Has The Momentum Turned Against The Paris Climate Agreement In White House?

By William Teach May 3, 2017 – 10:49 am

Real, or just hazy, nebulous tea leave reading by Juliet Eilperin at the Washington Post?

In the Trump White House, the momentum has turned against the Paris climate agreement

Foes of the United States remaining in the Paris climate agreement have gained the upper hand in the ongoing White House debate over whether to pull out, according to participants in the discussions and those briefed on the deliberations, though President Trump has yet to make a final decision on what to do.

Senior administration officials have met twice since Thursday to discuss whether the United States should abandon the U.N. accord struck in December 2015, under which the United States has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The president’s aides remain divided over the international and domestic legal implications of remaining party to the agreement, which has provided a critical political opening for those pushing for an exit. (snip)

At a rally with supporters Saturday, Trump said he would make a “big decision” on Paris within the next two weeks and vowed to end “a broken system of global plunder at American expense.”

Mr. Trump made the promise to pull the U.S. out of the agreement that was only signed by Mr. Obama, but not even sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification. It was specifically drafted in a manner to avoid submission to the duly elected lawmakers. So far, all we’ve received is inconsistent messaging as to whether he will keep that campaign promise or not. It shouldn’t be this hard.

As the NY Times notes, this could all come down to a single phrase (somewhat mentioned in the WP article)

The debate within the Trump administration over what to do about the Paris climate agreement has reached a critical phase, according to people familiar with the internal negotiations. The decision could hinge on the interpretation of a single phrase in a single provision of a document that took years to write.

The question is whether to walk away from the agreement sealed by the Obama administration and nearly 200 other nations at the end of 2015 — as Donald J. Trump promised as a presidential candidate to do — or to weaken the nation’s commitment under the deal to reducing greenhouse gases while remaining in the accord.

The provision at issue, Article 4.11, states that a nation “may at any time adjust its existing nationally determined contribution with a view to enhancing its level of ambition.” The question is whether the ability to “adjust” is like a ratchet, allowing progress only in one direction — upward — or if it permits a country to weaken its commitment without violating the terms of the deal.

This is the influence of the liberals working for Trump, especially his daughter and son-in-law, along with his own NYC liberal tendencies. If he refuses to pull out, how will those on the Trump Train respond? This isn’t some minor promise.

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Baltimore Sun: What’s Up With Illegal Aliens Being Treated Differently Than Those Legally Present?

By William Teach May 3, 2017 – 9:00 am

On the bright side, illegal aliens are mostly not responsible for the massive spike in crimes, shootings, stabbings, and murders in Charm City. What with all that crime, one can understand that the police would have illegals as lower rungs on the ladder. But, they still go after people who violate traffic laws, do they not? Of course, the number of police working for Baltimore has gone down down down since the city decided to demonize the police and embrace #BlackLivesMatter. Then we have this

Illegal immigrants get off easy in Baltimore

Baltimore’s State’s Attorney’s Office now has two sets of rules: one for citizens and legal immigrants, and one for illegal immigrants. In an April 27 memorandum, Marilyn Mosby’s office “instructed prosecutors to think twice before charging illegal immigrants with minor, non-violent crimes in response to stepped up immigration enforcement by the Trump administration

This follows assurances from Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) to the city’s immigrant community that officers don’t “care about your immigration status.”

Ambivalence toward the federal government is not new in Baltimore. These actions take that ambivalence to a new level that is inconsistent with requests Mayor Catherine Pugh has made of the Trump Administration. In December, Mayor Pugh met with newly elected President Donald Trump at the Army-Navy game to request infrastructure funding from the incoming administration. She subsequently has asked for federal help with housing and education, and sought the FBI’s assistance in tackling the city’s high crime rate. (snip)

The city’s high crime rate and its admitted dependence on federal help in responding to it make the positions of the BPD and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office with respect to illegal immigrant criminals all the more inexplicable. Why would the Trump administration agree to the city’s request for more federal criminal assistance if the police and prosecutors go easy on illegal immigrant criminals? Unlike the funding in the federal case addressing the president’s executive order on sanctuary cities, the assistance requested by Mayor Pugh is purely prospective, and the president could simply say “no” without legal ramifications.

