Free Republic

Why is the mainstream media ignoring what might be the most earth-shattering provisions in Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s Bailout Package Version 2.0? If you look at page 180 of the 451-page monster bailout bill that easily passed the Senate yesterday (PDF here), you will see that it includes at Section 116 language about the tax treatment of “industrial source carbon dioxide.” It also provides, at Section 117, for a “carbon audit of the tax code.” What could a provision about the tax treatment of “industrial source carbon dioxide” and another provision about doing a “carbon audit” of the tax...

Al Gore said in San Jose Saturday that the climate crisis deserves the same type of attention and money from Washington that the financial meltdown is getting. "Instead of a focus only on a bailout, we need to bail in renewable energy," Gore said during a 50-minute speech at the Civic Auditorium. Gore, who turned 60 this year, was a three-term U.S. Senator from Tennessee, vice president for eight years and narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election to George Bush. But it was his move toward environmentalism, symbolized by his starring role in the 2006 documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and...

Britons should be subjected to random carbon spotchecks and intensive surveillance of their diets, transport and waste disposal habits, says the Government's architecture and design quango in a new report today. The word "monitoring" occurs 19 times in the 32-page publication by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). If the proposals in the report What Makes An Eco Town?are implemented few aspects of life will go unrecorded. CABE says the strict monitoring is needed to ensure the carbon footprint of the eco-town dwellers remains at one-third of the British average, which is the requirement for what's called...

Carbon tax to impact SarniaLIBERAL GREEN SHIFT KEY PLANK IN PARTY'S CAMPAIGN Posted By SHAWN JEFFORDS, THE OBSERVER Posted 17 hours ago Green shift or green shaft? That's what Sarnia-Lambton must decide as it ponders the Liberal Party's controversial carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impact it would have on the Chemical Valley and consumers. Dean Edwardson, general manager of the industry-funded Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association, said he's skeptical of Liberal leader Stephane Dion's "Green Shift" strategy. "Anytime you bring a new tax in there's an impact," Edwardson said. "It's difficult to determine what the impact will be...

CNSNews.com Astronomical Influences Affect Climate More Than CO2, Say Experts Wednesday, September 17, 2008 By Kevin Mooney, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) – Warming and cooling cycles are more directly tied in with astronomical influences than they are with human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, some scientists now say. Recent observations point to a strong link between “solar variability” – or fluctuations in the sun’s radiation – and climate change on Earth, while other research sees the sun as just one of many heavenly bodies affecting global warming in the later half of the 20th century. Contrary to what has been stated in...

BERLIN (AFP) - Giving up meat could drastically reduce your carbon footprint, with meat-eaters' diets responsible for almost twice the emissions of those of vegetarians, a German study said on Tuesday. A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758 kilometres (2,956 miles), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said.

BERLIN (AFP) - Giving up meat could drastically reduce your carbon footprint, with meat-eaters' diets responsible for almost twice the emissions of those of vegetarians, a German study said on Tuesday. A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758 kilometres (2,956 miles), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said. But the food a vegetarian consumes in 12 months is responsible for generating the same emissions as driving 2,427 kilometres, the IOeW said in a study commissioned by independent consumer protection group Foodwatch. The calculations...

A Colorado couple researching the shroud dispute radiocarbon dating of the alleged burial cloth of Jesus, and Oxford has agreed to help them reexamine the findings. The tie that binds John and Rebecca Jackson is about 4 feet by 14 feet, woven of herringbone twill linen. It once led to their romance; years later, it still dominates their thoughts and fills their conversations. It brought Rebecca, an Orthodox Jew, to the Catholic Church; it led John to suspend himself from an 8-foot-tall cross to study how blood might have stained the cloth. Together, the two have committed to memory every...

