Free Republic

Climate Central just ran this piece, which the Washington Post picked up on. They claimed the US was “overwhelmingly hot” in 2016, and temperatures have risen 1,5°F since the 19th century. The first problem with their analysis is that the US had very little hot weather in 2016. The percentage of hot days was below average, and ranked 80th since 1895. Only 4.4% of days were over 95°F, compared with the long term average of 4.9%. Climate Central is conflating mild temperatures with hot ones. They also claim US temperatures rose 1.5°F since the 19th century, which is what NOAA...

As part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations. This comes despite falling methane emission levels across the economy since 1990. The White House has proposed cutting methane emissions from the dairy industry by 25 percent by 2020. Although U.S. agriculture only accounts for about 9 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it makes up a sizeableportion of methane emissions — which is a very potent greenhouse gas. Some of these methane emissions come from cow...

The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected 10 petitions -- including one filed by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli -- challenging the climate science research it is using to formulate regulations limiting manmade greenhouse gas emissions. The petitions asked the EPA to reconsider its finding and reopen its hearings on the subject, arguing that the methodology and conclusions of the climate science research used by the agency were flawed and unverifiable. "After months of serious considerations of the petitions and of the state of climate change science, EPA finds no evidence to support these claims," the agency said in a statement....

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) is accusing senior Democrats of “rushing to create media events for television” instead of working to confront the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Vitter – delivering the GOP’s weekly address Saturday – also warned against using the fatal April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ongoing spill as a reason to block future offshore drilling. Vitter cited his meetings with Gulf Coast fishermen and other residents whose lives have been disrupted by the spill, drawing a contrast to what he called counterproductive Washington hearings. “That’s why it’s so frustrating to...

At first, it was Rush Limbaugh who tagged the gusher in the Gulf "Obama's Katrina" -- but now two lions of the left are warning the White House that the administration's handing of the environmental catastrophe is inflicting long-term political damage. James Carville, a stalwart Obama defender -- and Louisiana native -- and MSNBC's Chris Mathews both voiced concerns about the president's handling of the spill, and Obama's decision to allow BP to take the lead on plugging the pipe, which has been pouring oil into the sea for a month. Their statements came on a day when the press...

President Obama has decided to use his executive power to order tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, accelerating the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress, administration officials said Thursday. Mr. Obama plans to announce on Friday that he is ordering the creation of a new national policy that will result in less pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks beyond the requirements he has already put in place. Under rules that were eventually formalized last month, new cars have to meet a combined...

MoveOn.org is up with a new TV spot urging President Obama to ban any new offshore drilling in the wake of the BP disaster. Obama had previously opened new coastal areas to drilling, but announced last week that any new leases will only be approved after a thorough investigation of what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico. "President Obama, will you lead our country into a clean energy future, or will we see more of this?" the MoveOn narrator asks, before showing images of the BP spill.

Federal and state officials pushed oil giant BP to intensify its efforts to cap a leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and to contain the slick that is threatening the shores and livelihoods of people in five states. As crude oil began to come ashore in Louisiana, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar met with the company's top executives and engineers and urged them to "work harder and faster and smarter to get the job done," he said. "We cannot rest and we will not rest until BP permanently seals the wellhead and until they clean up every drop of...

Faint fingers of oily sheen have reached the mouth of Mississippi River, the vanguard of a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The slick is making its way toward a delicate environment of birds, marine life and some of the nation's richest seafood grounds. By sunset Thursday, the oil had creeped into South Pass of the river and was lapping at the shoreline in long, thin lines.

Hello, The Gulf Oil Spill Is Obama's Katrina Joe Weisenthal Apr. 29, 2010, 9:53 PM Image: The White House It's been argued that Hurricane Katrina was one of George W. Bush's biggest organizational failures, for the tragedy was allowed to fester on for way too long before his much-vaunted homeland security apparatus sprang into action. Will the oil spill in the gulf -- which some suspect could be worse than Exxon Valdez -- be the equivalent for Barack Obama? Today the story got elevated to national emergency level, but the explosion on the rig happened eight days ago! Will numerous...

