NC Gov Roy Cooper Embraces “Environmental Justice” Or Something

By William Teach January 8, 2022 – 7:00 am

Cooper has generally been a rather normal Democrat, as required in a Southern state such as North Carolina. Perhaps he’s thinking of actually running for president in 2024, as there’s no way Biden will have his party’s support

Cooper embraces ‘environmental justice’ with climate change order

st greta carA day after the one-year anniversary of an event that laid bare the political divisions of a nation already undergoing a racial reckoning, Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday signed an executive order that acknowledges an extricable link between the threats of climate change and the vulnerability of underserved North Carolina communities least equipped to deal with its impact or embrace the opportunities of a green economy.

Cooper’s order enhances earlier state goals for reducing carbon emissions and adding electric vehicles while aiming to ensure that areas left behind from North Carolina’s growth are protected environmentally and empowered economically.

“For too long, our low- and moderate-income communities, our communities of color, our indigenous communities have been disproportionally impacted by pollution and climate change,” Cooper said before signing the document during a ceremony at N.C. A&T State University. “With this order, we commit to increase the goals of greenhouse gas reduction, and move more quickly to clean transportation and to curb environmental injustices that affect our most vulnerable communities.”

Cooper’s order calls for a 50% reduction in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, and “net-zero” emissions no later than 2050.

Interesting that he took a short fossil fueled from Raleigh to Greensboro, about an hour and a half drive, to yammer about Evil fossil fuels, eh? What, exactly, is Cooper doing in his own life and that of the Governor’s office?

The document also sets a goal of adding at least 1.25 million registered zero-emission vehicles in North Carolina by 2030, and having zero-emission vehicles account for 50% of new auto sales in the state in 2030.

People are already mad about paying MSRP for new vehicles, and prices higher than MSRP for used cars. As it stands, only a bit above 10% of new cars sold are hybrids. Regardless, this is all climavirtue signaling to the climate cult, and Elites like Cooper will make no changes in their own lives.

Meanwhile

Climate change means you could see more armadillos in North Carolina

Over the past couple years, there has been an increase in armadillo sightings across the Carolinas, and officials with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission says it’s due to climate change.

Armadillos have been spotted in 23 counties across North Carolina, including Wake and Durham. Since 2007, there have been as many as 30 sightings of armadillos in Wake County.

This is all your fault.

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, NC News | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

There’s A Real Danger In #LetsGoBrandon Or Something

By William Teach January 8, 2022 – 6:45 am

Fortunately, the Credentialed Media is around to keep this going. Maybe we should all go back to #FuckJoeBiden?

If you have trouble with the link to the Charlotte Observer, try the Yahoo one, in which Excitable Peter Horn loses his mind

Back in Charlotte for the holidays, I was out on a walk when I noticed my parents’ neighbor’s truck. It’s a big truck. White, newish, plastered with bumper stickers in dense but ordered rows — mostly political, some football-related. Among many others was “Mean Tweets 2024” and “Let’s Go Brandon.”

This, from a purportedly serious man. A grown-up by most senses of the word, likely born in the 1950s. A man with grown children of his own, a respectable career, two bowls of water by his mailbox for passing dogs and a nativity set in the front yard.

I stopped and stared for a moment, wondering, how did we get here?

I don’t mean the polarization. How did we reach this level of absurdity, where ”serious people” are comfortable putting thinly veiled ”F— Joe Biden bumper stickers on their trucks, like a group of 12-year-old boys snickering over walkie-talkies because surely Mom and Dad don’t know that word really means penis.

I don’t read the Charlotte Observer all that much, going with more local Raleigh outlets, but, I’m not finding, with a few searches, any complaints over the massive amount of vile invective thrown towards Trump, his wife and child, Mike Pence, everyone who worked in his administration, as well as Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and so many more. How many called him pResident? Orange man? Assassination chic? Kathy Griffin “beheading” Trump?