Using one of the world’s most powerful sources of man-made radiation, physicists from UC San Diego, Columbia University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have uncovered new secrets about the properties of graphene—a form of pure carbon that may one day replace the silicon in computers, televisions, mobile phones and other common electronic devices. A schematic of the graphenedevice and infrared measurement. Credit: UCSD Graphene—a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycombed lattice—has a number of advantages over silicon. Because it is an optically transparent conductor of electricity, graphene could be used to replace current liquid crystal displays that...

It was two weeks ago, that Al Gore challenged Americans to "move quickly and boldly to shake off complacency, throw aside old habits and rise, clear-eyed and alert, to the necessity of big changes" by jumping on his alternative energy bandwagon. In a much-hyped speech July 17, the former vice president urged the nation "to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." Gore acknowledged that achieving his ambitious goal would be difficult: "To be sure, reaching the goal of 100 percent renewable and truly clean electricity within...

Call Congress back to have an up-or-down vote on a comprehensive energy bill which includes expanded drilling for oil. There is a petition here: http://www.callbackcongress.com/

A RICH Arab sent his Lamborghini on a 6,500-mile round trip to Britain for a service. The £190,000 supercar was put on a scheduled flight from Qatar to Heathrow – then flown BACK after the oil check. Money was no object as the flight would have cost the owner – thought to be a Sheikh – around £20,000. The move sparked fury from green campaigners. An airport worker said: “This car doesn’t have a carbon footprint – more of a crater.” The overall cost of sending the Lamborghini to London for the oil change would have cost more than £23,000....

Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. It’s now an issue of race, according to global warming activists and policy makers. “It is critical our community be an integral and active part of the debate because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change economically, socially and through our health and well-being,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said July 29. Clyburn spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to help launch the Commission to Engage African-Americans on Climate Change, a project of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

I DEVOTED six years to carbon accounting, building models for the Australian Greenhouse Office. I am the rocket scientist who wrote the carbon accounting model (FullCAM) that measures Australia's compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, in the land use change and forestry sector. FullCAM models carbon flows in plants, mulch, debris, soils and agricultural products, using inputs such as climate data, plant physiology and satellite data. I've been following the global warming debate closely for years. When I started that job in 1999 the evidence that carbon emissions caused global warming seemed pretty good: CO2 is a greenhouse gas, the old...

A reader sent me a heads-up to an article in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ($, abstract here) titled "Climate Change Education and the Ecological Footprint".  The authors express concern that non-science students don't sufficiently understand global warming and its causes, and want to initiate a re-education program in schools to get people thinking the "right" way.So, do climate scientists want to focus on better educating kids in details of the carbon cycle?  In the complexities in sorting out causes of warming between natural and man-made effects?  In difficulties with climate modeling?  In the huge role that feedback...

Former Vice President Al Gore (D) offered the opinion that global warming, not terrorism, is the biggest threat to America. The former VP said that it is imperative that the nation go “green” before it is too late. “Terrorists may kill thousands,” Gore said. “Warming will kill billions and destroy civilization. If the government doesn’t take immediate action, the survival of the United States as we know it is at risk.” Step one of Gore’s proposed plan of action calls for the federal government to establish a “carbon-offsets” reserve. The reserve, modeled on the “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” would have the...

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), Chairman of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, today introduced bipartisan federal legislation to advance the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. CCS is a method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by capturing and injecting underground the carbon dioxide emitted from electricity generation plants that use fossil fuels. (snip) "Coal is America's most abundant domestic fuel, and today, coal accounts for more than one-half of the fuel used for electricity generation. Given our large coal reserves, its lower cost in comparison with other fuels, and the inadequate...

In his speech in Constitution Hall this week, former Vice President and renewable energy investor Al Gore extolled a stretch goal challenging America to achieve 100% renewable power within 10 years. The quote: "Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." And my favorite part: "When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in 10 years, many people doubted we could accomplish that goal. But 8 years and 2 months later,...

