If All You See…

By William Teach March 29, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil plastic water bottle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Capitalist Preservation, with a post wondering if Harry Reid is a liar or senile (why not both?)

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AmericaBlog Pushes “Zero Carbon” Nonsense

By William Teach March 29, 2014 – 11:38 am

How cute

Why Zero Carbon is the only solution to global warming and climate change

Wait, are they now two separate things?

I’ve been writing a lot about the Zero Carbon economy, one of the two methods we have of dealing with the coming economic scarcity, and the only one of those ways that provides us a solution to climate change — “global warming” (though some of that warming may produce extreme cooling, in fact a new Ice Age, in some parts of the globe).

Um, global warming can produce a new ice age? And Warmists complain when we say they’re cultists and wouldn’t know science if it reached up and smacked them?

But that information, about the coming scarcity and the argument for Zero Carbon as the solution, is part of a longer essay, and the second part of it at that. So I want to bring these ideas to the forefront, and not by just linking to them.

Which leads to an article that starts out

I’ll be plain — we can solve the energy crisis with extreme energy rationing now. We need to put the brakes on the carbon car hard and soon. That’s the only way to keep the world below the original +3°C “game over” scenario. That’s the only way to keep the world at or below the newer +2°C “life between the Ice Ages” scenario:

And they are up for forced rationing, despite the human suffering and death toll.

But first things first. If we have any shot at all at fixing this mess, we need to have our eye on the right goal. So-called “carbon neutral” is a climate-caused death sentence. Zero Carbon, on a crash agenda is the only work worth doing. As a great man once said, it doesn’t make any difference how fast you climb the ladder, if it’s the wrong ladder.

Interestingly, Warmists refuse to go carbon neutral, much less zero carbon. And notice that they want Everyone Else to pay the price for their beliefs.

Read: AmericaBlog Pushes “Zero Carbon” Nonsense »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Man With Largest Carbon Footprint In World To Go After Methane

By William Teach March 29, 2014 – 8:29 am

Obama has a “carbon footprint” estimated, conservatively, to be 41,000 metric tons. That’s the equivalent of the footprint of 2200 Americans. Of course, that was in 2009, when he hadn’t sent his wife, kids, and dogs on separate flights on their way to vacations. This is a man who will take a fossil fueled flight across the country to give a 30 minute or less speech, before heading off to a fundraiser, of course. And now he wants to go after methane, which, surprise, is a major component of natural gas production

(Reuters) The White House said on Friday it will take a hard look at whether new regulations are needed to cut emissions of methane from the oil and gas industry, part of President Barack Obama’s plan to address climate change.

The suggestion drew a sharp rebuke from the main oil and gas lobby group. The American Petroleum Institute said its members were already taking steps that will cut emissions and expressed concern that more regulations could put a damper on natural gas drilling by raising costs.

A sector of the American economy that’s moving, so, yup, regulation.

But environmental groups said regulations are needed to make sure all players take action to reduce methane emissions. The greenhouse gas is 84 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the first 20 years after being released, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The actual number is not truly known. The IPCC says 84 times, you can find all different numbers. The UPI serendipitously ran an article yesterday stating that it was 30 times more potent. I can find the numbers 10, 21, 37, 49, and 86, among others. Now, in reality, there is, and should be a concern with methane. It is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, though it doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere. And it doesn’t seem to have the same effect where continued higher concentrations really make little difference, like with CO2. At one point, even the IPCC determined that methane was the real danger, not CO2, particularly from agriculture and landfills. But, methane is not as sexy as CO2, and brings on lots of fart jokes. And do Warmists want to call for a decrease in food production? Some of the more wackier ones, yes, but mostly they ignore that.

Personally, I will not say that methane isn’t a danger. When I write that man shares a small portion of blame for global warming, methane is primarily what I’m thinking about. Should we be uber concerned? No. But, we should have some concern. There can be some wise, basic regulation.

The White House said regulators will propose new rules later this year to reduce venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on public lands, one way to begin cutting emissions of methane.

