Free Republic

Sheltering from air raid sirens in Kyiv last month, Ukrainian meteorologist Svitlana Krakovska said what we all know: climate change and the war on Ukraine are both rooted in fossil fuels, and our dependence on them. This conflict is hastening a difficult but crucial transition for Germany. In recent years, it has made significant strides in recognizing climate's links with national security. This alone has not freed the country from the tether of Russian oil and gas. The shocking force of Russia's invasion, financed by its grip on the world fossil fuel market, shows that Germany's national security depends on...

Mercedes-Benz EQXX 1,000 km Mercedes-Benz raised eyebrows with the design of the EQXX, a study that closely previews a production model whose main traits are its low weight, aerodynamic efficiency, as well as taking energy from the sun to go further than comparable EVs. When the automaker revealed the concept, it announced that it could do over 621 miles (1,000 km) on one charge. Well, now it has demonstrated that it can actually achieve the number by driving exactly 626 miles (1,008 km), averaging a truly remarkable 8.7 kWh/100km, which equates to 7.14 miles/kWh. However, there is more to this,...

Climate change made the record-smashing deadly 2020 Atlantic hurricane season noticeably wetter, a new study says. And it will likely make this season rainier, too, scientists said. Human-caused climate change made the entire season -- 30 named storms -- drop 5% more rain. During the 14 storms that reached hurricane status the rainfall was 8% heavier, according to the study in Tuesday’s Nature Communications. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’re near a threshold, a little bit can push you over the top,” said Lawrence Berkeley National Lab climate scientist Michael Wehner, co-author of the paper. “The implication...

RENO, Nev. (AP) — In a rare emergency move, the U.S government temporarily declared a northern Nevada toad endangered Monday, saying a geothermal power plant in the works could result in its extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is formally proposing a rule to list the Dixie Valley toad as an endangered species subject to 60 days of public comment under the Endangered Species Act’s normal rulemaking process. But it said the emergency listing goes into effect immediately and will continue for eight months while more permanent protections are considered for the toad at the only place it...

In about half of people, mental illnesses arise before age 18 - add climate change fears and the outlook is grim Suppose you wake up in the night and you notice flames coming from downstairs. You ring for the fire brigade and they say you’re probably imagining it. Anyway, they add, by the time they could get there it would be too late anyway. As you watch your house burn, your feelings might include anger, a sense of betrayal and grief. Is that an extreme metaphor for the feelings of young people towards older generations and governments in regard to...

All the great globalist plans, and those of so-called "mavens" in America who have thought for years that putting labor and material supply overseas as a means to avoid paying market wages in the US, along with evading environmental laws by putting the pollution somewhere else, are now up against the law of unintended consequences.Russia has announced that it will soon require payment for its natural gas (and, presumably, all other exports) in Rubles. This is of course quite reasonable, since the resource depleted is theirs, and thus payment should be in their currency.I smelled this coming when the sanctions...

The global oil market could lose 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply from Russia starting in April, as sanctions on banks and buyers’ reluctance to purchase Russian oil could result in the biggest oil supply crisis in decades, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Oil Market Report for this month..,

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) argued that Russia is not participating in the Iran nuclear deal negotiations “in a legitimate or honest way” and is trying to get around sanctions and ensure a market for their oil. She warned that “we have to be very careful in not negotiating against ourselves,” and that “any negotiations with regard to an Iran deal will be quite difficult to accomplish in the near term.”

Russia plans to resume some stock trading on Thursday after a near month-long hiatus, with 33 rouble securities to be traded on the Moscow Exchange. Non-residents will have to wait, though - they will be barred from selling stocks and OFZ rouble bonds until April 1. Trading in blue chips, including state lenders Sberbank and VTB, energy majors Rosneft and Gazprom, will take place between 0650 and 1100 GMT, with short-selling banned, the central bank said on Wednesday. Russian stocks last traded on the Moscow Exchange on Feb. 25.

Putin: unfriendly states will pay Russia in rubles for natural gas. Putin ordered the Russian Central Bank to develop a system for payments in rubles within a week. The list of “hostile” states includes the United States, all EU member states, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, South Korea, Japan, and many others...

Russian space agency Roscosmos will now seek payment in rubles when doing business with foreign entities and countries, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that all gas contracts will be in rubles and ordered the government to instruct Gazprom to make the relevant changes to existing deals. "We will now also conclude all of our foreign contracts with the ruble (as Currency)," Rogozin told the Russian broadcaster Channel One.

