Free Republic

Control: The House and Senate climate bills contain a provision giving the president extraordinary powers in the event of a "climate emergency." As chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. If you thought the House health care bill that nobody read has hidden passages that threaten our freedoms and liberty, take a peak at the "trigger" placed in the byzantine innards of both the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill and the Kerry-Boxer bill just passed by Democrats out of Sen. Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee. As Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation points...

Environmentalism: As polls show belief in global warming is dropping, a new study suggests that dogs and cats, like people, are a plague upon the earth. They say people should have edible pets. Here, kitty, kitty. A new Pew Research Center study conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 says the number of Americans who think there's solid evidence the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades has plummeted from 71% in April 2008 to 57% today. Over the same period, there's been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising...

The government cannot have my dog. Don't tell that to the authors of the new book, "Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living." The authors calculate that dog owning is much worse than SUV driving for the planet. So when you see a car heading to the dog park with some very happy labs drooling out the window, you should think "climate criminals." Meanwhile, in less surprising news, cats (long known as the handmaidens of Satan) have roughly the ecological paw print of a Volkswagen Golf.

Environmentalism: Sen. Dianne Feinstein votes to deny water to California's drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley. Farmers, families and food are being held hostage to an endangered fish called the delta smelt. (snip) The Senate rejected the amendment by a largely party-line 61-36 margin, with Feinstein opposing the restoration of water deliveries to farmers. The California senator claimed she was blindsided by the amendment to the bill she was managing in the Senate, bizarrely comparing the move to a "Pearl Harbor." "No one from California has called, written or indicated they wanted this on the calendar," Feinstein protested.

Energy Policy: A new study shows that Waxman-Markey will increase prices at the pump, deepen our dependence on foreign oil and shred our ability to turn crude into gasoline. Even fuel-efficient cars will still need fuel.Oil may bubble up out of the ground, but gasoline does not. It's made in those ugly little NIMBY places called refineries we are loath to build anymore because we're too busy trying to save the Earth rather than our economy and American jobs. When Hurricane Katrina shut down 20% of our refining capacity in a single day and raised gas prices in a single...

Inter Lake editorial U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy has raised the bar to insufferable heights when it comes to recovering a species under the Endangered Species Act, so much so that, if his ruling were upheld, American jurists should be prepared to slave over ESA litigation for eternity. Molloy's recent ruling that restored ESA protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears must have U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials wondering just what it will take to succeed with recovery. Molloy ruled their conservation strategies and plans for grizzly bears, developed through years of expensive efforts, were inadequate. Guidelines and standards for monitoring...

The fight over global warming and Canadian oil is heating up, and Minnesota, which gets 80 percent of its oil from Canada, is sitting on the griddle. A group of oil companies and big industries launched a TV and radio ad campaign this week to try to snuff out rules that might raise the cost of piping Canadian tar-sands oil through the Dakotas to refineries in the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, environmentalists on Thursday appealed a federal decision that allows construction of another major pipeline across northern Minnesota to bring in even more tar-sands oil from Alberta.

It's a good time to be a polar bear. Unusually cool temperatures in the northern climes last winter produced thicker-than-usual polar ice. This gave the lucky bears an extra two weeks to roam the ice floes to hunt ringed seals. As a result, adult bears are better fed and more cubs are surviving their first year. The bears will go into the winter with greater energy stores, which will mean a better chance of survival and even more cubs. ~snip~ The global-warming religion is highly resistant to facts. This came home to us recently when Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Michigan Democrat,...

Supporters of California agriculture called on the Obama administration and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to lift water restrictions that were imposed to protect the endangered delta smelt, saying the fish is putting farmers out of business. The Pacific Legal Foundation presented a "Save Our Water" petition with 12,000 signatures at a Sacramento news conference, calling on Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, to request that the Obama administration convene the federal Endangered Species Committee, also known as the "God Squad," to remove the water curbs. "California should be known for the Rose Bowl, not a dust bowl. But there's a...

When Democrats pretend something they are doing is in the interest of national security, you know they are trying to put something past you. Tim Ryan, Democratic Representative from Ohio, explains that America needs to pass the Waxman-Marley cap-and-trade bill because without it we will remain energy-dependent on those who want to “fly planes into our buildings.” If we want to prevent another attack, or make our citizens feel safe from terrorism, implementing a bill that will result in a massive government takeover of American businesses is not the answer. It is disgusting that the Democrats are using 9/11 to...

Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put in a plug for administration efforts to drastically reduce energy use by lamps and lighting equipment. In the past, the president emphasized using CFLs, LEDs and other low-energy bulbs to reduce the nation's carbon footprint. But today Obama asked American consumers to remove light bulbs altogether and use night vision goggles instead. "I know night vision goggles may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise." the president said, equipped with the high-tech eyewear. "Seven percent of all the energy consumed in America is used...

Mankind has really been put in its place over the past 500 years. Why only the other day, back in 1400, the sun orbited the earth; man was God's consummate work of art; humans were masters of themselves and the domain God provided for them. Our secular fall from grace began with Copernicus, who dislodged the world from its celestial catbird seat. Later, Darwin established that man, far from being the animal kingdom's pièce de résistance, was a bit like a baboon in... --snip-- One activist author posits that the planet can support only one billion people -- a number...

It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more... The Honda’s petrol engine is a much-shaved, built-for-economy, low-friction 1.3 that, at full chat, makes a noise worse than someone else’s crying baby on an airliner. It’s worse than the sound of your parachute failing to open. Really, to get an idea of how awful it is, you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer... The nickel for the battery has to come from...

Surrounded by elementary students from the Green School in Baltimore and charming critters – including an armadillo, cheetah and an Asian Toddy Cat – Democrats declared that the introduction of the “No Child Left Inside Act of 2009” was “historic” legislation that would connect children with nature. Some critics, however, said it is a way to spread environmental propaganda in the public schools.

JOHN DAY -- Ranchers and environmentalists have locked horns over cattle grazing for years. Now a battered economy and a looming court decision are fueling a full-on battle in Grant County. On one side, ranchers and the county chairman say proposed grazing limits could deal a knockout punch to more than a dozen cattle operations and, because of job losses and lost tax revenue, county social services.On the other side, an environmental group says wild steelhead are in decline because of stream bank damage caused by grazing cattle. "The mood here is not good," says Mark Webb, chairman of...

The lunatic protests the expansion of Heathrow.

Did you know that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin promotes the brutal aerial killing of wolves? You didn't?Well, that's was actress Ashley Judd claims in a new ad for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. Even worse, according to Judd, Palin is "casting aside science and championing the slaughter of wildlife"(Video at link)What's astounding here is that nowhere in the ad is the viewer apprised of why the wolves are being hunted, or the history beyond this policy. Instead, as graphic video rolls of a wolf being shot, Judd says, "Using a low-flying plane, they kill in winter when there is no...

Top federal judges ruled this week that their own court has gone too far in holding up logging projects, saying western judges from now on must show more deference to the agencies planning the cutting. The ruling involving an Idaho timber sale is a blow to environmental groups that have increasingly relied on federal courts to block projects they see as unsound. The decision is especially striking because it comes from the federal appeals court that encompasses most national forest land in the West and is known for its liberal bent and for often siding with environmental interests. The...

ANCHORAGE — Conservation groups said Tuesday they are challenging Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's attempt to limit collateral economic damage from listing polar bears as a threatened species. The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council will seek court intervention to address what they say in the No. 1 threat to polar bears: greenhouse-gas emissions that cause global warming and melt Arctic sea ice. Kempthorne, echoing President Bush, said last week the Endangered Species Act was the wrong tool to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Kempthorne that he would propose "common-sense modifications" to make sure the polar-bear listing would...

Stoked by surging natural-gas prices, San Diego's Sempra Energy has completed its new Baja California liquefied-natural-gas terminal – opening the first LNG import facility on the western coast of North America. JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune Sempra Energy's new Baja California liquefied-natural-gas terminal, known as Energia Costa Azul, was completed at an estimated cost of $1 billion. JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune The startup of Energia Costa Azul is part of Sempra Energy's corporate strategy that has placed a premium on being one of the top players in natural-gas infrastructure. The isolated docking facility known as Energia Costa Azul, 14 miles north...

Josh Gerstein, a reporter for The New York Sun, has taken scare journalism to a new low. He reports that food rationing is now occurring in the United States. It happens insidiously as we sleep. He even accuses us of hoarding food when we shop at Costco. Gerstein samples the panic and desperation that stampedes voraciously through the panic-stricken masses of Mountain View, California. At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy."Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo...

