Senate showdown looms over EPA carbon rules
The U.S. Senate is moving toward a showdown vote on Wednesday over legislation that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a key energy initiative of the Obama administration.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he “hoped” for votes early on Wednesday to “get rid of that issue one way or another.” (Reuters)
In Case You Missed It…
Posted in Cap and tax, EPA
Got Problems? Blame Global Warming
larry Bell
It took virtually no time at all for some to attribute the tragic earthquake and tsunami that devastated lives and property in Japan to global warming. Only hours later the president of the European and Social Committee, Steffan Nilsson, issued a statement that “Some islands affected by climate change have been hit. Has not the time come to demonstrate on solidarity — not least solidarity in combating and adapting to climate change and global warming? Mother Nature has again given us a sign that is what we need to do.”
This came as a big surprise to those of us who assumed such events were produced by natural collisions of constantly shifting Earth tectonic plates. It seems this mistaken notion warrants some rethinking. Apparently we’re to blame — all that fossil burning is the real cause.
A need for serious reconsideration also applies to extreme weather; hurricanes, droughts, floods, blizzard cold weather conditions and such. Certainly those events never occurred before we came along with our smoke stacks and SUVs, did they? Well, yeah, okay, maybe they did. But that shouldn’t make us feel less responsible, should it? After all, if we weren’t here no one would have even noticed. And without lots of guilt and fear there probably wouldn’t be any legitimately true and caring environmentalists. (Forbes)
Posted in Climate change, Rubber room
Communicating uncertain climate risks
In wake of recent shifts in public opinion, researchers analyze climate change communication
Despite much research that demonstrates potential dangers from climate change, public concern has not been increasing.
One theory is that this is because the public is not intimately familiar with the nature of the climate uncertainties being discussed.
“A major challenge facing climate scientists is explaining to non-specialists the risks and uncertainties surrounding potential” climate change, says a new Perspectives piece published today in the science journal Nature Climate Change.
The article attempts to identify communications strategies needed to improve layman understanding of climate science. (National Science Foundation)
“Much work” also demonstrates the real danger of planet-killing asteroids too but that doesn’t mean Fred and Freda Average need pay any attention nor take any action. And that’s despite the fact that their chance of being beaned by a meteor is significantly higher than their being harmed by trivial changes in the availability of an essential trace gas.
People have heard the message, evaluated the risk and quite rightly responded “Phthrrbt!”
Posted in Climate change, Propaganda
Adolescent deaths overtake child mortality yells Reuters, so adolescent death rates are rising while child mortality remains the same, right?
Wrong! Although you wouldn’t know it from the write up of this Lancet study:
Death rates among adolescents have overtaken those of young children as increasing numbers of young males are dying through violence or injury while efforts to reduce child mortality are succeeding.
A study of data from 50 countries over the second half of the 20th century found that most deaths of young people were due to incidents such as car accidents or reckless behavior, with violence and suicide also key causes of death. (Reuters)
The reality, however, is much better. Infant mortalities have declined to such an extent that a decline in adolescent mortalities only half as large can be spun to look bad.
Findings showed that in the 1950s, mortality in the one to four age group far exceeded that of all other age groups in all regions studied. But in the 50 years up to 2004, death rates in children aged one to nine fell by 80 to 93 percent, mostly due to reductions in deaths from infectious disease.
In contrast, declines in death rates in those aged 15 to 24 years were only about half that in children, largely because of increases in injury-related deaths, particularly in young men. [bold added]
So there you have it, a decline of 40-45% in adolescent mortality rates allegedly demonstrates ”the profound health and social changes that have accompanied economic development and urbanization are particularly toxic for young people in both high-income and low-income settings.“
Amazing stuff, huh?
Posted in Health care
When my kids painted dots on maps, my wife and I would hang them on the fridge – I don’t recommend the Senate E&PW Committee pay that much attention to Ms Brockovich’s juvenile foray. Looks like this is either a coordinated effort with or attempt to climb aboard NRDC’s nonsense bandwagon.
Erin Brockovich pushes for disease cluster law
Erin Brockovich, a U.S. consumer health advocate whose life story was the basis for an Academy Award-winning film, urged senators Tuesday to pass a law to document disease clusters in the United States.
A disease cluster is an unusual number of health events, such as reports of cancer, grouped together in a time and location, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Brockovich, who came to prominence investigating the prevalence of cancer cases in Hinkley, California, said she has become an informal reporting agency for those who worry that something in their immediate environment is a health hazard.
“Thousands of Americans contact me every month asking for help and telling me about unexplained diseases in their neighborhood or on their streets,” Brockovich told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
She offered a map of the United States and Canada she said she put together by plotting these calls geographically, showing calls from almost every U.S. state and several Canadian provinces.
