Free Republic

CHURCHVILLE, VA—My colleague Bennie Peiser, of Britain’s Global Warming Policy Foundation, offers some of his latest man-made global warming news: The Sunday Times noted on May 22 that the UK government has agreed to cut its greenhouse emissions 50 percent by 2027. As a result, “Tata Steel last week announced it was cutting 1,500 jobs at its Scunthorpe and Teeside plants. The company, which employs 21,000 in Britain, has held high-level talks with government in recent weeks over its energy plans. . . . Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe warned that he could be forced to shut the firm’s Runcorn chlorine...

NEW YORK – The city will phase out the use of polluting heavy oils to heat buildings and will begin building solar power plants on capped landfills, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday in his first update to a 4-year-old environmental plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030. Under the plan, the phase-out of heavy oils from the city's boilers would start right away and be completed by the 2030 deadline. It would reduce the presence of airborne fine particulate matter, which the city says is killing 3,000 residents each year and forcing 6,000 to seek...

Weed may not be as green as you think. Indoor marijuana growing operations in the United States are massive energy hogs, consuming some $5 billion worth of electricity each year, according to a new report. That’s about 1 percent of the nation’s total power consumption. The problem, according to efficiency firm Energy Associates, is that the pot industry is almost entirely prohibited in the U.S., keeping it hidden from regulators and, by extension, efficiencies in agricultural production. Study author and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Evan Mills writes that the average grow operation approaches 200 watts per square foot —...

California Governor Jerry Brown will sign a bill today which will raise the required amount of costly renewable energy for electric generation in the Golden State to 33% while Texas Governor Rick Perry is likely grinning from ear to ear. Texas and other business-friendly Western states such as Arizona and Utah, stand to benefit from California's latest payoff to the green lobby.  The bill boosts the electric renewable energy standard from its current 20% to 33% by the year 2020, and California consumers and businesses will be stuck with the additional cost.  Businesses will have one more reason to leave...

LONDON (Reuters) – New diets for cows and sheep could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, research funded by the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) shows. Feeding the animals maize silage, naked oats and higher sugar grasses could reduce the amount of methane they produce, the study by Reading University and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences showed. Agriculture accounts for around nine per cent of all British greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this comes from sheep, cows and goats. Farming accounts for 41 per cent of Britain's overall methane emissions, which are harmful to the...

Cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe under a draconian EU masterplan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent over the next 40 years. The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050.

The Environmental Protection Agency is about to impose regulations and taxes on carbon emissions by execu tive fiat in the name of stopping global climate change. Yet the United States has already dramatically cut its emissions and probably has already complied with the Kyoto/Copenhagen goals for reduced emissions. And we've done it without taxes, regulations or government intervention. In 2007, the US emitted 6.12 billion metric tons of carbon. In 2008, the total fell to 5.92 billion tons. In 2009, while President Obama was promising that the country would cut its emissions to 5 billion tons by 2015, the US...

Former US Vice-President and environmental expert Al Gore praised the Malawi Government’s recent move to outlaw public farting. Under new rules promulgated by the Malawi Government, local courts would have the authority to mete out “appropriate punishments” for the “most obnoxious offenders.” “While I must congratulate them on taking a step that will help lower greenhouse gas emissions, I’m sorry to see them pass up the opportunity to make a more meaningful contribution,” Gore said. “While I have managed to avoid personal emissions of methane gases for the last ten years, we must realize that not everyone has as much...

Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.' But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be difficult - and may lead to miscarriages of justice as 'criminals' attempt to blame others for their offence. One Malawian told the website Africanews.com: 'My goodness. What happens in a public place where a group is gathered. Do they lock up half a minibus? 'And how about at meetings where it is difficult to...

Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders 'who foul the air' in a bid to 'mould responsible and disciplined citizens.' But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be difficult - and may lead to miscarriages of justice as 'criminals' attempt to blame others for their offence. One Malawian told the website Africanews.com: 'My goodness. What happens in a public place where a group is gathered. Do they lock up half a minibus? 'And how about at meetings where it is difficult to...

