Hot Air Tour Comes to Rapid City
Americans for Prosperity’s Hot Air Tour came to Rapid City this morning to educate and inform about global warming hysteria and the cap and trade scheme.
The event was held at the ranch of Citizens for Liberty President Gordon Howie at 9:00 am. A good crowd, including several children, came out to get some t-shirts, have a donut and hope for a ride in the big red hot air balloon.
Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate, being too high to safely launch the balloon, but those gathered still had a good time.
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips spoke about the 1,200+ page cap and trade global warming tax passed by the U.S. House a couple of months ago, and told the crowd how 300 pages had been inserted into this massive bill the night before the vote.
The measure passed the House by a 219-212 vote, and now goes to the U.S. Senate which will consider it after the August recess.
Phillips pointed out that in addition to placing thousands of jobs in jeopardy and putting us at a trade disadvantage with all the other nations that are not doing this, it will also intrude deeply on the freedoms of the American people.
For instance, an environmental compliance inspection will be required of your home before you can sell it. If your home doesn’t measure up to the EPA’s standards, you will be required to spend potentially thousands of dollars to retrofit it before you can sell it. Interestingly, these standards for your home were not included in the bill that passed the House; they are expected to be determined later by unelected bureaucrats.
Phillips said that a few months ago, he held out little hope that this bill could be stopped. However, the massive uprising and outcry of Americans at Tea Parties and town hall meetings has changed his mind, and he now believes it might be stopped.
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) voted against the bill in the House, and Senator John Thune (R-SD) is on record with his strong opposition to it.
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), meanwhile, is on record supporting the cap and trade global warming tax.
Near the end of the event, Phillips gave out Senator Tim Johnson’s office phone numbers in Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Washington D.C. Many people with cell phones called these numbers; several got through and lodged their disagreement with this massive assault on American freedom and prosperity, and several repeatedly got a busy signal.
The Hot Air Tour was in Montana and Wyoming over the last few days, and will be going to North Platte, Nebraska this afternoon.
Dakota Voice will post video from the event as soon as it’s processed and uploaded (probably tomorrow morning). In the meantime, please enjoy the photo slideshow below.
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