Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   1/13/2015

Step up, show up, meet up and make a difference

Let’s take a moment to consider how a conservative Republican might make a difference, show support and be part of the solution locally. Calls and emails from national organizations wanting, admittedly, money, all have commendable causes in the pursuit of a United States of America that enshrines freedom and opportunity. We face a seemingly relentless onslaught by the political left intent on limiting economic, religious, educational and 2^nd Amendment rights.

Tehama County is a beacon (together with many “red” or Republican-dominated California counties) of sensibility, traditional values and political common sense. Whether by demographic patterns, self-selection or something in the air or water, Tehama County voters wisely choose viable conservative candidates, as well as “right” choices on ballot measures, admittedly often out-voted by the massive, low-information, urban Democrat vote.

Your local Republican Central Committee has labored unceremoniously for decades to make the Republican Party’s presence known at fairs and our springtime Red, White and Blue dinners; I’ve been proud to serve on the Central Committee for several years representing District 2. There happen to be vacancies in every one of the 5 districts, due to normal events in life: relocation, aging, hectic family schedules, extended travel or illnesses. Any Republican voter can seek to join the Central Committee, offering their talents either as a helping hand, an insightful planner, an officer or for shifts at fair or festival booths signing up new voters.

Monthly meetings, lasting less than a couple of hours on the first Thursday of each month bring all members together over routine business as well as planning and preparation. Top of our current agenda is the aforementioned dinner, held this year at the end of March, which brings out rank and file Republicans, as well as elected officials, to break bread, enjoy camaraderie and help fill the Committee’s coffers for other upcoming events and commendable purposes like scholarships for worthy, college-bound, high school seniors.

I urge Republicans of any age—young workers or students, family members wanting to fit political service into their busy schedules, and empty-nesters or retirees with a little time on their hands—to call either Ken, at 529-1226, or Mike, at 586-2800 to see how to lend a helping hand. You may already know someone on the Central Committee; you’ll meet great folks and it’s a warm and happy little band of warriors striving to grow our numbers.

Readers well know my support for the Tehama County Tea Party Patriots; their Tuesday meetings bring elected officials and other speakers to keep us informed and apprised of governmental activities, as well as local, regional and statewide movements. Tonight’s meeting will bring Terry and Sally Rapoza, of the Redding Tea Party Patriots, to the Westside Grange to update us on California Air Resources Board (CARB), the direction of our Tea Parties in 2015 and the current state of the State of Jefferson. That’s at 6 PM with guest speakers taking the microphone at about 6:30.

Did you know that the New Year ushers in about 930 new laws in California, taking effect from January 1 up to July for some controversial laws. I bet you couldn’t, if your life depended on it, come up with even 100 things that are so important and crucial to need changing that you’d pass a law over it. And even if you had such a list, most of them wouldn’t be the ones that got passed—your priorities simply don’t jibe with those of Sacramento pols and lobbyists. You are, however, responsible to abide by them, know them or not. Just enter “California readies for 900 new laws” and open the www.sfgate.com -linked article.

As you read this, the first national college football championship game will have been played, resulting in (my hope) the crowning of the Oregon Ducks as winners. It took place in the Texas home stadium of the Dallas Cowboys, which seats about 100,000 for special events. Ryan Scott Welch, an American Thinker writer, used that seating fact, together with multiple scientific sources, to illustrate the amount of human-caused CO2 entering the atmosphere yearly.

“Nitrogen is 78%, Oxygen is 21% and Argon is 0.9% giving you a total of 99.9% of the atmosphere. So, where is the CO2? CO2 is a trace gas that is only 0.04% of the atmosphere which in this sample=40 seats. But of the 40 seats, or parts per 100,000 of CO2 in the atmosphere, 25 were already in the atmosphere before humans relied on the hydrocarbon fuels (coal, gas and oil) leaving 15 seats. And since humans only contribute 3% of all CO2 emitted into the atmosphere each year (97% is from nature), the human contribution is 3% of the 15 remaining seats in our sample (or 0.45 seat).

“So in our stadium sample of 100,000 seats the human contribution of CO2 is less than half of one seat. That is, less than one half of one seat from 100,000 seats in a Dallas Stadium-sized sample of our atmosphere, is human caused CO2.”

I’ve used a calculator myself to analyze the hysterically-presented (supposedly) dramatic rise in CO2 from 300 to 400 parts per million over the last century in our atmosphere. That rise is comparable to an investment of $100,030 growing over 100 years to $100,040—yes, a massive $10 growth in 100 years in a $100,000+ savings investment. As Mr. Welch pointed out (sources at “Dallas Cowboys Stadium Seating and Atmospheric CO2,” wattsupwiththat.com) most of that $10 growth would have come from natural sources, not human-created greenhouse gases.