As noted on the blog Climate Progress and reported in the Sandusky Register, an Ohio Tea Party group known as the Freedom Institute of Erie County has sent around a questionnaire asking candidates whether they agree or disagree with some 15 propositions. This one caught my eye:
“2. The regulation of Carbon Dioxide in our atmosphere should be left to God and not government and I oppose all measures of Cap and Trade as well as the teaching of global warming theory in our schools.”
Tempting to ask if the Freedom Institute believes the same for other air pollutants, such as soot and smog that cause lung diseases like asthma, benzene (causes leukemia), or lead (knocks down kids’ IQ).
Does the Freedom Institute oppose the government keeping salmonella out of our eggs? Keeping oil out of the Gulf? Protecting miners from danger underground?
What’s different here?
I’m reminded of the closing words to John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address: “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.”