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The climate change debate is often portrayed as a stark choice between two extremes. Do we try to save the economy or do we try to save the environment? Many in established industries argue vociferously that you need to protect the former to save the latter, or that if we act to protect our environment then we might end up killing the economy. Ross Garnaut, in his much awaited draft report, seeks to turn that argument on its head: Australia has much to lose from even the mildest impacts of climate change. If we want to save our economy, then...

You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline.

This is a simple cartoon that illustrates the insanity of a carbon tax.

First it was a proposed ban on plastic bags. Now, a member of the influential Madison Plan Commission wants to ban the restaurant drive-through -- or at least restrict the ubiquitous symbol of America's auto-centric lifestyle. "Given the concern about all the carbon going into the atmosphere, I'm not sure we should be building more places for people to sit idling in their cars," says Eric Sundquist, who was appointed to the citizen panel by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz this spring. A former newspaper reporter in Atlanta now working as a researcher at the UW-Madison's Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Sundquist notes...

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's opposition on Thursday unveiled an environmental plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions that would heavily tax polluters, but trim income taxes. "Canadians know that we need to be bold, not blind, to the challenges we are facing today, especially climate change," opposition Liberal leader Stephane Dion said. "We will tax fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, according to the amount of carbon dioxide they emit when they are burned," he said in a speech. The ruling Conservatives have been criticized over their lackluster proposals to cut carbon emissions, and pundits believe the next election as...

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's proposed carbon tax plan is not ideal and likely won't lead to a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but it's far better than what the current government has done to combat climate change, environmental groups said Thursday. "The devil's really in the details," said Dave Martin, Greenpeace climate and energy co-ordinator. "In our view, the Dion plan really doesn't go far enough." The Liberal plan proposes a $15.4-billion-a-year tax shift that would punish polluters and reward businesses and consumers who go green. The tax hike would be offset by such measures as income-tax cuts to...

President Reagan liked to say, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple ones.” This principle applies to America’s energy woes. Since the Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, the price of a gallon of gas has soared from $2.33 per gallon to over $4. Furthermore, over the next two decades, global demand for oil is expected to rise by 50 percent, meaning that further price escalation is almost inevitable. When confronted by these facts, the energy solution — as President Reagan would say — is simple. We need more energy! We should be increasing our production...

The Senate is debating a cap-and-trade proposal, and although it's unlikely to pass, it will return because all the major presidential candidates support the concept. Cap and trade extends the long government tradition of proclaiming lofty goals that are impossible to achieve. We've had "wars" against poverty, cancer and drugs; but poverty, cancer and drugs remain. President Bush called his landmark education law No Child Left Behind rather than the more plausible Few Children Left Behind. Carbon-based fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) provide about 85 percent of U.S. energy needs and generate most greenhouse gases. So, the simplest way to...

Mr. President, I don't think, with all due respect to my good friend, the majority leader, who decided to bring up this bill, that discussing one of the most massive bills we have seen is a waste of time. I don't think 30 hours is too long. The Wall Street Journal, which he dismisses--I don't dismiss it--said:    This is easily the largest income redistribution scheme since the income tax.    That was today's Wall Street Journal editorial. I wish to say, this is not a matter that should be lightly dealt with. Thirty hours is not enough. We need to spend a...

AN ABC website has been accused of portraying farmers and forestry workers as evil and telling kids how much carbon they can produce before they die.

I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2into the atmosphere but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats. -- snip --Yet on the basis of this speculation, environmental activists, attended by compliant scientists and opportunistic politicians, are advocating radical economic and social regulation. "The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity," warns Czech President Vaclav Klaus, "is no longer socialism. It is, instead,...

Strapping a queen-size mattress to a bike trailer with bungee cords and straps Saturday morning, Colin Stevens says not to worry. It looks like a giant stingray perched on a deck of cards, its wingspan hovering above thin air. But he's done this before -- moving his own bed by bicycle -- so he knows it works. "I've acquired a nickname from some people - 'Haulin' Colin,'" said Stevens, a car-free welder who tows salvaged material behind him on his bike. That was just one of the human-powered vehicles Central Area residents Joe Goldberg and Venessa Brown used to ferry...

