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More Straight Talk On Renewable Energy

Posted by Average Voter on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:39:40 PM
   And it is from the Washington Post Editorial pages even!
 
   Why are we ignoring things we know? We know that the sun doesn't always shine and that the wind doesn't always blow. That means that solar cells and wind energy systems don't always provide electric power. Nevertheless, solar and wind energy seem to have captured the public's support as potentially being the primary or total answer to our electric power needs.
 
   We as americans want to feel good about what we are doing, sometimes to our own detriment.
 
   Here is a good example. Driving from Denver, Colorado to Wichita, Kansas last weekend, you can't help but notice several wind turbines running for several miles on the north side of I-70. The thing I noticed was only about a 1/3 of them were working. Now, considering only the ones facing in the correct direction to catch the wind were running, that would roughly leave 2/3 of them not working at any given time. There will also be times when the wind will not be blowing at all, although that is a rartiy in western Kansas.
 
   Westar energy, who runs the wind farm says that one wind turbine can power three hundred homes. There are 100 turbines in that project and that would be enough to power 30,000 homes. Except that only 33 of those will be running at any given time, so move that down to 3,300 homes. Obviously, that is not very many homes.There were more homes in foreclosure in Denver three years ago than the number of homes that could be powered by these things.
 
   So what exactly has been gained besides some interesting things to look at while driving in western Kansas?
 
A General Electric wind turbine in Ohio.
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Will Pollution Make A Come Back

Posted by Average Voter on Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:36:36 PM
   Pollution may become our new best friend according to a new study published on the journal Nature. Global Dimming is what it is called.

Research has shown that forests and crops can also thrive in hazy conditions because clouds and particles in the atmosphere scatter sun light so that it bathes more leaves.

That enhances photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn light and carbon dioxide into food.
 
   Great! That means we can stop the insanity of trying to clean the air. But wait, there is another problem.

As the world attempts to reduce the amount of smog and particulates in the atmosphere to improve human health, it will require even greater efforts to cut back on carbon dioxide.

This new research shows that plants will simply not absorb as much carbon dioxide in cleaner air conditions.
 
   Darn it! A paradox! I hate those! Now what are we going to do?
 
   Wait a minute. I got it...regulate CO2! Not only do we need to start regulating american business, but we need to start regulating atmosperic molecules. Yeah, that's the ticket! NOT!!!
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What's Worse Than A Mega-Drought?

Posted by Average Voter on Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:10:26 PM
 
The last such megadrought began in 1400 and lasted until about 1750, according to the scientists. The infamous drought in the Sahel region pales in comparison, they said. That drought lasted from the early 1960s into the 1970s, killing 100,000 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more.

Global warming could make drought periods longer and hotter, scientists said. "This could be devastating," geoscientist and report coauthor Jonathan T. Overpeck of the University of Arizona said in a telephone news conference.
 
   Here is my problem with the above statement: I was under the impression that global warming was already here? At least that is what Obama has said. Or is it just effecting the people in this country. And if that is the case, then you can't call it "global" warming. You would have to call it "local" warming.
 
My point being, are we having global warming or we are not?
 
   
 
   
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Now You Are Really Saving Fuel

Posted by Average Voter on Monday, April 20, 2009 12:04:14 AM
   Forget the Segway, here is the newest mode of transportation...
 
 
It's a Legway!
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How Long Is it When It's on The Verge

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 11:49:32 PM
   Small Dead Animals links this interesting look-a-like news articles from two different places at two different times.
 
 wilkins_recycled.jpg
 
Could this kind of thing be why nobody trusts the MSM's anymore?
 
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Proof There Is Nothing New Under The Sun

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 11:10:29 PM
   This was posted in the Chicago Tribune, April 21, 1934. Thanks to Poor And Stupid! 
 
 
Some things never change, huh?
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Environment Back On Top For Obama

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 11:02:30 PM
   Just when we thought cap and trade had found a back seat to health care, congress has made it a top priority.
 
As Congress returns to work today after a two-week recess, energy and the environment have moved ahead of health care as the top priorities for lawmakers in the next three months.

The change came after the Environmental Protection Agency ruling that carbon dioxide — the fourth-largest component of the atmosphere — is a hazard to human health because of global warming.

Democratic leaders could use the decision, announced Friday, as a lever to move House and Senate Democrats who have been reluctant to support legislation that would charge fees for carbon emissions. If Congress refuses to act, the EPA will put its own regulations in place to curb carbon emissions.

“The decision rendered by the EPA obviously puts the legislative process on a much shorter timetable,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., who heads a House committee on global warming.
 
