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Unread 03-31-2015, 04:24 PM
Julie Steiner Julie Steiner is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Posts: 8,665
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Hmmm. Maybe I'd be more concerned about rainwater taxes if I didn't live here:



That's the thing about global climate change--it's global. That means it's bigger than local phenomena. I don't think your calculations showing that things are actually getting colder, based on the harsh winter in the Northeastern U.S., is considering that this has been the hottest March on record here in San Diego.

It's inaccurate to conclude that climate change isn't happening, just because in some areas it has been snowing more than usual. That precipitation would normally have fallen in California, but high pressure systems in weird places meant that our winter storms instead got directed along a more northerly Jet Stream to Boston and New York and environs. Similar high pressure systems in weird places were responsible for weird weather effects like the Polar Vortex and the derecho in recent years.

Weird weather has happened before--that's why we have names for these things--and you're right that the planet goes through warming and cooling cycles. But whether or not these weather extremes are caused by human activity, dealing with them is expensive, and yes, taxes will go up as a result.

Penny-pinching governments have neglected paying for infrastructure maintenance for decades--often out of a desire to keep kicking the unpopular tax can down the road to another political party's watch. So, yeah, unfortunately, even if "global warming is bogus," it's time to pay the piper for a lot of these deferred maintenance things, because wild weather won't let those long-deferred maintenance projects be deferred any longer.
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