It’s one thing to prioritize law enforcement in a Democratic Party controlled city that has a “biggly” crime issue. It’s something entirely else to heavily suggest that prosecutors not charge already caught illegals with the crimes they committed in order to avoid federal authorities catching wind and coming to pick the illegals up. It’s also against their oaths of office, not to mention Maryland and federal law.

This would be blatant discrimination in legal system decisions. While the legal citizen/resident may be charged with, say, DUI, the illegal alien will be let go with no penalties. Besides being utterly inappropriate and, at best, legally shady and violations of the Maryland Bar, along with state and federal statutes, it could lead to lawsuits, as has happened before in Charm City over discriminatory charging tactics.

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NY Times, Washington Post Are Thrilled That Trump Mentioned Raising Gas Tax

By William Teach May 3, 2017 – 8:33 am

Polls on raising the gas tax are particularly negative, even among Democrats, but, when asked, Trump said “It’s something that I would certainly consider”. It didn’t mean he was serious: he and people in his administration typically say that or something similar when they are not prepared to really answer a question. But, this has made both the NY Times and Washington Post editorial boards giddy

Donald Trump’s Very Good Idea: Raise the Gas Tax

Every once in a while, President Trump says something that really makes sense, as when he suggested on Monday raising the federal gasoline tax to help pay for his infrastructure plan. Hold on to that thought, Mr. President. It’s a great idea.

The federal fuel tax — 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel – was supposed to pay to fix and expand the country’s roads and transit systems, but Congress has refused to increase it since 1993. Between inflation and the higher fuel economy of cars, the tax is hardly up to the job. Highway-related tax revenue was only $37.4 billion in the 2015 fiscal year.

Three guesses to determine the main reason why gas tax revenue is down. That’s right, the government, at both the federal and state levels, has been pushing, and even mandating, that vehicles be more efficient. There’s a whole lot less V6 and V8 vehicles on the road, replaced with V4s that get excellent fuel economy and have decent acceleration (unlike a 4 cylinder in 1993, which drove like a turtle on Valium). Plus, the ever increasing number of hybrids and electric vehicles. V6s and V8s usually now have cylinders that shut down at highway speeds to get better fuel economy. And, let’s not forget how hard the previous administration pushed to make this happen, and mandated it happen.

Better fuel economy equals less gas purchased equals lower tax revenue.

Small wonder then that many of the country’s roads and transit systems are somewhere between shoddy and falling apart. The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the country’s roads a grade of D and transit systems a D-. It said the poor state of the roads cost the country $160 billion in time and fuel in 2014. And the country’s transit systems have a $90 billion repair backlog, according to a government report published in January.

Perhaps if we weren’t pissing away taxpayer money on overpayments on contracts, projects such as shrimp on treadmills, and ‘climate change’ money to nations which then build airports. Among the many, many ways government wastes money. Waste is estimated anywhere between $125 billion to $1 trillion a year.

A higher gas tax is one way to help pay for Mr. Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan without increasing the federal deficit. It would benefit Americans by shortening their commutes, creating jobs and reducing costs for car repairs. Businesses would be able to ship raw materials and goods faster. All of that would bolster economic growth, which is probably why, in addition to truckers, the United States Chamber of Commerce and AAA support an increase.

In reality, raising the gas tax would hurt the middle and lower classes, raise the cost of goods, and have a negative impact on the economy. Don’t like that link? How about the LA Times saying the same thing? Or liberal leaning Brookings Institute?

Oh, and it’s cute how the NYTEB is suddenly concerned about the deficit. Heck, we could recover $1.3 billion a year to use on transit by refusing to pay employees who are placed on leave for misconduct. $440 million each year wasted on unnecessary printing. Seriously, you can read about all the crazy ways government spends your money at both liberal and conservative sites, money not being used for core services like maintaining transportation.

Trump has a good tax idea. Here’s how to make it work.