Billions of pounds are being wasted in paying industries in developing countries to reduce climate change emissions, according to two analyses of the UN's carbon offsetting programme. Leading academics and watchdog groups allege that the UN's main offset fund is being routinely abused by chemical, wind, gas and hydro companies who are claiming emission reduction credits for projects that should not qualify. The result is that no genuine pollution cuts are being made, undermining assurances by the UK government and others that carbon markets are dramatically reducing greenhouse gases, the researchers say.

Britain pumped out more greenhouse gases last year under the EU carbon trading scheme designed to cut emissions, according to figures released in Brussels. The British increase was 2.2 per cent. There was an overall increase across Europe of 0.68 per cent, or 16million tonnes of CO2. Emissions rose in ten of the EU's 27 countries, including Germany and Spain, despite the scheme's target to cut CO2 by a fifth by 2020. Ministers argued that the extra 5.4 million tonnes of CO2 produced in Britain could be more than explained by 59 organisations joining the trading scheme, in which polluters...

OTTAWA -The cash-strapped Liberal party plans to spend a precious chunk of its election reserve to advertise their carbon tax when the scheme is unveiled next month. Imagine that. The first election-revving pitch by an official opposition boxed about the ears for more than a year by bare-knuckle Conservative attack ads will be to sell Canadians on higher energy taxes. Some insiders suggest the plan should be launched with defiant fanfare at the Calgary Petroleum Club. Those Liberals sure have a warped sense of humour. Wherever it's launched, there will be no mention of a "carbon tax". They'll call it...

The Great Liberal Carbon Tax is apparently still in gestation, delivery date unknown. Energy prices are already through the roof, up to $1.33 for a litre of gasoline, but the Liberals believe Canadians could use a little more bad news on the cost of heating their homes, running air conditioners and driving to work. Oops. Sorry, not driving to work. The Dion Liberals are deeply, deeply committed to the use of green carbon taxes to bring the power of market forces to bear on transforming the way we live and thereby thwart the ravaging monster of man-made climate change, but...

Take a look at this web page. Find out when you should DIE: http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetslayer/greenhouse_calc.htm Propaganda to brain wash Australian children. A questionnaire to calculate your carbon footprint and predict how long you will/should live on the planet.

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say. The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor. Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights. Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain called Monday for reductions in carbon emissions and criticized the Bush administration for failing to lead the fight against climate change. "We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. … We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great," the Arizona Republican said in a speech delivered at a wind-energy facility in Portland, Ore. "The most relevant question is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, proposed...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he will emphasize national security issues from Afghanistan to global climate change on a visit to Europe and the Middle East next week. McCain, who will be his party's presidential nominee to face the Democrats' choice in the November election, will visit Israel, Britain and France as part of a congressional delegation. He will be joined by two of his closest Senate allies, Democrat-turned-Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham. McCain told reporters on his campaign bus on Wednesday that while many in Europe might want to...

Topeka — In the biggest legislative showdown this year, the Kansas House failed to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of a bill that would authorize two 700-megawatt coal-fired plants. The House voted 80-45 for the bill, which was four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in the 125-member chamber to override the veto. The vote took more than two hours as legislative leaders, who support the plant, kept the roll open hoping to get enough votes. House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, and a supporter of the project, said of the outcome, "It is a sad day for the state."But...

Summary: Nuclear power is “clean” inexpensive energy that doesn’t emit the greenhouse gases that environmental groups say are responsible for global warming. So why are Greenpeace and other environmental groups so determined to stop it? And what explains the unlikely coalition of environmentalists and statesmen who support nuclear energy? ...... Word is out: Nuclear power is efficient and cost-effective, and it has both strong supporters and opponents in the environmental movement. British scientist James Lovelock supports nuclear energy. The proponent of the “Gaia hypothesis” that the living and non-living parts of the Earth are a single organism says, “I am...

