Friday’s "Good Morning America" kicked off Earth Day with a push for liberal solutions to environmental issues such as climate change. And while weatherman Sam Champion reported on global warming in snow covered New York, GMA co-host Chris Cuomo appeared live from France to tout how far ahead that country is compared to America's envrionmental progress. In Paris, he noted approvingly, "the price of gas here is $6 a gallon to discourage guzzling."
Later in the piece, Cuomo agan touted the superior Europeans:
Chris Cuomo: "Europe does have a lot of significant issues it has to deal with, like the United States. But they're much more innovative here in terms of figuring out what to do."
The ABC anchor made no mention of any possible downside to all this progress. For instance, the high cost of gas is achieved by heavy taxation, something which tends to discourage economic growth and results in high unemployment (almost 10 percent in France).
A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:16am on April 20, follows:
Chris Cuomo: "Here I am in front of the famous Arc de Triomphe. And you're looking at a major environmental situation, the greenhouse gases caused by automobiles. But you're also looking at a solution here in Europe, smaller vehicles, more energy efficient. Many which use diesel fuel which is more efficient. And the price of gas here is $6 a gallon to discourage guzzling. A lot of big ideas and innovations coming out of Europe. We just got a recent revelation out of Norway. They're going to reduce emissions 30 percent by the year 2020. They also had a Europe wide lights out day. Here in the city of lights, that meant the Eiffel Tower went dim for five minutes. In that one day, France reduced its energy use by 1 percent, which is amazing. They've also changed all 20,000 light bulbs in the Eiffel Tower to make them more energy efficient and shut down And they shut down all the lights in the city at 1am just to save energy. Another important note here in France, now they're getting 80 percent of their energy for everything from nuclear power. Of course, that means no greenhouse emissions. That means a much cleaner environment, the air quality is better. In fact, the air quality in France, even in Paris, with all these cars and all the industry and all the people, is the cleanest in the industrialized world. Europe does have a lot of significant issues it has to deal with, like the United States. But they're much more innovative here in terms of figuring out what to do."
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.
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Why not $10 Chris? Your fathe
April 20, 2007 - 11:37 ET by iveseenitallWhy not $10 Chris? Your father stole so much when he was governor of New York, you don't have to worry.
NEVER,NEVER trrust a liberal
No, "the price of gas he
April 20, 2007 - 11:42 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveNo, "the price of gas here is $6 a gallon to discourage guzzling" is not a correct statement. The real reasons gas is so expensive in Europe are:
I'm sure there are more reasons, those are just off the top of my head.
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then toss it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you asked for in the first place!" --Bill McNeal, NewsRadio episode 3.17
That's exactly right, Mean Ge
April 20, 2007 - 11:52 ET by GalvanicThat's exactly right, Mean Gene. It has nothing to do with going "green."
Gasoline prices were high in Italy when I lived there in the early '90s, and the Italians were just beginning to introduce unleaded fuel at the time, and no catalytic converters. Air quality in Naples was poor.
Dittos Gene
April 20, 2007 - 11:59 ET by acumenWhat Cuomo left out - Currently taxes in France make up about 70 percent of the pump price.
The high taxes on gas in France aren't to discourage use. They are used to prop up their welfare state to appease rioting muslim gangs. Yeah, surrender is real innovative Chris......
Europeans are beginning to fr
April 20, 2007 - 12:11 ET by UnsaneEuropeans are beginning to fret, so it seems, over their increased dependence on Russian energy sources.
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
How the heck anyone can see t
April 20, 2007 - 11:50 ET by mattmHow the heck anyone can see this kind of totalitarian attitude from Libs yet somehow conclude that it's Conservatives who are "right wing"????
And another thing...How come you never see former Republican politicians passing themselves off as objective journalists on some MSM network?
Another cute little aspect co
April 20, 2007 - 11:52 ET by BeowulfAnother cute little aspect conveniently overlooked here is that the very people ("environmentalists") screaming for reducing greenhouse gasses foam at the mouth at the mention of nuclear power.
And as has become the catch phrase for those who have more than a dozen brain cells (and actually use them), if France is so innovative, so friendly, so great, why does Cuomo live here and not there?
The Closed Mind Builds Strong Barriers
And not just nuclear power, b
April 20, 2007 - 11:59 ET by GalvanicAnd not just nuclear power, but hydro-electric power as well. Seems that dams kill too many endangered species.
