Great! Recession helps UK meet Kyoto limits

The ongoing global recession has reduced UK productivity so much that the nation’s CO2 emissions are below the levels set by the Kyoto Protocol, reports the Guardian.

But don’t expect the greens top be happy about it. Sandbag’s Bryony Worthington told The Guardian that,

“With too many rights to pollute in circulation, the [Kyoto emissions trading scheme] is in danger of being rendered irrelevant. At a time when other countries are looking to set up their own trading schemes and the world is set to debate a global deal on how to tackle climate change, [this] flagship policy urgently needs rescuing – starting with much tougher caps.”

So a recession isn’t good enough for the greens. We need a depression.

New study: Carbon capture doubles electric bills

A new study from Harvard University estimates that capturing carbon dioxide from power plants will double the cost of electricity.

This price tag does not include the cost of transporting and storing the carbon underground, which Michael Economides of the University of Houston estimates will cost additional trillions of dollars.

That’s a lot of money to spend to accomplish nothing of value.

Ready for a Green TEA Party?

You’re invited…

What: The first Green TEA Party
Where: Lafayette Park, Washington, DC (across the street from the White House)
When: September 26, 2009, 1-5pm

Click here for more info… more details to follow!

Show up and help tell President Obama that we’re not going to take the green ROD (regression, oppression and depression) lying down.

Hybrid irony: More accident-, ticket-prone

From CarConnection.com, the unintended consequences of hybrids:

  • Toyota Prius drivers get 50% more traffic violations than the average driver.
  • Collision costs with hybrids are about 17% higher than average.
  • For 2006 hybrid models, insurer costs were 75% higher than average.

The apparent explanation lies in the fact that hybrid owners drive about 25% more than non-hybrid owners — you know, using up all the pre-paid gasoline built into the higher sticker price of hybrids.

… and that’s “the lo-down on hybrid cars,” as Traffic might have sung.

Smart Democrat of the day: Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer

Listen to Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) shock Bill Maher with the news that he doesn’t support cap-and-trade.

Enviros sap military: Mission = green?

Move over national defense, being green is now part of the U.S. military’s mission.

Tad Davis, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for environment, safety amd occupational health told ClimateWire that,

“What we can’t allow us to become is a bunch of well-meaning, well-intended, well-educated environmental folks sitting around the fireplace singing ‘Kumbaya,'” he said. “If we are really going to be successful, it has to be embedded in our mission.”

But according to ClimateWire,

… many officers will want solid proof that “greener” fuels and equipment are reliable and perform just as well. Glenn Schmitt, environmental director at a Navy fleet fuel depot on Puget Sound, got a waiver to go back to jet fuel when he realized that biodiesel was clogging his engine filters, for example…

You can almost hear the battlefield conversation:

Tank commander: Put this thing in gear and let’s get out of here!

Tank driver: I can’t sir. It’s stuck in carbon neutral!

Shouldn’t the military just focus on its core mission — which is already difficult enough — without worrying about solving imaginary problems that have costly and performance hampering solutions?

Besides, Al Gore doesn’t worry about his carbon footprint, so why should Sgt. Fury?

C'mon men. Charge... but no footprints!
C'mon men. Charge... but no footprints!

Enviros sap military: Mission = green?

Move over national defense, being green is now part of the U.S. military’s mission.

Tad Davis, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for environment, safety amd occupational health told ClimateWire that,

“What we can’t allow us to become is a bunch of well-meaning, well-intended, well-educated environmental folks sitting around the fireplace singing ‘Kumbaya,'” he said. “If we are really going to be successful, it has to be embedded in our mission.”

But according to ClimateWire,

… many officers will want solid proof that “greener” fuels and equipment are reliable and perform just as well. Glenn Schmitt, environmental director at a Navy fleet fuel depot on Puget Sound, got a waiver to go back to jet fuel when he realized that biodiesel was clogging his engine filters, for example…

You can almost hear the battlefield conversation:

Tank commander: Put this thing in gear and let’s get out of here!

Tank driver: I can’t sir. It’s stuck in carbon neutral!

Shouldn’t the military just focus on its core mission — which is already difficult enough — without worrying about solving imaginary problems that have costly and performance hampering solutions?

Besides, Al Gore doesn’t worry about his carbon footprint, so why should Sgt. Fury?

C'mon men. Charge... but no footprints!
C'mon men. Charge... but no footprints!