I could keep going and going, and, no complaints from the Charlotte Observer. There are throw pillows, bumper stickers, and t-shirts, among others, at Amazon, Etsy, and more. Tons of nasty stuff from celebs and music (or, considering what they made, should it be “music”?) people, even those in the media. And big media.

For those unfamiliar with “Let’s Go Brandon,” it’s a viral slogan that’s coded criticism of President Joe Biden. It started when an NBC Sports reporter suggested fans at an Oct. 2 Talladega race were chanting “Let’s Go Brandon” during an interview with NASCAR driver Brandon Brown. They weren’t. They were actually chanting “F— Joe Biden.”

It’s all just so juvenile. So pathetic.

Sure thing, Chump. Those of us blogging during the Bush43 years thought it couldn’t get worse. But, we should have know that Democrats could add a 12 to the amplifier.

And Trumpism is Steve Bannon trying to “kill the Biden presidency in the crib.”

Right, right, like Democrats talking about impeaching Trump before he even took office. Like Dems coming up with the BS Russian collusion.

“Let’s Go Brandon” isn’t just another silly, immature bumper sticker. It’s the latest shiny object in the GOP’s culture war quiver to distract from the truly nefarious, anti-democratic process at work. A process that seeks to limit access to voting, cast doubt on our electoral process and potentially upend the American experiment because their guy lost.

Sherman Potter Bull Cookies

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Surprise: Warmists See Those Not On Their Side As Enemies

By William Teach January 7, 2022 – 5:22 pm

This is something that those of us who have been watching have been trying to tell the average Republican, namely, that, if you aren’t a Progressive, you are not a political opponent, but, an enemy

View from the Left: Fight our true enemies in climate change, white nationalism, disease

Whenever we’re on the verge of avoiding disasters and accomplishing something meaningful for America’s future, international welfare and life itself, obstructionists sabotage our progress. Both major parties, GOP extremists especially, take the myopic view human existence revolves around profligate economies ? prices at pumps, tenderloin sales (subsidized by taxes), mortgages; car loans.

Levying a $175 billion/year, decade-long tithe on tax-avoidant rich and corporations to fund Build Back Better is somehow too expensive, delaying passage of transformative, desperately-needed initiatives. Yet, the world’s most gluttonous military budget ($770 billion/year or $7.7 trillion projected over 10), emptying the government’s coffers, sails through Congress without a hitch. Because it didn’t hurt his coal investment business, even Joe Manchin shut-up and voted “Yes,” costing each of us taxpayers $5,000/year on average.

Where Build Back Better lessens global warming impacts and prescription drug costs, expands Medicare coverage to hearing aids and eyeglasses, and trims college and childcare bills, a mere quarter of the Pentagon budget goes to personnel. The rest vanishes into military-industrial-complex black holes. Ignored are America’s most dangerous enemies: climate change, white-nationalist militias, zoonotic diseases and a pseudo-Dark Age, fact-averse reliance on beliefs instead of scientific evidence and competency. Neutralizing those enemies remains top priority in 2022 as it has been for decades.

See? If you’re engaged in Wrongthink, you are an enemy. Period. They really do want to get rid of you. You are not entitled to your opinion, you must think exactly like the Progressives/Warmists. You cannot cite actual facts, only Cult approved “facts”.

Countless human, plant and nonhuman animal lives depend on Paris Accord objectives being met. Extinction rates are tragically high and warmer temps, extreme weather and rising seas will destroy critical infrastructure and properties, escalating insurance claims and costs. Even before wildfires, floods, and whirlwinds wreak havoc, shifts in societal risk perception will lower property values in danger-prone areas. U.S. storms produced 23 million more lightning strikes in 2021 than 2020, and in recent years, hundreds of millions of farm animals have died with thousands of Americans from unseasonable jet stream swings, floods, firestorms and heat waves caused by climate change.

As glaciers and sea ice continue to shrink, darker, newly-exposed surfaces absorb rather than reflect the sunlight, retaining more heat. If polar feedback loops speed out of control, oceans will rise catastrophically. The figurative and literal tip of the iceberg: climate change drives every priority.

Yup. It’s a cult. And it’s becoming more and more dangerous, more willing to label those with different political beliefs as enemies, and, once they start doing that, violence from the climate cult comes next.

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Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 7, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…are electric wires which need to be replaced due to ‘climate change’, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on SEALs getting an injunction on COVID jabs.

Read: If All You See… »

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People’s Republik Of California Looking To Try Passing Universal Healthcare

By William Teach January 7, 2022 – 10:30 am

The last time California bandied this about, they learned that it would cost at least twice the current budge of the state, and there was no real way to pay for it. There would be a hundreds of billions shortfall. Also, while a majority support universal healthcare in theory, when it comes to seeing taxes and such going up only around 42% supported this. Democrats never give up on their ideas, though, because this is not about taking care of people, it’s about controlling people

Democrats propose California universal healthcare, funded by new income, business taxes

California would enact a sweeping, first-in-the-nation universal healthcare plan under a proposal unveiled Thursday by a group of state Democratic lawmakers, providing health services to every resident and financed by a broad array of new taxes on individuals and businesses.

Though some of the policy details of the ambitious plan were laid out last year, the way to fund it had not been determined. The proposal, now laid out in separate pieces of legislation, faces significant hurdles in the coming months — first at the state Capitol, with opposition from groups representing doctors and insurance companies, and then possibly at the ballot box, as voters would have to approve the taxes in an amendment to the California Constitution.

They didn’t know how to pay for this in 2017, and they still have little idea

Assembly Bill 1400 would create “CalCare,” a system governed by an independent board of directors that promises access to any doctor, regardless of network, and a wide variety of medical services. The new entity would push to bring payments to providers more in line with the costs of care and would seek to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs. The plan includes long-term care coverage and services for senior citizens and disabled people, and would remove barriers based on a patient’s immigration status.

And would see doctors and medical facilities heading for other states.

The plan’s proposed tax increase might present the most difficult political hurdle: As a constitutional amendment, it would require a supermajority vote in both the state Senate and Assembly and then ratification by voters in either the June or November statewide election. While Democrats have held a supermajority of seats in both houses for the better part of a decade, they have rarely found enough support within their ranks for a broad-based tax increase.

The constitutional amendment would impose a new excise tax on businesses equal to 2.3% of any annual gross receipts in excess of $2 million. A new payroll tax would also be created, equal to 1.25% of total annual wages and collected from businesses employing 50 or more people. An additional payroll tax would be required for employers with workers earning more than $49,900 a year.

Good luck with that. Remember this oldy but goody from the Obamacare era?

“I was laughing at Boehner — until the mail came today,”

Waschura said, referring to House Speaker John Boehner, who is leading the Republican charge to defund Obamacare.

“I really don’t like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family’s pocket each year, that’s otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy.”

“Of course, I want people to have health care,” Vinson said. “I just didn’t realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally.”

Personally, I think California should give it a whirl. You can’t have an experiment without an experimental group. And anyone who voted Democrat in the state should not be allowed to escape to another state.

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Shocking: Driving Around In An EV Is Not That Convenient

By William Teach January 7, 2022 – 7:00 am

Even in a much smaller nation like the U.K. things are tough. This reminds me of one of the reviews of the Chevy Volt, where it was very cold and the driver didn’t want to turn on the heat in order to save charge, with her toes freezing

I drove an electric van cross-country for a month. It was cheaper than a normal car, but the challenges showed how far EV travel has to go.

Electric vehicleI want to get an electric vehicle one day. The reduced environmental impact and lower cost are appealing — but their range and the process of charging make me anxious to take the plunge, even as EVs go farther and charging points become more common. AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said in February that most EV drivers were still not taking overnight trips away from their home-charging setup.

If people are afraid to take their average $54,000 vehicles on an over night trip, we, that’s rather a problem, eh? In fairness, people probably didn’t drive their Model T’s and such too far over a hundred years ago

By chance, I got the opportunity to have a monthlong test drive and experience what relying on an EV to travel long distances is really like.

In my day job as a TV and events presenter, I had to drive with a colleague around Britain working at food events. When my client offered me an electric Volkswagen ABT Transporter, I jumped at it.

The ABT had a range of only 80 miles, so my trip required numerous charges during the day and constant planning. Each morning, rather than setting a location in a GPS and simply setting off, we’d have to map the route via fast-charge points, individually checking each point against recent Google reviews to ensure they were in service.

Also, in fairness, that’s rather short for range. It also, get this, costs around $51,000 U.S. Yikes! It’s also a van.

Apps like PlugShare and Zap Map allowed for route planning. User-sourced data theoretically allows drivers to see which charge points are out of service or in use, but even using this information I found issues with one in four of the 36 charge points I visited over the month.

At some charge stations, these apps showed there was a free charging point because there were several. But at one, it turned out to be only possible to charge one vehicle at a time.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. We had to wait at times for a charge point for up to 45 minutes. Repeatedly doing this could add hours onto a longer journey.

You could fill your tank in under 10 minutes and be back on the road. You could also get a hybrid. I was seriously considering the Honda Accord Hybrid Sport, but, the leasing isn’t that good yet, and, a Civic Hatchback EXL is about $4k less.

Anyhow, there were lots of problems, and, really, do you want to plan every darned trip that much? When I drive north to see the parents, my only plan is to get gas before or after Baltimore, because I don’t want to stop anywhere near that dangerous city. That’s all I need to worry about. If I want to get off 95 to get food or use the bathroom, no worries.

Elsewhere in EVs

Chevy unveiled its cheapest electric model yet, a $30,000 crossover SUV

The automaker took the wraps off of its upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, a small electric SUV that will cost around $30,000 in its base configuration. The Equinox EV will bring another low-cost, electric option to the country’s most popular vehicle segment: compact SUVs. (snip)

GM didn’t offer many details about the Equinox EV. The SUV will be available in both fleet and retail versions, have RS and LT trims, and use GM’s new Ultium battery platform. Judging by the photos GM shared, we can see that the Equinox EV will have a large touchscreen and a second driver-facing display. A slim light bar stretches across the SUV’s front end.

The big one is the range. How much will you get for $30,000? A Civic hatch EXL (I ordered mine in Meteorite Gray) gets 31/29/35. With a 12.39 gallon tank, that’s an average range of 433 miles. My Accord Sport does about that with an average of 32 and a bigger gas tank. I don’t have to worry about finding a gas station. The Civic is $28460, with leather, sunroof (don’t care), remote start, seat heaters (don’t car), blind spot monitor, power seat, and more. And will hold a heck of a lot more value than a Chevy, regular or EV.

But, everyone is trying to get in on this trend, including Sony, regardless of whether there is consumer demand, which there really isn’t. And, lots of outlets are now saying how bad EVs will be in the cold and snow, like when everyone was stuck in northern Virginia. And this is all to deal with an imaginary, made up problem.

Read: Shocking: Driving Around In An EV Is Not That Convenient »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

SCOTUS To Hear Oral Arguments On Biden Vaccine Mandates Today

By William Teach January 7, 2022 – 6:50 am

Once again, I whole-heartedly recommend getting vaccinate. I have, and I got the booster, and I have a reminder to check on getting another booster in April. I prefer to be protected, and, if I get it, know it will most likely be mild. Others can make their own f’ing decisions

Vaccine mandates: The ‘big question’ at the heart of a Supreme Court challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled on Friday to hear oral arguments on emergency applications for and against the Biden administration’s right to enforce two vaccine mandates that impact roughly 100 million U.S. workers, and that, for now, remain in legal limbo.

The in-person arguments, rarely granted to handle emergency applications, will address a narrow issue: whether the states and business groups seeking to invalidate the mandates as unconstitutional can keep them from being carried out until courts determine the legality of the mandates themselves.