Airlines Now Offer Carbon offsets

While American politicians mull a carbon cap-and-trade system for industry, our British cousins are already contemplating the next step: personal CO2 rations ...The global warmists want you to sacrifice for their cause. And the duration of their war on carbon will make the decade-and-a-half of British rationing during and after World War II seem like a fleeting moment. The pending climate-change bill calls for a 60% cut in carbon emissions from their 1990 levels by 2050. Once 2050 rolls around, who exactly will declare the end of hostilities? The prospect of personal CO2 rations should debunk the idea that the...

The climate change debate is often portrayed as a stark choice between two extremes. Do we try to save the economy or do we try to save the environment? Many in established industries argue vociferously that you need to protect the former to save the latter, or that if we act to protect our environment then we might end up killing the economy. Ross Garnaut, in his much awaited draft report, seeks to turn that argument on its head: Australia has much to lose from even the mildest impacts of climate change. If we want to save our economy, then...

You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline.

This is a simple cartoon that illustrates the insanity of a carbon tax.

First it was a proposed ban on plastic bags. Now, a member of the influential Madison Plan Commission wants to ban the restaurant drive-through -- or at least restrict the ubiquitous symbol of America's auto-centric lifestyle. "Given the concern about all the carbon going into the atmosphere, I'm not sure we should be building more places for people to sit idling in their cars," says Eric Sundquist, who was appointed to the citizen panel by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz this spring. A former newspaper reporter in Atlanta now working as a researcher at the UW-Madison's Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Sundquist notes...

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's opposition on Thursday unveiled an environmental plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions that would heavily tax polluters, but trim income taxes. "Canadians know that we need to be bold, not blind, to the challenges we are facing today, especially climate change," opposition Liberal leader Stephane Dion said. "We will tax fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, according to the amount of carbon dioxide they emit when they are burned," he said in a speech. The ruling Conservatives have been criticized over their lackluster proposals to cut carbon emissions, and pundits believe the next election as...

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's proposed carbon tax plan is not ideal and likely won't lead to a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but it's far better than what the current government has done to combat climate change, environmental groups said Thursday. "The devil's really in the details," said Dave Martin, Greenpeace climate and energy co-ordinator. "In our view, the Dion plan really doesn't go far enough." The Liberal plan proposes a $15.4-billion-a-year tax shift that would punish polluters and reward businesses and consumers who go green. The tax hike would be offset by such measures as income-tax cuts to...

President Reagan liked to say, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple ones.” This principle applies to America’s energy woes. Since the Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, the price of a gallon of gas has soared from $2.33 per gallon to over $4. Furthermore, over the next two decades, global demand for oil is expected to rise by 50 percent, meaning that further price escalation is almost inevitable. When confronted by these facts, the energy solution — as President Reagan would say — is simple. We need more energy! We should be increasing our production...

The Senate is debating a cap-and-trade proposal, and although it's unlikely to pass, it will return because all the major presidential candidates support the concept. Cap and trade extends the long government tradition of proclaiming lofty goals that are impossible to achieve. We've had "wars" against poverty, cancer and drugs; but poverty, cancer and drugs remain. President Bush called his landmark education law No Child Left Behind rather than the more plausible Few Children Left Behind. Carbon-based fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) provide about 85 percent of U.S. energy needs and generate most greenhouse gases. So, the simplest way to...

Mr. President, I don't think, with all due respect to my good friend, the majority leader, who decided to bring up this bill, that discussing one of the most massive bills we have seen is a waste of time. I don't think 30 hours is too long. The Wall Street Journal, which he dismisses--I don't dismiss it--said:    This is easily the largest income redistribution scheme since the income tax.    That was today's Wall Street Journal editorial. I wish to say, this is not a matter that should be lightly dealt with. Thirty hours is not enough. We need to spend a...

AN ABC website has been accused of portraying farmers and forestry workers as evil and telling kids how much carbon they can produce before they die.

I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2into the atmosphere but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats. -- snip --Yet on the basis of this speculation, environmental activists, attended by compliant scientists and opportunistic politicians, are advocating radical economic and social regulation. "The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity," warns Czech President Vaclav Klaus, "is no longer socialism. It is, instead,...