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Hackers stole two million tonnes of polluting rights in a five-day raid this week on the European Union's carbon emissions trading system, an EU source said on Thursday. The volume of carbon credits stolen in online action, which a European Commission spokeswoman was "possibly concerted", represents just a fraction of global industrial greenhouse gas permits, but is potentially worth many millions of euros. The scale of the theft, which involved five unnamed EU states, was revealed a day after Brussels shut all 27 national trading registries for a week, citing inadequate online protection. Credits stolen just from...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Last year tied for the warmest since data started in 1880, capping a decade of record high temperatures that shows mankind's greenhouse gas emissions are heating the planet, two U.S. agencies said. Global surface temperatures in 2010 were 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit (0.62 Celsius) above the 20th century average, tying the record set in 2005, the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday. "These results show that the climate is continuing to show the influence of greenhouse gases. It's showing evidence of warming," David Easterling, the chief of the scientific services...

Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday took aim at the controversial Environmental Improvement Board, announcing that she was removing all members over concerns about the board's approval in recent months of what she considers "anti-business" policies. The board — made up of members appointed by former Gov. Bill Richardson — was at the center of a heated debate last year over whether New Mexico should regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. The board ultimately decided to approve two proposals — one from an environmental group that aimed to limit the emissions of the state's largest polluters and another from the state Environment Department that...

The fact that the lame-duck Congress balked at endorsing "cap-and-trade" legislation didn't deter California from approving its own version of the extreme green scheme for restricting industrial emissions. The move bolsters the state's reputation as the left coast's home for ideas out of left field. Soon Americans will witness what happens when global-warming hysteria worsens an already sick economy.California's Air Resources Board approved a cap-and-trade system on Dec. 16 that covers 360 businesses at 600 locations statewide. In its first phase, starting in 2012, electric utilities and other large manufacturers will receive free permits allowing emissions at their current...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama's administration said Thursday it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, after legislation on climate change died in Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would regulate fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries -- which together emit nearly 40 percent of US greenhouse gases -- starting in 2012.

New Mexico regulators have decided to approve an environmental group's proposal for capping greenhouse gas emissions statewide. The Environmental Improvement Board voted 4-1 during a meeting Monday in Santa Fe. The petition from New Energy Economy forces polluters to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent per year from 2010 levels. It would become effective in 2013.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis is paying the price for independent thinking. Inglis, a Travelers Rest Republican, might have been the only Republican lawmaker in the country booed lustily by his own constituents at town hall meetings last month.Inglis was shouted down when he asked listeners why they're afraid of President Barack Obama - and then suggested they stop watching conservative TV commentator Glenn Beck."He's trading on fear," Inglis advised one group, setting off loud catcalls. Despite a broadly conservative voting record, Inglis has angered many GOP activists with his contrarian stands on a handful of high-profile issues. In...

One of Britain’s largest newspapers and an internationally known activist and filmmaker have advocated the maiming and killing of children and those they disagree with via a reprehensible short film titled, “No Pressure”.

Democrats on the Hill have not been successful at passing a climate change bill yet and many believe such legislation will not be possible unless the bill is put forth during a lame duck session following the November mid-term elections. In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Agency's Lisa Jackson appears to be looking for ways to legislate climate change regulations if the Congress cannot deliver a bill. In an interview with NPR's Liane Hansen on Sunday, Ms. Jackson talked about what the EPA plans on doing in the absence of climate change legislation.

Petrol and power prices have risen sharply in New Zealand after the government introduced a controversial emissions trading scheme. The government has pressed ahead with plans to slash the nation's carbon output, despite widespread opposition and New Zealand's larger neighbour Australia shelving its own scheme. Motorists were hit by a 3c (1.4p) rise in the price of a litre of petrol overnight, while householders face a 5 per cent increase in gas and electricity prices. It was the first step in a complex scheme, universally referred to as "the ETS", to slash carbon emissions back to 1990 levels. Some disgruntled...