Like most conservatives, your Other Half of History historian has been disappointed in the 2012 Republican candidates for President. None of the leading candidates will ever be confused with Ronald Reagan or Calvin Coolidge. Instead of forcefully stating conservatives principles, most of the candidates waffle and pander.

One issue that is ripe for a rhetorical attack is the myth of man-made global warming that liberals in politics and the media have so carefully constructed in order to justify a  massive government takeover of the nation’s fuel supply. If Ronald Reagan were running for President today, he would have a field day exposing this government power grab for what it is.

President Obama has said that he wants the American people to cut their fossil fuel use by 83 percent by the year 2050. Americans are not going to voluntarily give up 83 percent of the energy we use; government force will be required. The justification for this massive increase in government power is the claim that fossil fuel use has been causing the planet to heat up to unprecedented temperatures.  

There are several points that a conservative presidential candidate (if one existed) could make in opposing this massive government incursion into the private sector economy.

For starters, there hasn’t been any global warming since around 1998. The very scientists the UN has hired to study the issue have admitted in private e-mails that global temperatures have stopped rising.

Secondly, global use of fossil fuels has contined increasing at a rapid rate during this period, without causing any warming. According to oil industry statistics, natural gas use went up 35% from 1998 to 2008, while petroleum use went up 11%, and coal use went up a whopping 48%.

Thirdly, many thousands of scientists have come out  publicly to cast doubt on the theory of man-made global warming. Ignored by the press and other liberals, some thirty thousand skeptics have signed a petition to halt governmental policies aimed at solving this non-existent problem. The signatures can be reviewed at www.petitionproject.com.

At a time when government intrusions into the economy have already caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, and eroded the value of the investments we count on for retirement, a frontal attack on the global warming hoax would probably be a winning issue for a conservative presidential candidate.