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EPA Memo Leak_Co2 Not Harmeful?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Thursday, May 14, 2009 10:23:58 AM
   Once again, it is made clear that global warming and regulation are nothing but political banter. A leaked memo from the EPA suggests that the CO2 regulation is based on "harm" rather than science.

An EPA finding last month that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health rests on dubious assumptions and could have negative economic impacts, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) warned.

The memo has no listed author but is marked “Deliberative–Attorney Client Privilege.” A spokesman for OMB told Dow Jones Newswires that the brief is a “conglomeration of counsel we’ve received from various agencies” about the EPA finding, the conclusions of which would trigger regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The author(s) of the memo suggest the EPA did not thoroughly examine the relationship between greenhouse gases and human health.

“In the absence of a strong statement of the standards being applied in this decision, there is concern that EPA is making a finding based on…’harm’ from substances that have no demonstrated direct health effects,” the memo says, adding that the “scientific data that purports to conclusively establish” that link was from outside EPA.
 
  Are we not all surprised by this statement? As with everything related to global warming, there simply isn't any conclusive proof of it yet. It is still nothing but a theory that is being characterized as fact by politicians.
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Buy A Truck Save The Earth Or Not

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:49:43 AM
   Seems Obama is changing his mind about trying to get old vehicles off the road in exchange for tax credits on new ones. Instead, his new plan is to move inventory off car lots.
 
"It's more of a volume driver than a portfolio changer," says Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide, an automotive consulting firm.
 
   Of course the plan is full of holes and is not clear on specifics. Basically the government will give you a tax credit if you junk your old pick-up and buy a new ine that gets better fuel mailage. The problem is, the government will tell you what your old pick-up is worth and, if you accept the deal, they send your old ride to the scrap yard to be terminated. My guess is they will give you the going rate of recycled metal.
 
   Budget hawks in Congress will want to know how much this latest subsidy for the auto industry is really going to cost. As proposed, the plan is supposed to subsidize the sale of one million vehicles at a cost of about $3 billion. In Germany, a cash-for-clunkers program has been expanded to cover as many as two million vehicles from 600,000 originally, largely because it has worked so well auto makers are fearful of what would happen to sales once the government stimulant is withdrawn.

The wrangling in Congress over cash for clunkers could go on until at least the end of the month, as Democrats argue over whether to attach the measure to a proposed climate-change bill or some other measure that's more likely to pass within the next few weeks.

Pressure from car makers, consumers and dealers to roll out some sort of subsidy will likely get stronger, as the industry skids toward the dog days of summer with no rebound in sales in sight.
 
   And that is the real problem. Get industry to need the government to sell cars and, behold, the governement has their tentacles in the door of the auto industry, and more ability to apply "pressure" on private industry. They have already done a great job with the loans given to the auto industry, with Ford being the only one smart enough to see what was coming and say "thanks, but no thanks". GM and Chrysler will now be beholden to the government as long as they decides to keep them afloat. Evidence of this is the unions are not getting hurt like the stock holders are in this Obama bankruptcy debacle, according to Richard A.Epstein of Forbes.com.
 
   Slowly but surely business is handing over it's livelyhood to government just to survive. There was a time when business was a win or lose proposition. If you won you made a profit; if you lost you sold off your assets and lost your business. It was a simple system. Those days are vanishing, albeit slowly, but it is happening, and we better change our ways or we will wake up wondering where the America that once was, has become something like Europe.
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Consumerism Is Killing Us.

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Monday, May 04, 2009 5:53:57 PM
   The govenor of Oregon, Ted Kulongoski, is having a hard time getting people to understand the importance of the environment.
And they need to start doing what he wants.

Ted Kulongoski, the governor of Oregon, thinks that Americans will need to scale back their consumerism because it is harming the environment.

“There’s a lifestyle issue involved in this, about our penchant for consumerism and consumption,” he said, while discussing his support for a state emissions cap-and-trade scheme during a recent interview in Portland.

“Other than taxes,” he added, “the hardest thing I find to talk with my constituents and my citizens about is about changing lifestyles.” He singled out the car companies for their production of sport-utility vehicles.
 
     The interesting thing is that since he is the govenor of an "eco-minded" state, he is always going to have trouble getting things done.

“Every issue we raise about energy — and I go down the line: nuclear? No! A.N.W.R. [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]? No! Offshore drilling? No! L.N.G. [liquefied natural gas]? No! coal? No!” he said. “How am I to get to where we want to go and make the transition if everything is taken off the table?”

   Sounds just like the modern day environmentalist.
 
"We’ve wasted 8 to 10 years in not engaging our citizens,” Mr. Kulongoski concluded, “and that’s why Europe is so far ahead of us.”
   
   So, lest we forget, it's all about keeping up with the Jones's, whether it's our neighbors new Cadillac Escalade or a fellow countries fancy new wind turbines.
 
