In part two of the 6-part series, Twenty Years of McCuistion focuses on three key issues critical to our future: energy, the environment and immigration. Several notable guests join us in this retrospective look at the past as they add new information. We promise you a heated program as the participants express their views with passion, conviction and their perspectives.
ENERGY
Discussing global warming and climate change are:
Dr. William Kellogg with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, who joined us in 1992. Commenting on global warming as it was then titled, he said,
“The fact is that the global average temperature has been going up in this century. I think scientists have a great responsibility to define or to express whether they’re talking about science, which they have a right to talk about with some authority, or whether they’re talking about social /socio-economic problems, which they are probably not necessarily qualified to talk about anymore than the so-called ‘man in the street.’”
Some heated remarks are made by Cato’s Dr. Pat Michaels, who comments,
“Every measure we have of global temperature shows nothing in the last decade and every climate model we had that was the so-called consensus of scientists said it was to have been warming rapidly. Aside from that there’s no scientific problem with Global Warming. If there are floods, it’s because of global warming. If there’s a drought it’s because of global warming and if there isn’t a flood or a drought, it’s because of global warming.”
Dr. Sterling Burnett, Senior Fellow with The Center for National Policy Analysis, who has been on several programs on this issue joins us in the studio. Dr. Burnett takes us from Kiyoto to Copenhagen and today’s present status as in regards climate change.
ENVIRONMENT
The segment on the environment comes in for its fair share of disagreement as well, as Dennis McCuistion moderates the 1995 “debate” between Dr. Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Ted Eubanks, then Director of the National Audobon Society. John Leedom, of the Weather Modification Association talks about the criticality of water in a segment taped in 2007 and Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Secretary General of OPEC, gives us his opinion on the oil issue in 2007. Matt Simmons, author of Twilight In the Desert, joins us in 2006 as does Scott Naumann, Manager of Economics and Energy for Exxon. Scott adds,
“We do a detailed estimate of the world’s global resource base. One number we can all agree on up here on the panel is how much we have produced since the beginning of time. So we produced 1 trillion barrels out of 4 or 5 trillion barrels. Nowhere near half way. Nowhere near peak.”
The oil debate goes on with Amory Lovins, PhD of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Ed Wallace, historian and anchor of a KLIF radio program chime, who joined us in 2005.
IMMIGRATION
The Immigration segment continues the heated discussions with several key experts who joined us at different times with their views on this other controversial issue. Jacob G. Hornburger, who in 2007 said,
“We’re building a Berlin wall on the southern border of the United States. This is inconsistent with a great nation, a nation that prides itself on freedom. We say it’s time to recapture the principles of open immigration and freedom in which this country was founded.”
Dr. James F. Hollifield, Director of The Tower Center of Political Studies at SMU- Dallas lays out a foundation for the immigrant waves of immigration and says,
“Immigration is part of the founding myth of this country, but we have gone through four great waves of immigration in our history. So this is a country that certainly was built on immigration and immigration has
always been controversial.”
They are debated by Republican Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo, who states,
“You have to look at whether they want an America as described by Jacob, no borders, just a place on a continent inhabited by residents, not citizens, just people who are gathered together around one set of principles, almost all economic in nature. But you have to make this decision. Do you believe in borders or not? That’s the first question you have to ask yourself. Are they important? Do they matter? Before you can even begin to agree that borders are important, that they do matter, then you have to think about what that means. If you have them, are you willing to actually enforce them.”
The segment concludes with Herb Meyer, author of The Siege of Western Civilization, who joined us in 2008. Meyer talks about demographics and the diminishing birthrates that will affect immigration. He states,
“Last year in the United States 23% of all births in this country were to women who themselves had not been born in the United States. Now there is nothing wrong with this. We just need to understand this. We should be in favor of immigration. That’s how we got here.”
This is one segment that will have you on the edge of your seat. Join us as we once again talk about things that matter with people who care…
Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer
***
1815 – 02.14.2010
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Political
British Prime Minister to Meet with Obama
Washington (CNN) — Prime Minister David Cameron makes his first White House visit as Britain’s leader Tuesday.
There will be a number of difficult issues on the agenda, ranging from Afghanistan to the early release from prison of the Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing that killed 270 people.
But Cameron and Obama also have much in common, although they represent different parts of the political spectrum.