HERE IS an upside to President Trump’s un­or­tho­dox style of communication: Sometimes he comes out with a good idea that a less mercurial national figure might avoid out of conventional political caution. So it was with his remark during an interview with Bloomberg News, to the effect that he “would certainly consider” increasing the federal excise tax on motor fuels to help pay for an increase in federal infrastructure spending. (snip)

Of course no one likes to pay more for fuel; policy should be adjusted to help mitigate the impact of this inevitably regressive levy on those who can least afford it. Still, at $ 2.38 per gallon, Tuesday’s nationwide average price of regular gasoline was less than what Americans paid 70 years ago, adjusted for inflation. The tax increase needed to cover currently planned Highway Trust Fund spending would be small — roughly a dime per gallon, according to a 2015 Congressional Budget Office report . Ideally, Congress and the Trump administration could agree to a significantly larger amount, then index it to inflation permanently to assure the trust fund’s long-term stability.

That would be just $1.70 more for a fillup for me. Every 2 weeks or so. But, the trucks which deliver goods would be paying that too. Charging the businesses more to deliver. Then the businesses raise their costs. And it all gets spread around. And we pay more all around.

We have to remember that states themselves have their own gas tax on top of the federal tax. North Carolina’s is one of the nations highest. We have relatively decent roads. Our economy is booming. But, that money is being spent here. Not spread around the country on wasteful projects (see: Obama’s “shovel ready jobs”). Los Federales should, really, lower the federal gas tax, or at least keep it the same, and let the states deal with maintaining their roads and bridges. People closer to the source who know better and can be held more accountable.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Excitable Paul Krugman Really Wants To Spend Lots Of Your Money On Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach May 2, 2017 – 3:00 pm

Hes’ super thrilled to spend billions upon billions, even though he has no idea what the money would accomplish (via Twitchy)

Gird your loins, and click the “more” tag

Read More »

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 2, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is a world turning to desert from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a post on feminists saying that breast feeding babies is not natural.

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California Considers “Ambitious” New Cap And Trade System

By William Teach May 2, 2017 – 10:32 am

Because the last one worked so well, let’s try again

California Proposes Ambitious New Cap-and-Trade Program

This week, a California state senator will introduce legislation that would replace the state’s troubled cap-and-trade program, and eventually establish one of the highest prices for carbon dioxide in the world. Around 90 percent of the revenue from the program, which would raise several billion dollars annually and climb steadily over time, would go back to California citizens in the form of a “climate dividend rebate.”

The proposal, which will be set forth in an amended version of SB 775, marks the latest effort by the world’s sixth-largest economy to step up as a leader in climate policy, highlighting a path to lower greenhouse gas emissions that other states or nations could follow. (snip)

In its current form, Sen. Wieckowski’s proposed system would establish a so-called price collar that sets both a floor and ceiling for the price of a metric ton of carbon dioxide. The price collar would start at $20 and $30 in 2021, rise to $20 and $40 in 2022, and then tick up each subsequent year by $5 and $10, respectively, plus inflation adjustments. The ceiling would immediately be higher than the price of carbon in most European nations, and would quickly exceed the roughly $37 tax proposed in Canada starting in 2022. At some point in the 2030s, assuming no other changes, it would also surpass Sweden’s carbon tax of around $150 per metric ton, which is the most expensive in the world.

Few are buying them now, and many of the companies that would be forced to buy them have quietly left the state. The money hasn’t come in like the California politicians prognosticated, and won’t in the future. It’ll just lead to job loss and stagnation. And higher costs for the people of California. But, hey, they voted for this. They should have to stay and deal with the fallout.

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Texas Sanctuary Jurisdiction Crackdown Is Like Terror Or Something

By William Teach May 2, 2017 – 8:11 am

Here in Raleigh, there’s a section of Green Road, between Calvary and New Hope, where the police love to sit and give out speeding tickets. Coming south on Green, it goes from 45 to 35, and, if you drive this part of Green Rd often, you’re trained like Pavlov’s dog. You know “don’t speed.” Years back, I went down that road almost every day, so, I find that I’m rather terrorized by this attempt by the Raleigh PD to get me to comply with the written law

Illegal Immigrant Activist: Texas Sanctuary Crackdown is ‘Terror’

Dozens of protestors in favor of illegal immigration planted themselves in the lobby of the State Insurance Building Monday in Austin, Texas, to decry Gov. Greg Abbott’s imminent signing of a bill cracking down on sanctuary cities.