However, most oil and gas production takes place on privately owned land. So the Environmental Protection Agency is going to study this year whether additional, broader regulations are needed for methane emissions under the Clean Air Act, said Dan Utech, Obama’s top energy and climate aide.

Does anyone think that these regulations will be anything but overly burdensome, controlling, and damaging to the natural gas industry, as well as others? Regulations that will cause businesses to fold and prices to artificially rise?

Methane is the main component of natural gas. It is also released by dairy farms, landfills and coal mines.

The EPA will propose additional regulations for methane produced by new landfills in coming months, and will consider updating rules for existing landfills, the White House said.

The government will also work with the dairy industry on voluntary measures to cut emissions from their barns, the White House said.

But the biggest part of its strategy looks at how to stop leaks of methane from natural gas wells and pipelines, which the White House said was responsible for 28 percent of U.S. methane emissions in 2012.

“Voluntary”. The cost of milk, already skyrocketing, will go up more. Landfill regulations will increase the price of city services regarding trash pickup and trash disposal, raising consumer prices. The biggest is that the hardcore Progressives want to shut the coal and natural gas industries down.

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Posted in Barry Obama, Climahypocrites, Economy, Energy, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

NY Times Still Very Concerned Over Christie “Lane Closures”

By William Teach March 29, 2014 – 7:58 am

There’s nothing like beating a dead horse. Obviously, the Times cares a bit because a) this happened in the NY Times local area, and b) it’s a chance to smear Christie, a possible GOP 2016 candidate, and c) a chance to smear a Republican governor. The last two are Important for other media (read Leftist) media outlets, as well. Now, I couldn’t really care that much about Christie: he may be Republican, but I do not trust him, and he holds some Progressive policies on gun control, illegal immigration, and other issues. The Times editorial board whined yesterday about a “whitewash for Christie“. Then, late in the day, they ran another whining that Christie’s Port Authority quit too late

The only thing wrong with the resignation announcement on Friday of David Samson, Gov. Chris Christie’s top appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was that it took so long.

A close associate of the governor, Mr. Samson was running the authority while its employees and the governor’s aides created a traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge in September, apparently to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., and his constituents. The growing scandal has so far resulted in dismissals of two of the governor’s close colleagues and two other resignations from the Port Authority. But there are still no satisfactory answers as to what happened, why it happened and who ordered it. The $1 million-plus report put out this week was incomplete and unconvincing.

Hey, remember when the Times EB called for the resignation of Eric Holder? Kathleen Sebelius? Other utterly incompetent Obama appointees? How about those in charge of building the failed healthcare.gov, as well as many of the failed state exchanges? How about Harry Reid? There’s a level of quasi-legal corruption going on in the Senator’s political life. Have they spent much time on all the Democrats busted for things like corruption, bribery, and gun running, among others?

But, it doesn’t stop there (though there is plenty in the editorial to snark). Here’s Gail Collins

Let’s take a minute to search for life lessons in the latest Chris Christie bridge-traffic-jam episode. I believe there are two. First, when the political ship is going down, nobody will bother to rescue the unattached woman and the dork from senior year.

You know that bit is about bring the “war on women” meme into the mix. And works in more later in the piece

On Friday, Christie held a news conference to discuss the results of an investigation into the now infamous lane closings on the George Washington Bridge. The inquiry was commissioned by, um, Chris Christie. It concluded that the villains were Bridget the Aide and David Who Was Not Popular in High School.

“I had nothing to do with this … and this report has supported exactly what I said,” Christie announced rather triumphantly. Negative minds might substitute “announced pompously with an extreme degree of self-righteousness,” but we are taking the high road.

The governor was, indeed, portrayed in a light of near-beatific proportions. He had absolutely no role in the most infamous traffic jam since Woodstock. He was too good, and too busy doing other things, like comforting the victims of a fire — an act of mercy he felt driven to perform even though he had to cancel “a planned trip to Florida with his wife for her birthday.”

