Friday, January 31, 2014

Sun falling asleep, ice age dream to come true


A new ice age could be on its way to Europe and some other parts of the Earth following an alarming fall occurred in the performance power of the Sun, scientists have warned.

While the number of gas explosions on the Sun's surface should be at the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity, but the recent research has indicated an unexpected drop off, researchers say.

The occurred phenomenon has not been observed during recent 30 years and there are fears the temperatures could drop so low leading to a mini ice age.

READ MORE:  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/01/20/346654/new-mini-ice-age-may-hit-earth/

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Fracking Protesters Arrested for Gluing Themselves to the Wrong Petrol Pumps

On Monday, four members of an anti-fracking group wound up in jail for using bicycle locks and glue to fasten themselves to gas pumps at a petrol station in Great Lever, England. The group sacrificed themselves in order to protest the hydraulic fracking activities of Total, a French petroleum company.

But, to their embarrassment, the group sacrificed themselves to the wrong petrol station, which was no longer owned by Total. The petrol station was owned by Certas Energy, who neglected to take down the signs after buying the station.
The petrol station’s manager, Reezwan Patel commented that some protesters were peaceful, but that those who  shackled themselves to the pumps “were stupid and have cost us a lot of money.” He added that, “We had to close for six hours, so with the loss of customers and the damage to the pumps, it could be a couple of thousand pounds we have lost.”

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Beale Reveals EPA’s Plan to ‘Modify the DNA of the Capitalist System’

In a deposition released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, John Beale, a former top official at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Air and Radiation, exposed the agency’s intent to “modify the DNA of the capitalist system” through various regulatory actions affecting America’s primary source of electricity generation.

Project: Fundamentally Transform Economic Liberty—i.e. Capitalism?

It is important to note that Beale testified under oath on December 19, 2013, after pleading guilty to stealing government property and posing fraudulently as a CIA agent for more than a decade. His testimony, therefore, could have no bearing on the disposition of his sentencing; he was free to tell the truth.

According to the deposition, Beale was assigned to lead a three-phase project that he and (then Assistant Administrator) Gina McCarthy devised over a private lunch on or around April 29, 2010. Beale explained the three phases of the EPA’s strategy in his sworn deposition:

READ MORE:  http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2014/01/23/beale-reveals-epas-plan-to-modify-the-dna-of-the-capitalist-system/

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Terrifying Video That Will Convince You Not to Buy a Small Car


Small vehicles have a lot of advantages over heavier cars and trucks: they’re often cheaper and guzzle less fuel. But in terms of safety, prospective buyers may want to think twice.


Many of the smallest cars sold in the U.S. performed poorly in crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). IIHS, an independent non-profit that tests new vehicles, wrecked 11 subcompact and mini-cars as part of the group’s small overlap crash test. Only one, General Motors’ Chevrolet Spark, came out reasonably OK. 

Six of the cars earned IIHS’ lowest rating, “Poor.” Those vehicles included Chrysler’s Fiat 500, the Honda Fit, the Hyundai Accent, the Mitsubishi Mirage, the Nissan Versa, and Toyota’s Prius c. The Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Mazda2, and Toyota Yaris  scored the second-worst of four possible ratings, “Marginal.” Chevy’s Spark earned a rating of “Acceptable.” Not one got the top rating of “Good.”






http://business.time.com/2014/01/22/the-terrifying-video-that-will-convince-you-not-to-buy-a-small-car/#ixzz2rDyHvTr9

Monday, January 27, 2014

Hacks Lack Facts in Frack Attacks

Analysis: Environmentalists struggle with accuracy in anti-fracking Politico column


A pair of prominent environmentalists penned a column Tuesday for Politico Magazine attacking hydraulic fracturing littered with dishonest and incorrect claims.

The central political question of the debate over fracking, as the innovative oil and gas extraction technique is commonly known, has to do with the degree to which it impacts greenhouse gas emissions, and hence affects a changing global climate.

Representatives from 18 environmental activist groups recently wrote a letter to President Barack Obama bemoaning his commitment to an “all of the above” approach to energy, which they said will irreparably harm the earth’s climate.

READ MORE:   http://freebeacon.com/hacks-lack-facts-in-frack-attacks/

Friday, January 24, 2014

Fuel-Efficiency Rules Are Already Raising Costs in Detroit

Electric cars are a sideshow. The real story is Ford's big bet on aluminum and other expensive design changes.