So, the Kyoto scripters prohibited nukes and dams as carbon-offsets for countries listed in Annex I. And one other thing, too --- trees.
Since trees take in CO2 and release oxygen, and the US has plenty of land to plant more trees, Kyoto orginally prohibited trees as carbon-offsets.
Galv,Check out the post from
April 20, 2007 - 12:14 ET by Sick-n-TiredGalv,
Check out the post from the artist/scientist formerly know as Sheryl Crow.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheryl-crow/learning-the-truth-about-_b_46228.html
Let me count the ways.....
Her posts and opinions are met with such lack of scientific fact or common sense it is just mind-boggling. Just WHERE OR HOW in the world does she think we are going to supply our energy needs?!
Like they say here, "you just can't make this stuff up!"
p.s. check on HuffPo for SC and LD's latest empty minded blogs. One is crying and the other is proposing we reduce the squares of toilet paper we use in a sitting and actually suggests paper napkins worse than washables (hmmm, which is going to leave a larger carbon footprint---).
some other things to prove th
April 20, 2007 - 11:57 ET by Conservative in the Artssome other things to prove that Europe to America is apples to oranges:
1. Europe is so much smaller. For most of the countries, a 30 minute drive and you're in another country. While a 30 mintue drive and you're not even across town here.
2. because it's so much smaller, there are many more ways to travel. There are many more trains that get used more than we have here.
3. Europe has a huge decline in children being born, hence there is no need for larger "gas guzzling SUVs". Really, does any Liberal really see any "sophisticated" European driving a mini-van?
More importantly, the way Eur
April 20, 2007 - 12:14 ET by UnsaneMore importantly, the way Europe is "set up", owning a SUV, a minivan, or truck makes no sense. People generally walk to their local grocer every day or every other day; they often lack the room in their apartments for the stocking up on groceries and other products, unlike Americans. Their towns and cities are much more compact, facilitating walking everywhere or using public transport.
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
Whereas I goto the grocery st
April 20, 2007 - 12:23 ET by florida_chadWhereas I goto the grocery store twice a month and spend $250 each time and fill up the pantry and freezer.
And the price of gas here i
April 20, 2007 - 12:12 ET by Jack BauerThat's an outright, in your face LIE.
In the UK, gas is about $6.70 a gallon, and it has NOTHING to do with discouraging "guzzling." Nor has it anything to do with "guzzling" in France either.
It's to do with raising indirect TAXES to pay for Europe's corrupt welfare stateism. They're tax junkies, constantly looking at ways of getting a fix.
In England, about 82% of the cost of gas goes straight to the government. And it has been like that for 40 years at least. Same in France.
BE WARNED ... The Socialistocrat party and socialists like Clinton and Obama want to see the European model, and that means huge tax hikes.
Man, they boast about it.
Right
April 20, 2007 - 12:39 ET by iveseenitallRight,Jack. It's all about taxes. I lived in New York most of my life. Under Cuomo, it was tax, tax, tax. And the present tax rates there now make his taxes look small. Some quite average wage earners with average homes are paying well over 20 grand a year just in property tax. If this country elects a Demo president next time, hold on to your hat ( and anything else that is yours).
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
All politicians are bad. Bu
April 20, 2007 - 13:38 ET by Jack BauerAll politicians are bad. But Lib***ls will tax you for breathing if they can.
Chris Cuomo: But you're also
April 20, 2007 - 12:31 ET by MidAmericaChris Cuomo: But you're also looking at a solution here in Europe, smaller vehicles, more energy efficient.
These elitests won't be happy until us peasants are driving our little metal coffins on wheels to our dark little hovels where our laundry hangs out back.
This BS was being promoted back in the 70's by the dems and enviromentalists as the answer to the 'energy crisis'. People had to wait in gas lines just to get a few gallons of gas. The countries best days were behind us we were told. Get used to doing less with less.
Jimmuh couldn't understand why the country was in such a sour mood.
Then came Reagan and for an unexplainable reason the country embraced his sunny optimism and belief that our future could be whatever we make it.
Well the dems and the media are putting us right back in the deep dark hole we were in 30 years ago.
