Jon Reisman

Increasing encounters and concerns with Artificial Intelligence, robots, challenges to prove my humanity/not-a-robot, and the Trump administration’s decision to challenge the 2009 Obama era “Endangerment finding” that is the basis and foundation for our flawed, opaque, dishonest, and ultimately ineffective climate policy regulation of greenhouse gases, led me to a Baby Boomer-centric memory/meme from the 1960s sci-fi TV series “Lost in Space.”

The show featured the astronaut family Robinson on an expedition gone awry. And featured “Lassie’s” TV-mom June Lockhart, a monster of the week, and a sentient robot/occasional comedic foil. The robot famously waved his arms wildly while warning, “Danger, Will Robinson.”

Baby Boomers I talked to got the “Danger, Will Robinson” meme immediately — millennials and younger, less so. Here’s a short “Lost in Space” sample: https://youtu.be/RG0ochx16Dg.

In late 2009, President Obama’s EPA Administrator signed two distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. “Endangerment Finding: The Administrator found that the current and projected concentrations of the six key well-mixed greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” And “Cause or Contribute Finding: The Administrator finds that the combined emissions of these well-mixed greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution that threatens public health and welfare.”

These findings did not themselves impose any requirements on industry or other entities. However, this action was a prerequisite for implementing greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and other sectors. These policies have significantly raised our energy costs; enriched solar, wind, and climatista apparatchiks; and averted exactly no climate change whatsoever.

(https://www.epa.gov/climate-change/endangerment-and-cause-or-contribute-...)

Trump EPA administrator Zeldin has started a process of challenging/nullifying the endangerment finding. The endangerment finding is essentially holy scripture for the climate alarmists, so Trump has now essentially committed yet another act of blasphemous sedition.

The deep state, the climate alarmists, and the climate industrial complex will not surrender peacefully or allow themselves to be disarmed. I expect legal trench warfare, and perhaps a yearning for Shakespeare’s suggestion that first we should kill all the lawyers.

One of the more entertaining aspects of current climate/energy/AI policy is the hypocritical hokey-pokey two-step surrounding the huge energy requirements that AI data centers will require. This is on top of policies that have almost doubled electricity costs in Maine for spurious climate concerns and continued efforts to stigmatize fossil fuels and energy generation in general. But a huge increase in energy generation for AI? Never Mind! “Danger, Will Robinson!”

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Selectman and a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected].