Free Republic

We’ve had it with sexism, racism, religious prejudice – all now considered utterly unacceptable in the workplace. Will employees across UK Plc now have to start watching their tongues in case they are guilty of greenism? After yesterday’s legal landmark ruling, “a belief in man-made climate change … is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief” akin to religion. This judgment means a company must not discriminate against someone because of their deeply-held environmental convictions. So no more jokes about the office hippy at the sustainable water-cooler then. It has all come about because Tim Nicholson, 42, of...

Biofuel refineries in the US have set fresh records for grain use every month since May. Almost a third of the US corn harvest will be diverted into ethanol for motors this year, or 12pc of the global crop. The world's grain stocks have dropped from four to 2.6 months cover since 2000, despite two bumper harvests in North America. China's inventories are at a 30-year low. Asian rice stocks are near danger level. Yet farm commodities have largely missed out on Bernanke's reflation rally in metals, oil, and everything else. Dylan Grice from Société Générale sees "bargain basement" prices....

Activists around the globe are staging thousands of demonstrations Saturday aimed at prodding the world's policymakers to cut carbon concentrations to below their current levels, at a time when many U.S. officials and experts are trying to dampen expectations for international climate talks that culminate in Copenhagen in December.

Linda Finlay will not be giving up her dogs any time soon – despite a call from researchers to swap dogs and cats for pets they can eat, like rabbits or chickens. A longtime dog lover and dog training club member, Mrs Findlay couldn't imagine a life without Thomas, Zarah and Zoe – even if the Bernese Mountain Dog crosses and Alsatian labrador cross do have a carbon pawprint bigger than a Land Cruiser. "They're like part of the family," Mrs Findlay said. Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, have recommended pet owners...

Reporting from Sacramento - The influential lobby group Consumer Electronics Assn. is fighting what appears to be a losing battle to dissuade California regulators from passing the nation's first ban on energy-hungry big-screen televisions.

A libertarian non-profit organization in Washington today announced it was filing suit against the Obama administration for failing to adequately disclose global warming documents. As we reported two weeks ago the Competitive Enterprise Institute deemed inadequate the Treasury Department's response to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on cap-and-trade. Months after the FOIA request, Treasury responded by giving CEI five documents and emails, when the group had expected 50. "Your response fails any reasonable test for compliance with FOIA and constitutes an effective denial of our request," CEI's Christopher Horner stated in the notice of appeal filed with...

The night Van Jones resigned, Newsreal editor David Swindle emailed me and said: watch how long it takes them to use the “L” word. That’s not for liberal, mind you; it’s for “lynch.” Destruction of the enemy is always the agenda of the left. While conservatives prepare arguments, assemble evidence, leftists are busy looking into their quivers for a poison arrow, which always turns out to be a tainted label, and always pretty much the same label: racist (or sexist, or Islamophobe). So it wasn’t surprising to see the following post from Carl Pope the radical head of the Sierra...

It's enough to turn your stomach. Or, if you're a New Yorker who lived through the September 11th attacks, give you a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. A new ad purportedly for the World Wildlife Fund features dozens of airplanes converging on lower Manhattan -- featuring the Twin Towers -- with the line "The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11." The ad was first brought to our attention by Gothamist, but was originally picked up by Adweek.com's AdFreak blog, which reports that the ad is from the Brazilian arm of the WWF. Sure, the 2004 tsunami was a...

The Girl from 'Impeenema' A TV ad campaign in Brazil urges folks to urinate in the shower to conserve water ... and save the rain forests. No matter how long we stay in or what kind of showerhead we use, we all have unique shower routines and rituals, some more complex than others. The Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Altantica, via a cute, kid-oriented TV ad campaign called "Xixi no Banho," suggests that citizens add one more task to their soaping-up, shampooing, conditioning and shaving routines — peeing. The group believes that by adding a yellow stream to the morning's...

Geologist Ian Plimer takes a contrary view, arguing that man-made climate change is a con trick perpetuated by environmentalists By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver SunJuly 28, 2009 Ian Plimer has outraged the ayatollahs of purist environmentalism, the Torquemadas of the doctrine of global warming, and he seems to relish the damnation they heap on him. Plimer is a geologist, professor of mining geology at Adelaide University, and he may well be Australia's best-known and most notorious academic. Plimer, you see, is an unremitting critic of "anthropogenic global warming" -- man-made climate change to you and me -- and the current environmental...

Climate Fear Promoters Attempt to Explain Record Cold and Snow: 'Global warming made it less cool' Climate Fear activists switch from predictions of 'climate crisis' to "global warming made it less cool' Monday, July 27, 2009 - By Marc Morano – Climate Depot Climate Depot Editorial The year 2009 is proving to be a yet another very inconvenient year for the promoters of man-made global warming fears. As the “year without a summer” continues, the U.S. in July alone has broken over 3000 cold temperature records, and global temps have fallen .74F since Gore's film “An Inconvenient Truth” was released...

The boys in green are coming as the Environment Agency sets up a squad to police companies generating excessive CO2 emissions. The agency is creating a unit of about 50 auditors and inspectors, complete with warrant cards and the power to search company premises to enforce the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which comes into effect next year. Decked out in green jackets, the enforcers will be able to demand access to company property, view power meters, call up electricity and gas bills and examine carbon-trading records for an estimated 6,000 British businesses. Ed Mitchell, head of business performance and regulation...

My personal politics aren't important here, since really my focus is the animals; loads of other blogs to look at for the more overtly political slant. I'm happy when smart and humane, pro-animal, pro-environment positions are taken by either or both Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals, Libertarians, Greens, or aluminum-foil-hat-wearing folks concerned about the upcoming Martian invasion. But like anyone who cares about animals and the environment, no, I wasn't exactly thrilled by Sarah Palin as a candidate for vice president. (Unexpected, related sidebar: Senator McCain's wife, Cindy, was a member of my Board of Directors for several of...

What will it take to get developing nations to sign up to a global climate agreement? A critical part of the answer, it seems, is cold, hard cash. Wealthy nations are considering just how much poor countries should be paid to help combat global warming. Countries in poorer parts of the world like China and India are demanding that wealthier regions like the European Union and North America fund their efforts at developing clean energy technologies and help them adapt to the effects of climate change caused largely by accumulated emissions from the industrialized West. Money to fund these efforts...

LONDON -- President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful. SNIP SNIP "What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations," Obama said, adding that the international community also "has a very real interest" in preventing a nuclear arms race.

The social engineering spin of the green mindset dictates that we should buy ‘green' cars, divert food crops to fuel them, restrict air travel and ban plasma TVs and, of course, traditional light-bulbs. So let's take a closer look at the current green-led switchover: the dimly-lit realities behind ‘green' light bulbs. Back to the ‘dark ages' In the US, Republican Jane Harman (D-Calif.) introduced legislation aimed at setting a target date of 2012 to ban the sale of traditional incandescent light-bulbs, switching America over to low-energy alternatives. After all, low-energy "compact fluorescent bulbs" (CFLs) use just one-fifth of the energy...

And other unintended consequences of strict fuel-economy standards. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Such is the case with President Barack Obama's proposed national fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and a new tailpipe standard for C02 emissions. The national press has uncritically reported that the new standards will make cars "cleaner." In fact, the rules could impose substantial costs in terms of urban air pollution and human life. The standards are designed to reduce C02 emissions from cars, with the twin goals of addressing climate change and reducing dependence on imported energy. Carbon...

The paparazzi saved Halle Berry's life!!! Or at least her car.As you can clearly see, Halle started to pump diesel gas into her Lexus SUV -- but the paps stopped her before any damage was done. In her defense, diesel gas is better for the environment and provides better fuel economy.