Strapping a queen-size mattress to a bike trailer with bungee cords and straps Saturday morning, Colin Stevens says not to worry. It looks like a giant stingray perched on a deck of cards, its wingspan hovering above thin air. But he's done this before -- moving his own bed by bicycle -- so he knows it works. "I've acquired a nickname from some people - 'Haulin' Colin,'" said Stevens, a car-free welder who tows salvaged material behind him on his bike. That was just one of the human-powered vehicles Central Area residents Joe Goldberg and Venessa Brown used to ferry...

Billions of pounds are being wasted in paying industries in developing countries to reduce climate change emissions, according to two analyses of the UN's carbon offsetting programme. Leading academics and watchdog groups allege that the UN's main offset fund is being routinely abused by chemical, wind, gas and hydro companies who are claiming emission reduction credits for projects that should not qualify. The result is that no genuine pollution cuts are being made, undermining assurances by the UK government and others that carbon markets are dramatically reducing greenhouse gases, the researchers say.

Britain pumped out more greenhouse gases last year under the EU carbon trading scheme designed to cut emissions, according to figures released in Brussels. The British increase was 2.2 per cent. There was an overall increase across Europe of 0.68 per cent, or 16million tonnes of CO2. Emissions rose in ten of the EU's 27 countries, including Germany and Spain, despite the scheme's target to cut CO2 by a fifth by 2020. Ministers argued that the extra 5.4 million tonnes of CO2 produced in Britain could be more than explained by 59 organisations joining the trading scheme, in which polluters...

OTTAWA -The cash-strapped Liberal party plans to spend a precious chunk of its election reserve to advertise their carbon tax when the scheme is unveiled next month. Imagine that. The first election-revving pitch by an official opposition boxed about the ears for more than a year by bare-knuckle Conservative attack ads will be to sell Canadians on higher energy taxes. Some insiders suggest the plan should be launched with defiant fanfare at the Calgary Petroleum Club. Those Liberals sure have a warped sense of humour. Wherever it's launched, there will be no mention of a "carbon tax". They'll call it...

The Great Liberal Carbon Tax is apparently still in gestation, delivery date unknown. Energy prices are already through the roof, up to $1.33 for a litre of gasoline, but the Liberals believe Canadians could use a little more bad news on the cost of heating their homes, running air conditioners and driving to work. Oops. Sorry, not driving to work. The Dion Liberals are deeply, deeply committed to the use of green carbon taxes to bring the power of market forces to bear on transforming the way we live and thereby thwart the ravaging monster of man-made climate change, but...

Take a look at this web page. Find out when you should DIE: http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetslayer/greenhouse_calc.htm Propaganda to brain wash Australian children. A questionnaire to calculate your carbon footprint and predict how long you will/should live on the planet.

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say. The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor. Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights. Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain called Monday for reductions in carbon emissions and criticized the Bush administration for failing to lead the fight against climate change. "We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. … We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great," the Arizona Republican said in a speech delivered at a wind-energy facility in Portland, Ore. "The most relevant question is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, proposed...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he will emphasize national security issues from Afghanistan to global climate change on a visit to Europe and the Middle East next week. McCain, who will be his party's presidential nominee to face the Democrats' choice in the November election, will visit Israel, Britain and France as part of a congressional delegation. He will be joined by two of his closest Senate allies, Democrat-turned-Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham. McCain told reporters on his campaign bus on Wednesday that while many in Europe might want to...

Topeka — In the biggest legislative showdown this year, the Kansas House failed to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of a bill that would authorize two 700-megawatt coal-fired plants. The House voted 80-45 for the bill, which was four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in the 125-member chamber to override the veto. The vote took more than two hours as legislative leaders, who support the plant, kept the roll open hoping to get enough votes. House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, and a supporter of the project, said of the outcome, "It is a sad day for the state."But...