“This is not a scientific sampling but simply a map of people who are reaching out to me for help because they are concerned that environmental pollution in their community has made them sick,” Brockovich said. (Reuters)
Posted in Activists, Chemophobia, Silly scares
Organic farmers sue, seek protection from Monsanto
A consortium of U.S. organic farmers and seed dealers filed suit against global seed giant Monsanto Co. on Tuesday, in a move to protect themselves from what they see as a growing threat in the company’s arsenal of genetically modified crops.
The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed the suit on behalf of more than 50 organizations challenging the agricultural giant’s patents on its genetically modified seeds. The group is seeking a ruling that would prohibit Monsanto from suing the farmers or dealers if their organic seed becomes contaminated with Monsanto’s patented biotech seed germplasm.
Monsanto is known for its zealous defense of its patents on a range of genetically altered crops. Its patented “Roundup Ready” soybeans, corn and cotton are favorites of U.S. farmers because of their ability to withstand herbicide treatments.
Posted in Agriculture, Biotech
Editorial
How High Will the Sea Level Rise by the End of the 21st Century?: If the sea level behavior of the past several decades is any indication, the likely answer is: a whole lot less than what is being suggested by the world’s climate alarmists.
Journal Reviews
Japanese Rainfall: Predictions vs. Observations: How do the latter compare with the former? … and what does that fill you with: confidence or consternation?
Global Warming and Urban Heat Islands: Effects of the latter may still be inflating global warming assessments.
The Uniqueness of British Columbia’s Medieval Warm Period: At the province’s Felker Lake, the warmth and dryness of the MWP was the most extreme of the entire Holocene.
Do Plants in Mountainous Areas Always Migrate Uphill in Response to Warming?: It often depends on what’s happening concurrently in terms of the local moisture balance.
C4 Weeds Competing with C3 Crops: Barnyard Grass vs. Rice: Which one gains a huge advantage over the other as the air’s CO2 content rises?
Will Burning Fossil Fuels Reduce Baltic Cod Reproduction Rates?: Believe it or not, certain people are actually asking themselves this question. So what’s the answer?
Ocean Acidification Database
The latest addition of peer-reviewed data archived to our database of marine organism responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment is Brown Algae [Halidrys siliquosa]. To access the entire database, click here.
Plant Growth Database
Our latest results of plant growth responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment obtained from experiments described in the peer-reviewed scientific literature are: Sorghum (Prior et al., 2010) and Soybean (Prior et al., 2010).
Medieval Warm Period Project
Was there a Medieval Warm Period? YES, according to data published by 958 individual scientists from 554 research institutions in 43 different countries … and counting! This issue’s Medieval Warm Period Record comes from Selwyn Lake, Subarctic Canada. To access the entire Medieval Warm Period Project’s database, click here.
Major Report
Carbon Dioxide and Earth’s Future: Pursuing the Prudent Path: Ten of the more ominous model-based predictions of what will occur in response to continued business-as-usual anthropogenic CO2 emissions are compared against real-world observations. (co2science.org)
Posted in Climate
Semi-retired physicist Dr. Daniel M. Sweger has been a research scientist at NIST, where he was active in a variety of research areas, including cryogenic thermometry, solid state and nuclear physics, and molecular spectroscopy.
His new paper, Earth’s Climate Engine (876 Kb PDF) is now available for discussion.
From the Executive Summary:
Posted in Climate
Posted in Energy, Green scams, Humor
Carbon Rationing by Other Means
After Congress fails to regulate greenhouse gases, the president hands the job to the EPA.
Ronald Bailey from the April 2011 issue
Plan A was to get Congress to adopt a massive cap-and-trade carbon rationing scheme. The idea was to impose mandatory cuts on U.S. emissions of the greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide, that are thought to be warming the atmosphere. Six months after President Barack Obama’s inauguration, a cap-and-trade bill managed to squeak through the House of Representatives—once it was larded up with billions in pork.
But attempts to get cap and trade through the Senate foundered last July when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) admitted he could not muster the votes. The midterm elections, in which the Republicans took control of the House and increased their membership in the Senate, ensured that Plan A was off the table.
Posted in Cap and tax, Coal, Energy, EPA
I’ve added this to “unintended consequences” – at least I hope they are unintended although with the example of DDT that may be some of my wildest wishful thinking ever.
Biofuels Policy May Kill 200,000 Per Year in the Third World
TUCSON, Ariz., March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — U.S. and European policy to increase production of ethanol and other biofuels to displace fossil fuels is supposed to help human health by reducing “global warming.” Instead it has added to the global burden of death and disease.