Back in 2007, the New York Times famously proclaimed that the evangelical movement in America was cracking up. Since then, the media has relished exposing what they see as fault lines in evangelicalism over such issues as abortion, marriage, and the environment. The pundits seized upon President Obama’s decisive electoral victory last fall to opine that evangelicals were no longer the political force they once were. And just last week, a well-known evangelical blogger predicted the “collapse” of evangelicalism in America within the next decade, even though he also predicted that out of the ruins of evangelicalism, “new forms of...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson opened Pandora’s box recently by agreeing to reconsider a Bush administration decision that excluded carbon dioxide from the list of pollutants the agency regulates under the Clean Air Act. Human beings and animals exhale the carbon dioxide that plants use in photosynthesis. A byproduct of photosynthesis is normally oxygen breathed by human beings and animals. So to even consider classifying carbon dioxide as a pollutant is, to put it mildly, quite a stretch.

CALGARY - U.S. President Barack Obama says Alberta's oilsands industry "creates a big carbon footprint" that leaves Canada and America facing an environmental dilemma about how to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from energy development. He also says he's eyeing carbon capture and storage as a possible solution. As the public-relations war between industry and environmental groups heats up over the oilsands - the second-largest oil reserves on the planet next to Saudi Arabia - the massive development in northern Alberta has clearly caught the eye of the 44th U.S. president. Obama has previously vowed to end America's addiction to "dirty, dwindling...

More on this tonight at 5pm on Fox News.. The audio is from the inauguration. Gore was speaking to a group of young children about Global warming and told them not to listen to their parents. AUDIO AT LINK

Inaugural revelers are lucky they didn't get fined for littering. As crowds cleared the city Tuesday, their trash covered the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds after President Barack Obama's inauguration. They left behind plastic bottles, newspapers, food wrappers, gloves and even American flags they had been waving. Trash bins overflowed with items people tossed.

If the Tesla Roadster just isn't enough for you...not fast enough, not weird enough, and not expensive enough, then you should probably start looking out for Eliica's. Just two of these Japanese peculio-mobiles currently exist, but the Eliica team is looking to get corporate sponsorship to produce 200 of them. And, if they get that sponsorship, you'll be able to pick one up for the low, low price of $255,000. Now, I know what you're thinking...why eight wheels? Well, very simply, so it can go faster. Traditionally, more rolling resistance would be a bad thing, but not if each of...

While the highly charged debate on climate change and global warming ensues, Obama wants kindergarten children to be taught climate change science in the classroom. On May 14, 2007, Obama introduced in the Senate, a bill called, the “Climate Change Education Act,” which authorizes “the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program.”

Ten polar bears have been spotted swimming in open water during an aerial survey as the peak of summer sea ice melting nears. Drowning polar bears has only been seen as a threat to the species in recent years as the extent of sea ice recedes to historic low levels. Last year, there was more open water than ever before recorded; this year's melt, while dramatic, won't reach the same extent as 2007.

You knew it had to happen, and in the back of you mind, you even suspected. Yes, it’s true, the upcoming remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” will throw away the “end violence” message of the 1951 original, and instead exchange it with a “get green” message of today. I guess in a way I sort of knew this was going to happen. It’s Hollywood, after all, and “going green” is the cause du jour of the last few years. They’ll keep pumping the same message until something more sexy comes along. More: Fifty years later and Klaatu...

‘Imagine if every child in the country channelled their Pester Power in service of the Glorious Green Future.’ So says James Russell in his recent book How to Turn Your Parents Green. And he’s far from alone in his musings. npower, a large British electriciy supplier, have also been evisaging a world in which kids, renamed Climate Cops, are instructed to ferret out ‘climate crimes’ in their homes, schools and cities and report them to the authorities, that is, in Russell’s words, to ‘nag, pester, bug, torment and punish the people who are merrily wrecking [their] world’, fining ‘transgressors’ for...

The Rev. Robert Jones went to the Capitol last Wednesday hoping to make his voice heard. What he got instead was a swear-word laden rebuke from Democratic Sen. Pat Wiggins, who interrupted Jones' testimony to say: "Excuse me, but I think your arguments are bull----." The exchange left Jones, the senior pastor at Oak Park United Methodist Church, stunned and offended. "It is a slap in the face," he said in an interview. The outburst occurred as Jones, 46, testified at an informational hearing on how California will cut global warming emissions. Jones, who is African American, said he went...

