Free Republic

The New York Times hyped up an eco-extremist group with ties to leftist billionaire George Soros that is scheming to unleash tens of millions of dollars to ensure President Joe Biden’s reelection in 2024. The Times praised on Oct. 16 how the Climate Power group was spending $80 million on “ads to aid Biden.” As the outlet put it, “Climate Power says the lack of awareness and understanding of the president’s record on environmental issues is hurting him in the polls.” The group was founded by a coalition of three leftist entities, two of which are significantly funded by Soros:...

A Chevrolet electric vehicle owned by Vermont state Rep. Timothy Briglin recently caught fire while charging in the politician’s driveway, according to Vermont State Police. The fire is the most recent to highlight an ongoing concern of automakers and vehicle safety watchdogs as companies release an influx of new EVs.

A fire at a bus depot in Hanover caused millions of euros in damage. According to fire fighters, the fire broke out on Saturday afternoon at the Üstra transport company where electric buses were parked, According to Üstra spokesman Udo Iwannek, the fire caused damage running in the millions. Five e-buses, two hybrids and two combustion engines were destroyed, as were also the building and the charging station. According to the European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE), Hanover’s administration wants to run only e-buses in the city center area by 2023 and is purchasing 50 new vehicles in a...

Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think I know, you probably haven't even driven one yet, let alone seriously contemplated buying one, so the prediction may sound a bit bold, but bear with me. We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford's first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine. Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars. It is certainly what...

Joe Biden says he was the guy who “started this whole thing” on climate change, which may come as a surprise to Al Gore. Former Vice President Biden was asked Saturday by an activist with the US Youth Climate Strike if he would support a presidential climate debate hosted by her group, at which point he jumped in to tout his global-warming bona fides. “By the way, I want you to know: I’m the guy that did all this stuff—read RealClearPolitics, it will tell you about how I started this whole thing back in ’87 with climate change,” he said...

BOISE, Idaho — Four conservation groups have asked a judge to block a Trump administration plan allowing drilling, mining and other activities in seven Western states they say will harm sage grouse. Western Watersheds Project and other groups asked for the injunction in U.S. District Court in Idaho late last week for Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California and Oregon.

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The use of Styrofoam and single-use plastics in the city of San Diego will no longer be allowed beginning Saturday. (snip) The city says food service ware, coolers, ice chests and pool or beach toys made of polystyrene foam will be prohibited at city facilities. The ordinance’s next phase is scheduled to take effect May 24. In this phase, egg cartons, food service ware and food trays made or partly made from Styrofoam will not be allowed to be sold or distributed. The following items are also prohibited as part of the May phase: Bowls, plates,...

The federal government can’t designate land as a habitat for an endangered species on the mere prospect that the species might eventually move there, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, delivering a victory to property owners. In a unanimous ruling the justices rejected the federal government’s attempt to designate roughly 1,500 acres in Louisiana as critical space for the dusky gopher frog.

Last week, we touched upon Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's support for the asinine government overhaul of the American economy known as the" Green New Deal. " In what appeared to be spontaneous show of support, Ocasio-Cortez met with a group of environmentalists inside Nancy Pelosi's office and told the mostly young group of people just how proud of she was of them "for putting yourselves, and your bodies, and everything on the line to make sure that we save our planet, our generation, and our future." However, Ocasio-Cortez had actually delivered that same message a day before at a training...

BY THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE (Compiled from news accounts, court records, public notices) Last week's arrest of a long-sought accused eco-saboteur pushed the spotlight back on a tight-knit cell of radical environmentalists responsible for a $48 million run of firebombings and other crimes across the West in the 1990s and early 2000s. Six men and five women prosecuted in Oregon received sentences ranging from three years to 13 years. They were arrested starting in 2005 in what the FBI called "Operation Backfire," a task force that tracked down the suspects with the help of an informant deep within the underground group....