Again, too much to snark, you’ll have to read the whole thing. Yet, remember how Ms. Collins, like the Times’ EB, was deeply skeptical over the talking points and Obama commissioned reports on things like Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS targeting, and all the rest? Not too mention all the scandals and criminal activity from elected Democrats? How about the lies about Obamacare?

There is also an article, page A1 of the NY Edition, entitled Potentially Explosive Detail in Bridge Scandal Is Unlikely to Be Confirmed. So, a front page article saying “we don’t have the evidence we really, really, really want, but, hey, we’re going to trot it out and beat it so you, the reader, think it’s real, making you Very Concerned. Did we mention that there is no evidence? That’s OK. You should believe that our assertion is real, and hate Christie.” There are several other articles appearing on the web front page in the NY metro area linkage. And one on “unanswered questions”

But the 10-week review, which was based on more than 70 interviews and some 250,000 pages of documents according to the lawyer who oversaw it, leaves central questions unanswered in its 344 pages, and thus feels more like an unsolved mystery than a report, or at least one with an unresolved ending.

Perhaps the two weightiest questions left looming concern the motive for the lane closings, which some have said were rooted in political animus, and the role of David Samson, the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, during the closings and their aftermath.

We’re still waiting on answers to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS targeting, much less all the stonewalling, wasting the People’s Money on political payback projects like Solyndra, targeting journalists and their families, Kathleen Sebelius violating the Hatch Act, the use of personal email accounts for government business, using fake names for government business, and unilaterally changing The Law, among others. This all the difference between a D and an R.

More: trending at Memeorandum is an article at the Times from the 27th where they see seeeeexism in the lane closures report.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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We’re Saved: UN Secretary General Takes Fossil Fueled Flight To See “Climate Change”

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 2:48 pm

This is the way Warmists roll

(CBS News) The Secretary General of the United Nations toured Greenland on Wednesday for an up-close look at the impacts of climate change.

“I am deeply alarmed by fast-moving glaciers and by the fast-melting ice cap which raises the sea level, which affects the whole international community’s environmental system,” said Ban Ki-moon, according to a U.N. press release.

How did he get to Greenland? Sailing ship? Did he row? Swim? Or, a fossil fueled flight, most likely on one of those evil private jets? In point of fact, most of Greenland never made it above the melting point in 2013. And there is nothing that proves anthropogenic causation for any Greenland melting, at least not on a global scale.

Meanwhile, one African is tired of the way rich enviroweenies are telling the poor in Africa how to live their lives

John Briscoe, a South African who spent most of his life working for the World Bank, has just been awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, regarded by some as the water equivalent of the Nobel. But after 40 years in the development business, he is angry at the way in which rich people tell poor people how to live their lives – and keep them in the dark. The sooner a BRICS Bank is up and running, the better, he says. What has made him so angry?

Good question. The answer is rich enviroweenies in the US and the EU telling Africans what power is available to them. Warmists yammer on about hydroelectric power, yet the moment someone tries to build a hydroelectric dam, well, nope, sorry, stop. They are called “foreign bullies”. They cause electric projects to be massively delayed and even stopped. And the best way to get people out of poverty is electricity. They bully the banks to stop loans. The NGOs from the US and EU work hard to stop projects. The World Bank has finally changed its policies, despite what rich Warmists want. And Africa is turning towards China and Brazil

“Africans and others are turning and will turn, with great appreciation, to the governments and companies of China and Brazil and potentially to a BRICs Bank, who understand that electricity is one of the keys to a better life, and who will help Africans build the infrastructure they need for economic growth and poverty reduction.”

Hydroelectric dams are supposed to be good for keeping the “carbon footprint” low, yet, Warmists/enviroweenies pitch a fit. They’d rather force poor people to deal with expensive solar and wind, which has a low rate of return, and takes up vast swaths of land. And, really, Warmists just like telling other people how to live their lives, then fly off on fossil fueled flights to ritzy vacation spots with lots of cheap power.

