’: ‘Goal is to publicize any climate connection quickly, in part to thwart climate denialists’

Climate Expert: Attribution Science Was Designed To Bolster Climate Lawsuits

Extreme weather expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. rips ‘event attribution’ science as the ‘relaxing of rigor & standards…in order to generate claims more friendly to headlines, political advocacy & even lawsuits’

Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. : ‘What is climate attribution about? Politics first, science second’

Extreme Weather Expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. on ‘extreme weather event attribution’ – It’s ‘research performed explicitly to serve legal & political ends…promoted via press release’

New Vermont Law Charges Oil Companies for SPECIFIC Weather Events It Attributes to Climate Change –

A new Vermont law charges oil companies for climate change damage – based on the state distinguishing between which specific weather events it thinks were caused by greenhouse gas and which weren’t. The first such state measure in the U.S, S. 259 became law Thursday night after Republican Governor Phil Scott refused to veto it. The act will go into effect July 1, 2024.

Under the law, Vermont will decree specifically which hurricanes, for example, were due to climate change. Vermont will then assign the cost of the damage done by each weather event. Thus, when oil companies sue the state, Vermont is going to have to prove they are at fault for specific weather events, a scientific impossibility. What’s more, the law charges oil companies retroactively going back to 1995, based on the amount of carbon dioxide each released into the atmosphere and their purported share of blame for allegedly causing climate change damage to the state. The final version of the bill also makes it easier for Vermont to use unreliable data to calculate its charges and support its claims. The bill initially required Vermont to use the “best publicly available” fossil fuel volume data and “the best” available science and publicly available data – but, the final bill deleted “the best” in both cases, freeing the state to use any data or research that supports its agenda, no matter how shoddy or unreliable. According to S. 259, the money the state receives from the charges can be used for a variety of things, some of which directly relate to repairing weather damage and preventative construction.

But, the law also specifies that the money can be spent for things like:

• Home buyouts,
• Preventative health care programs,
• Providing medical care to treat illness or injury caused by the effects of climate changes,
• Responding to toxic algae blooms

 The undefined determination of what constitutes “medical care” is extremely problematic. For example, it opens the door for claims that climate change anxiety is a medical issue that can be included in assessing the cost of climate damage.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Democrat State Sen. Anne Watson, a co-sponsor of the bill, says she hopes the law will coerce oil companies to “keep fossil fuels in the ground.”

While the law applies exclusively to Vermont, other states, such as Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are now considering similar measures.

#

Vermont Could Become First State to Make Energy Companies ‘Pay for Climate-Related Damages’ – Vermont’s House of Representatives has passed S.259, a state bill aimed at collecting recovery costs for climate-related damages from the biggest emitters, such as fossil fuel companies. The bill, called the Climate Superfund Act, was introduced to create a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program, in which fossil fuel businesses would undergo an assessment to determine their share of costs for fossil fuel extraction or refinement actions that led to increased greenhouse gases and related costs in the state.