We understand that Barack Obama wants Albert Gore to serve as his environmental advisor. All the carnival barkers, medicine show proprietors, and rainmakers seem to be getting together in the same circus tent, and the price of admission is more than the American people can afford. For reference, a rainmaker was a charlatan who would visit desperate communities during droughts. He would display an impressive array of regalia, which might have included artifacts that he had supposedly obtained from Native American medicine men, and offer to make it rain–for a price. The desperate farmers would give him their money, and...

OXFORD, England -- Marc Stuart and Pedro Moura Costa have become multimillionaires in a booming new market designed to fight global warming. Now, their empire is under attack. Their firm, United Kingdom-based EcoSecurities Ltd., helps companies in the industrialized world meet their obligations to pollute less by selling them "credits" that fund clean-air projects in poorer nations. Last year, some $9.4 billion in these credits were traded, up from almost none four years earlier. The market's anything-goes early days now appear to be ending. United Nations officials who regulate the trade have started questioning scores of proposed projects, from hydroelectric...

Former vice president Al Gore will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history.

We’ve been told that the ’science is settled’ on climate change, and that ‘man is the cause’ and if we ‘don’t act now’, that we’ll be in big big trouble very soon.... Some state counties are beginning to cash in on the golden goose, playing on people’s emotions and sense of responsibility, and culpability, and they are folk's mistaken sense of guilt as a springboard for enacting ‘green fees’ and carbon credits. These folks are quite vocal and insistent, and are trying to get the laws to tax us passed as quickly as possible because they know their golden goose...

From my child's school - their assignment. This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet. Directions 1. Go to http://www.earthday.net/footprint/. 2. Put your cursor over North America and a pull down bar will appear. 3. Move your cursor so it highlights “United States of America”. A second pull down bar will appear. 4. Move your cursor so that English is...

A man lost his much-coveted "carbon neutral" designation Sunday, eating a Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, a Carne Asada Steak Taquito, and a Mexican Pizza. Sources said the man appeared "distraught" and also "somewhat gassy and bloated." The man, who requested anonymity, prided himself on a "carbon neutral" existence, a la Al Gore. By paying for "carbon offsets" - which promises some guy in some Third World country supposedly plants some trees - the man assuaged his guilt over owning an SUVs and putting a roof over his family's head. However, the "noxious emmisions" created by his Taco Bell meal...

What's your carbon footprint? How much carbon does your lifestyle emit every year? Can you reduce your carbon footprint? Thanks to Al Gore (and a lot of other forward-thinking people), carbon is on everyone's mind. The more carbon we emit, the more the Earth's atmosphere heats up. And that, as we all know, is a bad thing. But, as Michael Specter writes in the Feb. 25 New Yorker, reducing your carbon footprint isn't that easy. One idea: Pay people in underdeveloped countries to not cut their forests or develop their lands (chopping down rain forests releases vast quantities of carbon)....

Penance for Lent traditionally has meant abstaining from meat or forsaking chocolates. In light of climate change, however, two Church of England leaders are calling on congregants to curb their energy consumption instead. Bishops Richard Chartres of London and James Jones of Liverpool recently partnered with the U.K.-based nonprofit organization Tearfund (Jones is a vice president) to promote a Lenten "carbon fast," a plan that prescribes a household energy-saving tip for each of the period's 40 days. Carbon-cutting reflects the Christian value of caring for the poor, the logic goes, because coastal and drought-prone third-world regions are disproportionately affected by...

1. The denial of global warming's existence, from the perspective of the free-market advocate, is foolish. If global warming indeed exists, the solution will be the same as the solution to other well-established negative environmental externalities - technological development toward cleaner, more efficient technology. If it doesn't exist, the market would still move in an identical fashion to combat the other (proven) environmental cancers. Technological development will answer the question of how much global warming is controlled by man, not Al Gore and his lame movies. 2. Hate development and want open space? Move to Africa. A hobby of rich...

