Forsee
UPDATED
WASHINGTON — In the climate change battle in Washington pitting region against region, the often skeptical Midwest has acquired a new ally: University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee.
In a letter written to Missourians in Congress, Forsee declared that the University of Missouri opposes cap-and-trade legislation that has passed the House and a Senate committee because of projections of higher electricity costs.
“As currently written, we have grave concerns and oppose this legislation for the detrimental impact it will have on the University of Missouri system,” Forsee wrote.
Forsee, the former president and CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., went on to say that the legislation could force the university to pay between $5 million and $8 million initially and then up to $2 million annually thereafter.
Forsee is entering the fray just as the debate heats up: The White House announced on Wednesday afternoon that President Barack Obama would be traveling to the international climate talks in Copenhagen and committing the United States to carbon emission reductions.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are saying now that they intend to investigate publication of hacked emails from British scientists that skeptics of climate change contend suggest collusive and underhanded tactics in making the case for dramatic remedies.
Republican opponents to climate change legislation seized on Forsee’s letter for affirming stands that have deepened the divide between the GOP and conservationists.
Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, who has opposition to cap-and-trade a key part of his quest for Missouri’s Republican nomination for Senate, this afternoon wrote Forsee to say that he was right to be concerned about “real ramifications this bill will have for our already struggling economy.”
A spokeswoman for Forsee emailed Wednesday afternoon to say that Forsee was not available to discuss his letter or his lobbying plans.
Forsee’s declarations are not sitting well with environmental advocates.
The Clean Energy Works Coalition put out a statement this evening saying that Forsee’s letter was “a great surprise” considering that he had signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.
“It is regrettable that the highest-ranking official at one of Missouri’s most important academic institutions would renege on such a forward-thinking promise in favor of reliance on out-dated, dirty technology,” the statement read.
The coalition represents some of the nation’s major environmental organizations, among them the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters and the Pew Environmental Group.
“It is our hope that President Forsee returns to his previously stated position of concern for the impact of the University of Missouri on the health of our climate and that he begins to take steps toward responsible action as he had previously pledged to do,” the statement added.
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, whose district includes the Columbia campus, welcomed Forsee’s announcement and distributed it to reporters.
Luetkemeyer has been an outspoken critic of both climate change legislation and the science that underlies it. He is a chief sponsor of legislation that would cut off funds for the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the hundreds of scientists from around the world who warned of grave impacts from a warming planet. The bill has thus far failed to advance in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Luetkemeyer spokesman Paul Sloca said Luetkemeyer will have “great interest” in congressional hearings taking shape on the purloined emails. The files were hacked flast week rom the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, a prominent center for global warming researched, and published The Air Vent blog.
Climate change skeptics — and deniers — say that some of the emails suggest deception by the scientists, such as a message from one scientist saying that he was using a “trick” in his calculations.
Environmental advocates argue that the emails show little beyond typical scientific discourse and that certain passages are being taken out of context.
In Congress, the proposed cap-and-trade system would given polluters flexibility to buy and sell credits within an ever-decreasing ceiling of greenhouse gas emissions. The debate has often featured a regional rivalry pitting members of Congress from the East and West against an alliance of Midwest, South and Plains states’ representatives.
Wow! The Post-D actually publishing a news story that is not a slavish, ignorant spewing of liberal lies?! How did this happen???
The same idiots who peddled a “New Ice Age” in the 1980s are now in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the civilized world with phony “Global Warming”.
Note that the “solutions” for both the New Ice Age and Global Warming were heavy taxes on energy to fund the UN to take global powers so unelected elites could rule the poor slaves who pay taxes.
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Help keep the ball rolling! Sign the petition telling Senator McCaskill NO to the Cap-and-Trade bill! http://www.dontcapandtradeourjobsmo.com
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Learn the facts about the cap and trade legislation and it’s effects on Missouri. Sign the petition telling Senator McCaskill NO to Cap-and-Trade!
http://www.dontcapandtradeourjobsMO.com
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So Proud To Be A Missourian!!
Way to go President Forsee!!
Thank you for your strong leadership!!
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Hey gaydem, you global-warming-conspirator:
If humans (and cow farts) cause of global warming, why is there also global warming on Venus, Mars and Jupiter?????
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Gaydem, Did you know the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is led by Rajendra K. Pachauri — a man with ZERO scientific credentials relative to Anthropogenic Global Warming?
Kinda makes you wonder, no?
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Gaydem,
We should listen to you on this subject why? Because you disagree with the guy? Because he was not the best CEO in the world or even if he was the worst? What makes you an expert on the subject? Been an Al Gore lackey is not good enough for me. I am sure that you have a great reason why this very cool year temp wise in STL is happening. I am sure that global warming is so bad that it is now causing cooling. Show us your credentials for speaking on this subject.
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Didn’t take long for Gaydem to provide the default liberal response to any critique of their pet positions – ad hominem insult, red herrings, and pseudo-intellectual dismissiveness.
We need more people to tell self-described “environmental advocates” to blow it out their you-know-what.
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Finally. Now, he needs to demand that the PC police do not run off professors who want to objectively evaluate data. No one is going to believe anything when “peer review” means “peer pressure”.
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I find it funny how the liberals only argument in favor of this bill is that it is Cap and Tax will replace “out-dated, dirty technology.” and never say anything about the cost. That is because Gary Forsee, Blaine Luetkemeyer, David McArthur, and everyone else knows this plan will raise taxes and increase cost of every single person in America. Republicans and yes even Democrats have said this plan will cost every American anywhere between $200 to $6000 a year per family. At a time when Americans are squeezing every penny they have to put food on their table and keep a roof over their head and companies are fighting to stay afloat and not have to be forced to lay more people off. This Cap and TAX bill will be another nail in the coffin of many Americans lives. But I guess to Liberals that is ok, as long as the San Francisco field mouse has grass to play in and polar bears don’t fall from the sky, they could care less.
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Yes, Mr. Forsee, please speak with authority on that which you know nothing about. I’m certain you’ll be given lots of credence considering your stellar two-year record at Sprint! Or, should I say the “detrimental impact” you had on that company.
I seem to recall that you were ousted back in 2007 when Sprint was hemorrhaging customers. And Forbes seemed to have it right in naming you as one of the worst CEOS back in early 2008. So now you pretend to effectively lead Mizzou, when you don’t need to be doing anything with your $40 million severance package that includes a $84,000/month pension for life.
You are laughable!
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Ditto to Red and Frank. Over the past 6 months, these left wing lunatics who espouse global warming have been proven to be liars. They have invested billions to make money using scare tactics. Now the truth has come out. The fact is it is about natural events such as the earth’s rotation and weather patterns that are causing the one degree change in temps. I hope you go bankrupt Gore.
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What a refreshing comment! We normally only hear liberal mush coming out of academic institutions. Now that e-mails from scientists proving the “global warming” mantra is a hoax, let’s hope the legislators kill this idea immediately.
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It’s nice to see that the U of Missouri has an intelligent leader and not some mind-numbed Koolaid drinking numbskull that believes anything shoved down his throat by the hysteria-driven, power-hungry, wealth-redistributors on the far left (albeit while they get rich off the lies).
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