The Last Frost

 This past Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled that the EPA does in fact have the authority to regulate auto emissions that contribute to climate change such as carbon dioxide. It was a close vote, but in the end they did the right thing voting 5-4 in favor. Unfortunately those 4 votes stemmed from the 4 justices you would expect to vote against the ruling, all Bush appointees. 

 This ruling may have widespread impacts across the automotive industry as States and the EPA are now able to set mandatory emissions standards.  

Court rules against Bush in global warming case – [Reuters]

Al Gore will be testifying before the United States Congress about Climate Change in just a couple more days. There's a petition to sign which will be delivered to Congress by Gore himself. Currently near 300,000 signatures, Gore hopes to get 350,000. So send this around to your friends which will send a message to Congress that action must be taken to curb global climate change while we still have the chance.

UPDATE: As of Saturday morning there were 405,758 signatures, so now the goal is 500,000 and there are two more days to do it. Please pass this along to your friends so they can sign if they're interested. You can even use the "Email This Post" link below to save you some trouble.

Sign The Petition [AlGore.com] 

California is considering it but Australia is announcing it.

They're releasing legislation in 2009 to ban the sale and use of incandescent light bulbs. Compact florescents and LED bulbs will be the more energy efficient replacements.

The move will save massive quantities of energy. 

World First? Australia Switches Off Incandescent Bulbs [TreeHugger]

Image from: ServiceLighting.com 

China to promise cuts in greenhouse gases [New Scientist Environment]
    China has goal to reduce G.H.G. emissions by 10% over 5 years. 

Top 10 Largest Databases in the World [Business Intelligence Lowdown]
    #1 is interesting.

Wis. could become second state to require fewer greenhouse gases [Chippewa.com]
    CA was first.

"It appears there may have been an orchestrated campaign to mislead the public about climate change" [Rep. Henry Waxman via CNN.com]

Well you don't say! I mean seriously, does this really surprise anyone? Disturbing, yes, surprising? Not in the least. 

Lawmakers hear of interference in global warming science – [CNN.com]

By 2012 California may ban the use of conventional light bulbs, requiring the use of much more efficient florescent bulbs.

I've replaced most of the bulbs in my apartment with new CFL bulbs, and they work wonderfully. First of all the quality of the light is much warmer as compared to the florescent bulbs that most people are used to in offices and the like. They turn on almost instantly now… no more of that annoying flickering. They also burn out much less often which saves money. 

In my opinion banning a specific type of technology is kind of silly, but perhaps what's really needed is efficiency standards. If your bulb isn't over a certain percentage of efficiency… no can sell. That would get my vote, if I lived in California that is. 

California may ban conventional lightbulbs by 2012 – [Reuters.com]

It's rare these days that the American democratic process works in favor of environmental issues.  Exxon has recently been feeling the burn of a Democratic Congress, so much so they pulled the funding from many of their climate change "think tanks". Instead it's going to focus on what can be done to influence the actual policies that will affect them rather than denying there's a problem.

So in other word's their bullshit machine is moving underground where the public has to dig down deep to track.  

Exxon Yanks Funding from Global Warming Deniers – [Blue Mass Group]

'Smokey' Joe Barton, a beady eyed rat of a politician that I'm ashamed to share a birthday with, has been a long time proponent that global warming is bullshit. He's entitled to his opinion sure, but when you're a freakin' congressman it might be a good idea to at least attempt to stand up for the truth, but I digress.

Think Progress has recently suggested that part of the reason congress hasn't done a single thing to address global warming is because of Joe Barton and people like him. It's hard to argue that it's not true when you consider some of his statements about the issue.

He is the source of probably the single stupidest statement uttered seriously by a human being, "I cannot imagine any objective finding that CO2 is a pollutant," he said. "If that's true, God is a polluter." I wonder if he considers Mercury, Lead, or Arsenic pollutants, they're all made by god too.

So Barton, just in case you read this, here's an explanation of why your statement is stupid and wrong. Just because C02 occurs in nature doesn't mean it can't hurt us or our climate. There are lots of things in nature that are harmful if there's too much of it or if it's in the wrong place. Don't believe me? Next time you go swimming dive as deep as you can and then inhale as deeply as you can. Then if you survive, you'll understand that even water can be harmful to life. I'm sorry to break it to you like this Joe, but it's true, god isn't just a polluter, he's also trying to drown you.

Here's another gem of wisdom that he uttered in 2001, "as long as I am chairman, (regulating global warming pollution) is off the table indefinitely. I don't want there to be any uncertainty about that." Which is basically saying, "I will never consider any argument suggesting global warming is real, ever". What an intelligent and logical position to take! Especially when it's concerning an emerging science, with new data rolling in every day, with implications for the survival of every living thing on our planet.

So where does a human being with no background in climate science, get the nerve to say most of the world's leading climate scientists are wrong? If you're buddy buddy with big oil, I guess the nerve comes in the form a check. Opensecrets.org reports that he has received over a million dollars from oil and gas companies and another million from other energy companies, check out the full breakdown of his recieved contributions here. At least now we know who Joe Barton is really working for.

Barton has been in office since 1985, he's also (unfortunately for humanity) the chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee. He has fought every attempt by congress to acknowledge the existence of and possibly start to remedy the effects of climate change. He has even been accused of harassing and intimidating climate researchers by both the Houston Chronicle and the National Academy of Sciences. Who would have thought that a Republican from Texas could be so backwards?

Joe has worked very diligently to earn this award, Senator Inhofe was a close runner up but he's just a bumbling twit so we let him off the hook this time. If any of you live in Texas, do the world a favor and fire this fool of a man, even if you have to wait until 2008 to do it. It's probably one of the most important things you could do for our country and the world as a whole. If you can't wait or you just want to tell the guy off, contact him here: Contact Joe Barton.

And the article that spawned this rant: 

'Smokey' Joe Barton Calls Global Warming Science ‘Absolute Nonsense,’ Vows To Fight CO2 Caps – [ThinkProgress.org]

Back in June, I mentioned that the Supreme Court would be hearing a case that could have far reaching implications for global warming. Today the big court will begin hearing arguments on the case.

The argument stems from a disagreement between the EPA and several states. The EPA says the Clean Air Act does not mention tail pipe emissions as a pollutant therefore it does not need to regulate them. The states that have brought this case this far disagree. 

If the EPA loses, the auto industry will be pissed. It will mean the whole industry will have to adhere to strict emissions standards. Not only will it affect the auto industry, it will require the EPA to regulate C02 and other greenhouse gases as pollutants which will have far reaching effects. This will be an important case to follow. 

Does anyone find it ridiculous that the US Environmental Protection Agency is fighting against it's responsibility to Protect the Environment? Perhaps the EPA should be dismantled and replaced with an agency that actually does it's job.

Supreme Court Addresses Tailpipe Emissions – [CNSNews.com]

Boulder Colorado, a smallish city just north of Denver, will soon start collecting a carbon tax on all electricity sold in the city. The money will be used to fund several initiatives to make buildings more efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The tax is estimated to cost the average household just $16 a year, and by 2012 should net the city a cool 6.7 million dollars. Which in my opinion isn't really that much money to achieve real change, but it's a great precedent and will hopefully become a country-wide trend.

I wouldn't mind paying a small premium on my electricity if the taxes really went towards solving problems. I prefer paying a small premium for 100% green power though. The money would go directly to the power generation facilities rather than government. Not that I don't trust the government to handle my tax dollars responsibly… um, yeah right. 

Boulder Colorado USA Enacts Carbon Tax > [New York Times via TreeHugger]