   Need to remember to send a thank you card to the dummies at tht EPA for laying the foundation for our soon to be coming, higher energy bill.
 
With this time frame in mind, the House this week will hold hearings on a bill drafted by Markey and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., to cap carbon emissions and require those who pollute beyond the cap to pay extra. Their bill includes dozens of other new regulations, such as a requirement that power companies get a quarter of their energy from renewable sources within 15 years.
 
   You do realize that converting 25% of current energy production to some kind of renewable deal will cost a fortune.
 
The Waxman-Markey bill also targets the auto industry with a proposal to nationalize low fuel-emission standards for vehicles made in the United States and a call for producing more electric cars.
 
   Serves them right. They will no longer be able to build cars that people want, only those that congress says they can.
 
   Well, I would say there is enough hopenchange in that bill to last a lifetime. Pretty soon we will all need the government.
 
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Energy Secretary Plague By Global Warming Nightmares

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 10:40:18 PM
   I think Obama's energy secretary, Steven Chu, is haunted by reoccuring nightmares about climate change and rising sea levels.

"So imagine a world 6 degrees warmer. It's not going to recognize geographical boundaries. It's not going to recognize anything. So agriculture regions today will be wiped out," Chu said. 

"I think the Caribbean countries face rising oceans and they face increase in the severity of hurricanes. This is something that is very, very scary to all of us. The island states in the world represent -- I remember this number -- one-half of 1 percent of the carbon emissions in the world. And they will -- some of them will disappear," he added.

Chu said the United States would not be spared, either.
 
"Let me state what the official IPCC (the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) prediction is: It (sea levels) could go up as much as three-quarters of a meter in this century, but there is a reasonable probability it could be much higher than that," Chu said. 
 
Mr.Chu was sharing his visions during meetings with environmental ministers at the fifth Summit of the Americas.
 
   If you ask me, he is overselling it. My advice to him would be to stop trying so hard. Obama already believes in global warming and if any of these countries want our aid they will need to believe in it too.
 
   Can't you just see all of them, nodding thier heads in agreement to what Obama and Chu just said, hitting a bong while Bob Marley's "Don't rock the boat" is floating in the smoke filled air behind them.
 
            "All in the same boat"
            "Rockin' on the same route"
            "We gotta get together, join each other"
            "And can't you see what I've got for you? Yeah"
 
   Funny dream I had, I guess...

 
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Worst Environmental Issue Plaguing The Earth

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 12:37:12 PM
   Can you guess what the worst environmental problem facing the Earth today is? I have posted on it before. I will give you a clue...it is you. And me. And your neighbors. Their kids, your kids, my kids, the chinese and their kids. Overpopulation.
 
Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue, followed closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF).

Overpopulation came out on top, with several professors pointing out its ties to other problems that rank high on the list.

“Overpopulation is the only problem,” said Dr. Charles A. Hall, a systems ecologist. “If we had 100 million people on Earth — or better, 10 million — no others would be a problem.” (Current estimates put the planet’s population at more than six billion.)
 
   When was it in our history that we had an Earth with only 10 million people on it? 3500 B.C.?
 
   This is the first step on a road that will take us to population control. Mark my words; it may not happen in my life time, but it will happen. Countries will come to agreement on population control. The U.N. will press for it, the EU will adopt it, and the U.S. will be the last to succumb.
 
   
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Nutters Crying About The Polls

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 12:18:04 PM
   Didn't take long for the climate nutters to start whinning about a new Rasmussen poll that shows only about a third of americans believe global warming is man-made.
 
This is the most successful disinformation campaign in the history of the world (it's largely financed by fossil fuel companies). There is virtual scientific unanimity on the issue: Natural planetary trends alone cannot account for the rapid changes we are currently witnessing. (CNN: 97 percent of climate scientists believe human activity is a key factor in rising temperatures.)
 
   Would that be the same CNN that pulled this stupid stunt the other day?
 
   And why is it always blamed on financing from fossil fuels? He can point to that if he wants, but there is certainly no evidence to prove that Rasmussen was funding this poll with oil money.
 
   The article goes on...
 
What's particularly amazing about these results are that those who don't accept human-caused climate change aren't refusing to accept the complexity of climate science: Climate is a complex system, so any predictions about it are in terms of likelihoods, not straightforward facts. But accepting that the planet's climate changes naturally also involves accepting that complexity. It just doesn't look at the specifics of those trends, and balks at assuming any responsibility for our own reality.
 
