Free Republic

To help address the nation's pressing need for better air quality, the U.S. EPA has awarded a research team co-led by a University of Washington civil engineer a $10 million Air, Climate and Energy (ACE) grant. The researchers will use a new approach combining air pollution research with the related areas of climate change and energy usage. Since air pollution and climate change are both largely caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, this integrated approach will address commonalities and encourage solutions that will positively impact all three areas. "A critical need facing our country is addressing air pollution and...

“I have always been amazed that anyone would pay attention to Bill Nye, a pretend scientist in a bow tie,” Coleman said Friday, according to ClimateDepot.com. “As a man who has studied the science of meteorology for over 60 years and received the AMS (American Meteorological Society’s) ‘Meteorologist of the Year’ award, I am totally offended that Nye gets the press and media attention he does. And I am rooting for the ‘Climate Hustle’ film to become a huge hit — bigger than ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore,” Coleman said.

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have overwhelmingly rejected a resolution calling for the company to write a report about the risks climate change creates for its insurance companies. CEO Warren Buffett says he agrees that dealing with climate change is important for society, but he doesn’t think climate change creates serious risks for Berkshire’s insurance businesses. Buffett says the fact that Berkshire generally writes insurance policies for one-year periods allows it to regularly re-evaluate risks, such as climate change. The activists who proposed the motion tried to urge Buffett to take a public stance in favor of measures to reduce consumption of...

“A typical person is more than five times as likely to die in an extinction event as in a car crash,” says a new report.Nuclear war. Climate change. Pandemics that kill tens of millions. These are the most viable threats to globally organized civilization. They’re the stuff of nightmares and blockbusters—but unlike sea monsters or zombie viruses, they’re real, part of the calculus that political leaders consider everyday. And according to a new report from the U.K.-based Global Challenges Foundation, they’re much more likely than we might think. In its annual report on “global catastrophic risk,” the nonprofit debuted a...

In the second half of the 20th century, conventional wisdom in the medical community held that overconsumption of saturated fats — the kind found in milk, cheese, meats and butter — was dangerous. And so, between 1968 and 1973, a well-planned, well-executed study involving more than 9,000 patients was performed to test this widely accepted relationship between diet and heart disease. The results of the Minnesota Coronary Experiment were notable for two reasons. First, the findings contradicted much of what was believed at the time: The study demonstrated that people who ate a diet rich in saturated fats did not...

Not only will Burlingame be the center of the Republican political universe for three days starting Friday, when White House presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich speak at the state Republican Convention, but some Democrats are taking advantage of the media spotlight shining on California, too. Billionaire San Francisco environmental activist Tom Steyer launched an 30-second ad Thursday ripping Cruz and Trump for their dubious attitudes toward climate change and urging people to vote against them. On Monday, the former hedge fund manager has announced his NextGen Climate Action super PAC would spend $25 million this year...

Conservatives’ attitudes toward climate change and other environmental concerns shift when the issues are reframed in terms more closely aligned with their values, a new study from Oregon State University indicates. Researchers found that people who identified as conservative were more likely to support “pro-environmental” ideals when the issues were framed as matters of obeying authority, defending the purity of nature and demonstrating patriotism. The study underscores the ways in which discussions of important topics are informed by a person’s moral and ideological perspective, said the study’s lead author, Christopher Wolsko, an assistant professor of psychology at OSU-Cascades. “We think...

The Swedish government is showing their commitment to green principles and fighting climate change by spending tax payer money on developing ‘meat’ made out of crickets and mealworms. Vinnova, the Swedish government agency that distributes money for research and development, spending some 2.7 billion kronor (£230 million) a year has announced its latest tranche of funding for creating a greener, more sustainable future — by weaning Europe off meat. It is hoped people will want to eat a so-called “climate smart” diet instead, reports FriaTider.

Since both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sander are quite keen to talk about climate change and carbon taxes, let’s take a brief break from the campaign trail and check in on how Mother Gaia is doing these days. We’ve recorded what some climate scientists claim is a string of record warmest months over the past year and if I were judging by the almost snow-free, mild winter we just enjoyed in upstate New York and the rest of the northeast (watch out for the bears) I’d have to agree. So I assume this means we’re all doomed. But oddly...

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials are moving ahead with a key part of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) despite the Supreme Court issuing a stay against the agency’s global warming plan in February. The EPA submitted a proposal to the White House for green energy subsidies for states that meet the federally mandated carbon dioxide reduction goals early. The Clean Energy Incentive Program would give “credit for power generated by new wind and solar projects in 2020 and 2021” and a “double credit for energy efficiency measures in low-income communities,” according to Politico’s Morning Energy.The move seems to violate the...

Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer is launching a $25 million campaign to get millennials to vote for candidates who care about climate change this year. The effort through Steyer’s NextGen Climate organization, for which he’s the main donor, will focus on sending campaigners to more than 200 colleges in seven battleground states. Steyer said the effort is meant to take advantage of millennials’ strong convictions and desire to take action on climate change and to direct that energy toward electing the right people to office. “Today, over 80 percent of young voters prefer candidates who offer clean energy solutions, so...

In the face of a monolithically climate alarmist academia, media and government, several courageous individuals are working to unsettle the purportedly “settled science” of climate change, arguing that carbon dioxide atmospheric enrichment provides manifold benefits for mankind, that flawed economic models are being used to justify anti-capitalist and destructive public policies, that mild warming of the planet ought to be celebrated and fighting back courageously against those who wish to chill free speech by using the law to litigate science. This is their story. Featured speakers include Mark Steyn, international bestselling author and commentator, Dr. Craig Idso, Founder Former President...

Europe’s plans to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by switching from conventional oil to biofuels actually ended up increasing emissions, according to a study published Monday by the environmental group Transport & Environment (T&E). The study found, on average, biofuel from vegetable oil creates 80 percent more CO2 emissions than the conventional oil it replaces. The report estimates the biofuels create new emissions equivalent to putting an extra 12 million cars on the road.

Rise in CO2 has 'greened Planet Earth' - BBC News. By Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst Carbon dioxide emissions from industrial society have driven a huge growth in trees and other plants. A new study says that if the extra green leaves prompted by rising CO2 levels were laid in a carpet, it would cover twice the continental USA. Climate sceptics argue the findings show that the extra CO2 is actually benefiting the planet. But the researchers say the fertilisation effect diminishes over time. They warn the positives of CO2 are likely to be outweighed by the negatives. The lead...

In a speech he said he was giving “to recognize the importance of the signing” of the Paris climate agreement, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D.-Ore.) declared on the Senate floor last week that “global warming is…the more challenge of our generation.” […] “We know what the stakes are,” the senator said. “We don’t need computer models to look 50 years into the future because the impacts are here today. We see it in our own communities. We see it in our own States. We see it through the impact of droughts, the impact of wildfires, the impact of heat waves, the...

Thirty-five dollars: As I write, that’s the price for a barrel of oil. We’re extracting like crazy and burning like there’s no tomorrow, for real, pumping carbon dioxide into the air we all share. Meanwhile, very few pumps are turning a profit. Ten thousand dollars: that’s what I would have offered a climate change denier pundit, who prefers to be called a climate change “doubter.” I was ready to pay Marc Morano $10,000 if 2016 turns out not to be one of the 10 hottest years ever recorded. He didn’t take the bet, because 2016 will indeed be among the...

A research letter published in the journal Nature finds that climate change has made the weather in the United States far more enjoyable over the past four decades.

resident Obama’s global warming plan would cost America’s poorest families billions annually, according to a report published Thursday by the Manhattan Institute. The study estimates that Obama’s global warming plan would increase the costs of living for the poorest American families an additional $19 billion per year, equivalent to increasing their taxes by 166 percent. The tax increase would also raise taxes on other poor families by an extra $25 billion, equal to a 33 percent tax increase. Living costs for the richest households would only increase by 4 percent.Obama wants to implement the Enviromental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan,...

QUINAULT tribal members can attest to the urgency of climate change from an up-close and personal perspective. We're being forced to relocate part of our village of Taholah on the Washington coast. Ocean encroachment, increasingly severe storm surges and flooding are forcing more than 1,000 of our people to permanently move to higher ground. Tribes are not primary contributors to weather changes. Blame it on industrial smoke stacks, thousands of cars that clog the freeways and exploiters who destroy natural habitat. But we're often the first to feel the impact because of our proximity and connection with rivers, inland seas...

In an email sent yesterday as Secretary of State John Kerry was signing a global “climate change” agreement at the United Nations, President Obama, who was in Great Britain, said that the United States was “the world’s second-largest source of climate pollution.” Obama’s message was sent to the White House email list and posted on the White House website. “This is important because the impact of climate change is real,” Obama said in his email. “As the world’s second-largest source of climate pollution, America has a responsibility to act. The stakes are enormous—our planet, our children, our future,“ Obama said....