I remember Carter told us to
April 20, 2007 - 14:23 ET by ahusserI remember Carter told us to move closer to work when we had that last gas crunch. What a solution what a problem solver he was.
CUOMO
April 20, 2007 - 12:49 ET by bsmarjI just don't understand why these people still live in this disgusting country!
Leave it, let us spoiled citizens alone already. I'm sure the majority of the
Americans want to keep the Republic our forefathers fought for us to have!
Go live with the socialist pansies!!
They actually think they soun
April 20, 2007 - 13:13 ET by rimskyThey actually think they sound smart when they spout off about the, oh so wonderful Europeans, espcecially the French. So they turned off the lights at the Eifel Tower, eh.. swell.. and we needed Cuomo to fly over there so he could tell us all about it, ON LOCATION! Talk about wasteful!
Oh bull...
April 20, 2007 - 13:46 ET by Gary HallYou just have to love this stuff, Scott.
"..to tout how far ahead that country is compared to America's envrionmental progress." Let's see. Oh, yea their main source of energy is nuclear. The population is growing at 1/3 the rate of the US population - in many parts of Europe, their population is expected to be less in 2035-2050 than today (population shrinking).
If one wants to put on the green hat (honestly put it on); then let's take a look at the only way to actually make a dent in reducing emmisions, in cleaning up the enviornement, in reducing the ranks of the poor, in preserving our natural resources. Let's go to the source... it's all in here Mr. Cumo - call for massive immigration reform - right here in the US. Stop the growth - and then all of your goals will be met, and then exceeded:
If these folks are actually serious about conservation and reducing emisions here at home, then they'd better look the donkey in the face and demand that President Bush puts an end to illegal immigration, rejects amnesty, and reduces legal immigration numbers back to what they were in the early 60's. 120,000,000 million new hybrids and 50,000,000,000 new flurescent light bulbs, and ever one of 300,000,000 current residents of this country using only 1 square of toilet paper each time (thank you Ms. Crow and Ms David) will not be able to offset the increased consumption of raw materials, energy that the expected next 120,000,000 new immigrants and their offspring will produce by 2050.
And the price of gas here is $6 a gallon to discourage guzzling. That may or may not be true - the price of gas has been sky high in France for decades because of:
For instance, the high cost of gas is achieved by heavy taxation..
So I see a morph going on. They piled the taxes on gas to prevent guzzling (way back whenever - or was it to simply raise revenue? But now, we're going to see this tax history as one to prevent global warming?
So, Mr. Cumo. You can blame it on Exxon, or you can blame it on yourself - the real culprit.
Most of the MSM (read lefist)
April 20, 2007 - 14:33 ET by ahusserMost of the MSM (read lefist) talking heads, if you notice, are fairly wealthy. What's is 6+ dollars a gallon to a millionaire. Their lifestyles won't be affected whatsoever by any change. The preferred method of the left in this country, to change behavior is to tax, restrict and regulate. Smoking immediately comes to mind. Socialism is a very puritanical religion.
Gary,That's a really good poi
April 20, 2007 - 16:54 ET by Scott WhitlockGary,
That's a really good point about illegal immigration. And I don't expect it's one that we'll hear from the media, and certainly not from Diane during her Earth Day special tonight. It's really amazing that the best these people can come up with is raise taxes. And you're also right about how absurd that, now, gas is expensive in Europe to fight global warming. What was the reason before?
The solution to the gas probl
April 20, 2007 - 14:41 ET by bassndudeThe solution to the gas problem is not a general increase in prices, but an increase directly related to ones income, or over all wealth. Bill Gates could pay 1000.00 dollars a gallon, Chris would pay about 925.00, and so on and so on. I, and the majority of americans would pay only a dollar or less. A national ID card identifing your income and price per gallon would have to be used to pay for the gas, and other carbon fuels. That is the solution. Whats that Al?...Do what???
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Talk about the potential for
April 20, 2007 - 14:44 ET by ahusserTalk about the potential for a lucrative black market. :)
I have something real innovat
April 20, 2007 - 17:01 ET by USA4freedomI have something real innovative, next time Europe is in a jam let them figure it out by them selves. I would hate to have the war hungry, over consumption, gun toting, flag waving, global warming, Americans.. save their ass again. This is the same France that sunk the Rainbow Warrior right? That adds up. That is about as much as they can handle.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagn- 40th Anniversary of D-Day