Economy
Senate could extend jobless benefits, Times says
The US Senate is expected to break a stalemate today over extending unemployment benefits for millions of out-of-work Americans, The New York Times is reporting.
The debate has been stalled since June, with Democrats being one vote short of Senate approval.
Today Carte Goodwin is scheduled to be sworn in to succeed Robert C. Byrd, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia who died last month. Along with the support of Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, both Maine Republicans, Senate Democrats believe they have the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster of the measure, The Times is reporting.
Business
Bank bonus tax cost Goldman Sachs $600m
Alistair Darling’s one-off bank bonus tax cost Goldman Sachs $600m (£395m), the Wall Street bank said today as it revealed that its wage and bonus bill reached $9.2bn in the first half of the year – $235,000 per employee.
The firm also took a $550m hit from its record-breaking settlement with the securities and exchange commission over its Abacus collateralised debt obligation, which Goldman admitted had contained some misleading sales material.
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, acknowledged that activity had dropped off in the second quarter of the year, a trend that has been reported by other US investment banks.
Environment
Oil giant falls short on spills
Exxonmobile failed to meet its target to reduce oil spills in 2009, according to its annual Corporate Responsibility Report.
The number of non-marine spills from the company’s operations was 241 over the year, up from 211 in 2008. Its environmental framework required it reduce the number of spills in the course of the year.
The report says the company, which is the world’s largest oil producers, has introduced a number of measures to redress the failure, the majority of which transfer responsibility to staff. It highlights the need to reduce human error, increase training and inspections.
Follow these links for the complete articles.
FINANCE / ECONOMY
Dollar Trades at Year Low Versus Euro on Risk Demand Before Fed
Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — The dollar traded within a cent of a one-year low against the euro on speculation the global economic recovery encouraged investors to buy higher-yielding assets before the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting today….
“The dollar is likely to remain weak in the near term,” said Lee Hardman, a currency strategist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in London. “What’s driving the dollar lower is the exceptionally loose liquidity conditions, and this encourages its use as a funding currency.”
U.S. Stocks Fluctuate as Falling Commodities Offset Fed Bets
Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fluctuated as declines in commodities tempered speculation the Federal Reserve will signal the economy is strengthening. The dollar traded at a one- year low against the euro, while oil, gold and copper retreated.
“There’s concern we’ve moved too far, too fast without any meaningful correction,” said Malcolm Polley, chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana, Pennsylvania, which manages $1 billion. “I do think any correction will be muted because the latest figures point to modest economic recovery. But we still need to see top-line corporate growth.”
DEFENSE
Strategy Shift for Afghanistan?
A senior administration official tells Fox that President Obama and his national security team began fresh analysis of the Afghanistan strategy on Sept. 13 in the White House situation room as part of an on-going review of war policy.
“There’s this idea that there’s a change of strategy looming,but there are difficult questions to ask as we continue to review this,” the official said.
“There are developments on the ground that we have had to look at and the election has raised some issue in regards to our efforts to increase good governance. We constantly reassess what is happening and challenge previous assumptions.”
ENVIRONMENT
China pledges climate change action
The Chinese President, Hu Jintao has announced his intention to achieve a significant reduction in the growth of his country’s C02 emissions over the next decade.
In this installment of McCuistion Television, Dennis McCuistion is joined by two experts that hold conflicting views regarding climate change politics. Sterling Burnett, Ph.d. is an economist and Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis. James D. Marston is the Director of State Climate Initiatives for the Environmental Defense Fund for the state of Texas.
Burnett holds the opinion that politicians are offering Americans a misguided climate change policy. He discusses the emissions reductions that are being proposed and contends that global warming has always been political.
Timothy Wirk was the lead climate negotiator in Kyoto and stands by the statement that even if the global warming issue ended up being a non-issue, then it would still be the right thing to move forward with it as that would ensure that the government is being responsible. He continues to explain his view on the reasonable response to climate change.
Marston affirms that there isn’t any scientific doubt regarding global warming and states that the politics are coming together. He further speaks about the best way to go about solving global warming with low cost and minimal affects on American jobs.
The panelists spend the bulk of the segment offering often opposing views on the Kyoto Treaty, green house gas reductions and the economy as it relates to the aforementioned. Using graphics and expert opinion this segment wrestles with the politics behind climate change and whether the Kyoto Treaty is as effective as it could be.
***
12.30.07 – 1702
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