Update: Jan Gee of the Washington Food Industry says a Web site with more information on the effort to repeal the bag fee will go live Tuesday or Wednesday. She said it would appear at stopthebagtax.com, where an effort against a California bag fee currently resides. Still mad about that 20-cent grocery bag fee? If a group of Seattle grocers gets its way, the fee could be history, according to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Washington Food Industry, a trade group for independent grocers such as Red Apple and Metropolitan Market, launched a signature-gathering drive on...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Farming kangaroos instead of sheep and cattle in Australia could cut by almost a quarter the greenhouse gases produced by grazing livestock, which account for 11 percent of the nation's annual emissions, said a new study. Removing seven million cattle and 36 million sheep by 2020 and replacing them with 175 million kangaroos, to produce the same amount of meat, could lower national greenhouse gases by 3 percent a year, said the University of New South Wales study. Methane from the foregut of cattle and sheep constitutes 11 percent of Australia's total greenhouse emissions, but kangaroos produce...

We don't need government to regulate everything. San Francisco - Ever-perceived by the rest of the nation as perched on the fringe of rationality, San Francisco is about to flip its lid once again. The lid's color, if it's any comfort, is green – as in one of the three recycling bins into which its residents will be forced to sort their food waste. The consequences for the unwilling, if the mayor has his way? Fines up to $1,000 from the garbage police. I kid you not. Mayor Gavin Newsom is taking the leap from voluntary environmental engagement to an...

Which gets better gas mileage, a Hummer or a scooter? No contest. But which is more polluting? It may not be what you think. "It's true. The cleanest scooter is still dirtier than a car," said John Swanton, air pollution specialist with the California Air Resources Board.

Al Gore has a new boat and even it is green. The boat is docked at Hurricane Marina on Center Hill Lake in Smithville, about 70 miles east of Nashville. While it doesn't have solar panels yet, a spokesperson at Gore's office told News 2 they are scheduled to be installed Wednesday. The boat is named Bio-Solar One and has been called the "Toyota Prius of boats"...

The ships' logs of great maritime figures such as Lord Nelson and Captain Cook have cast new light on climate change by suggesting that global warming may not be an entirely man-made phenomenon. Scientists have uncovered a treasure trove of meteorological information contained in the detailed logs kept by those on board the vessels that established Britain's great seafaring traditition including those on Nelsons' Victory and Cook's Endeavour.

A rookie cop - the son of a highly respected New York City detective - has been stripped of his badge and gun after being caught on video viciously attacking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration. ' The startling YouTube video shows Officer Patrick Pogan, 22, apparently setting his sights on - and then tackling - a bicyclist as he pedaled along Seventh Avenue as part of last Friday's controversial Critical Mass ride. Christopher Long, 29, was among a throng of riders as he whizzed toward the corner of West 46th Street at 9:30 p.m. and...

Imagine what life would be like floating around the world on a giant island capable of holding 50,000 people and completely sustaining itself. Well, welcome to "Lilypad City." Designed like a lily pad, the innovation by award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut could be used as a permanent refuge for those whose homes have been covered by water in the future. "I think trying to accommodate the millions of people left homeless by environmental changes will prove to be one of the great challenges of the 21st century," he told the Daily Mail. "Some countries spend billions of pounds working on...

All new vehicles on sale in California will soon have to display their green credentials. This is a new scheme implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). From January 1, 2009, stickers like the one seen here will carry information about the environmental performance of every vehicle they’re pasted into. There will be a ‘Global Warming Score’ (based on greenhouse gas emissions from driving and fuel production) and a ‘Smog Score’ (pretty much self-explanatory), both rated on a one-to-ten scale, with ten being the cleanest. And, similar to warnings on cigarette packets, they will say: ‘Protect the environment, choose...

