The Environment

[Giant Communist Robot]

I emptied some more aerosol cans outside this morning.

[dai bread]

Is that why I'm still waiting for a frost this winter?

[Giant Communist Robot]

I think there may be a few holes in this global cooling idea.

[Giant Communist Robot]

The difficulty here is facts can be used to substantiate any opinion. We need more facts.

[Haggis@wk]

CLIMATE CONFERENCE FACES BRUSH WITH REALITY:

“In case you missed it – and judging by the complete lack of coverage on the cable news networks you may very well have – there was yet another climate conference held this week in Bonn, Germany. But rather than the usual singing in the round of Bob Dylan tunes and boisterous plans to alter the world, there was a decidedly depressed tone to the discussions. It’s not that they’ve suddenly begun to question their previously held beliefs concerning anthropogenic global warming, (AGW) but rather a grim realization that most of the nations involved are a bit too busy making sure their economies don’t collapse to dump a significant portion of their GDP into carbon emission control. . . . The other problem causing the talks to essentially fall apart until their next meeting in December was the lack of buy-in by both China and some developing countries. Even if China participates, they are insisting on a ‘trust me’ approach where no outside verification of compliance would be allowed.”

Yeah, that’ll work.

[Haggis@wk]

Seas Aren't Rising? Let's Pretend They Are.

When global warmists say the seas are rising, they may just be making it up, as FoxNews.com reports:

The University of Colorado's Sea Level Research Group decided in May to add 0.3 millimeters--or about the thickness of a fingernail--every year to its actual measurements of sea levels, sparking criticism from experts who called it an attempt to exaggerate the effects of global warming.

"Gatekeepers of our sea level data are manufacturing a fictitious sea level rise that is not occurring," said James M. Taylor, a lawyer who focuses on environmental issues for the Heartland Institute.

Steve Nerem, the director of the widely relied-upon research center, told FoxNews.com that his group added the 0.3 millimeters per year to the actual sea level measurements because land masses, still rebounding from the ice age, are rising and increasing the amount of water that oceans can hold.

"We have to account for the fact that the ocean basins are actually getting slightly bigger . . . water volume is expanding," he said, a phenomenon they call glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA).

These guys are trying to alarm us by positing sea-level rises that aren't actually happening. Don't they realize that just makes it harder to take seriously any other alarms they sound? Not that I do any more but still……

[Giant Communist Robot]

My suspicion is any reasonable margin of error makes the arguments pretty much baseless. For now.

[Haggis@wk]

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years.
With a brief interruption, courtesy of DDT.

Rachel Carson is the biggest mass murderer since Genghis Khan

[Haggis@wk]

SICKLY BLUE LIGHT

And now we have the light-bulb ban—the odd consequence of our current public religion, our present national ethics. For all this really is nanny-speak: the taking of the moral judgments that religious fervor has spewed into public life and the forming of them into platitudes. More than that, it’s nanny-speak made the law of the land, truisms with the force of congressional enactment. There’s an atheist group called the Abimelech Society whose members pride themselves on their supposedly daring feats of removing Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms and destroying them. The daring is not readily apparent; the day is long past when public outrage over anti-Christian atheism posed much threat. But think of it as a metaphor: Perhaps the time is coming, after our current environmental revival has ebbed, when would-be bravos will sneak compact fluorescent bulbs from hotel rooms—and replace them with clandestine incandescents.

Plus this:

“The psychological cost of these bulbs has not yet been calculated. Perhaps it never will be, but here’s one guess at a measure: The Department of Energy reports that from 2007 to 2008 the sale of CFLs in the United States dropped, despite the fact that CFLs were widely available, routinely advertised as superior, and large consumers like factories and municipalities had the looming enforcement of the energy bill to spur them to switch. It’s not that, as a nation, we didn’t try compact fluorescent bulbs. We did try them, and we found them wanting.”

That’s been my experience.

[Shapley]

That’s been my experience.

Mine, too.

[dai bread]

As I said before, you guys need more volts in your juice. My CFLs work fine. As I've also said before, you're welcome to pay me a visit, then I can show you.

[Haggis@wk]

As I said before, you guys need more volts in your juice. My CFLs work fine. As I've also said before, you're welcome to pay me a visit, then I can show you.

What do you know? By the time sunlight gets bent down to your part of the world any light would be welcome!!

[Giant Communist Robot]

Without some kind of coupon, an equivalent 60 watt CFL sells for six dollars at the local hardware story. I checked the City Mill adds online before writing that. I don't see that they really last any longer than incandescent bulbs. I hate the lag from "switch on" to "light". It's true we are using less electricity. What about the environment, though? CFL's contain mercury and we have no way to dispose of them without creating a hazard. Once in a while the electric company will allow you to drop them off, maybe once or twice a year. People don't want to spend 40 minutes driving just to get rid of a burned out bulb. I'm sure almost all go in the trash and from there into a landfill.

[dai bread]

I have had CFLs that had a delay between switch-on and light, but I got rid of them fairly smartly, and never mind the cost. My present ones just turn on like incandescents, and they're cheaper than the ones with a delay were.

BTW, I can only assume rain is belting down in Texas. It's a clear day here, with brilliant sunlight, so I guess Texas is getting our rain in exchange.

[Haggis@wk]

BTW, I can only assume rain is belting down in Texas. It's a clear day here, with brilliant sunlight, so I guess Texas is getting our rain in exchange.

God, I wish!!!!


I’m just quitting

My name’s Ronnie Bryant, and I’m a mine operator…. I’ve been issued a [state] permit in the recent past for [waste water] discharge, and after standing in this room today listening to the comments being made by the people…. [pause] Nearly every day without fail — I have a different perspective — men stream to these [mining] operations looking for work in Walker County. They can’t pay their mortgage. They can’t pay their car note. They can’t feed their families. They don’t have health insurance. And as I stand here today, I just … you know … what’s the use? I got a permit to open up an underground coal mine that would employ probably 125 people. They’d be paid wages from $50,000 to $150,000 a year. We would consume probably $50 million to $60 million in consumables a year, putting more men to work. And my only idea today is to go home. What’s the use? I don’t know. I mean, I see these guys — I see them with tears in their eyes — looking for work. And if there’s so much opposition to these guys making a living, I feel like there’s no need in me putting out the effort to provide work for them. So as I stood against the wall here today, basically what I’ve decided is not to open the mine. I’m just quitting. Thank you.

Jamie’s probably pleased.

[jamiebk]

I am usually in favor of responsible use of our resources

[Haggis@wk]

I am usually in favor of responsible use of our resources

f they keep keep the oil out of the water they shoudl be fired.

didn't mean to put words in your mouth!!!

[jamiebk]

I am usually in favor of responsible use of our resources

f they keep keep the oil out of the water they shoudl be fired.

didn't mean to put words in your mouth!!!

I believe that I said R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-L-E use. The lack of concern for safety and acceptable drilling protocol on that platform was deplorable.

[Haggis@wk]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal agency that focuses on the condition of the oceans and atmosphere, said a severe solar storm could cause global disruptions in GPS systems, power grids, satellite communications, and airline communications.

[Haggis@wk]

MSNBC turns for hurricane preparedness tips to … Ray Nagin

Yes, this actually happened. And yes, someone has already remixed the clip to add the infamous footage of dozens of New Orleans school buses left inexplicably idle when Katrina hit. Pro tip on preparing for hellstorms: Don’t forget to evacuate people who might die.