Citizens fire back with carbon 'belch'

Thousands of Americans are pledging to fire up their charcoal barbecue grills, bask in the infinite glow of numerous incandescent light bulbs, shun recycling of any kind and take spontaneous road trips in gas-guzzling vehicles to increase their personal carbon output – all in protest of the Senate debate over a bill calling for a "cap-and-trade" system.

Grassfire, one of the nation's fastest-growing grass-roots organizations, has declared June 12 Carbon Belch Day and is enlisting citizens to expel more than 100 million pounds of CO2 to combat climate alarmist propaganda and to take a stand against a "$1.2 trillion carbon tax."

"We wanted to point out the absurdity of the climate alarmism of Al Gore and others who want to make us feel bad for just about everything we do and rally people for the battle over the carbon tax which is now under way in the Senate," Grassfire president Steve Elliott told WND. "We really plan to engage lots of citizens who have been under carbon-footprint guilt for far too long and give citizens an opportunity to make a statement that we reject climate alarmism. We're not going to stand for this carbon tax."

The Lieberman-Warner bill, named after sponsors Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., calls for imposed limits on U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions beginning in 2012. President Bush opposed the bill, saying it could create as much as $6 trillion in new costs on the American economy, though he has not threatened to veto it.

Elliott said, "We wanted to time Carbon Belch Day around the debate of that bill so we could rally people and have a platform to talk about this issue."

Grassfire provides a "Carbon Belch Calculator" with a checklist of activities citizens can take part in to celebrate their independence from climate alarmist-imposed blame. Suggestions include the following:

Super-cool your house (turn A/C down 5 degrees)
Don't recycle glass/plastic/aluminum/newspapers for one day
Take a plane trip
Eat meat with at least two meals (steak dinner a bonus)
Mow your lawn with gas-powered mower
Leave two light bulbs on for entire day
Hang/light one string of Christmas lights
Host a barbecue with lots of friends – charcoal (11lbs/hr) or gas (5.6lbs/hr)
Drink beer
Watch television
Light a campfire
Do partial load of laundry
Take an 8-minute shower
Leave computer on 24 hours
Drink bottled water

Elliott said Grassfire took research that climate alarmists put together to create the calculator. The organization has already surpassed its goal with 108,566,729 pounds of carbon emission commitments, and he is planning for an even larger response.

"It shows that there are many tens of thousands of citizens who don't accept climate alarmism and who are not going to sit by quietly as Congress imposes another tax on the American people," he said. "We just want to see this continue to grow as we rally people in opposition to what the climate alarmists are doing."

Grassfire cites Britain's Environmental Audit Committee plan to implement a card system and require citizens to punch in when they pay for gas, plane tickets or household energy as reason for concern in the U.S. The organization warns, "Don't think for a minute that 'carbon ration cards' won't find their way to the Democratic-controlled Congress, especially when all the presidential candidates are pushing climate alarmism."

Elliot said Americans should break free of carbon footprint guilt and refuse to go along with "a huge government program with a huge government tax."

He encourages concerned citizens to sign a pledge stating, "I will do my best to increase my CO2 output and unleash a Carbon Belch on the planet. I do this with no fear or concern that I am destroying the planet. In fact, I think a good Carbon Belch can be healthy now and again."

Internet forums were ablaze with reactions to the Carbon Belch Day announcement. The following are responses to Grassfire's proposal:

Thanks for the heads up. I'll see how many things I can leave on at home that day while I take the old jalopy for a long, aimless ride.

Very mature everyone. Let's waste resources and pollute just to prove how immature and proud of our ignorance we are. Way to fit the stereotype of the dumb, arrogant, wasteful American. Fortunately, as you all get older won't have to put up with your 19th century ignorance. I just hope that you North Shore Nancies etc. don't screw up the world much more before we are rid of you.

Why not just have a barbecue in the middle of the week and have some old-fashioned fun? June 12 is a great day for a barbecue. I can smell the meat cooking, and PETA getting HOT over this, along with the global warming extremist pundits. Those guys have gone too far anyways … let's get some balance back!

That's messed up … Thank people like that for record high energy prices and climbing rates of environmental quality related health issues like asthma.