US Dragging It's Feet On Climate Change

The US says that it is not the right time to talk about climate change... What a joke, there are nations from all over the world gathered in Bali to discuss the serious issue that is climate change. Why is this not the right time? Damn fools...

James Connaughton is a major US negotiator and here is his quote...

"We will lead... The US will lead, and we will continue to lead, but leadership also requires others to fall in line and follow." Does he even comprehend the words he is spouting out? We are not the leaders here, we are and always have been on the wrong side of this argument... and it is not the other countries, but us the needs to fall in line and follow!



Here is a bit more of Mr. Gore's speech...



Comments?

Arctic To Be Ice Free By 2050, 2040.. Now 2012!

A new report released just today has dire prediction for the arctic ocean. Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data. Here are some highlights for the report...

2007 shattered records for Arctic melt in the following ways:

_ 552 billion tons of ice melted this summer from the Greenland ice sheet, according to preliminary satellite data to be released by NASA Wednesday. That's 15 percent more than the annual average summer melt, beating 2005's record.

_ A record amount of surface ice was lost over Greenland this year, 12 percent more than the previous worst year, 2005, according to data the University of Colorado released Monday. That's nearly quadruple the amount that melted just 15 years ago. It's an amount of water that could cover Washington, D.C., a half-mile deep, researchers calculated.

_ The surface area of summer sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean this summer was nearly 23 percent below the previous record. The dwindling sea ice already has affected wildlife, with 6,000 walruses coming ashore in northwest Alaska in October for the first time in recorded history. Another first: the Northwest Passage was open to navigation.

_ Still to be released is NASA data showing the remaining Arctic sea ice to be unusually thin, another record. That makes it more likely to melt in future summers. Combining the shrinking area covered by sea ice with the new thinness of the remaining ice, scientists calculate that the overall volume of ice is half of 2004's total.

_ Alaska's frozen permafrost is warming, not quite thawing yet. But temperature measurements 66 feet deep in the frozen soil rose nearly four-tenths of a degree from 2006 to 2007, according to measurements from the University of Alaska. While that may not sound like much, "it's very significant," said University of Alaska professor Vladimir Romanovsky.

- Surface temperatures in the Arctic Ocean this summer were the highest in 77 years of record-keeping, with some places 8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to research to be released Wednesday by University of Washington's Michael Steele.

Could this be the tipping point? Are we at the point of no return? Well, none of that really matter now if we don't start to do something about it. How many reports like this have to come out before the American public demands some kind of action? Other countries are at least beginning to take steps to curb their emissions, but the United States is still sitting on their hands... powerless against the big energy companies that run this country.

Well at least there is hope and it is coming from a strange source to some. Google is planning and initiative through Google.org to develop energy that is cleaner and more efficient then coal. A bold act that Google says it can accomplish in years not decades. Now that is what I like to hear, action not just a bunch of politics! They have also put into place one of the largest solar developments in the entire world at the Googleplex.

So while this new report is very disheartening, it is good that more reports like this come out so the public can really begin to understand how severe this problem is and how action is needed now... not in the future when it will just be too late.

To view the full report click here!

Why The Alternative Energy Bill Won't Pass

Finally alternative energy is starting to gain some traction in the United States government, but don't get too excited about this bill. It is being challenged in the Senate, and even if it gets past them President George W. Bush has already threatened to veto it.. just like he veto's the health care for kids.

If you missed his last great decision, the reason he vetoed the health care for kids bill was because it called for an increase in the cigarette tax to cover the expenses... Apparently the tobacco companies are yet another evil bunch that are pulling the strings of this puppet. Here is his explanation for vetoing a bill for POOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE...



So why would George W. Bush want to veto this alternative energy bill... well it is quite simple, the bill calls to stop subsidising the oil and coal industry and give the money to wind, solar and other renewable energies. Unless you have lived under a rock for the past 7 years you already know that the oil and coal industries have the biggest pull with this oil hungry president. After all isn't that why we are in Iraq... or was that to spread democracy through blood... hmm I forgot!

The bill also requires passenger vehicles sold in the United States to achieve an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, the first significant increase in mileage standards since 1975. (that is not asking a lot countries all over the world have way better fuel standards then The United States) First off, this would reduce our dependence on oil and help out the automotive industry by encouraging people to purchase cars and trucks with better mileage... it is a win-win. Plus, all that money going to solar and wind would only stimulate the economy further by creating a demand for these type of manufacturing jobs.

Being the pessimists that I am when it comes to having any faith in the abilities of our government, I don't think this bill has a chance in hell of passing, but the fact that it even made it to the senate does say something... The question is can we afford to wait until the next president is elected and gets settled in.. which will probably take another 2 years! It just seems like it will simply take too long.

In other news in case you missed it The United States is now the only one who hasn't signed the Kyoto Protocol with Australia agree to the pact just the other day. Listen to what we had to say about it...

"The challenges of climate change are big, and serious. The next step is to reach agreement in Bali on a negotiating road map for a new post-2012 framework. We look forward to continuing to work together constructively with Australia, as we have in APEC, the Asia Pacific Partnership, and the Major Economies process," said Kristen Hellmer with the White House Council on Environmental Quality."

I am sorry but why are we talking about what we are going to do in 2012? By then it could already be too late to reverse the process that is beginning to snowball more and more ever year... Money grubbing fools is the only way I can describe this administration... sad that America used to be the leader when it came to making world-wide decisions and leading by example. I hate to think about the way the world sees us nowadays not as a great nation, but as invaders and occupiers who are only helping destroy the world through pollution and waist.

I know most American's are better than this, so why do we let ourselves be portrayed this way? I know what your thinking there is nothing I can do, but guess what you can... make some noise, write your congressman, get involved... The country was built on the people, not the corporations. Corruption has been running this country for way too long... time for a change. What do you think?

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