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Are automobiles a major cause of global warming?
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Preventing climate change is good for business, GM declares (Detroit Free Press)
"The declaration, now endorsed by 40 companies, was launched in Washington last month with the aim of capitalising on public concern about climate change after Hurricane Sandy and Obama's re-election in the hope of pushing a climate law through Congress.
More than half of Americans now blame climate change for the extreme weather of recent years, acccording to a study released on Wednesday by the Yale Project on Climate Change."
General Motors urges Obama and Congress to unite on climate change (guardian.co.uk)
Not many years ago the consensus of the World's leading scientists was CO2 was causing GLOBAL WARMING. We are still increasing CO2 and getting cooler in the process. So they change their tune from GW to CC. hmmmm sounds like a scam to me. I can see big companies putting in solar arrays to save on electricity and possibly fossil fuel. I cannot see stealing money from the tax payers to do it. If it is sound business as GM is saying it should pay for itself. More corporate welfare in the making. And they have figured out how to get the lefties to support it.
Also had two turkeys in the front yard yesterday - guess the weird weather flushed them out of the woods.
Everyone has pollen complaints this year (south of us that is); sounds like the pollen counts are going to double by 2040 the way the warming is going.
Russian climate scientist are saying 200-250 years of mini ice age. That will kill off a lot more people than any GW would.
Yes, but you are forgetting that the ice age will be called climate change...which is, of course, caused by GW. It is a new variation on the old scam, heads I win, tails you lose.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
For the first time since written weather history began in Arkansas (1819), snow has fallen in the month of May. This snow has set records for the latest snowfall and latest measurable snowfall in the state.
The previous latest snowfall ever recorded was on April 30, 1903 at Harrison, Gravette and Fayetteville. This was not measurable.
http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/regional_news/article_826c709e- -b48c-11e2-8626-0019bb2963f4.html
The other odd pattern is the lack of tornadoes. If I was in woo-pig-sooie country, I'd rather have the snow than the tornadoes, but I guess that's supposed to change in a week or so.
Most Americans Blame Global Warming for Extreme Weather (accuweather.com)
That means more than 50% are not fooled by the BS pushed by A Gore and his cult like followers. Carl Sagan was also a nut job with a few more degrees than Al Gore. What is scary is when they start believing the crap they are saying. If the Earth is 4+ billion years old our few thousand years will be a very tiny blip. Not worth the pain the governments are putting on the people, especially the poor that cannot afford to keep their homes warm in the longer colder winters we are experiencing.
"Almost" 50% is a surprising to me number as it is. To listen to the so-called main stream media, you'd think no one believes that people are changing the climate.
"That's right; essentially, if every fourth time someone craved, say, beef, chicken or cow milk they instead opted for a veggie burger, a bean burrito or water, we have a chance to halt the emergency," he added.
Doesn't this nut job know we are using all our farm land to produce Ethanol? Another idea from the Kooks on the Left.
For loony lefty syndicated columnist David Sirota, it's all just another day at the office. Sirota made national news for his bizarre and bigoted hope that the Boston bomber would turn out to be "a white American."
http://cnsnews.com/blog/dan-gainor/lefty-sirota-we-are-incinerating-planetbecaus- e-too-many-us-eat-cheeseburgers
There is probably 10% of the population that is making money off the GW scam in some way, and another 10% who are just nut cases who will fall for anything. This 20% are so vocal and get so much media attention that it just seems like 50%.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Fourteen years later, he made an estimated $100 million in a single month.
His work and writing on global warming have earned him a share of a Nobel Prize as well as a South Park cartoon parody in which he tries to scare school kids to his beliefs with a fictitious global-warming surrogate monster known as ManBearPig.
Whatever you think of Gore, one thing is indisputable: leveraging his aura as a technology seer and his political and climate work connections, Gore has remade himself into a wealthy businessman, amassing a fortune that may exceed $200 million.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-06/gore-is-romney-rich-with-200-million-af- ter-bush-defeat.html
Not sure what your point is though - Al Gore Sr. had plenty of money back in the day (that would be my day, when he was my senator during my Chattanooga years). You'd rather he sit back and spend the old man's money?
I like policy wonks like Al. More entertaining than most of the droning. About the only pol who can wonk with him is Newt or maybe Hillary. Be a hoot to have dinner with Gore and Gingrich. Just don't bring up the subject of wives. :shades:
Kind of surprised that your link didn't mention Al's connection with the greening of Walmart; he was a big influence on their operations. Of course most people don't think of Wally World as being all that green but lots of green stuff boils down to saving money.
This also shows how US regulations are a waste of time, given the impact of China and India.
More here.
Warren Buffett is fighting a bunch of ranchers over using his railroad's eminent domain power to get his coal to the west coast so it can be shipped somewhere, since we don't need it in the US.
Should be good, I made a killing on HHO gizmo and the Tornado. :shades:
"If the trap even comes close to meeting his futuristic vision, its impact could be breathtaking: It could reorder the world’s energy landscape, end the global economic drag of soaring energy costs, and eventually curb greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for climate change.
That all might sound rather rosy, since the previously undisclosed invention has yet to be constructed and fully tested."
(emphasis added... )
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I would hope not. Any quack that claims solar will satisfy 92% of the energy needs is smoking some real strong stuff. Even 50% would be a stretch with the sun shining less than that across the globe year round.
“This is a fundamental scientific and environmental discovery,” Ace said. “This invention can meet about 92 percent of the world’s energy needs.”
This guy is looking for a big fat tax payer funded payday. Our cost for solar is double what it costs in Germany now. No one in the USA even has a solar PV greenhouse available like they have in the UK.