Despite increasing popular support for solar photovoltaic panels in the United States, their costs far outweigh the benefits, according to a new analysis by Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and director of the UC Energy Institute. "Solar photovoltaic (PV) is a very exciting technology, but the current technology is not economic," said Borenstein. "We are throwing money away by installing the current solar PV technology, which is a loser." In his January working paper, "The Market Value and Cost of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity Product," Borenstein also found that, even after considering...

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded. The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy. These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is...

Value of U.S. House's carbon offsets is murky Some question effectiveness of $89,000 purchase to balance out emissions. p>

Energy Disaster Looming [Iain Murray] There are strong suggestions circulating that the Administration is being firmly lobbied to announce a cap-and-trade scheme for electricity utilities in the State of the Union address as a 'legacy' item and in a futile attempt to bind the hands of an incoming President. This would be a disaster. At a time when the Fed and the rest of the Administration is doing its best to avoid recession, what Mike Huckabee might call the "Wall Street Lobby" within the White House is doing its best to counteract all that effort. Given that the Bureau of...

AUSTIN, Texas - Everything's big in Texas — big pickup trucks, big SUVs and the state's big carbon footprint, too. Texans' fondness for large, manly vehicles has helped make the Lone Star State the biggest carbon polluter in the nation. The headquarters state of America's oil industry spewed 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2003, enough that Texas would rank seventh in the world if it were its own country, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The amount is more than that of California and Pennsylvania — the second-...

In Al Gore’s environmental tome and movie, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, he claims that anthropogenic (human-caused) activity will cause irreversible damage to the planet. The basis of this claim is that by using carbon based fuels (oil, gas, coal, wood) to produce energy, we will increase the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and cause global warming. According to Gore, this global warming will cause glaciers to melt, causing the oceans to rise thereby flooding all the coastal communities. Of course, the poor, minorities, women, and children will die first. Gore erroneously assumes that current conditions on earth are the natural...

Delegates at the U.N.-sponsored climate change conference in Bali have agreed on a plan to negotiate a new anti-global warming treaty by 2009. The deal was announced Saturday after two weeks of intense talks among 190 participating nations that were extended by an extra day. The agreement came after a personal appeal by U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon. A major sticking point was a demand by the European Union for rich nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 40 percent by 2020, a plan strongly opposed by Washington. The two sides eventually settled on a statement that simply said...

Hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones has partnered with several big Wall Street firms and The New York Mercantile Exchange to form a new electronic venue for trading carbon greenhouse gases and other emissions, The Post has learned. According to people familiar with the deal, the new venture, to be called The Green Exchange, will compete with the Chicago Climate Exchange, which was established last year for carbon trading. In addition to Jones' firm, Tudor Investment Corp., and the Nymex, the new exchange is backed by Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch. Evolution Markets, a leading broker in...

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE December 13, 2007 ELCA Advocacy Offices Purchase Carbon Offset Credits 07-205-AL WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Washington Office, ELCA Corporate Social Responsibility, Pittsburgh, and Lutheran Office for World Community, New York, have purchased carbon offset credits to mitigate their carbon emissions accumulated through air travel. "Our offices have been working to reduce our carbon footprints by turning off lights and power strips when we're not in our offices, for example. But short of turning off all electricity and ceasing to travel, it's very difficult to eliminate your carbon emissions entirely," said Mary...

Proposed fuel efficiency standards in both the US and EU will not reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks over the long term, according to a report released today by the World Resources Institute. Light-duty vehicle fleet fuel consumption in US, Japan and European countries, in liters gasoline equivalent/100km. The report finds that industry has held fuel efficiency almost constant while increasing weight and power. Standards currently proposed in the US and Europe would lead to a 33% increase in fuel efficiency—defined as distance traveled per volume of fuel—in the US and about 25% in Europe once...