Summary: Nuclear power is “clean” inexpensive energy that doesn’t emit the greenhouse gases that environmental groups say are responsible for global warming. So why are Greenpeace and other environmental groups so determined to stop it? And what explains the unlikely coalition of environmentalists and statesmen who support nuclear energy? ...... Word is out: Nuclear power is efficient and cost-effective, and it has both strong supporters and opponents in the environmental movement. British scientist James Lovelock supports nuclear energy. The proponent of the “Gaia hypothesis” that the living and non-living parts of the Earth are a single organism says, “I am...

We understand that Barack Obama wants Albert Gore to serve as his environmental advisor. All the carnival barkers, medicine show proprietors, and rainmakers seem to be getting together in the same circus tent, and the price of admission is more than the American people can afford. For reference, a rainmaker was a charlatan who would visit desperate communities during droughts. He would display an impressive array of regalia, which might have included artifacts that he had supposedly obtained from Native American medicine men, and offer to make it rain–for a price. The desperate farmers would give him their money, and...

OXFORD, England -- Marc Stuart and Pedro Moura Costa have become multimillionaires in a booming new market designed to fight global warming. Now, their empire is under attack. Their firm, United Kingdom-based EcoSecurities Ltd., helps companies in the industrialized world meet their obligations to pollute less by selling them "credits" that fund clean-air projects in poorer nations. Last year, some $9.4 billion in these credits were traded, up from almost none four years earlier. The market's anything-goes early days now appear to be ending. United Nations officials who regulate the trade have started questioning scores of proposed projects, from hydroelectric...

Former vice president Al Gore will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history.

We’ve been told that the ’science is settled’ on climate change, and that ‘man is the cause’ and if we ‘don’t act now’, that we’ll be in big big trouble very soon.... Some state counties are beginning to cash in on the golden goose, playing on people’s emotions and sense of responsibility, and culpability, and they are folk's mistaken sense of guilt as a springboard for enacting ‘green fees’ and carbon credits. These folks are quite vocal and insistent, and are trying to get the laws to tax us passed as quickly as possible because they know their golden goose...

From my child's school - their assignment. This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet. Directions 1. Go to http://www.earthday.net/footprint/. 2. Put your cursor over North America and a pull down bar will appear. 3. Move your cursor so it highlights “United States of America”. A second pull down bar will appear. 4. Move your cursor so that English is...

A man lost his much-coveted "carbon neutral" designation Sunday, eating a Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, a Carne Asada Steak Taquito, and a Mexican Pizza. Sources said the man appeared "distraught" and also "somewhat gassy and bloated." The man, who requested anonymity, prided himself on a "carbon neutral" existence, a la Al Gore. By paying for "carbon offsets" - which promises some guy in some Third World country supposedly plants some trees - the man assuaged his guilt over owning an SUVs and putting a roof over his family's head. However, the "noxious emmisions" created by his Taco Bell meal...

What's your carbon footprint? How much carbon does your lifestyle emit every year? Can you reduce your carbon footprint? Thanks to Al Gore (and a lot of other forward-thinking people), carbon is on everyone's mind. The more carbon we emit, the more the Earth's atmosphere heats up. And that, as we all know, is a bad thing. But, as Michael Specter writes in the Feb. 25 New Yorker, reducing your carbon footprint isn't that easy. One idea: Pay people in underdeveloped countries to not cut their forests or develop their lands (chopping down rain forests releases vast quantities of carbon)....

Penance for Lent traditionally has meant abstaining from meat or forsaking chocolates. In light of climate change, however, two Church of England leaders are calling on congregants to curb their energy consumption instead. Bishops Richard Chartres of London and James Jones of Liverpool recently partnered with the U.K.-based nonprofit organization Tearfund (Jones is a vice president) to promote a Lenten "carbon fast," a plan that prescribes a household energy-saving tip for each of the period's 40 days. Carbon-cutting reflects the Christian value of caring for the poor, the logic goes, because coastal and drought-prone third-world regions are disproportionately affected by...