A few air pollutants, called criteria air pollutants, are common throughout the United States. These pollutants can injure health; harm the environment and cause property damage. The current criteria pollutants are:
Carbon Monoxide – an odorless, colorless gas and is formed when the carbon in fuels does not completely burn. Vehicle exhaust contributes roughly 60 percent of all carbon monoxide emissions nationwide, and up to 95 percent in cities. Other sources include fuel combustion in industrial processes and natural sources such as wildfires.
Lead
Nitrogen Dioxide
Sulfur Dioxide
Ozone.
It is said that more than 60 percent of U.S. transportation emissions come from cars and light trucks.
Share by country
US share by source:
So if US transportation is 28% of total US GHG, and US is 19% of global GHG, then US transportation is about 5% of total global GHG.
Or did you really mean that, despite your dire statements?
You are listening to people with a vested interest in pushing the GW scam. IPCC says 15% is from all transportation. Ask 50 scientists and get 50 different sets of answers. If you don't want to add to the GHG and CO2 ride a bike and don't eat any gaseous foods.
Under California law, residential customers pay higher prices for additional electricity – through a system of "tiers" – as they use more. In 2001, after the energy crisis, the Legislature capped rates for the lowest two tiers and for low-income customers who receive special discounts under the California Alternate Rates for Energy program, or CARE. Subsequently, increased costs for utility services were borne entirely by upper-tier users. That dynamic drove PG&E's top-tier price to an astounding 50 cents in early 2010.
Senate Bill 695, enacted in October 2009, gave some relief by allowing rates in the lowest two tiers to increase gradually. PG&E managed to bring its top rate down to 34 cents today – which is still double the average cost of service, and much higher than utilities outside the state are authorized to charge.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/22/5208338/californias-electric-rate-system.html
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/05/15/electricity-rate-shock-more-likely-than-bl- ackouts-this-summer/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
Like the IRS, the EPA plays favorites
Meanwhile, Germany targets climate change skeptics:
German Ministry Of Environment Identifies, Targets American And German Enemy Skeptics In 123-Page Pamphlet
ClaireS, Host
Automotive News & Views | Coupes & Convertibles
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It helps to have your cronies in the IRS, DOJ and EPA to block the opposition.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Along with kids living in their mom's basements, armed with predigested spam to drop into online communities via one of his latest ventures.
ClaireS, Host
Automotive News & Views | Coupes & Convertibles
MODERATOR
Need help getting around? claires@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Tell everyone about your buying experience: Write a Dealer Review
updated 5/18/2013 7:47:09 PM ET
232 days - it took over 30 years for Anchorage to set a new record for the longest snow season on record.
The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning - breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982.
Other parts of the city had much higher amounts of snow, however official measurements must be consistent and observed at the Sand Lake forecast office. The recent snowfall also broke the daily record for liquid precipitation, lowest maximum temperature for May 17, and a host of other records.
Another anecdote. Our friends are holed up in Northern MN waiting for the ice to go out on their lake, so they can get to the campground and cabins. Generally they are open for tourist by this time. The lake is still frozen over. He is 75 and said this is his last year leaving CA for the Summer. Too stressful.
Climate slowdown means extreme rates of warming 'not as likely'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22567023
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/1975-tornado-outbreaks-blamed-on-g- lobal-cooling/
But the debate is over? I think I might agree with that. The debate is over, and the warmists have lost !
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Fallout From Failure of Battery Swap Plan (NY Times)
All these EV, Solar, Wind, CC deals seem like flim flam operations with the biggest perpetrator being Al Gore and his GW scam. The tax payers, early adopters and consumers are the big losers. George Hull said it best, There's a sucker is born every Minute".
It is not the things you know or don't know that get you in trouble. It is the things you think you know, but don't.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
I did also. Knowing what a stickler our hosts are for facts, I googled it before making a fool of myself. So we both learned something. Too bad some people cling to beliefs even when the facts say otherwise. Like the myth of global warming. Just got an email from our friends up on the lake in Canada. They would love to have some of that GW Al Gore won't shut up about.
He has grown heirloom tomatoes up there for a long time. This is the second year they are just not getting warm enough.
Were you aware of the fact that you waste one week per year sitting in traffic?
This “smart” traffic light could cut commutes by 60 percent
http://www.ecnmag.com/articles/2012/11/%E2%80%9Csmart%E2%80%9D-traffic-light-cou- ld-cut-commutes-60-percent
Roundabouts are great unless you have to buy the ROW and there's a gas station on two corners and a McDonalds and a Walgreen's on the other two.
Removing stop signs in neighborhoods would be relatively cheap and would save a lot of gas however.
The body shops would love that.
just like it's tough convincing anyone to wait for a seven or ten year (or longer) payback to go solar on their roof.
That to me is not the issue. It is getting a warranty settled on defective PV cells when the company has gone bankrupt. The failure rate in the EU is around 34%. Not a good prospect. And maybe much of the reason so many are going bankrupt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/business/energy-environment/solar-powers-dark-- side.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
The "green" problem with traffic engineering is that one of those smart lights likely costs $100,000 to buy and install.
I would be surprised if they are less than half a million per intersection. They have installed 4 intersections that were 4-way stops in our little town. Not sure there is any advantage to having lights vs stop signs.
I'll give them credit that some intersections finally have a blinking yellow left (but it comes on at random times, and requires tremendous signage thanks to the dumbed down driver standards), and some sequenced lights have a weekend setting - but not all, and not uniformly used.
So much fuel has to be wasted due to bad traffic controls.
Regarding stop signs, you find a lot less of them in other first world areas, but also more attentive drivers.