Obama: Tax scare wrong; Climate scare OK

Speaking about taxes today, President Obama said,

“For too long, we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams. That has to change.’’ [Emphasis added]

But speaking about American use of oil two months ago, President Obama said,

America’s dependence on oil is one of the most serious threats that our nation has faced. It bankrolls dictators, pays for nuclear proliferation and funds both sides of our struggle against terrorism. It puts the American people at the mercy of shifting gas prices, stifles innovation, and sets back our ability to compete.

These urgent dangers to our national and economic security are compounded by the long-term threat of climate change, which, if left unchecked, could result in violent conflict, terrible storms, shrinking coastlines, and irreversible catastrophe.

So why is scaring people about taxes not OK, but scaring them about global warming is perfectly fine with President Obama? Is there any hypocrisy here? Actually, no.

President Obama’s plans for ever-expanding government control of our lives depends on a higher taxes and public fears of catastrophic manmade climate change.

Russian green: Environment ‘must be politicized’

The Wall Street Journal reported today that,

A prominent Russian environmental regulator known for his fierce campaign against Royal Dutch Shell PLC resigned to lead a political opposition movement, complaining that his bosses had lost their appetite for his high-profile attacks on environmental violators.

Oleg Mitvol, who was appointed deputy director of Russia’s Environmental Protection Agency by the government in 2004, said he was resigning to lead a new “green” movement that would challenge Kremlin candidates in local elections. He said he could focus on the same issues just as well from outside government, harnessing public concern about environmental issues.

“The ecological sphere must be politicized,” Mr. Mitvol said. His new movement, Green Alternative, plans to field at least 100 candidates in municipal elections in October, he said. One Green Alternative candidate has already won the job of mayor of a town outside Moscow after thrashing the ruling United Russia party last month.

I guess there’s no red-green deficiency in Russia.

Entomologist: ‘War’ on bedbugs needed

About the recent surge in bedbug infestation, Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank writes today that:

University of Kentucky entomologist Mike Potter called the bedbug nothing less than “the most difficult, challenging pest problem of our generation.” Tossing out phrases such as “doomsday scenario” and “perfect storm,” he ventured: “In my opinion, we are not going to get out of this thing” — the bedbug thing — until we “allow the pest-control industry to go to war.” …

Bedbugs had been all but eradicated decades ago, panelist Potter explained, but thanks to increased travel, pesticide bans and resistance, we’ve “let bedbugs get back in the game”…

Potter, who boasted that he’s spent “the last three years of my life digging deep into the history of bedbug management,” offered a challenge: “I’d like to take anybody who thinks bedbugs is not a big deal, and we’ll sprinkle a few in their house and see what they think.”

But will the greens permit the pest control industry to “go to war” against the bedbug?

Newsmax: Obama to cause ‘energy chaos’

Newsmax.com reports,

Fox News commentator Steve Milloy, founder of the junkscience.com Web site, tells Newsmax that the U.S. is at “the point of no return” as the Obama administration is set to implement environmental policies that will lead to “energy chaos” in this country.

Click here to read the entire Newsmax interview with Green Hell author Steve Milloy.

Bedbugs are back — greens to blame

Bedbugs are back — thanks to anti-pesticide green policies.

The Associated Press reported today that,

Faced with rising numbers of complaints to city information lines and increasingly frustrated landlords, hotel chains and housing authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency hosted its first-ever bedbug summit Tuesday.

And why is this happening?

One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bedbug numbers. The appleseed-sized critters have also developed a resistance to some of the chemicals on the market.

The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years — such as DDT — off of shelves.

What solutions are being considered?

Because the registration of new pesticides takes so long, one thing the EPA could do is to approve some pesticides for emergency use, Miller said.

The pesticide management industry will be pushing for federal funding for research into alternative solutions, such as heating, freezing or steaming the bugs out of bedrooms.

“We need to have better tools,” said Greg Baumann, a senior scientist at the National Pest Management Association. “We need EPA to consider all the options for us.”

Waxman climate bill: A ‘de facto’ coal ban

The Washington, DC consulting firm Clear View Energy Partners says the recently introdcued Waxman-Markey climate bill is a “de facto ban” on new coal-fired power plants, according to a report in today’s Carbon Control News.

Waxman-Markey would impose “a major barrier on the construction of new facilities without carbon capture and storage facilities,” CVEP told CCN.

Click here for more info on carbon capture and storage.

Click here for the Waxman-Markey bill.

Insurers: Econoboxes deadly

From today’s New York Times article, “Study Says Small-Car Buyers Sacrifice Safety for Economy“:

Consumers who buy minicars to economize on fuel are making a big tradeoff when it comes to safety in collisions, according to an insurance group that slammed three minimodels into midsize ones in tests…

… The [Insurance Institute for Highway Safety] concludes that while driving smaller and lighter cars saves fuel, “downsizing and down-weighting is also associated with an increase in deaths on the highway,” said Adrian Lund, the institute’s president.

