to compare the scale of china versus canada, if canada met all the co2 reduction target and our economy will no doubt suffer, china can blow us (our CO2 reduction) away with just 2 new coal plants. Oh ya, china is adding coal plants at a rate of 2 per week (on rolling average basis). Yes, both china and canada signed kyoto
Global Warming Means Fewer Hurricanes 20-May-2008 …but that ones that DO occur will be more powerful - A surprising study shows that in the future, when the world is warmer, there will be fewer hurricanes like the terrible cyclone that devastated Myanmar—NOT more. This is because earth is heating up with such unexpected speed that the heat is reaching the stratosphere far faster than expected. This means that there will be less of a temperature difference between the lower and upper atmosphere, and it is this difference that creates storms. Unfortunately, it is also what drives the jet streams, which will become sluggish and then stop if the heating continues. Without jet streams to clear the air, many large cities will quickly become unlivable. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says its findings o not support the idea that climate change is causing an increase in the number of hurricanes and tropical storms. In BBC News, Mark Kinver quotes NOAA researcher Tom Knutson as saying, "There have been some studies published that have suggested that this is the case, but this modeling study does not support that idea. Rather, we actually simulate a reduction in hurricane frequency in the Atlantic." But although there may be fewer storms in the future, Knutson predicts that the ones that do occur will be more powerful. Kinver quotes him as saying, "The model is simulating increased intensity of the hurricanes that do occur, and also increased rainfall rates."
Adam King, 615.383.6431 adam@tennesseepolicy.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Energy Guzzled by Al Gore’s Home in Past Year Could Power 232 U.S. Homes for a Month Gore’s personal electricity consumption up 10%, despite “energy-efficient” home renovations NASHVILLE - In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.” In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month. In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household. After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul. Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration. In the wake of becoming the most well-known global warming alarmist, Gore won an Oscar, a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, Gore saw his personal wealth increase by an estimated $100 million thanks largely to speaking fees and investments related to global warming hysteria. “Actions speak louder than words, and Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said. “Gore is exploiting the public’s concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile.” The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a Nashville-based free market think tank and watchdog organization, obtained information about Gore’s home energy use through a public records request to the Nashville Electric Service.
my fav candy Popular Chinese candy linked to tainted milk By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 20 minutes ago They were Premier Zhou Enlai's favorite late-night snack. He loved White Rabbit candy so much he gave a bag to President Nixon during his historic visit to China. But the iconic brand, beloved by generations of Chinese, took a hit after it was linked to the tainted milk scandal. The Shanghai-based maker of the candy said Friday it had halted production because of suspected melamine contamination. The chewy vanilla-flavored White Rabbit sweets have already been pulled from shelves around Asia and in Britain. The Guan Sheng Yuan Co. was still waiting for test results on samples of its exported products, but all sales have been stopped as a precaution, said Ge Junjie, a vice president of Bright Foods (Group) Co. Ltd., which owns the Shanghai maker. "It's a tragedy for the Chinese food industry and a big lesson for us as it ruined the time-honored brand," Ge was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily. The popular sweets are sold in more than 50 countries throughout Asia and the world, including most of the Chinatowns in the United States. Overseas sales have reached $160 million over the past five years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended Friday that consumers not eat White Rabbit candy and that retailers remove it from sale. The agency also recommended avoiding Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products being recalled by Taiwan's Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd., though it said it was not aware of any illnesses in the United States linked to either the candy or the coffee and tea products. Tests