“The big question in both cases is whether the federal government has the authority to impose such a sweeping requirement, whether the government followed the appropriate due process procedure, and whether the government overreached by imposing rules that are going to strain businesses already struggling with major staffing shortages,” Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner of health care law firm Nelson Hardiman, said about the broader constitutional issue. (snip)

The administration’s authority to direct private business to require vaccination policies has been mired in litigation brought by Republican-led states, as well as business groups. Court orders in those cases, some allowing and some denying enforcement during their pendency, have shown enough inconsistency to get the high court’s attention.

The mandates’ challengers say that in directing OSHA and CMS to adopt vaccination requirements, the Biden administration overstepped its executive authority. Congress never delegated that power to the executive branch, they argue.

Has the Legislative branch been granted the power to pass a law which would allow vaccine mandates, and did Congress pass a law on any Constitutional authority that grants the Executive branch the power to implement mandates? I’m betting one question will be on why it’s only on companies with 100+ employees.

I guess we will see.

Read: SCOTUS To Hear Oral Arguments On Biden Vaccine Mandates Today »

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Your Fault: Climate Crisis Emergency Doom Threatens Florida Strawberries

By William Teach January 6, 2022 – 5:30 pm

It’s certainly the fault of AOC and Eric Swalwell, along with other Blue state Dems, who took long, fossil fueled trips to Florida

What climate change means for Florida strawberry farmers

climate change joke

Florida’s strawberry harvest is underway. Farmers are facing challenges due to climate change, but researchers are trying to help them adapt.

Vance Whitaker grows strawberries for a living, but he’s not a farmer. He’s an associate professor of plant breeding at the University of Florida IFAS extension service in Wimauma. When it comes to temperature changes, he says strawberries are resilient.

“We have so much temperature variability within a single season in Florida, because the season starts around Thanksgiving and goes, to around Easter or beyond,” he said.

Whitaker says the real climate threat to strawberries is more rain. A wetter growing season means the crop will be more vulnerable to fungal diseases. So, he’s working to create strawberries that will thrive in a wetter climate.

Doesn’t it, you know, rain a lot in Florida?

As for this current season, Whitaker says it’s a wonderful time for strawberries, thanks to warm days and cool evenings.

Oh, phew, it’s not all doom and gloom. Thanks to your Evil appetite for cheeseburgers Florida is warm during the day and cool at night during the growing season!

Really, though, it goes to show how cult-like the media is. Why was this necessary? The weather in Florida is always variable. Big whoop.

Read: Your Fault: Climate Crisis Emergency Doom Threatens Florida Strawberries »

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 6, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a sea circulation system that is shutting down because Other People won’t buy EVs, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on Dems jumping ship after seeing the polls.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Politicized DOJ Will Go After People Who Weren’t Even At J6 Mostly Peaceful Protest

By William Teach January 6, 2022 – 10:30 am

This will probably be about the only January 6th post I do. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Democrat Elites and their compliant media, though, think it’s the Worst Thing Ever

Garland says “the actions we have taken thus far” on January 6 rioters “will not be our last”

Attorney General Merrick Garland marked the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol with a sweeping defense of the Justice Department’s investigation, hinting that prosecutors’ mission to hold organizers accountable could include charging those not physically present at the U.S. Capitol during the riot.

“The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” Garland said Wednesday, addressing staff members gathered in the Justice Department’s Great Hall for the publicly broadcasted speech.

“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.” He added, “We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

Not even physically present. It’s a witch hunt at this point. This is all primarily political for Garland and the Democrats, something they think will help them for the mid-terms, a way to whip up their unhinged moonbat base, and a way to hide their extremist agenda. But, also, consider: the same DOJ is not going after all those who attacked federal buildings during the BLM/Antifa riots, particularly the one in Portland. They know who a lot of these people are, because they were arrested for being there and committing crimes, then released. Many were arrested and released, with charges dropped, multiple times.

The piece is as dumb as you think

Trump haters and extreme leftist will be having orgasms over this.

Read: Politicized DOJ Will Go After People Who Weren’t Even At J6 Mostly Peaceful Protest »

Posted in Democrats, Unhinged Tools | 43 Comments | Trackback URL
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