The assembled ctivists insisted they wouldn’t leave the premises unless the Republican governor decided to veto Senate Bill 4 (Abbott is one of the bill’s leading proponents). The bill, which passed the Texas House last week, would require state and municipal officials to fully comply with federal immigration laws and agencies or face a Class A misdemeanor. The bill also allows police officers to inquire into a suspect’s immigration status if they are detained or arrested.

“I do not expect that Governor Abbott will do the right thing and veto this bill,” said Austin City Council Member Greg Casar, an attendee of the sit-in, according to a press release from the Austin-based immigrant activist group Grassroots Leadership. “[But] we will only defeat this dangerous and discriminatory law if we fight it every step of the way — in the courts, in our halls of government, and by organizing our communities.”

It will be signed, and Greg Casar should be booted from office for advocating that people break American laws.

According to the logic of Rev. Jim Rigby from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, “This is not about the law … This is about sending terror across the community,” the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Can you guess how this can be solved? That’s right, illegals should leave, and, then, if they really love the U.S., they can apply for legal status. Shocking how going through legal channels works, right?

As the dozens of protesters gathered, they broke out into chants of, “SB-4 is hate! SB-4 is hate!” Others chanted, “Ain’t no power like the power of people because the power of people don’t stop,” as Department of Public Safety Texas State Troopers surrounded them, My San Antonio reported.

Following the law is hate. You should try that if you ever get pulled over for speeding.

“There are some officials in the state of Texas, as well as across the United States, who simply do not want to apply the rule of law in their jurisdiction, who want to promote lawlessness. And it’s inexcusable,” Abbott said Sunday on Fox News. “And one tool that we now have is the ability to remove these officials from office by subjecting them to criminal penalty by forcing them into the jail that they are letting people out of.”

And do not make the mistake of thinking Governor Abbott won’t follow through on that threat.

Do you know what doesn’t help the cause of those who are unlawfully present in the United States? Getting out in the streets and demanding legalization (and welfare, healthcare, housing, education, money, etc). Demanding that the government stop enforcing the law when it comes to illegals.

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Baseball Player States That Wrongthink Should Carry Heavy Fines

By William Teach May 2, 2017 – 7:54 am

The uber-Liberal and Democratically controlled city of Boston has often been called the most racist city in the U.S. How can that be? It’s run by Progressive Democrats! Nearly 82% of Bostonians voted for Hillary Clinton! Yet

(USA Today) Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones was berated by racist taunts at Fenway Park while a bag of peanuts was thrown at him Monday night, calling it one of the worst cases of fan abuse he has heard in his career.

“A disrespectful fan threw a bag of peanuts at me,’’ Jones said, “I was called the N-word a handful of times tonight. Thanks. Pretty awesome.’’

Jones, one of just 62 African-Americans on opening-day rosters this year, said he has been subjected to racist hecklings in the past at Fenway Park, but said this was one of the worst experiences of his 12-year career.

Here’s the thing: is there any proof of the taunts? The article is based simply on his word alone. Though, in a Progressive city, would anyone be surprised? However, Jones has a history of making racial accusations that cannot be backed up by, you know, facts. Evidence.

We can play the “did it or did it not happen” game, we have zero evidence either way. Here’s where it runs off the rails. He made a claim that he heard about 60 people were ejected from the game, the Red Sox said that the ejections were about half that (which would seem normal), and that the fan who threw the peanuts was ejected, as he should be. Then

Jones was grateful the fan was caught who threw the bag of peanuts toward him into the dugout, but wishes the punishment was much more severe.

“It’s pathetic,’’ he said. “It’s called a coward. What they need to do is that instead of kicking them out of the stadium, they need to fine them 10 grand, 20 grand, 30 grand. Something that really hurts somebody. Make them pay in full. And if they don’t, take it out of their check.

