Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Three years after California voters passed a ballot measure to raise taxes on corporations and generate clean energy jobs by funding energy-efficiency projects in schools, barely one-tenth of the promised jobs have been created, and the state has no comprehensive list to show how much work has been done or how much energy has been saved. Money is trickling in at a slower-than-anticipated rate, and more than half of the $297 million given to schools so far has gone to consultants and energy auditors. The board created to oversee the project and submit annual progress reports...

The Environmental Protection Agency may be a controversial spot right now as they’ve bungled into polluting a river and are waging a war on coal. But in The Washington Post Magazine on Sunday, EPA boss Gina McCarthy was awarded a syrupy Q&A from reporter Joe Heim titled “Creating the environment for change.” First softball: “Okay, please finish this sentence: Anyone who doesn’t believe climate change is caused by human activity is …” McCarthy replied: "Not looking at the science." This odd question might be a belated reference to McCarthy's underreported slam from a few weeks ago that climate change skeptics...

Complete Headline: Supplement that makes cows less flatulent could help fight climate change: Drug cuts methane gas by 30 per cent, say scientists Cows have a huge flatulence problem that is damaging the planet. They produce methane - a greenhouse gas which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere Last year, the Obama administration said that it would make a multi-pronged attack on cow flatulence in an attempt to cut emissions. Now, one group of scientists believes it has come up with a solution; adding a special supplement to cows' feed to cut...

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Just when you thought you had gotten over last winter, be warned: The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts it will be super cold with a slew of snow for much of the country, even in places that don't usually see too much of it, like the Pacific Northwest. If you don't want to read about those four-letter words, there's plenty more to peruse in the folksy, annual book of household tips, trends, recipes and articles, such as animal jealousy, the history of shoes and anticipation for the biggest Supermoon in decades in November 2016.

Another very detailed explanation of the coming El Niño, and why this one won't be like '97-'98.

Saturday Summary covering typhoon, short term weather, and the coming winter.

Authorities say rivers tainted by last week’s massive spill from an abandoned Colorado gold mine are starting to recover, but for the Environmental Protection Agency the political fallout from the disaster could linger. The federal agency’s critics are already seeking to use its much-maligned handling of the mine spill to undercut the Obama administration’s rollout of major regulations aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the nation’s power plants. Members of oversight committees in both the House and Senate say they are planning hearings after Congress returns from its August recess. “The EPA is supposed to help prevent environmental catastrophes,...

I came across this pictorial at DailyMail, spuriously-referencing a trend there in Scotland, and found the other articles for clarity. Scotland's winter snow STILL hasn't melted: Incredible network of tunnels and caves clings to mountains after the cold summer Among the picture captions:A range of factors has seen a growing number of snow patches remaining since 2007, but this summer there are more than have been seen for 20 years June on track to be coldest [Scottish] summer for 40 years The comments at the 2nd source are interesting.Scottish farmers suffering worst [coldest/wettest] summer in four decades I browsed and...

Will the climate campaign ever reach its “sell-by” date? Probably not: the deep need for belief in catastrophism—and the expansion of political power that is always deemed necessary to “solve” the problem—will persist even if we run out of witches to drown. Perhaps the most damaging trope of climate catastrophism is that “we only have X years left” before it will be too late. James Hansen said it was 2010. Al Gore thought the Arctic would be ice-free by last year. I’m pretty sure if I look I can find someone who said that Obama was our last hope. But...

"Faster than ever before.” That’s how one headline from the Weather Channel described current changes in Great Lakes water levels. But the article itself acknowledged that Lakes Huron and Michigan, which come together in the Straits of Mackinac and so are considered one lake by hydrologists, actually rose faster 65 years ago. So why did the headline writer call the current rise “faster than ever before?" For more than a decade, those who claim man-made global warming is "settled science" exploited below-average Great Lakes water levels to promote their hypothesis. Although the period from 1999 to 2013 set fewer records...