Al Gore has come under fire for making personal gain from his mission to save the planet – after charging £3,300 a minute to deliver a poorly received speech. The former American Vice-President was also accused of being "precious" at the London event, demanding his own VIP room and ejecting journalists, despite hopes the star-studded gathering would generate publicity for the fight against global warming. Many of the audience at last month's Fortune Forum summit were restless as Mr Gore, who has won both a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his campaigning work this year, delivered the half-hour...

Al Gore buddy owner of sunken ship that left huge carbon footprint on Antarctic Ocean floor. You’d never read this in the mainstream media: The owner of MS Explorer that sank, leaving a huge carbon footprint at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean Friday is an acolyte of teensy-weensy carbon footprint crusader Al Gore. The legendary polar expedition ship…”had at least five faults at its last inspection,” according to Greenpeace spokeswoman Bunny McDiarmid. “Maritime records show the MV Explorer has completed more than 40 cruises to the ice, but has lately been suffering maintenance and safety problems.”

Conjuring gemstones from thin air sounds like one of the alchemist's more ambitious projects. But that is what a team of chemists from China is claiming to have achieved by making small diamonds from carbon dioxide. "We are changing a waste gas into gems," claims Qianwang Chen, head of the team producing the diamonds at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province. The team claims its method could be cheaper and more efficient than some existing methods of synthesising diamonds, which require pressures of up five million atmospheres and temperatures that reach 1400 °C. Chen...

Georgia Tech researchers have fabricated high-performance field effect transistors with thin films of Carbon 60, also known as fullerene. Credit: Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek Buckminsterfullerene C60 Using room-temperature processing, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have fabricated high-performance field effect transistors with thin films of Carbon 60, also known as fullerene. The ability to produce devices with such performance with an organic semiconductor represents another milestone toward practical applications for large area, low-cost electronic circuits on flexible organic substrates The new devices – which have electron-mobility values higher than amorphous silicon, low threshold voltages, large on-off ratios...

CARBON ALLOWANCES The British Government is introducing a Climate Change Bill that would make legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/11/big_brother_in_your_gas_tank_r.php The five-year goals will cost the UK $24 billion a year for the next 42 years, and it will also ensure that future governments are held responsible for this current legislation. The bill doesn't actually give any specifics but says the government will commit to a 60% reduction by 2050. The British government will raise new green taxes and hike up fuel costs. But it is also thinking of allocating "personal carbon allowances." Each person will be...

Only about a third of the climate-damaging carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in North America is offset by carbon removing activities, a government report said Tuesday. Currently, North America produces more than one-fourth of the carbon dioxide released worldwide by burning fossil fuels and other activities, the U.S. Climate Change Science program said in the report. The report comes as top climate researchers from around the world meet in Spain to work on a new analysis on climate change, an increasing concern to scientists and policymakers worried about warming temperatures. According to the new U.S. study, North America released...

During the Sunday NFL broadcast on NBC, NBC was lecturing us about the dangers of global warming, urging us all to "Go Green" and turn off one light to save energy. Ignoring the hypocrisy of Universal/NBC on this point, maybe we should tell NBC they should go black. Turn off the whole network. NBC will devote 150 hours of broadcasting to the topic/lecture of Global Warming. Since November is a sweeps month, perhaps we could send a message to NBC, by turning them off for 150 hours. Just think how much energy could be saved if we turned off NBC...

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- Senior officials from the European Union, three U.S. states, Canada, Norway and New Zealand launched an international effort Monday to fight climate change by building a global carbon trading market. The International Carbon Action Partnership aims to add momentum toward low-carbon economies by grouping countries and regions that cap and trade environmentally damaging carbon dioxide emissions. Under the scheme, local authorities place an annual ceiling on carbon dioxide emissions and issue "pollution permits" to companies, which can then buy and sell them. ICAP intends to push for a worldwide marketplace that will allow cross-border trading in...