Increased production of biofuels increases the price of food worldwide by diverting crops and cropland from feeding people to feeding motor vehicles. Higher food prices, in turn, condemn more people to chronic hunger and “absolute poverty” (defined as income less than $1.25 per day). But hunger and poverty are leading causes of premature death and excess disease worldwide. Therefore, higher biofuel production would increase death and disease.
Research by the World Bank indicates that the increase in biofuels production over 2004 levels would push more than 35 million additional people into absolute poverty in 2010 in developing countries. Using statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Indur Goklany estimates that this would lead to at least 192,000 excess deaths per year, plus disease resulting in the loss of 6.7 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) per year. These exceed the estimated annual toll of 141,000 deaths and 5.4 million lost DALYs that the World Health Organization attributes to global warming. Thus, developed world policies intended to mitigate global warming probably have increased death and disease in developing countries rather than reducing them. Goklany also notes that death and disease from poverty are a fact, whereas death and disease from global warming are hypothetical.
Thus, the biofuel remedy for global warming may be worse than the disease it purports to alleviate.
Goklany was associated with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) off and on over a 20-year period as an author, expert reviewer, and U.S. delegate. His analysis is published in the spring 2011 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (www.jpands.org/vol16no1/goklany.pdf), the official journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).
AAPS is a national organization of physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943 to protect the practice of private medicine and the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship (www.aapsonline.org).
SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
Posted in Agriculture, Biofuel, Ethanol, Unintended consequences
America Gets Fracked
By Doug L. Hoffman
An investigative report published by The New York Times identifies important but previously unnoticed environmental hazards in natural gas fracking. Potentially the most serious disclosure is that waste water from natural gas drilling wells can contain levels of radioactivity that far exceed Federal drinking water standards. And that is not the only significant problem reported. In other areas, the disposal of used fracking solution by re-injecting it into the ground may be contributing to earthquakes. With turmoil sweeping the world’s major oil producing regions and demand for energy continuing to rise, the US has been developing new natural gas fields at an accelerating pace. In the rush for energy independence is America getting fracked? (The Resilient Earth)
Blackpool shale gas drilling begins
Engineers drilling for shale gas near Blackpool have carried out their first UK operation to fracture the rock thousands of feet below ground.
It was the first step in a process to release gas trapped in a seam of shale running from Clitheroe to the coast.
The process, called fracking, will take place in the coming weeks to see if it is viable. (BBC)
Most Energy Insiders Say Japan Crisis Won’t Affect U.S. Nuclear Policy
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is among a series of new National Journal Insiders Polls that explore the policy and political dynamics surrounding key issues related to national security, the economy, energy and the environment.
In a survey of National Journal Energy and Environment Insiders, a solid majority of respondents said they think the nuclear crisis unfolding in Japan will not have much of an effect on a nuclear renaissance in this Congress. But many say that’s because chances were already slim from the start.
Following the earthquake-tsunami duo that hit Japan on March 11, efforts to avert a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant have drawn the world’s attention to the safety concerns associated with nuclear power.
But even before this month’s quake, nuclear expansion was a tough political issue in the U.S. that was not on a fast track. And 57 percent of National Journal Energy and Environment Insiders say that nothing will change, arguing that Congress wasn’t too fond of the idea of new nuclear power even before Fukushima’s reactor woes.
The chances that Congress would take up such legislation “were slim to begin with,” one Insider said, echoing the comments of many. Others noted different obstacles, such as “the low price of natural gas.” (National Journal)
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
By Marita Noon
Posted on Mar. 28, 2011
On Sunday, March 20, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, dodged questions about his support of high gas prices while admitting that they would go up—saying the administration is working to take the “pain out of high gas prices.” A week earlier, the day of Japan’s catastrophic earthquake, President Obama held a press conference on gas prices in which he bragged about “producing more oil and importing less,” claiming to be moving on an energy strategy that pursues “more energy production” and increases access to “secure energy supplies.”
These statements would leave us to believe that the administration cares about the “pain” of high energy prices Americans are facing and wants a secure “energy future.” Instead they are a distraction from the true actions of the administration that block access to America’s energy.
Space does not permit a thorough review of the energy killing policies, but here’s a sampling of the administration’s actions indicative of the breadth of sources, agencies, and locales. (Energy Tribune)
Koch-linked group serves notice on Senate EPA vote
By Ben Geman
A conservative group that spent heavily in the 2010 elections is pushing Senate lawmakers to vote this week in favor of stripping the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. (E2 Wire)
Manufacturing industry targets vulnerable senators in ads blasting EPA rules
Continue reading
Posted in Energy
At WUWT: An opportunity for online peer review
I have been asked to present this for review by readers here, and to solicit critical comments for the purpose of improving the presentation. Moderators please remove any off-topic comments and commenters please stick to the issues of review. – Anthony
Posted in Climate
On Green Hell Blog On JunkScience.com On Corporate Energy Subsidies