John Kerry: Darfur caused by CO2

At a Council of Foreign Relations meeting last month, Sen. John Kerry (D-Teresa’s skirt) said, according to ClimateWire:

“Almost indescribable, catastrophic things can happen” should concentrations of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere exceed the “tipping point” of 450 parts per million, Kerry said at the meeting. “The crisis in Darfur, Sudan, is but one example of how climate change can contribute to a more dangerous world.“

Also according to the report,

Kerry noted that so-called “environmentally displaced persons” may soon outnumber war refugees but added that the United States faces other climate-related security risks beyond refugee crises.

Earth to Sen. Kerry: Drought is a weather event, not climate change. The Darfur crisis involves civil war not carbon dioxide.

BTW, let’s not forget that Sen. Kerry previously said that the Waxman-Markey bill won’t work.

John Kerry: Darfur caused by CO2

At a Council of Foreign Relations meeting last month, Sen. John Kerry (D-Teresa’s skirt) said, according to ClimateWire:

“Almost indescribable, catastrophic things can happen” should concentrations of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere exceed the “tipping point” of 450 parts per million, Kerry said at the meeting. “The crisis in Darfur, Sudan, is but one example of how climate change can contribute to a more dangerous world.“

Also according to the report,

Kerry noted that so-called “environmentally displaced persons” may soon outnumber war refugees but added that the United States faces other climate-related security risks beyond refugee crises.

Earth to Sen. Kerry: Drought is a weather event, not climate change. The Darfur crisis involves civil war not carbon dioxide.

BTW, let’s not forget that Sen. Kerry previously said that the Waxman-Markey bill won’t work.

Four governors (1 Republican) to testify for raising taxes on families

The following governors and mayors will testify tomorrow before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in favor of the Waxman-Markey bill:

  • Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Col)
  • Gov. Chris Gregoire (D-Wash)
  • Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
  • Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  • Mayor Robert Kiss, Progressive, Burlington, VT
  • Mayor William Euille, Democrat, Alexandria, VA
  • Mayor Douglas Palmer, Democrat, Trenton, NJ

Waxman-Markey represents an unearned multi-trillion dollar transfer of wealth from consumers and taxpayers to special interests including Al Gore and Goldman Sachs.

If you live in one of these states or cities, let these officials know that you don’t want to be taxed so that Al Gore and Goldman Sachs can laugh all the way to the bank with their ill-gotten profits.

Four governors (1 Republican) to testify for raising taxes on families

The following governors and mayors will testify tomorrow before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in favor of the Waxman-Markey bill:

  • Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Col)
  • Gov. Chris Gregoire (D-Wash)
  • Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
  • Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  • Mayor Robert Kiss, Progressive, Burlington, VT
  • Mayor William Euille, Democrat, Alexandria, VA
  • Mayor Douglas Palmer, Democrat, Trenton, NJ

Waxman-Markey represents an unearned multi-trillion dollar transfer of wealth from consumers and taxpayers to special interests including Al Gore and Goldman Sachs.

If you live in one of these states or cities, let these officials know that you don’t want to be taxed so that Al Gore and Goldman Sachs can laugh all the way to the bank with their ill-gotten profits.

Manufacturers go Judas: 1.5% of allowances is the new ’30 pieces of silver’

American manufacturers are ready to sell America down the river if they can get an extra 1.5 percent of the CO2 emission allowances allocated in the Waxman-Markey bill.

In a July 15 letter, the American Materials Manufacturing Alliance (comprised of the Aluminum Association, American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute) asked Sen.  Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) to increase the free allowances allocated to energy-intensive manufacturers from 13.5% to 15% percent — a modification “valued at billions of dollars over the life of the program.”

Beyond the “30 pieces of silver” nature of the manufacturers’ request, granting it would mean that some other special interests would have to lose 1.5% of free allowances — so look for an intensified struggle among  the rent-seeking thieves for the free taxpayer money that free allowances represent. Over the life of Waxman-Markey, Congress would issue $9 trillion worth of allowances.

Here are the Judases that are willing to betray America to the Marxist-Socialists for an extra 1.5% of Waxman-Markey’s free allowances:

Steel's Tom Gibson
Steel's Tom Gibson
Aluminum's Steve Larkin
Aluminum's Steve Larkin
AFPA's Donna Harman
AFPA's Donna Harman
Chemical's Cal Dooley
Cal Dooley: Willing to screw America for Waxman-markey lite