 

Jan. 22, 2014 7:19 p.m. ET
 
Detroit

At the dawn of 2014 the federal government has exited General Motors and Chrysler. Both companies have repaid their auto-bailout loans and Fiat is purchasing Chrysler outright. But federal carbon limits imposed on the auto industry in the depths of the Great Recession—when it was powerless to resist—will haunt manufacturers for years to come. The re-election of Barack Obama has cemented EPA fuel-efficiency regulations...

READ MORE:  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303465004579326332103414374?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Temperatures In Alaska Are Warmer Than The Lower 48WASHINGTON — The weather seems more than a bit upside down. The average temperature for the Lower 48 states midmorning Wednesday was a chilly 22 degrees. The average temperature for the entire state of Alaska at the same time was 24 degrees, according to calculations by Weather Bell Analytics meteorologist Ryan Maue. Parts of Alaska were 30 degrees warmer than normal, southeastern Alaska hit 57 earlier in the week and the forecast for the rest of week was more unseasonable warmth, said National Weather Service climate science manager Rick Thoman in Fairbanks. He said it’s possible that the state record January high of 62 could be broken later this week. D.C. Deep Freeze: Day 3 – Cold Breaks Train Track Atlanta dropped to 16, Washington, D.C., to 9 and Central Park in New York fell to 7 on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The weather seems more than a bit upside down.

The average temperature for the Lower 48 states midmorning Wednesday was a chilly 22 degrees. The average temperature for the entire state of Alaska at the same time was 24 degrees, according to calculations by Weather Bell Analytics meteorologist Ryan Maue.

Parts of Alaska were 30 degrees warmer than normal, southeastern Alaska hit 57 earlier in the week and the forecast for the rest of week was more unseasonable warmth, said National Weather Service climate science manager Rick Thoman in Fairbanks. He said it’s possible that the state record January high of 62 could be broken later this week.

D.C. Deep Freeze: Day 3 – Cold Breaks Train Track

Atlanta dropped to 16, Washington, D.C., to 9 and Central Park in New York fell to 7 on Wednesday.

READ MORE:  http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/01/23/temperatures-in-alaska-are-warmer-than-the-lower-48/

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Green Fade-Out: Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals

The EU's reputation as a model of environmental responsibility may soon be history. The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking -- jeopardizing Germany's touted energy revolution in the process. 

The climate between Brussels and Berlin is polluted, something European Commission officials attribute, among other things, to the "reckless" way German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked stricter exhaust emissions during her re-election campaign to placate domestic automotive manufacturers like Daimler and BMW. This kind of blatant self-interest, officials complained at the time, is poisoning the climate.
But now it seems that the climate is no longer of much importance to the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, either. Commission sources have long been hinting that the body intends to move away from ambitious climate protection goals. On Tuesday, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported as much. At the request of Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU member states are no longer to receive specific guidelines for the development ofrenewable energy. The stated aim of increasing the share of green energy across the EU to up to 27 percent will hold. But how seriously countries tackle this project will no longer be regulated within the plan. As of 2020 at the latest -- when the current commitment to further increase the share of green energy expires -- climate protection in the EU will apparently be pursued on a voluntary basis.

READ MORE:  http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-commission-move-away-from-climate-protection-goals-a-943664.html

Friday, January 17, 2014

Max Luke and Jenna Mukuno: Boldly Going Where No Greens Have Gone Before

Why do Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Branson lecture us about carbon consumption while plotting trips to space?

 

If all goes according to plan, Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio will blast into space aboard the maiden voyage of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship sometime this year, opening up a new era of civilian space travel. This development might only be remarkable as the fulfillment of a dream long predicted by futurists and technophiles, were it not for the fact that Messrs. Branson and DiCaprio are prominent environmentalist celebrities who have warned of a coming ecological catastrophe if we fail to address our carbon problem.

Mr. Branson's commitment to fighting climate change is praiseworthy: Over the years, he has consistently advocated for a broad mix of clean energy sources, including nuclear. He is founder and chief benefactor of the Carbon War Room, an outfit that has long advocated for carbon pricing and energy efficiency measures to help alleviate global warming. Mr. DiCaprio is on the board of trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council and has decried overconsumption. "We are the number one leading consumers, the biggest producers of waste around the world," the actor said in 2008.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

What Catastrophe?

MIT’s Richard Lindzen, the unalarmed climate scientist 

 

When you first meet Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology at MIT, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, leading climate “skeptic,” and all-around scourge of James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Al Gore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and sundry other climate “alarmists,” as Lindzen calls them, you may find yourself a bit surprised. If you know Lindzen only from the way his opponents characterize him—variously, a liar, a lunatic, a charlatan, a denier, a shyster, a crazy person, corrupt—you might expect a spittle-flecked, wild-eyed loon. But in person, Lindzen cuts a rather different figure. With his gray beard, thick glasses, gentle laugh, and disarmingly soft voice, he comes across as nothing short of grandfatherly. 