in Singapore and New Zealand this week found White Rabbit sweets were tainted with melamine, the industrial chemical that has already been found in milk and other dairy products in China. Used in making plastic and fertilizer, it has been blamed for causing kidney problems in infants and young children, sickening some 54,000 and killing four babies. About 13,000 remain hospitalized. The widening scandal has dealt a huge blow to China's leading candy maker, which has been producing the hugely popular sweets for about a half-century. "White Rabbit is a famous brand, with huge brand assets. It's almost an icon and carries lots of memories. Imagine if the same thing happened to Coca-Cola," said Kara Chan, a professor in the communication studies department at Hong Kong Baptist University who studies branding. White Rabbit was first produced in 1959, "in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," according to the company Web site. Its historic pedigree got an even bigger boost in 1972 when the Chinese premier gave the candy, along with two pandas, as a state gift for the visiting President Nixon as a sign of friendship. Virtually all Chinese have fond memories of the sticky, taffy-like confection wrapped in edible rice paper. With its distinctive red, white, and blue packaging and wide-eyed namesake, White Rabbit candies are ubiquitous, routinely offered up in homes throughout China. "When we were in school, all my classmates liked White Rabbit," said Su Yan, a 19-year-old sales clerk. "Girls would ask their boyfriends to buy it for them and the candy would be served on occasions like holiday receptions, a graduation party and wedding ceremonies." Retailer Carrefour and supermarket chain Jingkelong in Beijing said their stores have pulled the candy off their shelves, but other grocers, including one in the popular Silk Market, still stocked it on Friday. Tea stall owner Yuan Yaqi, a self-described White Rabbit fan, had a 5-pound bag open beside her as she waited for customers Friday. "I loved White Rabbit when I was a child, because I liked milk products," she said. "I remember at every Spring Festival, my parents prepared a big dish mixed with melon seeds, peanuts and candies to be served to visiting friends. I often picked out the White Rabbits and hid them somewhere for myself." Yuan said she had not heard about the melamine contamination ban, but said: "If White Rabbit was gone forever, I would feel very sad." It's not the first time White Rabbit has faced allegations of contamination. Last year, it was at the heart of another controversy, with the Philippines government claiming the candy contained formaldehyde and demanding a recall. The company blamed counterfeit candy for the problem. Concern about White Rabbit candy has spread as far away as South America, where health authorities in Suriname ordered stores to stop selling it as a precautionary measure. The candy is widely available in Suriname, where people of Chinese heritage make up roughly 8 percent of the population. In Peru, White Rabbit candy was among five milk-based Chinese products banned for import or sale by the health ministry.
White Rabbit Poison This is a little scary. These yummy things were considered part of the dowry when I married into a Chinese family.
When i was young, i only get a few from my grand parents on special occasions. (ex. new year day, my BD)
Global cooling sign: Solar winds at 50-year-low Posted: September 28, 2008, 2:24 AM by Lawrence Solomon Lawrence Solomon, Climate change, global warming, global cooling, NASA, Danish National Space Institute Lawrence Solomon In yet another sign that the Earth could be heading in to a period of global cooling, NASA reports that the solar wind is now at a 50-year low, the lowest that NASA has seen. This change in solar activity, which began to occur about a decade ago, coincides with the end of the climb in global temperatures that had been underway for decades. "What we're seeing is a long term trend, a steady decrease in pressure that began sometime in the mid-1990s," explains Arik Posner, NASA's Ulysses Program Scientist in Washington DC. "How unusual is this event? "It's hard to say. We've only been monitoring solar wind since the early years of the Space Age—from the early 60s to the present. Over that period of time, it's unique. How the event stands out over centuries or millennia, however, is anybody's guess. We don't have data going back that far." As a result of the diminished solar wind, cosmic rays are entering the Earth's atmosphere in greater number. Research at the Danish National Space Institute shows that cosmic rays increase cloud cover on Earth, and that this cloud cover can have a cooling effect. Does this help explain why global temperatures plateaued a decade ago, and why they are now decreasing? Stay tuned!