A Democratic congressman is seeking to strip the word "navigable" from the 1972 Clean Water Act to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to surpass the limits imposed by a 2001 Supreme Court ruling on the kinds of waterways the agency can regulate. A Democratic congressman is seeking to strip the word "navigable" from the 1972 Clean Water Act to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to surpass the limits imposed by a 2001 Supreme Court ruling on the kinds of waterways the agency can regulate.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed several changes to its greenhouse gas (GHG) registry, a new mandatory program requiring thousands of facilities economy-wide to monitor and report their emissions of global warming gases. EPA is proposing to add oil and natural gas facilities and facilities that inject carbon dioxide (CO2) underground for storage, along with other facilities. EPA also wants to collect additional data from all covered businesses to get a better understanding of emissions at the corporate level and within whole industry sectors, not just by facility. Overall the changes would strengthen the registry and provide the agency...

So much for the spectacle of Democrats and Republicans fighting their way through Congress over the future of Cap and Trade energy legislation. Thanks to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in little noticed press releases from March 29 and April 1, the “final decision” that “greenhouse gases (GHGs)” and “carbon pollution” will be regulated (taxed) by the federal government is complete and the imposition of “construction and operating permit requirements for the largest emitting facilities will begin.”

EPA to let states address rising ocean acidity By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Gene Johnson, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 22 mins ago SEATTLE – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will consider ways the states can address rising levels of carbon dioxide in oceans. The agency on Thursday settled a lawsuit filed last year by the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. The problem stems from oceans absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and results in the rising acidity of the water. It seriously threatens shellfish and other marine life. The lawsuit accused the EPA...

Oil, coal and other natural fuel sources are being billed as the death of us all. Sprawling deserts, raging hurricanes and rising sea levels are all predicted to destroy humanity in the not so distant future. Scientists claim the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere is the impetus behind so called "global warming" or climate change if you prefer. I have to ask scientists one simple question: Where did all the carbon in these fuels come from to begin with? I'm not a scientist but I am a thinker and the question seems relevant. While we are busy arguing about...

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, in testimony before the Environment and Public Works Committee, made it a point to declare that the agency was not using the IPCC report to develop policy. Charlie Martin at PJ Media reports: During the review of the Environmental Protection Agency budget in today's Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, both Senator Barbara Boxer - the chair of the committee - and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson distanced themselves from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). Boxer and Jackson's statements, in addition to being a striking change in policy, are problematic...

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is trying to rally state opposition to U.S. EPA's forthcoming regulation of greenhouse gases. A former utility lobbyist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Barbour is asking members of the National Governors Association's natural resource committee to urge Congress to block the rules. This week, Barbour circulated among the governors a draft letter (pdf) to Congress encouraging lawmakers to pass a resolution to stop EPA from enacting "costly greenhouse gas regulations" under the Clean Air Act. "This is something that Governor Barbour feels like is important," Barbour spokesman Dan Turner said. "He wanted...

Governor Rick Perry of Texas announced during a press conference on Tuesday that he will sue the United States Environmental Protection Agency on “behalf” of his state in order to stop the agency’s regulation of global warming pollution. Perry says that his intention is to, “defend Texas’ environmental successes against federal overreach. “   He went on to criticize President Obama’s approach to environmental policy. He said the Obama Administration is “…using sweeping mandates and draconian punishments to force a square peg of their vision into the round hole of reality “The “meat” of Perry’s argument is based upon the “ClimateGate”...

There has been no more reliable cheerleader for President Obama’s energy and climate change policies than Daniel J. Weiss of the left-leaning Center for American Progress. But Mr. Obama’s recent enthusiasm for nuclear power, including his budget proposal to triple federal loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors to $54 billion, was too much for Mr. Weiss. The president’s embrace of nuclear power was disappointing, and the wrong way to go about winning Republican votes, he said, adding that Mr. Obama should not be endorsing such a costly and potentially catastrophic energy alternative “as bait just to get talks started with...

Time after time, the Obama White House has demonstrated a desire to control the message and flow of information, whether it's issues on health care, the economy, bailouts and the latest - climate science. With cap-and-trade legislation waiting in the wings that would come at an estimated cost of up to $200 billion, or $1,761 per household, according to the Treasury Department, the federal government recently announced a new service to "help businesses adapt to the impact of climate change." But AccuWeather.com's chief long-range and hurricane forecaster Joe Bastardi, who appeared on the Fox Business Network's Feb. 9 "Cavuto," warned...