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Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Nov. 4, 2008 / 6 Mar-Cheshvan 5769

Bankrupt with the Facts

By Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The blog headline read: "Obama Tells SF Chronicle He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry" and the author charged that the audio of the meeting with Obama "(had) been hidden from the public."


One problem: The charge is utter crap. Far from hiding the meeting, the Chronicle posted audio and video of Barack Obama's meeting with the editorial board on Jan. 17, 2008.


And Obama did not say that he will bankrupt the coal industry. To the contrary, he said, "this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion." He then explained that he believed in setting emission limits, and letting industry — including coal — figure out how to operate within those limits. And: "So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."


I was in the room and my ears did not perk up as if Obama had issued a headline-commanding quote, when he said the above.


Why didn't the paper report on Obama's remarks? Because San Francisco is not Pennsylvania or Ohio. According to the Energy Information Administration, "Due to strict emission laws, only a few small coal-fired power plants operate in California." And a new California law prohibits utilities from entering into long-term contracts with conventional coal-fired power producers.


The Chronicle and other papers have reported that Obama's energy plan calls for a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. That means: no new coal plants in the United States, unless some amazing new technology magically appears. Or unless there is an energy fairy.


Let me add, Obama had made similar statements in other venues. In a January debate, "We're going to cap greenhouse gases. We're going to say to every polluter that's sending greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, 'We're going to charge you a dollar — we're going to charge you money for every unit of greenhouse gas that you send out there.' That will create a market. It will generate billions of dollars that we can invest in clean technology." I assure you, coal execs weren't dancing with glee.


Sure, after a blogger uses an erroneous headline and falsely claims that the Chronicle kept the interview "hidden," the quote may seem as if it made news. But know this: It was the job of the opposition teams of both Hillary Clinton and John McCain to scrutinize every interview given by Obama word by word. Neither campaign made an issue of this interview when their candidates stumped in Ohio and Pennsylvania — and it was their job to have listened.


P.S. If you are so inclined, you can listen at www.sfgate.com/ZCGA.

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© 2008, Creators Syndicate

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