Free Republic

The New York HEAT Act might not make the final budget. The bill reduces the state’s reliance on natural gas and cuts ratepayer costs by eliminating certain rules. It was in both legislative chambers’ one-house budgets, but last-minute scrambling could remove it. New York League of Conservation Voters Policy Director Patrick McClellan said, aside from people’s preference for natural gas, other challenges have made the bill hard to pass. “I think that there has also been some irresponsible fear-mongering against this bill from some people who oppose it,” said McClellan, “basically telling people this means that their natural gas service...

Scientists say they have created an experimental new high-tech window coating that works similarly to polarized lenses on sunglasses by allowing all of the visible light through while also reflecting unwanted heat. If added to existing buildings and car windows, the new coating could reduce internal temperatures in hotter climates without sacrificing any of the visible light while also reducing energy usage for indoor air conditioning by as much as 30%. The new coating was developed by researchers from Notre Dame University who were looking for a cheap yet viable way to reduce the use of air conditioning in cars...

Last month was the planet’s warmest February on record and the ninth-straight month of record-breaking temperatures, according to data released Thursday. February was more than 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer than an average February in pre-industrial times, reported Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service. The average global surface air temperature during the month was 13.54 degrees Celsius — or about 56 degrees Fahrenheit — and beats the previous warmest February, which was recorded in 2016. The month was also part of a record-warm twelve-month period, according to the service, which reported that “the global-average temperature for the past twelve months...

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has appointed an adviser focused on extreme heat after the state experienced record summer temperatures last year. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) announced Wednesday that Dr. Eugene Livar is now the country’s first statewide chief heat officer. Livar’s new position is part of Hobbs’s Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, announced Friday, in which state agencies will work to address Arizona’s extreme heat in the immediate and long-term future. “ADHS is proud to play a role in meeting this moment and working to fix a complex problem facing Arizonans and we will handle this responsibility...

Winter temperatures increased by 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit on average since 1970 in these warming locations. Winters in the fastest-warming cities have warmed by as much as 7 degrees. The Northeast and Upper Midwest are the regions warming fastest, and are running a nearly 5-degree winter fever. This includes some ski towns like Burlington, Vermont, (7.7 degree increase) and Concord, New Hampshire (6.6 degree increase). Winter in notoriously cold Milwaukee is now 6.7 degrees warmer on average. For many, a little extra winter warmth may sound nice. But milder winters come with consequences. “Wintertime plays important roles in the life cycles...

CHICAGO () - When temperatures drop to bone-chilling levels like we’re experiencing now, railroads use open flames to keep the trains moving.. According to Metra spokesman Michael Gillis, they’re using natural gas to heat switches. “It looks like the tracks are on fire, but what it is, there are gas burners next to the switches, and we light them to keep the switches warm, so the switches can move,” said Gillis. “If they freeze up, then our trains can’t change tracks and that leads to congestion…It’s really essential to keep the switches operational so that we can keep our trains...

With energy bills putting a crunch on the U.S. this winter, comparing the costs of electric heat vs gas heat can be an important decision for homeowners looking to save money. When Kiplinger looked at this same question last year, we concluded that gas heat was the cheaper option. However, a new study found flaws in the way electric heating costs are accounted for, changing the cost outlook. Moreover, electricity costs vary substantially from one U.S. state to another. In this year’s winter fuels outlook, published by the Energy Information Agency (EIA), it’s forecasted that from November through March, heating-oil...

The latest calculations from several science agencies showing Earth obliterated global heat records last year may seem scary. But scientists worry that what’s behind those numbers could be even worse. The Associated Press asked more than three dozen scientists in interviews and emails what the smashed records mean. Most said they fear acceleration of climate change that is already right at the edge of the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) increase since pre-industrial times that nations had hoped to stay within. “The heat over the last calendar year was a dramatic message from Mother Nature,” said University of Arizona climate...

The average American household that uses electricity to heat a home this winter will pay hundreds of dollars more than those who use natural gas, according to a new report from a federal agency. The report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said a home that uses electricity will pay 77 percent more or an average of $462 this winter, compared to a household that uses natural gas. Looking into the winter fuel outlook, the report said electricity will cost $46.19, based on a unit of heat. By comparison, the cost of natural gas will be $13.97. ... officials have...

New York residents could face skyrocketing heating bills under the state’s new “green” policies — which may not even have a significant impact on greenhouse-gas emissions, a new study warns. A review by the Empire Center for Public Policy says the state’s new rules will push homeowners to buy expensive electrified heat pumps while being forced to phase out their natural gas, oil and propane systems. But even then, the new electrification policy could only have a negligible impact on greenhouse emissions while burning up homeowners’ wallets, according to the analysis, “In Cold Reality: The Cost and Challenge of Compulsory...