“It’s a big effect — it’s not small,” he said in a telephone interview.

Click here for the IIHS report.

No stop signs. No speed limits. Econoboxes will put you on the highway to green hell.

C-SPAN: Forget Obama; It’s time for Green Hell!

C-SPAN broke away from covering President Obama today to cover Steve Milloy’s presentation of his new book Green Hell at the Heritage Foundation.

Watch for the polar bear activist that tried to disrupt the Q&A portion of Milloy’s talk.

Click here for C-SPAN’s breakaway from Obama and the entire video of Milloy’s presentation.

Milloy presents Green Hell in DC event today!

Steve Milloy will present his new book Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Control Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them at the Heritage Foundation’s Lehrman Auditorium (214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC. 20002) at 12:00pm April 13, 2009.

Click here for the detailed announcement.

Bamboo-zled: The veneer of a ‘green’ laptop

This ABC News video, “Combatting ‘Vampire Energy’” spotlights the alleged eco-friendliness of Asus’ new laptops made with bamboo. While soaking in the the video’s empty-headedness is worth the 5 minute-watch, the relevant portion begins at 3:55 — just in case you’ve already reached the saturation point on green vacuity and want to fast forward to the laptop part.

About the laptops, ABC’s Andrea Smith reports:

… What’s great about it is that it’s not plastic, so that, No. 1, it looks really cool. You’ll look like you’re totally eco-friendly and very chic… The No. 2 thing is that when you’re done with this and you need to recycle it, there is no plastic here to clog the landfill… It’s bamboo and it’s a self-regenerating plant and there’s lots of it.

So let’s consider the Asus bamboo laptop, Ms. Smith’s report, and, importantly, reality:

  • There is still plenty of plastic used in the laptop. Only the case is bamboo. And what about the bamboo’s shiny urethane finish?  Despite the name, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have generally been viewed by the greens as  environmentally-incorrect.
  • Bamboo doesn’t recycle so much as it decomposes — giving off greenhouse gases. The plastic in laptops can be and is often recycled for other uses. The plastic is actually a better “carbon sink” than the bamboo.
  • Recycling doesn’t matter anyway — almost all laptops are thrown in the trash. Fortunately, there is no shortage of landfill space. In fact, the U.S. has more landfill capacity than ever before.
  • Most bamboo comes from Vietnam and China. Not only are greenhouse gases emitted while farming bamboo, but transporting the bamboo or bamboo finished products to the U.S. involves even more greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The Asus bamboo laptop costs $732.81 more than the comparable Asus plastic laptop on Amazon.com.
  • Bamboo is not necessarily eco-friendly. Growing bamboo on a mass-scale requires lots of water, energy and fertilizer inputs. Without fertilizer, continual harvesting of bamboo will deplete the soil in a short-time.

The bottom line on Asus bamboo laptop?

You may look cool, chic and eco-friendly, as ABC’s Andrea Smith says, but the reality is you’re being fooled and ripped-off, while doing nothing for the environment.

Presidential pizza order: Extra carbon footprint

The Sun (UK) reported to day that,

BARACK Obama liked a restaurant’s pizzas so much he has flown the chef 850 miles to make some at the White House.

Assuming the chef took a commercial flight, the air travel from the air travel alone produced 645 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions!

To underscore Obama’s do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do ethic, let’s recall his famous avowal from the 2008 campaign:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

Don’t forget how our Hypocrite-in-Chief  kept the Oval Office warm enough in the winter to grow orchids.

Obama steers carmakers down wrong road

The Washington Post reported today that,

President Obama yesterday announced plans to buy 17,600 American-made, fuel-efficient cars and hybrids for the government fleet, the White House’s latest gambit to steer aid to the nation’s beleaguered automakers.

A few thoughts:

  • In 2007, U.S. car makers sold more than 16 million cars.
  • In 2009, cars sales are project to be less than 9 million.
  • Obama’s purchase of 17,600 cars is obviously a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of sales increase that is needed.
  • Cars sales will pick up when the economy recovers, provided that carmakers are making cars that Americans want and that are profitable — that is, SUVs and light trucks.
  • But Obama wants the Big Three to make and sell econoboxes that Americans don’t want.
  • Not only are econoboxes small, dangerous and incapable of pulling/carrying large loads/groups of people, Obama plans to tax drivers by the mile they drive — thereby erasing any economic benefit from fuel efficiency.

Bottom line: Obama’s plan is a stick in the eyes of carmakers, workers or consumers.