Granted, Lindzen is no shrinking violet. A pioneering climate scientist with decades at Harvard and MIT, Lindzen sees his discipline as being deeply compromised by political pressure, data fudging, out-and-out guesswork, and wholly unwarranted alarmism. In a shot across the bow of what many insist is indisputable scientific truth, Lindzen characterizes global warming as “small and .  .  . nothing to be alarmed about.” In the climate debate—on which hinge far-reaching questions of public policy—them’s fightin’ words.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Environmentalists target Radio Disney in anti-drilling campaign

Environmentalists have begun a war on Mickey Mouse. The liberal group CREDO started an online petition to tell Radio Disney to stop its “Rocking in Ohio” roadshow because of its positive message on oil and gas drilling.

The CREDO Mobilize petition orders Radio Disney to halt its pro-drilling roadshow, done in partnership with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association as part of the group’s education outreach effort.

“Immediately halt your road show promoting oil and gas extraction and pipelines to kids, and sever your partnership with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association,” reads the petition. “Radio Disney should not — under the guise of teaching kids ‘science’ — promote dirty energy that that gives kids asthma, pollutes our air and water, and fuels climate change.”

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Cleantech Crash

Despite billions invested by the U.S. government in so-called “Cleantech” energy, Washington and Silicon Valley have little to show for it

 

The following is a script from "The Cleantech Crash" which aired on Jan. 5, 2014. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Shachar Bar-On, producer.

About a decade ago, the smart people who funded the Internet turned their attention to the energy sector, rallying tech engineers to invent ways to get us off fossil fuels, devise powerful solar panels, clean cars, and futuristic batteries. The idea got a catchy name: “Cleantech.” 

Silicon Valley got Washington excited about it. President Bush was an early supporter, but the federal purse strings truly loosened under President Obama.  Hoping to create innovation and jobs, he committed north of a $100 billion in loans, grants and tax breaks to Cleantech.  But instead of breakthroughs, the sector suffered a string of expensive tax-funded flops. Suddenly Cleantech was a dirty word.

Investor Vinod Khosla, known as the father of the Cleantech revolution, has poured over a billion dollars of his own money into some 50 energy startups. He took us to one in Columbus, Miss. KiOR is a biofuel company that’s replacing oil drilling with oil making.

READ MORE:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleantech-crash-60-minutes/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleantech-crash-60-minutes/

Monday, January 13, 2014

Industry, not environmentalists, killed traditional bulbs

Say goodbye to the regular light bulb this New Year.

For more than a century, the traditional incandescent bulb was the symbol of American innovation. Starting Jan. 1, the famous bulb is illegal to manufacture in the U.S., and it has become a fitting symbol for the collusion of big business and big government.

The 2007 Energy Bill, a stew of regulations and subsidies, set mandatory efficiency standards for most light bulbs. Any bulbs that couldn't produce a given brightness at the specified energy input would be illegal. That meant the 25-cent bulbs most Americans used in nearly every socket of their home would be outlawed.

READ MORE:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/industry-not-environmentalists-killed-traditional-bulbs/article/2541430#

Friday, January 10, 2014

Akademik Shokalskiy: Antarctica Ship Rescue Was For ‘Global Warming Alarmists’?

The Akademik Shokalskiy rescue has been a success, and the crew of the Antarctica ship was airlifted out by helicopter.

 As previously reported by The Inquisitr, attempts at the Antarctica ship rescue kept being thwarted by the increasingly cold weather, and the thick ice even managed to stop icebreaker ships.

What makes the Akademik Shokalskiy rescue so ironic is that the scientists were apparently planning on studying the effects of climate change and “environmental changes” taking place in Antarctica. Chris Turney, a professor of “climate change” at the University of New South Wales in Australia, apparently believes man-made carbon dioxide output must forcibly be curbed by governments around the globe:

READ MORE:  http://www.inquisitr.com/1080848/akademik-shokalskiy-antarctica-ship-rescue-was-for-global-warming-alarmists/#BFsUqFVYz3gGEMVR.99

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Millions of trees chopped down to make way for Scottish wind farms

Forestry Commission figures show more than five million trees have been felled thanks to wind farm developments since 2007, with fewer than 1.6 million planted to replace them. 

 

 

Millions of trees have been chopped down to clear the way for wind farms in Scotland’s countryside since Alex Salmond came to power, according to official figures published today.