   Okay, so climate science is not about strightforward facts? That is not what James Hansen or Al Gore would have us believe. Just look at some of these headlines from the mainstream media:

Global warming can no longer be avoided UPI - 3 hours ago

Palin sees gas drilling as step to curb global warming Chicago Tribune - Apr 15 12:40am

Study: Worst of global warming can be avoided Denver Post - Apr 15 12:17am
 
   Seems to me that it is reported as an undeniable fact.
 
   I think people are starting to see the politics behind it all, and are also seeing the media for who they really are.
 
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Are We Finally Seeing The Lie?

Posted by Average Voter on Sunday, April 19, 2009 11:33:53 AM
   Has the american public finally come to terms with the deception of the climate "nutters", or have the "skeptics" done a better job of winning the arguement? Well, surprisingly, maybe it is neither.
 
   The rise in climate change scepticism, and decline in pinning the blame on humans, tracks Obama’s assumption of power. In December, one month after his defeat of John McCain in the presidential race, the number of Americans who blamed people dropped to 43%. By February, the figure had dropped to 38% and it now rests at 34%.
 
   Who would have guessed that? Then again, cap and trade is looming on the horizon and most people know what that means.
 
   Second, the recession, combined with proposals from the new Obama administration to start taxing carbon in one form or another, gave the public new reason to question whether carbon dioxide really is the demon that climate change doomsayers claim. Upon investigation, the public would have found little to support the doomsayer case.
 
   Standing up for the climate is a noble cause, right up until you can't afford to do it anymore.
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EPA Rules On CO2...Did You Know That?

Posted by Average Voter on Saturday, April 18, 2009 12:20:50 PM
   Yesterday, the EPA told the White House that CO2 was a pollutant and harmefull to the public's health.
 

   The E.P.A. said the science supporting the proposed endangerment finding was “compelling and overwhelming.” The ruling initiates a 60-day comment period before any proposals for regulations governing emissions of heat-trapping gases are published.

Although the finding had been expected, supporters and critics said its issuance was a significant moment in the debate on global warming. Many Republicans in Congress and industry spokesmen warned that regulation of carbon dioxide emissions would raise energy costs and kill jobs; Democrats and environmental advocates said the decision was long overdue and would bring long-term social and economic benefits.
 
   This is simply the first step into pushing the cap and trade scheme that the Obama adminsistration has pushed since entering the presidential race two years ago.
 
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Voluntary Carbon Offsets Are So Last Year

Posted by Average Voter on Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:56:57 AM
   British businesses buying voluntary carbon offsets is so out of style now that the economy is flat.

Sales of credits for voluntary offsetting projects plummeted 70% during the first two months of this year compared with the last two months of 2008, according to the environmental research firm New Energy Finance. The price of these credits also suffered, falling 30%.

“Any project reliant on voluntary offsets is going to find it very difficult to move forward in the present economic climate,” said Jon Williams of accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers.
 
   No worries though; the government will soon show up to force business to buy them.
 
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Finally...Something Al Gore And The Right Can Agree Upon

Posted by Average Voter on Friday, April 17, 2009 11:58:43 AM
   Al Gore has invested in a stem cell research project that doesn't involve embryo's, which is turning a few heads.

What brings me back so soon to these treacherous seas (I promise not to pursue this metaphor despite the irresistible tug of recent pirate tales) can be summed up in two words: Al Gore.

Yes, the global-warming, Nobel Peace Prize-winning Al Gore. That one. The man who might have been president, were it not for a few hanging chads, has just announced that he will participate in a $20 million biotech venture to pursue induced pluripotent stem-cell technology. That strange sound you hear is the collective gasp of pro-life conservatives who would rather un-impeach Bill Clinton than embrace “Algorithm,” as he’s affectionately known in the right reaches of the politisphere.

“I just think it’s a very important breakthrough that is filled with promise and hope,” said Gore, a partner in the venture-capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which is backing the research.
 
   It's unfortunantly, not about pro-life for Al. It's about investing in something that will make him money. That's what his global warming march is about, and that is what this is about. He can talk these things up and reap the mighty dollar form it.
 
   You have to admit, he knows how to make money.
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Search For The Perfect Global Warming Story

Posted by Average Voter on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 7:46:24 PM


Global Warming - News Results

 
   Here is what I got when I typed "global warming" into the Yahoo! search page just a little bit ago. Notice the top story and then the bottom story. I guess some climate scientists are not on the same page.
 
   Then you go and read the two stories and they are reporting on the same scientific study. Go figure...
 
   Of course, the story in the middle is probably the only honest one.
 
  
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