Is the non-principle of “sustainability� about to collapse under the weight of its own mushy contradictions? News this week from the seemingly unrelated areas of biofuels and health policy provide some hope. Sustainability has been smuggled into the policy lexicon as an Orwellian dumber-down of debate. Who would promote unsustainability? It has become the weasel word and policy tic of our time. Corporate chieftains, politicians, consultants and public intellectuals all bow the knee before this founding concept of environmental Newspeak. Its origins as a subversive political principle lay in the United Nations’ Brundtland report, which coined “sustainable development� as a...

Never mind the economic crisis. Focus for a moment on a more urgent threat: the great food recession that is sweeping the world faster than the credit crunch. You have probably seen the figures by now: the price of rice has risen by three-quarters over the past year, that of wheat by 130%. There are food crises in 37 countries. One hundred million people, according to the World Bank, could be pushed into deeper poverty by the high prices. But I bet that you have missed the most telling statistic. At 2.1bn tonnes, the global grain harvest broke all records...

(This is the second in a three-part series on the border fence.) BISBEE — Bill Odle and his wife, Ellen Logue, moved to their home on Border Road near Palominas seven years ago. They liked the remoteness of the site, the abundance of wildlife, the quiet atmosphere and the beautiful terrain. They decided to place a conservation easement on their 50 acres of land, which is located next to the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Now they are concerned a federal fence being constructed nearby along the border with Mexico will disrupt the view and prevent wildlife from migrating...

All current plasma TVs and many LCDs could be removed from sale by 2011. (File photo) (Reuters/Las Vegas Sun: Steve Marcus) A report commissioned by the Federal Government says there is a growing demand for plasma and LCD televisions, which use more power than traditional TV sets. It says energy rating labels are needed to tell consumers about the performance of the TVs. But under a proposed six-star rating system, most current plasma TVs do not meet the requirements and could be removed from sale. The report also suggests "minimum energy performance standards" be introduced which would eliminate the worst...

“It’s nature. I’m sorry it’s negatively affecting you,” STERLING, MA - A sump pump rumbled in the cellar of her Sterling home and a hose gurgled in the front yard as Mary B. Honan waited for a state Department of Conservation and Recreation official to arrive at her house earlier this week. The feisty Irish lilt in her voice falling flat, Ms. Honan declared herself the loser of a four-year war. “The beavers have won,” she said before the deputy director arrived. A native of Ireland, Ms. Honan fell in love with the energy of the United States in the...

Cheered on by fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gov. Charlie Crist signed tough -- if general -- orders to combat global warming. The silver-haired governor of Florida stood arm-in-arm Friday with the silver-screen governor of California, joked about being recast in Twins, and then -- as the cameras rolled -- signed a groundbreaking set of environmental protection orders. Gov. Charlie Crist described the mandates as a framework for a new, more future-friendly way of living and conducting business in Florida. ''State government is leading by example,'' he said. ``It is the right thing to do.'' It also is a popular thing...

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday agreed to study a ban on petroleum-based plastic shopping bags that cause pollution and can be harmful to marine creatures. Supervisors Yvonne Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky asked the Department of Public Works to determine the pros and cons of adopting a policy and to assess how paper and plastic bags are recycled within the county. "It is a very interesting and a very challenging problem that we have," said Donald Wolfe, director of Public Works. Biodegradable plastic bags, typically made from corn or potato starch, are considered to have less of an...

Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. However, I sincerely beg all readers to properly stow potables, combustibles, and sharp objects before proceeding further. An expedition to the North Pole to bring attention to global warming was cancelled due to the extraordinarily cold weather. I kid you not. As reported by the Associated Press Monday (emphasis mine throughout): The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen, on Saturday called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of...

LOS ANGELES - "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary that turned former vice president Al Gore's power-point presentation on global warming into an engaging and entertaining film, won the Oscar Sunday night. The best-documentary win was a triumph for Gore, who has kept a sense of humor about his loss in the 2000 election that was decided in George W. Bush's favor by a U.S. Supreme Court decision. "I am Al Gore. I used to be the next president of the United States of America," Gore says in the film, repeating a line he has used often. Sunday, Gore used the...

A new worldwide movement backed by celebrities, musicians, politicians and business leaders is aiming to reverse the effects of global warming over the next decade. Global Cool launched in London and LA today and is calling on one billion people to reduce their carbon emissions by just one tonne a year, for the next 10 years

We fully expect people to get pretty hot under the collar about hot-button social issues like abortion, gay marriage and affirmative action. It’s not even surprising when people on one side of the debate try to shut up people on the other side. The gay lobby is particularly likely to do this, as cases in Canada, in the U.K., in U.S. schools of Social Work, and indeed from the Gay/Straight Alliance right here at Marquette. But what about an issue like supposed “global warming?” That’s an arcane scientific issue, right? People should be tolerant of differing views, right? Apparently not....

Stars and politicians are battling big business in California's multi-million-dollar green crusadeIT IS a bitterly fought campaign that is pitting Hollywood against big oil; environmentalists against businessmen and millions of dollars against even more millions. As Americans prepare to vote in congressional elections, the most expensive campaign battle is taking place in California. But the nearly $110 million (£58 million) spent to date is not about a seat in Congress. It’s about oil. California has long been a pioneer state for environmental issues, so it was little surprise that it should come up with Proposition 87 — a tax on...

The human impact on earthHumans are undoubtedly the most dominant species the Earth has ever known. In just a few thousand years we have swallowed up more than a third of the planet's land for our cities, farmland and pastures. By some estimates, we now commandeer 40 per cent of all its productivity. And we're leaving quite a mess behind: ploughed-up prairies, razed forests, drained aquifers, nuclear waste, chemical pollution, invasive species, mass extinctions and now the looming spectre of climate change. If they could, the other species we share Earth with would surely vote us off the planet.

Cattle ranchers in the Paradise Valley say shipping weights have declined since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. They say their cattle stay close to gates instead of grazing entire pastures. Wary animals tend to eat less than relaxed animals.

There have been repeated claims that this past year's hurricane activity was another sign of human-induced climate change. Everything from the heat wave in Paris to heavy snows in Buffalo has been blamed on people burning gasoline to fuel their cars, and coal and natural gas to heat, cool and electrify their homes. Yet how can a barely discernible, one-degree increase in the recorded global mean temperature since the late 19th century possibly gain public acceptance as the source of recent weather catastrophes? And how can it translate into unlikely claims about future catastrophes? The answer has much to do...

Story Url for photos of this: http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories/story.asp?storyID=456643 Spare pines, protesters say Vigil urges officials to give public say on fate of park's trees   By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Friday, March 3, 2006 SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Clutching candles and signs, five protesters stood at the entrance to the Avenue of the Pines on Thursday to oppose the chopping down of trees along the Saratoga Spa State Park's signature entranceway. They called on park officials to hold off on removing trees wrapped in yellow tape, the mark of condemnation, for...

Six animal rights advocates, arrested in December during a protest at Wawayanda State Park on the final day of the 2005 black bear hunt, went on trial Tuesday in Vernon Municipal Court. The six -- Lynda Smith, Elenor Hoffman, William Crain, Catherine McCartney, Kristen Sondej and David Stewart -- are all charged with obstruction for allegedly jumping a plastic fence that park police had set up to corral demonstrators, then sitting down on the pavement before being led away in handcuffs. The trial began after all six pleaded not guilty before Municipal Court Judge C. William Bowkley Jr. The state...

confirmed killed by wolves... the confirmed kills varied from the reported animal deaths and values, which came to 40 animals valued at roughly $40,000. He cautioned people not to draw conclusions about the confirmed numbers, because unconfirmed kills are often those in which the livestock is discovered too late to actually identify, by tracks, tooth marks or other means, the actual cause of death. Their agency is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, though they often are mistaken for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the...

An Ashland area man faces 20 years in federal prison after an FBI investigation determined he aided in the 1997 firebombing of a horse meatpacking plant in Redmond. Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul, 39, of the 2000 block of Soda Mountain Road, was arrested Tuesday by FBI agents on charges of arson in connection with the July 21, 1997, nighttime fire at the Cavel West plant. The FBI connected Paul to the fire during an investigation into what the FBI describes as domestic terrorism involving arson — also known as ecosabotage — by members of the Animal Liberation Front and the...

Montreal (CNSNews.com) - A founding member of Greenpeace, who left the organization because he viewed it as too radical, praised the United States for refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "At least the [United] States is honest. [The U.S.] said, 'No we are not going to sign that thing (Kyoto) because we can't do that,'" said Patrick Moore, who is attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal. Moore noted that many of the industrialized nations that ratified the treaty limiting greenhouse gas emissions are now failing to comply with those emission limits. Moore, who currently heads the Canadian-based...

SEATTLE — Six people were arrested in a string of ecoterrorism attacks in the Pacific Northwest dating to 1998 -- four fires that caused millions in damage and the toppling of an 80-foot power transmission tower, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The arrests were made Wednesday in Arizona, New York, Oregon and Virginia. The radical groups Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front had claimed responsibility for most of the acts. In the transmission tower attack, bolts were removed from guy wires near Bend, Ore., on the eve of the millennium. The fires were set at a federal agricultural research facility...

New climate modeling research from the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shows that northern temperate forests (top) may contribute to global warming, while tropical forests (bottom) can help keep global temperatures cool. (Image courtesy of Carnegie Institution)Growing a forest might sound like a good idea to combat Global warming, since trees draw carbon dioxide from the air and release cool water from their leaves. But they also absorb sunlight, warming the air in the process. According to a new study from the Carnegie InstitutionÂ’s Department of Global Ecology and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, planting forests at certain latitudes...

Is it just me or are the global warming headlines starting to overheat a little? The Independent on Sunday gave its report on the Montreal climate conference the somewhat overwrought title: "What planet are you on, Mr Bush? (And do you care, Mr Blair?)" Nothing in the rather dull article underneath justified the hectoring hysteria. And, to be honest, I've no real idea what it means. Is the IoS asking whether Mr Blair cares what planet Mr Bush is on? Well, no doubt he'd be startled to hear the President's moving to Pluto, but I expect he'd take it in...

Greenhouse gasbags gather in Montreal Posted: December 3, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Henry Lamb © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Once again, the global warming industry is holding its annual party, this time in Montreal. Nearly 10,000 celebrants have gathered to eat, drink and be merry – and to bash the U.S. for withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol. Less than half the crowd are official delegates from 180 nations; the rest are advocates representing hundreds of non-government organizations. The stated purpose of the meeting is to construct the regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in phase two of the Kyoto Protocol –...

A federal court ruling in favor of environmentalists is forcing the Forest Service to suspend more than 1,500 permits for activities ranging from fire prevention to Boy Scout meetings and also is threatening to delay cutting of the Capitol's Christmas tree until after the new year. A Forest Service regulation that allowed projects determined as having minimal environmental impact to be exempt from environmental studies and reviews was challenged by the Earth Island Institute. Judge James K. Singleton of the Eastern District Court of California ruled in July against a project to remove charred and damaged trees, which could kindle...

How the gods do play upon the poor soul who is known to us all as Al Gore. On the day Boy Clinton was impeached they sent him out on the White House lawn to laud The Groper as "one of our greatest presidents." In Campaign 2000, they cast him as the Poor Loser. Ever since he has been wandering the land looking for a friend and intoning preposterosities even more absurd than when he wrote his green classic, Earth in the Balance. There he predicted that all the automobiles in America would soon be parked curbside while Americans squeezed...

The "animal rights" movement has pulled off a deadly deception: promote a vicious, anti-human policy, while feigning benevolent, compassionate motives. The deception takes the form of opposing life-saving medical research--in the name of opposing cruelty to animals. [...] The founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, has declared unequivocally that animal research is "immoral even if it's essential" and that "Even painless research is fascism, supremacism." When questioned what her movement's stance would be if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, Newkirk responded: "We'd be against it." Chris DeRose, founder of the group Last Chance for Animals, writes: "If the death...

There are many countries where instructions from no less than the prime minister for office workers to dress more casually would be gratefully seized upon. But not Japan.Efforts led by Junichiro Koizumi to loosen the ties, literally, of his country's famously conformist workforce in a bid to save energy have met with stoic defiance. Since early June, he has been exhorting his ministers, bureaucrats and the corporate world to discard their ties and jackets to make themselves cooler and so reduce electricity use from air conditioners in offices. That, in turn, will reduce global warming, he hopes. Mr Koizumi has...

Activists Launch 'No Oil from ANWR' Campaign By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor June 28, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Senate finally passed an energy bill on Tuesday, which must now be reconciled with a competing House version - no easy task, given the differences in the two versions, various lawmakers said. Unlike the Senate bill, which does not mention the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the House bill backs ANWR oil exploration - and even projects revenue from ANWR oil and gas leases. President Bush is a strong advocate of Arctic oil exploration as a means of reducing America's dependence...