ICLEI = Bigfoot Bounty

A few words about the upcoming ICLEI special meeting tomorrow night at the County Admin building at 7 PM.

While the UN connections with ICLEI are troubling, the real issue is the enemy that they are fighting.

C02.

You know that stuff you breathe out when you exhale. Silly huh… In fact chasing the Carbon Emissions goal is very similar to the reality show Bigfoot Bounty. The reality show where you can win $10 million if you can capture a bigfoot. It might as well be Unicorn Challenge. Or in our case Roanoke County C02 elimination Challenge.

All of these goals are equally impossible.

Here are some reasons Roanoke County should sever ties with ICLEI that have nothing to with the United Nations.

1. The county pays $1200 to be an ICLEI member. Sure it is a pittance. But it’s money spent to chase a goal of reducing the ENTIRE county’s carbon output by 30% by 2020. That is the agreement that Roanoke County signed in 2007. It is a ridiculous goal. Even if carbon emissions were a problem, the county’s own research shows that I-81 is the main source of carbon emissions in Roanoke County. So how exactly is Roanoke County going to impact the interstate?!? Paying $1200 to reduce carbon emissions in the county is akin to paying $5 for a chance to see a bigfoot.

It isn’t a lot of money, but it is still a complete waste of that money. Not to mention that the county spent several hundred thousand dollars of grant money to reduce c02 emissions. That is real money that could be used to do something else…like cut your taxes perhaps?

2. How much time are Roanoke County employees spending on this? While that is not a direct cost, the county is paying for their salaries. And what about the opportunity cost of chasing the Bigfoot of science…er…C02 reduction. Wouldn’t their time be better spent on an environmental issue that matters; like water quality issues? Couldn’t the county re-direct these resources to work with concerned groups about water quality issues in the county? Or figure out the best ways for the county and businesses to deal with the new storm water regulations.

Those would be useful endeavors. Use those smart folks for SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS.

3. When the county signed up for ICLEI, the ICLEI supporters noted that the County already had an effective process built in to pursue environmentally sound policies. Why does the county need to pay ICLEI a penny to be ecologically sound? It isn’t as if the county’s very competent employees couldn’t figure this stuff out…like they did before they got wrapped up in pursuing bigfoot…er…C02 reduction with ICLEI.

4. As the series of articles we ran over the weekend clearly shows; the supporters of ICLEI are willing to lie, cheat and fudge numbers to show they are “making a difference.” If their efforts were legitimate, why would they feel the need to lie about their results?

5. The whole premise of working to reduce carbon emissions is ridiculous. You know the part where there hasn’t been any increase in global temperatures in 15 years despite increased C02 levels. You know the part that contradicts the entire theory. But let’s keep propping up an organization called ICLEI that’s existence is predicated on keeping a false theory.

It’s kind of like spending money on finding bigfoot. The only people winning are the people running the show.