Read: We’re Saved: UN Secretary General Takes Fossil Fueled Flight To See “Climate Change” »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Energy, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is evil fried food causing people to be over-weight, which causes the seas to rise and swamp the mountains, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The People’s Cube, with a post on Michelle O surviving America’s death camps.

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Bummer: US Wind Projects Drop 93%. Oh, and Team Obama Is Stonewalling On Bird Deaths

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 11:15 am

There are many reason why wind projects can fall off the edge of the map. One is that people generally support these projects, until they are going to be build near where they live and/or can see them. Remember, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, along with John Kerry, fought hard against the Cape Wind Project. Many enviroweenies and Warmists support them in theory. In practice, only Somewhere Else. Another is money

(The Hill) Investors in wind-generated power nearly abandoned ship when Congress let the tax credits for wind projects expire, a new report says.

Installations of new U.S. wind projects fell 93 percent last year. A Navigant Research report says wind power installations had increased to a record high of 13,100 in 2012, according to the Houston Chronicle.

After deadlines passed in Congress and the $2 billion tax credit failed to boost investments, financiers pulled heir backing of projects.

Without the massive taxpayer backed funding, these projects make little economic sense.

Now, that “according” link leads to FuelFix (which is owned by the Houston Chronicle), not the Houston Chronicle, which leads to another FuelFix article by the AP

House Republicans complain the Obama administration is refusing to turn over documents related to enforcing environmental laws at wind farms where dozens of eagles and other protected birds have been killed.

Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington says the Fish and Wildlife Service has engaged in a “deliberate slow rolling of documents and answers” for nearly a year. Hastings is the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

I’m shocked, shocked! that anyone in the Obama Executive Branch would stonewall Congress. This never happens under Obama.

Read: Bummer: US Wind Projects Drop 93%. Oh, and Team Obama Is Stonewalling On Bird Deaths »

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Joe Romm Wonders What The Difference Between A Psychic And A Denier Is

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 10:37 am

This is what Warmists are reduced to. But, then, this has never been about science: it’s about politics, and Warmists have been using these types of personal smears since they invented the issue in order to push their Progressive doctrines

What Is The Difference Between A Psychic And A Climate Science Denier?

What is the difference between a psychic and a climate science denier? The answer might surprise you.

The question popped out of my head while it was exploding from this jaw-dropping story: “CNN’s Sister Network Asks Psychic To Explain What Happened To Missing Malaysia Jet!” (snip)

Her answer reminded me of the deniers:

“Naturally, I don’t have hard, concrete evidence. I think any psychic who has hard, concrete evidence can’t do their job correctly…. They’ll just work off what they know. I tend to work off what I don’t know.” (snip)

I know what the similarities are between psychics and deniers. They both use unscientific methods, generally make stuff up with no evidence to support their views, and have consistently been debunked when scrutinized.

What is the difference between a psychic and a climate science denier? In fairness, psychics sometimes guess the right answer.

Let’s consider: who was right about the climate?

Hmm, looks like the Warmist models were wrong. Warmists were wrong about sea level rise. They were wrong about snow being a thing of the past. They were wrong about the Arctic being ice free. They were wrong about tropical storm development and landfalls. And they cannot prove, using the scientific model, that the warming of the (insert time frame based on their talking points here) was mostly/solely caused by anthropogenic means.

Read: Joe Romm Wonders What The Difference Between A Psychic And A Denier Is »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: California To Provide Driver’s License Facilities For Illegal Aliens

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 8:40 am

Even better, California citizens are not welcome at these government funded facilities

(Daily Caller) The California Department of Motor Vehicles is setting up new facilities to process driver’s license applications for illegal immigrants alone.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill, AB 60, which will allow illegal immigrants to obtain the documents beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

The bill was signed along with a number of others laws seen as favorable to undocumented immigrants.

As part of the driver’s license application process, immigrants will have to acknowledge that they are undocumented. But AB 60 protects applicants from criminal prosecution.

