Category — Environmentalism

It’s policies like these heading into the teeth of a recession that convince me President-elect JimmyBarack CarterObama will be a one and done president:

“We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them by an additional 80 percent by 2050,” he said in a video address to a global warming summit in California attended by U.S. governors and representatives from other nations.

If the US has double digit unemployment in 2012, a green planet won’t save JimmyBarack CarterObama.   Even the enviro crowd throwing around the 5 million new green jobs number admits it was created “just to inspire people”, which translated means we fabricated it.

It would be a miracle if this president is able to get the economy back on track.  His big policy initiatives–socialized healthcare, protectionism, union card check, increased government regulation, green initiatives, and increased taxes–are all drains on an already battered economy.

Get ready for an epic fail when it comes to the Obama, Reid, and Pelosi economy.  That means we’ll have a new president in 2013 and a steady attrition of Democrats in Congress.

Watch and enjoy (or cry)!

HT: The LRC Blog

Go back in time, feel the wind in your face and everywhere else in the exciting all-new 2008 Barackmobile SE.   Made in the US by UAW serfs. 

Model shown with standard lateen rig - available spinnaker for highway speeds and mushroom anchor for school zones.    Citizens of the world, this is your time, this is your car.

(Caution.  Barack Motors assumes no responsibility for possible broaching on grooved pavement, chronic mal de mer,  pitching and yawing due to driver error, or use of this vehicle in high winds.)

Vermonters of all political persuasions can get behinds this novel and green innovation. Rechargeable batteries in series connected to a capacitor delivers proper amperage with a short cycling time.

Solar-Powered Electric Chair

AUSTIN, TX—Garrett Durning of the Texas Environmental Defense League has spent the last three months campaigning tirelessly for the installation of solar-powered electric chairs in state prisons. “Texas wastes more than 500,000 watts of electricity on every criminal it executes,” Durning told reporters Monday. “We live in the 21st century, and it’s high time we acted like it. Let’s stop depleting our non-renewable fossil fuels. Solar power is a more energy-efficient way to execute the condemned.” Durning added that wrist and ankle restraints should be made of hemp rather than leather, the use of which is cruel.

Furthermore, by using found and recycled materials the state can save a tree. I’m sure the Burlington/Middlebury peoples artist collectives will create a suitably shaped device honoring the victims and all with no carbon footprint.

Toss aside a harmonic convergence of this level dispassionately. I should say not!

I have no idea of the political bend of the “Left in Lowell” blog, though the name and the word progressive in the banner might be indicative.

Seems that one of the posters had a dustup with the local powers causing worry that this might occur to “less influential” citizens.

She came home last Tuesday to find a “cease and desist” order posted on her front door. [snip]

Those of us who write on this blog and those of us who are involved in politics understand the impact of power, influence and authority. I am not worried about Kristin she can take care of herself. But my concern is for the average resident who is not an activist, who has no connection, who does not have a voice. What is he or she to do? [snip]

I believe they got what they wanted: more government. Tough when your pet bites you isn’t it.

Well, this turned into a fizzle.

Credit the public with sense. Earth Hour, hysterically promoted by The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC, SBS, Sky News and the federal and state governments, resulted in no significant fall in power usage.

 Gore Launches Ambitious Advocacy Campaign on Climate

Former vice president Al Gore will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history.

Gore hasn’t this money, what countries are fronting this amount of loot?

Toxic waste in TV transition

Millions of analog TV sets could be discarded before the digital TV transition next year as Americans upgrade to high-definition flat panels. Chances are most of them will end up in ditches in the developing world.

Improving this picture merely requires some CFL’s on top as toxic icing.

As new TVs and other gadgets hit the market, electronic debris has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world. [snip]
“We’re allowing the developing countries to manufacture these products, we get to use them during their least toxic phase, and then we send them back to the developing countries for one of those most toxic phases,” said Sarah Westervelt, of the Seattle-based Basel Action Network.

Why do we have developing countries if not for getting rid of trash? Giving them full employment and materials to build homes should be job one.

Notice any similarities in these state climate websites?

Vermont (Governor’s Commission on Climate Change)
Minnesota (Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group)
Iowa (Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council)
Montana (Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee)
New Mexico (New Mexico Climate Change Action Council and the New Mexico Climate Change Advisory Group)
Florida (Governor’s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change)
Arizona (Arizona Climate Action Initiative)
Arkansas (Governor’s Commission on Global Warming)

All these websites look the same because they’re all hosted by the same organization and on the same computer system , no less. The websites are hosted by an environmental group called Global Environment & Technology Foundation.

Even more surprising is that the underlying content of the sites and the related state policies they report on are all products of a similar, if not related, left wing environmental organization called The Center for Climate Studies. It would seem states have all but discarded any pretense of open-mindedness and now openly collaborate with a radical environmental group. Indeed, the environmental policies (and climate websites) of twenty one states have been created by these organizations. [snip]

One would want this so as to keep the talking point coherent.

What this says to me is that CCS intends to push through a comprehensive environmental policy, first breaking the policy into smaller pieces to avoid public debate (i.e. alarm). In some instances it plans to avoid public debate by implementing its polices through administrative rules and in other cases by intentionally disorganizing the policy objectives so it is not apparent to anyone outside the process. (for more on CCS read here and here).

