Pete Olson to Host a Carbon “Roundtable Discussion”

It caught my eye in FortBendNow, halfway down the page that my congressman, Pete Olson of TX – 22 is going to host a “roundtable discussion” on Carbon Regulation.

From FortBendNow:

“Representative Pete Olson, District 22, today announced that tomorrow he will be hosting a Carbon Regulation Roundtable with Houston-area state delegation members and industry members. Fellow Houston area Congressman Kevin Brady, District 8, will also be joining Olson for this event.”

Now why should this news item be of interest? Well incredibly, the supposed Round Table will consist of the following groups according to the article:

• Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership
• Economic Alliance Houston Port Region
• East Harris County Manufacturers Assoc.
• Texas Aggregate and Concrete Association
• Texas Motor Transportation Association
• BP; Texas Chemical Council
• National Petrochemical Refiners Association
• Texas Alliance of Energy Producers
• Valero
• Valero Refining
• INEOS Nova
• Lubrizol
• AES Deepwater
• Hefele
• Air Products
• Oxy Vinyls
• Noltex

This is a veritable who’s who of carbon emitters or supporters of carbon emission.

Now a “Round Table Discussion” is defined as a discussion group with contributors of various points of view who come together to equally contribute – the table is round indicating no one is at any specific end – and that all viewpoints are expressed on a level playing field with no prejudice or partiality.

This table is any thing but a round one. At best one could characterize it as semi-circular, with contributors of one point of view clearly evident.

And it is fitting and proper that Pete Olson convene such a group. He has, after all, completely made up his mind on the issue, making an equal exchange of thoughts and ideas at a true roundtable discussion a moot point.

Olson, after all, voted “No” when HR 2454 came to a vote last June. HR 2454, which passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212. A big part of the bill establishes how carbon emissions can be held in check by collecting and storing carbon emissions in vast underground reservoirs – in naturally occurring porous geologic traps.

Something that is done all the time in the oil and gas industry in order to enhance oil recovery.

But Pete Olson voted “No” on this, and I suspect will vote “No” on anything that even smells like an effort to keep carbon emissions in check. Because Pete Olson knows something that hundreds of environmental scientists and climatologists don’t know.

Pete Olson knows that this global warming thing is a pure hoax.

But that doesn’t prevent Pete Olson from convening this group, a group that is of a single mind to keep the status quo when it comes to carbon emissions. A half-circle table discussion group that he disingenuously labels a “Roundtable discussion.”

I have a better label for this discussion group, a group that convened and shared their single-minded view on carbon regulation today.

I call it a fundraiser.