Farmer's Almanac Predicts Colder, 'Catastrophic' Winter Monday , August 25, 2008 LEWISTON, Maine — People worried about the high cost of keeping warm this winter will draw little comfort from the Farmers' Almanac, which predicts below-average temperatures for most of the U.S. "Numb's the word," says the 192-year-old publication, which claims an accuracy rate of 80 to 85 percent for its forecasts that are prepared two years in advance. The almanac's 2009 edition, which goes on sale Tuesday, says at least two-thirds of the country can expect colder-than-average temperatures this winter, with only the Far West and Southeast in line for near-normal readings. "This is going to be catastrophic for millions of people," said almanac editor Peter Geiger. The almanac predicts above-normal snowfall for the Great Lakes and Midwest, especially during January and February, and above-normal precipitation for the Southwest in December and for the Southeast in January and February. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will likely have an unusually wet or snowy February, the almanac said. In contrast, the usually wet Pacific Northwest could be a bit drier than normal in February. Looking ahead to summer, the almanac foresees near-normal temperatures in most places. But much of the Southwest should prepare for unusually hot weather in June and July, while Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas will get oppressive July heat and humidity. The almanac — not to be confused with the New Hampshire-based Old Farmer's Almanac which is 26 years older — attributes its forecasts to reclusive prognosticator Caleb Weatherbee, who uses a secret formula based on sunspots, the position of the planets and the tidal action of the moon. Weatherbee's outlook is borne out by e-mails the almanac has received in recent days from readers who have spotted signs of nature they say point to a rough winter, Geiger said. These folklore signs range from an abundance of acorns already on the ground to the frequency of fog in August. The almanac is at odds with the National Weather Service, whose trends-based outlook calls for warmer than normal weather this winter over much of the country, including Alaska, said Ed O'Lenic, chief of the operations branch at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. The almanac and the weather service are in sync, however, in pointing to a chance of a drier winter in the Northwest. O'Lenic wouldn't comment specifically on the almanac's ability to forecast the weather two years from now, but said it's generally impossible to come up with accurate forecasts more than a week in advance. "Of course it's possible to prepare a forecast with any lead time you like. Whether or nor that forecast has any accuracy or usable skill is another question," he said. Geiger sticks to his guns, saying the almanac was on target in the 2008 edition when it said the Northeast and the Great Lakes would have a long, cold winter with lots of snow. The almanac claims a circulation of about 3 1/2 million. Most are sold to banks, insurance companies and other businesses that give them away. Other versions are sold by retailers in the U.S. and Canada. Circulation has dropped in recent years, a reflection of a trend that affects many print publications. The almanac has been increasing emphasis on its Web site and also offers a half-hour program that airs weekly on about 90 percent of the nation's public television stations. However, some aspects of the almanac never change. The 2009 retail edition has the usual mix of helpful hints, recipes, gardening tips, riddles, anecdotes, corny jokes and inspirational messages. If there's a theme to this year's almanac, it's environmental awareness, frugality and living a sustainable life. There are articles on water conservation, gas-sipping motor scooters, natural cures and preventions for colds and other illnesses, and on growing food without a yard. ---------------------------------------- global climate trend is like fashion, it comes and goes. er
Are you bitter about getting so few treats, or thankful that your grandparents saved your brain cells and kidneys. ( 婆 婆Poh Poh knows best)
HAS THE SUN SET ON CLEAN TECH? Once a booming industry thanks to sky-high oil prices, the feel-good trend, carbon reduction and subsidies, the financial crisis has pushed investors to give up on green energies, and like the dot-com bubble of 2000, some analysts say it's about to burst ERIC REGULY 00:00 EST Thursday, November 13, 2008 The executives of Canadian solar-energy company Arise Technologies knew hours before yesterday's conference call that their shares were probably doomed. They could thank Germany's Solon, one of their two biggest customers, for the dark forewarning. There is no longer any doubt: As far as investors are concerned, the sun has set on solar power, one of the hottest growth industries of the past decade. Jim Buckee, the former CEO of Canada's Talisman Energy, thinks the clean-tech industry will revert to fringe status because it can't seem to thrive without government subsidies and because the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine, meaning the technologies can never fully replace coal, oil and nuclear plants. "I think economic reality will kill the green industry," said Mr. Buckee, who now lives in Britain and lectures on climate change. Solar energy isn't alone in its woes. Wind, biomass, biofuel and other "clean-tech" companies are getting pasted too as the financial crisis sends investors fleeing from technology names, dries up credit and freezes the IPO market. The moribund equity markets are especially bad news for the green-energy players, who depend on a steady stream of equity from growth-obsessed investors to keep moving. "We are very fast growing companies and we need a lot of financings," said Therese Raatz, Solon's investor relations manager. "We can't turn to the capital markets now." The price collapse has been so brutal that industry and corporate finance executives predict a shake-out as some of the weaker clean-tech companies burn through precious cash. "Bankruptcies are a real risk," said Brent Goldman, a corporate finance partner in London at BDO Stoy Hayward.