When the first draft of the EPA’s new “Clean Power Plan” came out it was pretty bad. Unfortunately, it didn’t capture much in the way of media attention because there were too many other shiny objects and squirrels out there for cable news to chase after. It was mostly covered in industry publications and unfashionable, pro domestic energy outlets such as this one. The regulations seemed to accomplish little in the way of making any significant change in global emissions while simultaneously crippling the oil and gas industry and floating more “green energy” plans which weren’t pulling their own...

The people that just accidentally released millions of gallons of toxic materials into a Colorado River have come up with another brilliant plan to combat global warming. […] The Obama Administration has awarded $8 Million in government grants to nine universities to study the impact that climate change has on indoor air quality. The EPA defends the move by claiming that climate change’s effects on indoor air pollutants that lead to asthma, as well as mold and mildew, aren’t well understood. …

One kid says that his family’s farm has been damaged by drought and wildfire. Another says that his childhood home has been devalued by rising sea levels. A third alleges an assault on his whole culture as man-made climate change upends the natural world. These and 18 other “youth plaintiffs” (ages 8 to 19) sued the federal government on Wednesday, walking a first-of-its-kind constitutional claim up the courthouse steps in Eugene, Oregon. The kids argue that inaction on climate change is a violation of their right to life, liberty and property. And they demand that President Obama, seven federal departments...

One kid says that his family’s farm has been damaged by drought and wildfire. Another says that his childhood home has been devalued by rising sea levels. A third alleges an assault on his whole culture as man-made climate change upends the natural world. These and 18 other “youth plaintiffs” (ages 8 to 19) sued the federal government on Wednesday, walking a first-of-its-kind constitutional claim up the courthouse steps in Eugene, Oregon. The kids argue that inaction on climate change is a violation of their right to life, liberty and property. And they demand that President Obama, seven federal departments...

Late last month, an alarming new study concluded that the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica will melt ten times faster than previous estimates, raising ocean levels 10 feet in as little as a half century. But is it accurate? NASA has launched an urgent, five-year, $30 million study that will help scientists find out. The official “mission,” known as Oceans Melting Greenland—yes, this is operation OMG—is designed to help scientists determine the melt-rate with unprecedented accuracy. “I barely got that name by the censors,” admits Joshua Willis, an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the project’s principal investigator. “But...

Global Warming: When it comes to climate change, President Obama says we're all in it together. But when it comes to his plan to fight it, some states appear to be more equal than others.

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s updated 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook calls for a 90 percent chance of a below-normal hurricane season. A below-normal season is now even more likely than predicted in May, when the likelihood of a below-normal season was 70 percent. “Tropical storms and hurricanes can and do strike the United States, even in below-normal seasons and during El Niño events,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Regardless of our call for below-normal storm activity, people along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts should remain prepared and vigilant, especially now that...

A guy can't sit around waiting for litigious fake Nobel Laureates to agree to discovery and deposition. So, with the Mann vs Steyn Trial of the Century currently stalled in the choked septic tank of the DC court system, I figured I might as well put some of the mountain of case research clogging up the office into a brand new book - all about the most famous "science" graph of the 21st century and the man who invented it. Michael E Mann's defamation suit against me for a 270-word blog post is about to enter its fourth year in...

Here’s today’s political quiz question: what do these five states — Rhode Island, Vermont, California, Oregon and Maine — have in common. Yes they are blue states ruled by Democrats, but that’s not all. These are the states that use the least amount of coal — less than 2 percent — for electric power. In fact, almost all of the states that are politically liberal and vote unfailingly Democratic are low coal use states. Washington, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are also in the top 10 states least reliant on coal. Only conservative Idaho is a red state with...

The Climate Change Business Journal has calculated that global warming is now a $1.5 trillion a year industry. The Business Journal’s report is not available for free online, but its findings are reviewed by the Insurance Journal. They are eye-opening, to say the least: The $1.5 trillion global “climate change industry” grew at between 17 and 24 percent annually from 2005-2008, slowing to between 4 and 6 percent following the recession with the exception of 2011’s inexplicable 15 percent growth, according to Climate Change Business Journal. The San Diego, Calif.-based publication includes within that industry nine segments and 38 sub-segments....