Conservative Groups Play Dumb, Pretend Reducing Emissions Will Cause Economic Decline

Illogic Games

Conservative groups jumped on data showing that the global economic recession has resulted in lower CO2 emissions.  Using twisted logic, they attempt to pair that data with future emission reduction goals to conclude that lower emissions will cause further economic distress.

Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future wrote:

The downturn in the economy is a good thing, and we need to make it even worse. In fact, by Senator Kerry's logic, we would need to make the economy more than twice as bad as it currently is in order to meet the goal of Boxer-Kerry

Dick Armey's FreedomWorks wrote:

It should seem obvious that if a terrible economy results in low CO2 emissions, then enforcing low CO2 emissions means a terrible economy.

No, that doesn't "seem obvious."  In fact, that's one of the most illogical statements I've ever read.

American Solutions and FreedomWorks are insisting that "if A results in B, then B results in A."

Let's apply that logic elsewhere & see how it works out:

If riding on a boat makes me feel dizzy, then feeling dizzy makes me ride on a boat.

You see? That doesn't make any sense. Well, neither did their examples.

Given the amount of funding American Solutions and FreedomWorks have received from petroleum and coal companies, it's no surprise they would oppose legislation investing in clean energy technologies

Rebuilding American For The Cost Of A Postage Stamp A Day

In reality, clean energy legislation would create up to 1.9 million American jobs across every single state. In fact, investments in clean energy technology create FOUR T IMES as many jobs as an equal investment in oil and gas.

All of that for just the cost of a postage stamp per day.