Netflix’s Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay has used Oscars season to re-invent himself as one of Hollywood’s most vocal climate change activists. He has called climate change the most serious threat facing mankind, demanded the defunding of a natural gas pipeline, and even claimed that anyone who dislikes his movie isn’t serious about global warming. But there’s one inconvenient truth lurking beneath the Vice director’s woke facade: McKay and his wife have owned homes in Los Angeles and Ireland — a 10,000 mile roundtrip that gives the celebrity couple an elephantine carbon footprint.

March 23 (Reuters) - Russia plans to switch its gas sales to "unfriendly" countries to roubles, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, responding to a freeze on Russia's assets by foreign nations over events in Ukraine that he said had destroyed Moscow's trust. European countries' dependence on Russian gas and other exports has been thrown into the spotlight since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. “Russia will continue, of course, to supply natural gas in accordance with volumes and prices ... fixed in previously concluded contracts," Putin said at a televised meeting with top government ministers. "The...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country would start selling gas to certain nations in Russia's own currency, prompting a rise in the ruble's value on the Moscow Stock Exchange.Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that gas sales to countries deemed unfriendly to Moscow would have to be paid in rubles, saying a freeze on Russia's assets by foreign nations had destroyed Moscow's trust. As of January 27, some 58% of Russian gas giant Gazprom's sales of natural gas to Europe and other countries were settled in euros. "Russia will continue, of course, to supply natural gas in...

In July of 2021, this writer took a little trip through rural Missouri. Besides visiting kinfolk whom I hadn’t seen for far too long, one purpose of my trip was simply to do something else, something different. You see, I’d become something of a recluse and I really needed to just go outside, blow the stink off, maybe even commune with Nature, whatever that is. My destination was a spot near the center of the northeast quadrant of the state, about a three-hour trip by car. The most expeditious route from Kansas City would be to take I-70 to Columbia...

The "Greens" promise renewables, solar and wind power, will replace fossil fuels. After all, the wind and sun are free, and they don't pollute! Oops. Now countries that embraced renewables are so desperate for power that they eagerly import coal, the worst polluter of all! Do they apologize? No. Greens never apologize. Germany was a leader in renewable energy, so confident in solar and wind power that they closed half their nuclear plants. Oops. That leaves Germans so short of power that Germans are now desperate to buy fossil fuels from Russia. Even worse, pollution-wise, high-pollution coal now tops wind...

With the influx of competition derived from the initiatives of various automakers, the market offers more electric cars than ever. Range is all the rage when it comes to electric cars and today's EVs don't disappoint. There are numerous choices out there with ample range and this all-important metric continues to rise over time. Disclaimer: the metrics used for this list are from the EPA’s official tests. Due to the variability in electric vehicle range figures, intermingling EPA and third-party tests would convolute this list. Some vehicles, especially the Porsche Taycan, can achieve far better range figures in certain real-world...

Russian and Kazakhstan oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) from the Black Sea may fall by up to 1 million barrels per day (bpd), or 1% of global oil production, due to storm-damaged berths, a Russian official said on Tuesday. Pavel Sorokin, a Deputy Energy Minister, said the second berth could also turn out to be damaged after initial information about one of the three being damaged by a storm. Major global trading houses such as Vitol and Trafigura said on Tuesday they estimated the current Russian oil disruption at 2 million to 3 million bpd and added...

A man submerged up to his chin in brown, murky floodwaters and a group of miners covered head to toe in black soot -- these are a few of the images featured at a new climate-inspired photography exhibit at the Kennedy Center called Coal + Ice. The display, running through April 22, features a spread of photos and videos taken across the globe and documents the harmful effects of human activity on the planet. It showcases the work of more than 50 photographers and videographers from around the world and the varying ways climate change manifests. Coal + Ice comes...

The future of a major liquified natural gas facility proposed for northeastern Pennsylvania was thrown into question Monday after its developer settled a legal challenge brought by environmental activists. A subsidiary of New Fortress Energy Inc. agreed to pull the plug on its proposed LNG plant in Wyalusing — at least for now — in an agreement with a coalition of environmental groups that filed suit seeking to overturn the company’s air emissions permit. The $800 million plant was intended to liquify million of gallons of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale gas field per day, with the liquified gas...