Support between Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and state Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) in the Kentucky gubernatorial race is tied, according to a poll released Friday. An Emerson College Polling survey found Beshear and Cameron tied at 47 percent, with 4 percent of respondents saying they were undecided and 2 percent saying someone else. The poll noted that the match-up shifts to Cameron receiving 49 percent and Beshear receiving 48 percent when undecided voters are asked whom they’re leaning toward.

Britt Wray’s fears about a warming planet came to a head in 2017 when she and her partner first talked about having a baby. Wray worked as a science communicator at the time and was bombarded with scientific reports on climate change “day in and day out,” as well as reading several bombshell articles on the subject that came out that year. “It was really this question of do I sit with the uncertainty of how bad this all might get and how nations will respond and powerholders will potentially act responsibly at some point,” said Wray, who now works...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will hold a virtual summit on extreme heat preparedness Monday, DHS announced Thursday. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will host local community leaders, who are set to offer pointers on extreme heat resilience strategies. “As extreme heat, worsened by the climate crisis, threatens the lives, safety, and security of communities everywhere, the Biden-Harris Administration is working across all levels of government to ensure communities have resources to protect the public and our nation’s critical infrastructure,” Mayorkas said in a statement.

PORTLAND, Ore — The triple-digit heat sent shoppers hunting for air conditioners in the Portland-metro area Tuesday. “It's hot," said Richard Porter, who bought an air conditioner. "I need some air conditioning." "Real hot," said Jamie Minkus, who also bought an air conditioner. "I was standing in my bedroom last night. I'm not doing anything but, just, like sweating. And then I tried to sleep, and there was just like it was sleepless, is insufferable. I have an older home, so I just need like a portable AC to kind of just help me through to the sleep." "Oh, last...

California’s Independent System Operator (ISO) warned of high temperatures and increased electricity usage during the coming week as the grid operator prepares for tight conditions works to ensure adequate supply. In a notice released on Saturday, ISO said it is closely monitoring the power grid as widespread heat waves can cause supply shortages, with resources stretched thin across multiple Western states. ISO said energy supplies are sufficient to meet demand.

The current heat wave is being relentlessly blamed on increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but there is a much more plausible explanation, one that is virtually endorsed by two of the world’s leading scientific organizations. It turns out that levels of water vapor in the atmosphere have dramatically increased over the last year and a half, and water vapor is well recognized as a greenhouse gas, whose heightened presence leads to higher temperatures, a mechanism that dwarfs any effect CO2 may have.So why has atmospheric water vapor increased so dramatically? Because of a historic, gigantic volcanic eruption...

In February, as India endured its highest temperatures since 1901, Hillary Clinton visited the country to see firsthand the heat’s impact on female workers. In Rajasthan’s salt flats, she met with women harvesting salt, laborious work that involves raking up the tops of the salt ponds in the scorching heat of the desert. The women were pushing their start times to 4 a.m. to avoid the highest temperatures of the day. Yet, despite the record heat, future years are likely to be hotter still. “How are they going to keep going?” Clinton says. The former Secretary of State is the...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A one-day-old baby boy was found abandoned outside a Texas church for nearly 20 hours during the recent intense heat wave that saw temperatures soar far beyond triple digits. San Antonio police say a man and a woman were seen on camera about 1 a.m. on July 17 carrying a basket into the parking lot of Grissom Road Church, according to a Crime Stoppers report on Wednesday. The two then placed the basket by the back door of the church and left on foot. It wasn't until about 8:50 p.m. when a bicyclist noticed something "suspicious"...

Ah, summertime, when living is easy — those days when you spend time outdoors at the beach or the pool with a cold beverage and steaks or burgers on the grill, when you can travel and camp in a national park and take in nature's magnificent beauty. At least, that's the way it used to be, until the fascist far left decided to cynically take full advantage of the fact that it gets warm in the summer and cold in the winter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).As is the case with other subjects, anti-liberty leftists love to lie with...

A record string of daily highs over 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) in Phoenix ended Monday as the dangerous heat wave that suffocated the Southwest throughout July receded slightly with cooling monsoon rains. The historic heat began blasting the region in June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more and longer than most, with several records including the 31 consecutive days of 110 degrees Fahrenheit-plus (43.4 degrees Celsius) weather. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974. The streak was finally broken Monday, when the high...