Leave it to politicians to turn politicized theory into public policy. In Tuesday’s Seattle Times we find this lovely gem…

Builders in Seattle would be required to identify the impact of large projects on climate change if legislation by City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck wins approval.

…

Steinbrueck said if his legislation passes, any proposal to rebuild the Alaskan Way Viaduct would have to identify how many single-occupant vehicle trips would be added. Steinbrueck opposes an elevated replacement.

Now we see the TRUE motive. The Seattle City Council has threatened in the past to do everything they can to obstruct and slow roll the rebuilding of the Alaskan Way Viaduct if they didn’t get their tunnel option. Now they’re going to use the rather dubious excuse of “global warming” to aid them in that noble cause.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct has been a “public safety emergency” for more than six years now.

“If we’re going to make investments in transportation, they should reduce, not increase, the carbon footprint,” he said.

This despite the fact that if the entire WORLD were to reduce its “carbon footprint” back to 1990 levels the only global warming benefit we would see would be a slight 0.07 degree centigrade decrease in the amount of global warming that is expected by 2050. That’s less than the margin of error in measuring global temperatures.

Only a politician could propose to further set back public safety for something that isn’t even measurable with certainty.

Originally posted at Perri Nelson’s Website.