“That’s how you hurt somebody. You suspend them from the stadium, what does that mean? It’s a slap on the wrist. That guy needs to be confronted, and he needs to pay for what he’s done.

“At the end of the day, when you throw an object onto the field of play, the player has no idea what it is. What if something hit me right in the eye and I can’t play baseball anymore. Then what? I just wear it? No.

He has a point about things being thrown on the playing surface. That, though, happens. I was at a Canadians-Hurricanes playoffs game here in Raleigh years back and a Canadians fan threw a bag of popcorn over the boards and on the ice. Around 30 people pointed right at him, and security escorted him out. This was before the game started. Anyhow, Jones had a fit over a can of beer being thrown at another Orioles player while in Toronto. He also made vague accusations about hearing racial taunts in the same Progressive city of Toronto at the same time. Adam Jones has been known to trash talk to fans and make gestures when playing away games.

But, really, it was a bag of peanuts. Fining someone up to $30,000 for that? For Wrongthink? No.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Researchers Proclaim Future Ocean Doom From Messing With Their Fish Tank

By William Teach May 1, 2017 – 4:27 pm

A few fish died, hence, entire coastal food webs could collapse (via Eric Worrall at Watts Up With That?) (Any bold is what Eric did)

Climate change could drive coastal food webs to collapse

Coastal marine food webs could be in danger of collapse as a result of rising carbon dioxide levels, according to our new research. The study shows that although species such as algae will receive a boost, the positive effects are likely to be cancelled out by the increased stress to species further up the food chain such as predatory fish.

We used a self-contained ecosystem in a 2,000-litre tank to study the effects of warming and ocean acidification on a coastal food web. This approach can give us a good idea of what might happen to genuine coastal food webs, because the tank (called a “mesocosm”) contains natural habitats and a range of species that interact with one another, just as they do in the wild.

Our food web had three levels: primary producers (algae), herbivores (invertebrates), and predators (fish).

The results show that carbon dioxide enrichment can actually boost food webs from the bottom up through increased algal growth. This benefited herbivores because of the higher abundance of food, and in turn boosted the very top of the food web, where fish grew faster.

But while this effect of ocean acidification may be seen as positive for marine ecosystems, it mainly benefits “weedy” species – a definition that can be applied to some species of algae, invertebrates, and even fish.

In contrast, habitat-forming species such as kelp forests and coral reefs are more likely to disappear with rising COâ‚‚ emissions, and with them many associated species that are deprived of their habitats and food.

Our results therefore showed that warming had a detrimental overall effect on the coastal food web we studied. Although higher temperatures boosted algal growth, herbivorous populations did not expand. Because herbivore abundances remained similar and elevated temperatures result in a higher metabolic demand, predatory fish consumed more herbivorous prey, resulting in a collapse of these prey populations.

So, utter doom. Because of a bit of research with a fish tank. As Eric notes

Unfortunately the full study is paywalled, but attempting to infer global consequences of increased CO2 from a toy eco-system in a 2000 litre fish tank is absurd.

On the positive side, the researchers performed an actual experiment, rather than just running a computer model.

But anyone who has ever kept fish knows how difficult it can be to keep a fish tank eco-system stable. Fish in a tank are subject to numerous stresses, even a small mistake with feeding, water contamination or filtering waste can lead to disease and death.

2,000 liters is 528 gallons. If you’ve ever watched the Animal Planet show Tanked, many of those (very expensive) tanks are around that size, some bigger. And they take a lot of maintenance to keep in good working shape. Just keeping a small freshwater tank going can be work. I’m looking at my 20 gallon and I can see it needs some more water, about a gallon, and the light hood needs cleaning. I use a few liquids to reduce the stress of the fish. If something goes wrong, it can spread quickly and say goodbye to your fish. Saltwater is even more maintenance intensive.

The ocean ecosystem has survived numerous warm and cool periods. Corals survived when the temps and sea heights were much higher. This is all just typical scaremongering.

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 1, 2017 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle which Government should disallow Other People from using, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A View From The Beach, with a post on when is OK not OK.

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