First, it was cow gas that was wrecking the environment. Then gas-powered lawnmowers. Now, it’s fireworks we’re supposed to worry about. Fireworks, it was reported this week, are helping ruin both the Earth and our health. Where most of us looked up at the sky last night and saw red, white and blue, some people, it seems, saw only the first. Fireworks, some scientists are warning, are toxic, and you know what’s next. All those “ooohhhhhhhs” and “aaahhhhhhhhhhs” will soon be “booooos” and “baaaaaaaaahs.” Except that people, many people, have had enough of “Enough.”“No matter what you do, something is...

The unnecessary refrigeration of America has become a chronic disease. It seems to have gotten worse over the past few years, with thermostats routinely set at 68deg.F, and sometimes even 65 deg., in the (far too many) hotel rooms I've suffered on the campaign trail. "Americans seem to keep their houses cooler in summer than they do in the winter," muses Edward Parson, an environmental expert at the University of Michigan Law School. But it's hard to know for sure, since there are no comprehensive studies that measure air-conditioning trend lines...

For three days, members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami this weekend shared their problems and successes, heard experts discuss challenges facing them and compiled a list of issues their representatives will take to Washington, D.C., and to state capitols. It so happens that the top representative for the coming year is Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, newly installed as the group's president. As such, he'll be pushing the mayors' agenda in Congress, at the White House and in the federal agencies that interact with city governments. Greener cities It is an ambitious agenda. The Mayors Conference, for...

I thought about GanGreen because we are going to be cutting off arms and legs to pay.

Dear Google comrades Sergei and Larry! The Party looks kindly at your attempts to correct and improve history by unobtrusively modifying the Google logo on notable calendar dates. For years you have zealously informed the masses about progressive and useful events like Earth Day or Earth Hour, while purposefully ignoring Memorial Day (no logo change on this reactionary American holiday). Most recently, you enlightened the unwashed about the Spanish artist Velázquez on June 6 without mentioning the Allied Invasion of Normandy on D-Day, a celebration of which would indeed be offensive to National Socialists. ~ The time is ripe for...

" Have you ever thought that you stand a better chance to woo a girl by going green? Well, a recent study conducted by US car maker General Motors has revealed that nearly 88 per cent of women surveyed would chat to a guy who owns a green car than a sports car. Quite an award for going green! "

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Could "green" become a new watchword in TV programming? While the media companies have long been touting everything they're doing behind the scenes to become more environment-friendly, the message increasingly is seeping into their programming. On Wednesday, Discovery Communications launches the first 24/7 eco-friendly network, Planet Green, which will take over the space occupied by Discovery Home Channel. That follows NBC Universal's second companywide "Green Week" in April -- featuring 100 hours of green-themed content airing across 42 NBC Universal brands and 28 Web sites -- with two more already planned for November and April....

There are RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and then there are RINOs who call themselves Republicans for Environmental Protection. Founded in 1995, REP seeks to save the planet through decidedly un-Republican, big-government socialism. It also annually hands out its "Greenest Republican in Congress" award. This year's co-winner is Rep. Christopher Shays, RINO-4th District, who by sheer coincidence is on REP's "Honorary Board of Distinguished Republicans," along with co-winner Sen. Susan Collins, RINO-Maine. On REP's 0-100 scorecard, Rep. Shays scored 103 for promoting policies that are responsible for today's record energy prices and much more. Out of the other side of...

You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated. A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology...

Washington DC, Apr 24, 2008 / 10:17 pm (CNA).- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing criticism for repeatedly attributing an incorrect quotation to the Book of Isaiah that concerns ministering to creation, Cybercast News Service reports. The speaker has used the quotation at least five times, often in reference to environmental concerns.The falsely-attributed quotation most recently appeared in her April 22 Earth Day news release, in which Speaker Pelosi said, “The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the...

On an episode of her Mob Logic.TV called "Hybrid Hullabaloo" the lovely Lindsay Campbell (pictured right) had the opportunity to ask an owner of the iconic super-sized Tonka toy something she has been wanting to ask for a long time. While interviewing random people in the parking lot of a "big box" store about hybrids and why they aren't driving them, she spots a man returning to his king-sized ride and runs to confront him. With mic in hand and cameraman in tow she starts, "Tell me seriously, I've always wanted to talk with a Hummer owner and find out...