De facto amnesty.

“This is the stepping-stone to state level amnesty,” Jon Feere, legal policy analyst at the Center of Immigration Studies, told The DCNF.

“California is the state that gave us Ronald Reagan. Now it gives us illegal alien lawyers with law licenses and illegal alien drivers with driver’s licenses,” Feere said.

There will be 5 facilities which could provide DL’s (I wonder if they will be free?) to people in our country illegally. Next up will surely be official Social Security numbers, a pure legal status, government benefits, and voting rights.

Meanwhile, VP Joey Biden was let off his leash

(CNS News) Vice President Joe Biden, in a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Legislative Summit, on Thursday said the 11 million illegal aliens in the United States “are already Americans.”

“Eleven million people living in the shadows I believed are already American citizens,” Biden said. “These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to be able to contribute fully, and by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans in my view.”

Doofus. Nancy Pelosi has stated that amnesty is more important than winning the House (a veiled acknowledgement that Dems have no shot at winning it back this year). I suspect they are testing out the notion of making “immigration reform” a major platform for the mid-terms. Sheesh, it’s not like 95% of murder warrants in Los Angeles aren’t for illegal aliens. 75% of people on most wanted list in LA are illegals. 35% of people in California jails are illegals. The FBI says roughly half the gang members in LA are illegals. Cost LA County $36 million a month in welfare costs.

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Satirical Colbert Report Tweet Causes People To Be “Offended”

By William Teach March 28, 2014 – 8:09 am

I’ve mentioned many times the notion of the United States Of The Offended, a phrase by Robert D. Raiford which denotes that people get their skivvies in a bunch by pretty much everything, pitch a fit because their feelings were hurt, and demand that Something Be Done. It doesn’t help when people have no understanding about sarcasm.

(USA Today) TV funnyman Stephen Colbert might be finding out how it feels when something goes viral in a bad way.

On Wednesday’s Colbert Report, the satirist made fun of Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s recently announced Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation. Snyder created the charity “to provide resources that offer genuine opportunities for Tribal communities,” according to a press release, but Colbert mocked it as an attempt at positive PR for the NFL team and its controversial name, which many consider to be racist.

Playing off of Wednesday’s segment, the verified Twitter account for The Colbert Show, which is often written in the persona of the blowhard TV-host character Colbert portrays, posted this tweet on Thursday to its 1 million followers:

I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.— The Colbert Report (@ColbertReport) March 27, 2014

“Ching-Chong Ding-Dong” is a reference to a satirical Asian caricature Colbert has assumed on the show in the past, including a January 2011 segment attacking Rush Limbaugh. It was also part of Wednesday’s segment about the Redskins.

After outrage erupted on the social network, the tweet was deleted, but not before the #CancelColbert hashtag started trending.

Of course, people were accusing Colbert of raaaaacism, and it should be pointed out that the tweet did not come from Colbert’s official Twitter account, which is @StephenAtHome. The @ColbertReport account is controlled by Comedy Central. And, of course, both Comedy Central and Colbert grovelled at the foot of the statue of Political Correctness. Though, can you blame them? People do not understand sarcasm anymore, and people like to be per perpetually aggrieved. This is Liberal World, where negative feelings make them feel good. And no one can ever be Offended.

Well, certain people can be offended and there should be no blowback, per the terms of Liberal World.. Conservatives, especially conservative women. Hey, remember all the controversy when Colbert attacked Rush using the same type of language? Remember all the outrage when Conservatives like Michelle Malkin, Sarah Palin, etc, were attacked in highly denigrating manners? Of course, it is OK in Liberal World to denigrate White Men, especially if they are from the South. Rednecks and folks in “Flyover Country” are frequent targets. And none of this is done in a satirical manner.

Nowadays, certain people and groups aren’t allowed to be offended. And when they are, well, goodness, Things Must Happen. Like getting the Colbert Report cancelled. Obviously, turning the channel would be too much.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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