 
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Google Foregoes The Lawn Mower

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, May 02, 2009 11:23:58 AM
   Google is so Earth friendly that they have decided that the emissions from a running lawn mower is not worth the risk. So what is the answer to a groomed lawn at Google? See below...
 
google garden goats photo
 
This spring we decided to take a low-carbon approach: Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we've rented some goats from California Grazing to do the job for us (we're not "kidding"). A herder brings about 200 goats and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.
 
   Well...okay or something? Hey, whatever floats some peoples boat. They need to be careful that they don't get loose into anyone elses yard; goats can clean a lawn right down to the root. By the looks of the lawn, that just might be exactly what it needs.
 
   An added benefit to the whole thing is the goats will leave fertilizer behind. The neighbors should be loving that.
 
 
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Norway: No All Gas Powered Cars?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, May 02, 2009 10:47:02 AM
    Norwegian Finance Minister, Kristin Halvorsen, and her Socialist Left Party of Norway is thinking that cars that run only on gasoline are no longer feisable in their country.
 
Under the plan new cars such as hybrids, that run partially on gas, would still be allowed to be sold in the country, but any cars that only use gas as their power source would be illegal. Cars already on the road would be unaffected.
 
“The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems … know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over,” Halvorsen was quoted as telling Reuters.
 
   With this brilliant idea, Norway's economy should start to recover in say... 2025?!
 
   Climate change and socialism! Two great tastes that go great together!
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Norway: No All Gas Powered Cars?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, May 02, 2009 10:44:15 AM
    Norwegian Finance Minister, Kristin Halvorsen, and her Socialist Left Party of Norway is thinking that cars that run only on gasoline are no longer feisable in their country.
 
Under the plan new cars such as hybrids, that run partially on gas, would still be allowed to be sold in the country, but any cars that only use gas as their power source would be illegal. Cars already on the road would be unaffected.
 
“The financial crisis also means that a lot of those car producers that now have big problems … know that they have to develop their technology because we also have to solve the climate crisis when this financial crisis is over,” Halvorsen was quoted as telling Reuters.
 
   With this brilliant idea, Norway's economy should start to recover in say... 2025?!
 
   Climate change and socialism! Two great tastes that go great together!
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Putting A New Face On Global Warming

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, May 02, 2009 9:58:43 AM
    To make something new again, sometimes you have to give it facelift. And that is what ecoAmerica is looking to do with global warming.
 
   Instead of grim warnings about global warming, the firm advises, talk about "our deteriorating atmosphere." Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up "moving away from the dirty fuels of the past." Do not confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like "cap and cash back" or "pollution reduction refund."

EcoAmerica has been conducting research for several years to find ways to frame environmental issues and build public support for climate change initiatives.

A summary of the group's recommendations was accidentally sent by e-mail to news organizations by someone who sat in this week on a briefing intended for government officials and environmental leaders.
 
   Can't deny that global warming needs to be sold.
 
   "When someone thinks of global warming, they think of a politicized, polarized argument. When you say 'global warming,' a certain group of Americans think that's a code word for progressive liberals, gay marriage and other such issues.

"It's the terms we're using that are holding us back with the American people," he added.

The answer, Perkowitz said in his presentation at the briefing, is to reframe the issue using different language.

"Energy efficiency" makes people think of shivering in the dark. Instead, it is more effective to speak of "saving money for a more prosperous future." In fact, the group's surveys and focus groups found, it is time to drop the term "the environment" and talk about "the air we breathe, the water our children drink."
 
   It's not pizza, it's Digiorno! It's not global warming, it's the air we breath!
 
   And, of course,  let's not forget, it's always about the children.
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Will The Maldives Just Sink Already!

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Friday, May 01, 2009 7:32:07 PM
   I opened up Yahoo! earlier to find the Maldive Islands back on the front page, just in case you forgot about them, and how the ocean is eventually going to swallow them up.
 
 
   We have been down this road before, and eventually you have to wonder when they are going to vanish...if ever.
 
   But let's look past what the media is telling us and take a look a real debate on whether or not the sea is having any effect on the Maldives. Here is an article form WattsUpWithThat!?
    In it, you find a great debate between Anthony Watts, Andrew C. Revkin from the New York Times Dot Earth Blog, Geologist Don Easterbrook, and Chemist Dr. Vincent Gray.
 
   By the pictures, it is pretty clear that the shore line has been higher in the recent past.
 
   Obviously, there is a lot of information there, and to try to post bits and pieces of it would not do it justice. Read the debate, because the conclusion you should draw from it is simple; are you going to believe the geology and pictures, or are you going to trust what some media outlet is telling you from some flawed study.
   The debate on the Maldives is far from over, but you would not know that by the front page of Yahoo! or a hundred other MSM headlines over the past ten years.
   
 
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