Wholesale Unleaded Gas (NYM) December 08 ($US per gal.) 1.01 -0.10 1.03 1.03 1.01 11/20 2:24pm solar and wind power go into storage hybrid, electric cars are now novelty item
How amusing that the article you quoted on the futility and downfall of "clean" energy was described by an Oil company spokesperson. That's a disinterested opinion. Of course, it's true that such technologies aren't going to get much funding in the current economy. But I hope that you aren't arguing that it's not important to try to pollute less. What are we to think of the type of people who say wind turbines are too loud and solar panels are too ugly, so we might as well give up on innovation altogether? What if Colombus gave up when everyone laughed about sailing West? Or if Edison gave up when he was told no one would be crazy enough to string wires all over the continent for his silly lightbulb. Or if John Lennon gave up when he was advised that his voice just wasn't that great? Or if Bart Simpson listened to Millhouse tell him he couldn't jump Springfield Gorge on a skateboard? Then, praytell, what would be the state of our modern civilization? So let the innovators innovate!
the purpose of this thread is to open minds and encourage dialog Jim Buckee is no texan oilman but he is quite academically equipped Jim Buckee Title: Former CEO and president, Talisman Energy Inc. Born: March 24, 1946, Winchester, England Education: BSc Honours, physics, University of Western Australia; PhD, astrophysics, Oxford University one should keep in mind that pollution and global warming are not the same thing. No one doubts innovation is a fad but for the green industry to prosper, it must be economical. Often than not, innovation is driven by monetary reward. I wont buy that toyota pushing electric/hybrid cars for sake of global warming, i do not for one bit believed that farmers pushing biofuel for green earth purpose. Actually, i personally believed the push for ethanol and biofuel is 100% driven by money, not CO2 reduction or global warming causes. here are some sideshow bob facts : Each wind farm kills thousands of bats and birds per years. Bats and songbird eats pests and is part of the biological chain. Now multiply that to all the wind farms we have solar panel consume massive land coverage which could be use for growing plants for CO2 reduction and/or food production. If the landowners do not like these stuffs on their lands, what can we do?? Confiscate their lands but that would be like communism In the end, it is money that drive those innovation into reality in today's world
free pop for those who visit my thread, free pop, care of Dr Pepper Dr Pepper to deliver on its free-soda promise 1 hr 53 mins ago LOS ANGELES – Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality. The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday. "We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us." Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28. Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. ___ On the Net: http://www.drpepper.com http://www.gunsnroses.com
Open minds is good. Personally I've never understood the tactic of stressing "global warming". People are more likely to care if the topic is "the poison crap you are inhaling". Can you imagine if huge orange clouds came out of every tailpipe? Or if the myriad translucent pollutants in lake water were a bright purple instead? That would change minds. As far as money driving all change....you are right. No one should expect a company to be altruistic. But the role of responsible government is to create situations where there is money to be made doing the right thing. Not all government intervention is communist totalitarianism. Was the US government communist when it put money on developing technology for the space race, or legislated against lead in paint, or set-up the FDA to protect consumers from contaminated food? Good governments legislate to make the market conform to the public good. It is the degree and style of this coercion that defines governments. Obviously the slickest way is not by decree, but by 'show them the money'.
global warming??? biggest snow storm in 30 years for Las Vegas. Hmmm, in the 1970's, scientists were forecasting global cooling. Then we have 30 years of warming trend and we got global warming panic.