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Monday formally scrapped a key piece of the Obama administration’s fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light-duty trucks, throwing the future of the program into doubt. In a statement, Mr. Pruitt said the program, known as the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE standards, fell victim to politics during the final days of the Obama administration. He said his predecessors at the EPA rushed through rules governing fuel economy for model years 2022 through 2025, and that those rules simply aren’t realistic. “The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong,” he said. “Obama’s EPA cut the midterm evaluation...

A new Columbia Business School study is out with the latest bizarre claim about man-made global warming — it could alter people’s personalities. “As climate change continues across the world, we may also observe concomitant changes in human personality,” reads the study, published in the journal Nature on Tuesday. It’s only the latest in a slew of studies on the potential psychological effects of future warming, and it’s not even the most bizarre. For example, recent studies have claimed worry about global warming is making people depressed. Those worried about man-made warming reported “feelings of loneliness and lethargy,” Reuters reported...

Environmental activists are really hoping, sarcastically or not, higher-than-normal temperatures increase voter turnout to defeat Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Daniel Weiss, the former head of campaigns for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), said it would be “poetic justice” if Trump and other Republicans skeptical of global warming were defeated by global warming-induced high voter turnout. LCV endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November 2015 and has spent more than $6 million on ads in support of the former secretary of state. LCV has spent more than $922,000 on ads opposing Trump, according to the Center for Responsive...

President Obama said Monday that the Keystone pipeline and other such fossil-fuel development projects would make Earth "uninhabitable." "We've got to lead by example, because ultimately, if we're going to prevent large parts of the Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable, then we're going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them," Mr. Obama told cheering grassroots supporters at a gathering in Washington.

Ending a review process that lasted nearly seven years, President Obama on Friday rejected the Keystone XL oil pipeline, siding firmly with environmental activists and drawing the ire of business and labor groups who say the administration is willfully standing in the way of economic growth, job creation and energy security. In a speech at the White House, Mr. Obama, flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, formally announced they'll block construction of Keystone. "The State Department has decided the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interests of the United States. I...

The Obama administration gave its final stamp of approval Wednesday to Shell Oil Company's application to drill oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean. Under the approval, Shell can start drilling exploratory wells as soon as its fleet arrives at its prospect in the Chukchi Sea, about 140 miles off Alaska's northwest coast. But the two “application to drill”s approved by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) included key restrictions that bar Shell from drilling in areas known to contain oil, since its safety equipment is not yet fully ready. The decision is a major...

The greatest orator and inspiration of our time has a mean streak. Barack Obama likes to insult people and agitate his cult-like followers. He has just done it again with a tweet lambasting climate change skeptics (or as he calls them, deniers). Here is his latest loaded call to arms:

When Charlene Warner walks her dog each morning in her neighborhood in upscale Seal Beach, California, she’s terrified she’ll be attacked—not by muggers or gangs, but by coyotes. “They are killing our animals. They are scaring us. I go out every morning with rocks in my pockets, tennis shoes on, mace on my neck, a whistle on my neckand a foghorn on my leash, and I still don’t feel safe,” Ms. Warner said last week in comments before the Seal Beach City Council. She has reason to be nervous. Stories abound in nearby Orange County of dogs and cats snatched...

The $7.5 billion California Proposition 1 Water Bond on the November ballot promises to provide more above ground water storage for the first time in 40 years in order to gain a broad support from Democrats and Republicans. But a close look at the language in the proposition reveals that the initiative is another legislative “bait and switch” that will not complete a single major water storage or delivery system.

Just encountered this the other day. The freon that we are all being forced to use as they deny us r22, is a disaster. My 1 1/2 ton central system holds 13 lbs of this freon. It was low by only 1/2 a lb. It's cooling capacity was off 80%. It's electrical consumption was still 100% if not higher than when it is fully charged. But to have the 5% reduction in coolant result and so much energy waste and non-cooling is a flaw and should be a crime -- nobody's talking about it. The hvac tech also could not...