Evidence of CCSs influence can already be found in policies making their way through Montpelier. For example, one of CCS’s standard policy recommendations is “Smart Growth.” A paragraph containing this title was passed by the house last week which is somewhat surprising considering how the new policy substantially mimics the existing growth regulations set forth in 24 VSA 2791. I can only assume the new language was included in the bill because its part of the standard “package” of policies provided by CCS. [snip]

All this is standard fare with the Progs. Sneak the language into the bill; do not debate that which will cause uproar. Keeping the voters in the dark predicates every move especially when the ensuing law will prove to be inimical.

Even for Vermont, this is rapid

Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to impose a tax on plastic bags.

CHAPTER 234. TAX ON PLASTIC BAGS

§ 9901. IMPOSITION OF TAX ON PLASTIC BAGS

(a) There shall be paid by the purchaser or recipient a tax of $0.17 on each plastic bag purchased or received in a retail transaction in this state or purchased or received for use in this state. This tax shall be collected and administered in the same manner as the sales and use tax under chapter 233 of this title and shall be subject to the collection and administrative provisions of that chapter.

(b) “Plastic bag” in this section shall mean a bag or wrapping provided by a wholesale or retail seller, and which is composed in part or in whole of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, or similar material which will not readily decompose in a sealed landfill.

If these “caring” legislators worried about the waste stream, as they would like you to assume, they would modestly ban the plastic bag. Furthermore, if they wanted to really do something about such plastic glut, they would ban all the plastic sandals, shoes, belts, inorganic clothing, anything that is used by the “planet loving” enviros and animal rightists. These snippets of costume may break or fall into disservice but never decompose. Surely, keeping those items out of the vulnerable landfills would be primacy for these compassionate legislators; add them to the proscribed list.

While this crusade is in full cry, append plastic knives, forks and spoons, plastic coated plates, dry cleaning garment protectors, painter drop cloths, plastic paint roller inserts, shower curtains, sanitary food service gloves to the banned list.

Well, Reps Donovan, Edwards, Miller, Mrowicki, Pearson and Spengler what say thee.
Right, thought so. A more putrid portion of poltroons cannot be found, even in fiction.

This is about more spending, more taxes, to feed the greedy orifice of progressivism. The state is wobbling from revenue regression and a debit of employment. Soon the commercial real estate market will join with the collapsed residential market further corroding the school tax base. Yes, this is coming too. Recessions are like that in all aspects.

After you squander the $0.17/bag anticipated grab, after no one uses the revenue source anymore, how will you fund the programs promised, perhaps a tax on paper bags?

If your scheme has merit and finds endorsement by the multitudes of greenies, propose this method of collection: Send every household an envelope in which they may place the voluntary $0.17/bag tax and let them remit the funds to the state. The popularity of your position should insure generous sums in the state’s coffers. I foresee eager compliance from all the bunny cooching barkheads.

Everything ’splains something

Tests find hazardous levels of mercury in tuna sushi in New York

NEW YORK: Recent laboratory tests performed for The New York Times found so much mercury in tuna sushi that a regular diet of even two or three pieces a week at some restaurants could be a health hazard for the average adult, based on guidelines set out by the Environmental Protection Agency. [snip]

Scientists who performed the analysis for The New York Times said they had been “frankly surprised” at the results and had run the tests several times to be sure there was no mistake in the levels of methylmercury, a form of mercury tied to health problems. [snip]

Studies have found high blood mercury levels among people eating a diet rich in seafood. According to a 2007 survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the average level of mercury in New Yorkers’ blood is three times as high as the national average. [snip]

Methylmercury is formed from inorganic mercury by the action of anaerobic organisms that live in aquatic systems including lakes, rivers, wetlands, sediments, soils and the open ocean.

Here’s an explanation. About 4 to 5 days after the Big Bang, methylmercury went looking for fish. Success in this endeavor occurred as soon as there were fish but well before the Parable of the Loaves and Fishes.
Historians point to this occurrence as the birth of liberalism via the mercury mind melts. Earth Day, sushi houses, latte clubs, fern bars, and aromatherapy followed immediately keeping the methylmercury at requisite concentrations.

Many experts believe the government’s warnings on mercury in seafood do not go far enough. “The current advice from the FDA is insufficient,” said Dr. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health and head of the Department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Southern Denmark. “In order to maintain reasonably low mercury exposure you have to eat fish low in the food chain, the smaller fish, and they are not saying that.”

Naturally, the barking moonbats tossed in their two slugs.

Some environmental groups have already sounded the alarm. Environmental Defense, the advocacy group, says no one should eat bluefin tuna. [snip]

Tens Of Thousands Of Invasive Fish Found In Lake Champlain

Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologists have discovered tens of thousands of dead alewives in Lake Champlain, revealing the scale of the infestation of the nonnative fish.

The fish were found north of the Sandbar to Maquam Shore, in what is called the Inland Sear (sic) section of the lake.

Biologists, who were notified of the fish die-off by anglers, believe it is temperature-related.

