It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.
Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.
This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by scientists at Nasa and Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.
So terms like Climate Change, Global Warming and winter have gone by the wayside now.
Notice that Michio Kaku said that scientists didn't know what was causing the extreme weather patterns. But it didn't stop him from dropping in 'human activity' as a quantifier as to what may be causing it.
Like the Blogfather says, "I'll believe it's a crisis when the people who keep telling me it's a crisis start acting like it's a crisis."
This was a constant theme throughout the book, Atlas Shrugs. The people in charge of the railroad that should know what to do, don't. The same with the people in charge of the government. The chapter is an amazing study into human nature.
I haven't talked enough about radical environmental groups here. One more thing on the "I need to do" list for this blog. Among others, a tip jar.*
Many of them fall into the Watermelon category. Green on the outside but Red (Marxist, Socialist, whatever your flavor is) on the inside. Self proclaimed socialist and former 'Green Jobs Czar' Van Jones is a perfect example.
Lisa was kind enough to email these to me. It's a bit long but worth sitting through it to see how environmentalists is using government encroachment to force people off their private property in The Outer Banks (OBX) in North Carolina. It's forced relocation.
Until the Audubon Society needs to sell off some of their land for money. That's primo beach front property. Plovers be damned when there's a buck to be made for the Watermelons.
Obviously, he needs someplace with water hookup. A series of friend's homes where he can use their garden hose while he is parking his house travel trailer in their driveway. Until they get tired of him and he has to move.
I don't want to know what he does for sewage.
He said it himself that many people are buying them as play and guest houses in their backyard. People who can afford to spend that much on a 'toy' aren't worried about downsizing anytime soon.
It's fine and dandy for him. He's choosing to live there. Many people can't.
People in occupations such as mechanics, carpenters and other tradesmen can have up to several thousand dollars worth of tools. A 6' x 20' house travel trailer won't secure their tools. Unless that's all there is inside of the trailer. Then it's a storage trailer.
The house travel trailer obviously doesn't lend itself to families either. Some of his larger houses travel trailers may. I've looked but couldn't see the plans on any of them other than the one house travel trailer shown.
He can call it a tiny house all he wants but be real. It is a glorified travel trailer. If that's his version of sustainable living then my in-laws practice sustainable living every winter by traveling down to Texas. Entire communities in Arizona thrive on sustainable living throughout the winter.
An old concept repackaged with a new name and labeled 'green' doesn't make living in a trailer any more appealing. Regardless of the cost.
P.S. Just realized I made it all the way through this without a single tornado in a trailer park joke.
"What we've learned from this spill is the unintended consequences of government policy,'' Schiff said. Drilling closer to shore is politically problematic because beachgoers don't want to see oil derricks, Schiff said. That has forced oil companies to drill in deeper water, a far more risky endeavor.
"We'd be better off drilling closer to shore,'' he said. "And why are we even drilling in water? Look at all the oil that's up in [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] in Alaska."
Anyway, the worse this disaster gets, the better Obama likes it. It gives him the political capital to help push through Cap and Trade throw Congress. Never let a crisis go to waste.
The production of corn ethanol is a loser for many reasons. Just a quick glance at corn ethanol's power density--just 0.05 W/m2--shows why the fuel makes no sense from a physics standpoint. Corn ethanol's low power density is inherent in all biomass, which leads us to the second of the Four Imperatives. Energy density refers to the quantity of energy that can be contained in a given unit of volume, area, or mass. And the low energy density of biomass--corn, switchgrass, wood, etc.--makes it difficult to produce sufficient amounts of energy without occupying huge swaths of land.
Now let's consider the power density of wind energy, which is about 1.2 W/m2, and solar photovoltaic, which can produce about 6.7 W/m2. Both sources are superior to corn ethanol (nearly everything is), but they are incurably intermittent, which makes them of marginal value in a world that demands always-available power. Nor can they compare to the power density of sources like natural gas, oil and nuclear. For instance, a marginal natural gas well, producing 60,000 cubic feet per day, has a power density of about 28 W/m2. An oil well, producing 10 barrels per day, has a power density of about 27 W/m2. Meanwhile, a nuclear power plant like the South Texas Project--even if you include the entire 19 square-mile tract upon which the project is sited--produces about 56 W/m2.
Yeah, there is math involved but the extent of it is "Greater Than" and "Less Than". Nothing on the market can replace oil as the best source of energy today.
“I think it’s fair to say, if six months ago, before this spill had happened, I had gone up to Congress and I had said we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, big-government overregulation and wasteful spending,” Obama said
The new [nine] bin system by Newcastle-under-Lyme Council, north Staffordshire, includes a silver slop bucket for food waste, which is then emptied into a larger, green outdoor bin.
There is a pink bag for plastic bottles, a blue box for glass, foil, tins and aerosols, a green bag for cardboard and blue bags for paper and magazines.
Clothing and textiles go in a white bag, garden waste in a wheelie bin with a brown lid and non-recyclable waste in a separate grey wheelie bin.
If successful, the scheme – which is more rigorous than any previous recycling standards expected of households – is likely to be adopted by councils up and down the country.
[. . .]
Sylvia Butler ... said: “I’m all for recycling and used to help educate the kids about it during my geography classes, but expecting us to cope with nine different bins and bags is asking too much.
“I have had to take my brown bin down to my allotment – there simply isn’t room in my back yard to house it.”
She added that three different lorries are now used to remove her recycling – a job that was previously carried out by one.
[. . .]
The recycling system, introduced last month, means that only food waste is now collected weekly, with all the other bins emptied on a fortnightly basis [two weeks].
It replaced the old system of five different bins, which is commonly used across the country, with the aim of boosting the rate of recycling from 26 per cent in 2008 to 50 per cent by 2015.
[. . .]
Bin police are used across Britain to ensure recycling regulations are met, with the threat of £100 spot fines for those who overfill bins, leave extra rubbish bags out or put bins out on the wrong day.
Non-payment of the fines can result in the culprit being taken to court, where they could be given a £1,000 fine. [All emphasis mine]
And that's why this program won't go away and other communities will adopt it. Money. One more way to fleece the populace by taking money out of their pockets and putting it in the government's.
If you own a truck or SUV and live in Chesterfield County be prepared. The value of your vehicle could be higher than last year, meaning a bigger property tax bill.
[. . .]
[N]ot all SUV's trucks or crossovers saw a drop in value. Thanks to Cash for Clunkers used gas guzzlers are now a hot commodity.
[. . .]
Chesterfield County bases its values on the NADA used car book. It's been that way for decades. With fewer trucks and SUV's on car lots the value of those used vehicles goes up [Emphasis mine].
To give you an idea of how values have changed for trucks and SUV's, we're going to use a 2003 Ford Truck. In 2008 its value was assessed at $12,000. Last year it was assessed 30% lower, dropping to $8,350. This year the value was driven up to $9,100.
So for whatever reason why you didn't turn in a 'clunker', be it not wanting a new car, taking on new debt in a time of depression or keeping the old truck around because it's still a good truck, chances are it will cost you.
Cross posted at The Richmond Liberty Alliance.
while there are fines associated with noncompliance of the recycling and composting ordinance, fines are not expected to be handed out except in extreme cases. The potential for fines is meant to increase awareness and add a sense of urgency to the matter, but they will only be implemented after repeated notices and phone calls. Additionally, a moratorium on fines is in effect until 2011. [emphasis mine]
See, it starts off as small fines to raise 'awareness'. As more and more people
become complacent with recycling, more 'awareness' will need to be raised, by way of heftier fines.
And the moratorium will be lifted because people just aren't aware enough, gosh darn it.
Soon there will be a 'Green Police' out there inspecting the garbage to make sure that you didn't throw away any plastics that could be recycled.
Residents and businesses want to do the right thing, and will do so once they know how. Warnings are opportunities for education, and fines to be levied only in egregious ongoing situations.[bold mine]
No choice but do it their way. Or the city will modify the behavior of the populous by way of fines and fees if they didn't shape up.
In essence, the city of San Fransisco deputized their sanitation department. The trash collectors will report on the citizens to make sure that they are separating out the food from the paper (PDF file. Starting on page 10).