The Forestry Commission has disclosed that more than 6,200 acres (2,510 hectares) of trees north of the Border have been felled to allow the construction of wind farms since 2007.

With the commission estimating that on average 810 trees are planted per acre, this is the equivalent of more than five million being chopped down.

Over the same period, fewer than 2,000 acres of trees have been replanted within wind farm sites. This means there has been net loss of around 3.4 million trees to make way for turbines.

READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10546071/Millions-of-trees-chopped-down-to-make-way-for-Scottish-wind-farms.html

 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Wind's tax credit winds down, but debate at full force

Subsidies for wind energy end at midnight Dec. 31, but Democrats are pushing for renewal of wind's production tax credit for 2014. Opponents say the subsidies are costly and inefficient. 

The controversial production tax credit given to wind-energy developers expires Tuesday at midnight. But the controversy won’t disappear with the new year, spawning instead new discussions about potential compromises over who gets what in the federal subsidy pie.

The relative stop-and-go nature of the terrestrial winds typifies the political treatment the industry has received, with the tax credit often traded as a bargaining chip within bigger energy legislation. The traditional argument against the subsidy is that it is costly to the US Treasury and that it creates economic inefficiencies, forcing capital into assets that are less productive and which may not be able to otherwise stand on their own.
But proponents of the federal assistance say that it is doing its job and that it has led to the development of 60,000 megawatts of wind generation. That growth, in turn, has caused production costs to fall by 80 percent over the last 20 years. Altogether, the industry supports 85,000 jobs, says the American Wind Energy Association.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/1230/Wind-s-tax-credit-winds-down-but-debate-at-full-force

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Top 5 Ways Energy Production Benefited Consumers in 2013

Its been a busy year for U.S. energy production with consumer prices on the decline due to increasing domestic supplies of natural gas and oil. Here are the Top 5 energy related news stories that benefit consumers in 2013.

1) U.S. Overtakes Russia as the World’s Largest Oil and Gas Producer

Experts estimated that the United States overtook Russia as the world’s largest oil and gas producer in November of this year. The change creates a net positive for consumers as the country produces an ever increasing amount of oil and gas from domestic sources. This reduces our dependence on foreign sources of oil and natural gas, and lowers transportation costs, translating to lower prices for end users. It also provides new economic growth as jobs are created, incomes rise, and tax bases expand due to the expanding energy industry. Which leads to our next story…

2) Oil and Gas Boom Contributes $1200 to Household Income

READ MORE:  http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/12/30/top-5-ways-energy-production-benefited-consumers-in-2013/

Monday, January 6, 2014

'Fracking' the Monterey Shale -- boon or boondoggle?

Extracting oil and gas from the California formation could bring the state economic prosperity — or it could be an environmental disaster.

 

"Eureka!" reads the California motto, originated in the 19th century Gold Rush. Now some believe the state is on the cusp of a 21st century bonanza, only this time it will be oil that fuels a Golden State boom.

Modern prospectors are eyeing the Monterey Shale formation, a 1,750-square-mile resource-rich swath of land in the San Joaquin Valley. Lying deep beneath the valley's surface is a trove of shale oil — some 15.42 billion barrels' worth, according to an estimate by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

If that proves true, the Monterey formation holds the equivalent of 64% of America's total shale oil reserves. A recent study by USC predicts that a Monterey Shale boom could add $4.5 billion in tax revenue to state coffers and 2.8 million California jobs by 2020, and would turn the state into the nation's leading oil producer.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

‘Least extreme U.S. weather year ever?’ 2013 shatters the record for fewest U.S. tornadoes — 15% lower than previous record — 2013 also had the fewest U.S. forest fires since 1984

Much to the chagrin of man-made global warming activists who want to tie every weather event to so called ‘global weirding’, 2013 has turned out to be one of the “least extreme” weather years in U.S. history.

 See: New Study: ’2013 ranks as one of the least extreme U.S. weather years ever’– Many bad weather events at ‘historically low levels’

‘Whether you’re talking about tornadoes, wildfires, extreme heat or hurricanes, the good news is that weather-related disasters in the US are all way down this year compared to recent years and, in some cases, down to historically low levels.’

Extreme Heat: The number of 100 degree days may ‘turn out to be the lowest in about 100 years of records’

Hurricanes: ‘We are currently in the longest period (8 years) since the Civil War Era without a major hurricane strike in the US (i.e., category 3, 4 or 5)’ ( last major hurricane to strike the US was Hurricane Wilma in 2005)

READ MORE:  http://www.climatedepot.com/2013/12/27/2013-shatters-the-record-for-fewest-tornadoes-15-lower-than-previous-record/