Alewives were first found in the lake in 2005.[snip]

Lake trout and salmon that feed on alewives also are prone to a disease called early mortality syndrome.

Loopy Lake Lovers Lament Loss

Squilla Brokenwind, a habitué of the Co-Moon Commune became lachrymose with the alewives passing saying, “I jumped out of my Bierkenstock when I saw those poor fishies. I tried mouth to mouth, but that didn’t work.” Following up she said, “ Usually the Heimlich Maneuver gets results, but in this case, it was just messy.” Brokenwind, a Professor of Haiku at Middlebury College, affirmed it would take weeks of writing to assuage her guilt feelings.

The Middlebury Chapter of “Tools of the Enviromovement” are bicycling to Montpelier to get the alewives added to the endangered species list in Vermont.

Dimmy Parp, “First Pine” of the aforementioned chapter, summed it up sharply with, “They’re chordates too, only a jellyfish could care less.” He added “Eels could care less too” after ruminating about it in Vermont fashion.

Speaker of the Vermont House, Gaye Symington, confirmed the Legislature would drop everything to hold hearings decreeing these fish are important; legislation prohibiting massive die offs would be forthcoming with appropriate funding. Her last salvo of the day carried the message to the Governor, “He better not veto this spending bill!”

With that broadside, the legislature is now in session.

al-Qaeda: America used a bio-weapon.US troops terrorize Iraqis.

Snow falls on Baghdad for first time in memory

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Snow fell on Baghdad on Friday for the first time in memory, and delighted residents declared it an omen of peace.

“It is the first time we’ve seen snow in Baghdad,” said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar. “We’ve seen sleet before, but never snow. I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished,” he said.

“A few minutes ago, I was covered with snowflakes. In my hair, on my shoulders. I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace,” he said.

Traffic policeman Murtadha Fadhil, huddling under a balcony to keep dry, declared the snow “a new sign of the new Iraq.” [snip]

Oh Oh, new lede! You know it is coming

Mass starvation to occur as global cooling commences.

The UN today issued a Kyoto addenda calling for more carbon consumption.
Greens cut down trees to keep warm; Big Oil bankrupt.
Vegans dying by the thousands; Vegetarians cause shortage in meat supply.

A cold spell soon to replace global warming

[snip] Astrophysics knows two solar activity cycles, of 11 and 200 years. Both are caused by changes in the radius and area of the irradiating solar surface. The latest data, obtained by Habibullah Abdusamatov, head of the Pulkovo Observatory space research laboratory, say that Earth has passed the peak of its warmer period, and a fairly cold spell will set in quite soon, by 2012. Real cold will come when solar activity reaches its minimum, by 2041, and will last for 50-60 years or even longer.

This is my point, which environmentalists hotly dispute as they cling to the hothouse theory. As we know, hothouse gases, in particular, nitrogen peroxide, warm up the atmosphere by keeping heat close to the ground. Advanced in the late 19th century by Svante A. Arrhenius, a Swedish physical chemist and Nobel Prize winner, this theory is taken for granted to this day and has not undergone any serious check. [snip]

Let me be one of if not the first to say that Algore will announce his solitary role in planetary salvation by claiming for himself the mantle of Gaia’s eunuch.

If “Allie Boy”, the Bozone King, had not recognized the immediacy of the peril, the UN and the Legion of Barking Moonbats would have no reason to exist.

Gorbot will tell the globe, “I SAVED THE PLANET.”

Redeem your carbon credits for a chance to bask in my glow.

Think not?

The Boston Globe endorsement of Barack Obama isn’t surprising. However, if you’re a person who believes in electing a president with experience and accomplishments, the Globe endorsement is embarrassingly light in those respects.

As a public service, I’ve provided a moonbat to English translation for our readers:

America needs a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has this understanding at his core.

He’ll suck up to the UN.

Many have remarked on Obama’s extraordinary biography: that he is the biracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18

He’s an affirmative action hire.

that he was raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia

Oh, the many splendors of diversity!

the gritty and often thankless work of community organizing in Chicago

He was a moonbat without a job.

Similarly, his exposure to foreign lands as a child and his own complex racial identity have made him at ease with diversity - of point of view as well as race or religion.

I’ve been to Canada. Apparently, that would qualify me to be Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

He speaks with clarity and directness, and he is also a listener, a lost art in our politics.

Instead of waterboarding the terrorists, he’ll “listen” to them.

“I don’t oppose all wars,” he said in the fall of 2002. “I’m opposed to rash wars.”

Not exactly a deep thinker that Barack fellow.

His support for merit pay for teachers, or a cap on carbon emissions, suggests a healthy independence from the established order.

And since teacher pay is a local issue, he’d never get to implement it anyway. But thanks for the independence, Barack.

Obama’s critics, and even many who want to support him, worry about his relative lack of experience.

If you think the presidency is a good place for on the job training, then Barack’s your man. If putting a wholly unqualified moonbat in the White House scares you, then he’s not.

On the subject of Europe, for laughs, click on the COLORED  boxes/categories in the links,  and read the socialist mission statements.

This one is good: