http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/greenhousegases/ en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:35:28 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413095/posts The climate campaign, built step-by-step over the last 20 years, has reached its Waterloo. The Copenhagen conference that ended Friday was an exercise in political theater. It not only failed to produce a binding agreement, but the potential emissions curbs it endorsed fall far below what climate orthodoxy demands, while the proposed wealth transfer from rich nations to poor nations is a political nonstarter. Back home, cap and trade legislation remains on life support, even though it has been significantly watered down so as to postpone real costs to consumers for a decade or more. In the midst of this... The Weekly Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413095/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:35:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410132/posts The Obama administration’s EPA ruling is an attempt to force Congress’s hand.Typically, when a law is passed or a regulation proposed, its champions believe that the action will be beneficial to society. But that’s not the case when it comes to steps that the Obama administration took last week, when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson issued an “endangerment” finding that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are harmful pollutants and therefore subject to EPA regulation under the Clean Air Act. Jackson issued the finding largely because the Obama team believes—or at least thinks that Congress believes—that EPA regulation of CO2... City Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410132/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:49:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409668/posts Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule; Proposed Rule SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to tailor the major source applicability thresholds for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and title V programs of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and to set a PSD significance level for GHG emissions. This proposal is necessary because EPA expects soon to promulgate regulations under the CAA to control GHG emissions and, as a result, trigger PSD and title V applicability requirements for GHG emissions. The first phase, which would last 6 years, would... Federal Register http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409668/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:00:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395852/posts Advocates and sympathetic politicians claiming that man-made global warming from use of carbon-based energy sources mandates international controls on economically prosperous nations were already worried that their victory is slipping. Now another blow has been struck against the basic "science" used to support their case. Following an extensive theoretical analysis, two German physicists have determined(pdf) that the term greenhouse gas is a misnomer and that the greenhouse effect appears to violate basic laws of physics. To briefly review, the entire argument for immediate political action on carbon-based emissions rests upon three premises, formulated over the last twenty years by scientists... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395852/posts#comment Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:33:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372131/posts WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators tussled over the cost of climate legislation Tuesday with the leading author of the bill maintaining that while energy prices will increase, inaction on global warming would cause even worse economic and security problems. "Are there some costs? Yes sir, there are some costs," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. But of the array of studies that show restricting greenhouse gases will lead to higher energy prices, he said, "none of them factor in the cost of doing nothing." Kerry was the leadoff witness as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee began a series of marathon... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372131/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:50:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2351935/posts The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed rule Wednesday to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions from thousands of power plants and large industrial facilities. The proposed rule would require polluters to install the best available technology to capture greenhouse gases whenever a new plant is opened or significantly changed. The rule applies to any industrial plant that emits at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year. When the rule is final, the EPA said operators of as many 14,000 sources of pollution would have to get additional permits. The proposal, long anticipated and highly controversial, marks the first government... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2351935/posts#comment Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:50:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2332437/posts WASHINGTON – The Arctic is warmer than it's been in 2,000 years, even though it should be cooling because of changes in the Earth's orbit that cause the region to get less direct sunlight. Indeed, the Arctic had been cooling for nearly two millennia before reversing course in the last century and starting to warm as human activities added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. "If it hadn't been for the increase in human-produced greenhouse gases, summer temperatures in the Arctic should have cooled gradually over the last century," said Bette Otto-Bliesner, a National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist and co-author... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2332437/posts#comment Fri, 4 Sep 2009 21:44:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2319583/posts August 18, 2009 — For decades, astronomers and geologists have worried about a paradox. Stellar evolution theory claims sunlight on the early earth would have been 20-30% dimmer than it is today, but geology shows the oceans were liquid in the earliest (Archean) rocks. For that matter, so does the book of Genesis, but that record is not usually allowed in scientific discussions. Anyway, how could the earth remained warm enough under a dim sun to keep the oceans from freezing? This has been called the “faint young sun paradox.” A new answer came from researchers at the Tokyo Institute... CEH http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2319583/posts#comment Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:01:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2304304/posts The price of coal and efforts to control its emissions keep energy costs spiraling higher. American Electric Power, parent of Appalachian Power Co., reports that it is "the largest purchaser of coal in the Western Hemisphere." For Appalachian, coal-fired power plants generate about 98 percent of the electricity it delivers to customers in a territory that includes portions of Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. For AEP companywide, coal fuels about 70 percent of power generation. And all that coal, an increasingly controversial fuel, helps explain the upward spiral of Appalachian's costs for complying with environmental regulations. Appalachian and AEP report... The Roanoke Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2304304/posts#comment Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:08:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2213935/posts Climate Change: The EPA has prepared a finding for review that global warming is a public health threat, the first step toward regulating the American economy down to your lawn mower.We are often told how the pursuit of alternative energy will help save the earth from climate change and create lots of green jobs. Advocates rarely use the phrase "global warming" any more because the earth is in fact no longer warming, and hasn't for a decade due to a decline in solar activity and other natural factors. They prefer the phrase "climate change" because it can cover a multitude... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2213935/posts#comment Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:23:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2297906/posts There's no free lunch when it comes to cutting greenhouse gases In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California state legislature decided that each and every man, woman, and child in California should eliminate 4 tons of CO2 emissions by 2020. And so America's first mandatory cap on greenhouse gasses, the Global Warming Solutions Act(pdf), became law. The state must now reduce its emissions to below 1990 levels, a 30 percent reduction from projected business-as-usual emissions, essentially cutting the allotment of carbon dioxide equivalent from 14 tons to 10 tons per person.Opponents of the bill worried that deep, rapid cuts... Reason http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2297906/posts#comment Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:08:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255910/posts US Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the US will not be able to cut greenhouse emissions as much as it should due to domestic political opposition. Prof Chu told BBC News he feared the world might be heading towards a tipping point on climate change. This meant the US had to cut emissions urgently - even if compromises were needed to get new laws approved. Environmentalists said Prof Chu, a Nobel physicist, should be guided by science not politics. The American political system is in the throes of a fierce battle over climate policy. President Barack Obama says he wants... BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255910/posts#comment Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254486/posts OBAMA FAILS TO MEET 400 MPG AUTOMOBILE CLEAN AIR HOPES Jonathon Moseley The nation was greatly disappointed Tuesday when President Barack Obama announced his new plans for the automobile industry. Instead of setting fleet mileage standards at an average of 400 miles per gallon, as many had hoped and frankly expected, Obama set a goal of only a paltry 35.5 miles per gallon on average. Incredibly, Obama is apparently showing doubts about the power of the United States Government to unilaterally declare the miles per gallon that complex machinery like automobiles and trucks achieve in their technical operation. Such... US News and Views, www.USNewsAndViews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254486/posts#comment Wed, 20 May 2009 05:38:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253406/posts President Barack Obama will issue new vehicle emission standards and pair them with a broader goal of reducing pollution, marking the first time limits on greenhouse gases will be linked to federal standards for cars and trucks. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration will raise fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2016, four years earlier than federal law requires. Officials familiar with the administration's discussions say Obama will unveil the new standards on Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement had not been made. California, 13 other states and the... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253406/posts#comment Mon, 18 May 2009 20:09:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248121/posts WASHINGTON — Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, once hailed by President George W. Bush as a pollution-free solution for reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, will not be practical over the next 10 to 20 years, the energy secretary said Thursday, and the government will cut off funds for the vehicles’ development. Developing those cells and coming up with a way to transport the hydrogen is a big challenge, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in releasing energy-related details of the administration’s budget for the year beginning Oct. 1. Dr. Chu said the government preferred to focus on projects... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248121/posts#comment Sun, 10 May 2009 18:59:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2244585/posts WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency says that corn ethanol — as made today — has a worse impact on climate than gasoline when land use changes are considered. But EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Tuesday that future improvements in production technologies are expected to make ethanol and other biofuels more climate friendly than gasoline. .. Some scientists say that by using more land to grow ethanol crops, there is an increase in greenhouse gases as vegetation that absorbs carbon is replaced. AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2244585/posts#comment Tue, 5 May 2009 16:24:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2240788/posts Don't worry, this shouldn't hurt. In fact, you won't feel a thing. So goes the refrain of those pushing for passage of a climate bill regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Just what do they think we're smoking? A crackdown on greenhouse gases should involve "no cost to the consumer," declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the other day — this from a leading supporter of the legislation. As if one fanciful pledge weren't enough, the California Democrat also insisted that it would be wrong to pass a bill "that was a penalty to some states." Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a... Denver Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2240788/posts#comment Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:48:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2237879/posts In car-crazy California, a new fuel standard ordered by state officials to curb greenhouse gases could dramatically change how vehicles run. It also could have a huge effect on cost. The petroleum industry and some economists say the new standard adopted by the state Air Resources Board on Thursday will cost motorists billions, because blending gasoline will become considerably more complicated. But state officials and environmentalists say the "low-carbon fuel standard" will actually save Californians money by reducing oil consumption and ushering in a competitive new era of biofuels and electric vehicles. The stakes are enormous. The price of fuel... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2237879/posts#comment Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:51:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207891/posts Countries that buy Chinese goods should be held responsible for the carbon dioxide emitted by the factories that make them in any global plan to reduce greenhouse gases, a Chinese official said on Monday. "About 15 percent to 25 percent of China's emissions come from the products which we make for the world, which should not be taken by us," said Gao Li, director of China's Department of Climate Change. Speaking at a forum sponsored by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Gao added that "this share of emission should be taken by the consumers, not the producers" and... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207891/posts#comment Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:42:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2206888/posts “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.” -- from the Oregon Petition, signed by over 31,000 scientists United by that conviction, over 800 scientists, economists, and policy makers arrived in New York City last Sunday to attend the Heartland Institute’s 2nd Annual International... The American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2206888/posts#comment Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:41:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2201647/posts A move by Gov. David A. Paterson to increase the free allowances for carbon-dioxide emissions that New York gives power plants is unlikely to undermine efforts by nine other states that signed a landmark pact to reduce global warming, officials said on Friday. Last fall, 10 states from Maryland to Maine agreed to cap the emissions from hundreds of power plants and to make them pay for polluting. Under this carbon-trading pact, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, each state issues its own tradable permits, or allowances, for each ton of carbon-dioxide pollution. States auction most of the allowances,... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2201647/posts#comment Sun, 8 Mar 2009 01:18:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2187909/posts WASHINGTON – EPA administrator Lisa Jackson says the agency is moving toward regulating the gases blamed for global warming. In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Jackson said the agency will decide whether greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and welfare, the legal trigger for regulation under federal law. Jackson said the agency owed the American people an opinion. "We are going to be making a fairly significant finding about what these gases mean for public health and the welfare of our country," Jackson said. AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2187909/posts#comment Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:32:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173287/posts Enlarge ImageDry so long. Models call for Dust Bowl-like dryness (purples and reds) around the globe and to the end of the millennium. Credit: S. Solomon et al., PNAS Early Edition (January 2009) Climate scientists have painted an unpleasant picture of the end of this century if humankind keeps spewing climate-changing gases into the atmosphere. Now they are pointing out that the ill effects won't be going away for a long, long time. The carbon dioxide we're emitting this century is so slow to disappear and climate so slow to respond, they say, that the effects felt in a... Science NOW Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173287/posts#comment Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:15:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173018/posts January 27, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Climate Policy CrashThe EPA is poised to regulate greenhouse gases without a legislative fix. By Jonathan H. Adler Climate change remains at the top of President Obama’s agenda, current economic woes notwithstanding. Obama recently inveighed against energy sources that “threaten our planet,” and several of his early appointments—including Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, science adviser John Holdren, and White House energy czar Carol Browner—signal the importance of climate-change policy to this administration. During the campaign, Obama endorsed an 80-percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hopes to move... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173018/posts#comment Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:25:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169923/posts fool’s par·a·dise: “a state of happiness that is temporary and insubstantial because it is based on illusions or unrealistic hopes” - Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. I am struck by the diversity of risk analyses being carried out by investors in today’s climate change market place.  Whether it’s ‘carbon’* market conferences and publications, ‘ethical investments’, insurance company projects or the activities of financial, legal and engineering institutions, it seems at first glance that they have it all covered.  Many financial, political, procedural, legal... Canada Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169923/posts#comment Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:47:53 GMT