“The Sierra Club is bolstering its long-standing campaign to block the construction of power plants across the country, assembling a team of 100 full-time employees to focus on the issue in 45 states.”

“This is where the environmental movement will make the most progress in the next five years,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122005874.html

“For the Greens, a pristine global environment represents earthy perfection. It underpins their ‘ecological wisdom’ and is at the core of the new ethic. It is to be protected and promoted at all costs. Hence, all old growth forests are to be locked up; logging is to be prohibited; wealth is to be scorned; economic growth is opposed; exclusive ownership of property is questioned; there should be a moratorium of fossil fuels exploration; dam construction should be discouraged; genetic engineering and agricultural monoculture is rejected; world trade should be reduced; and a barter economy encouraged.”

From part 2 of The Greens Agenda by Kevin Andrews, MP.

The Greens Agenda: Part 1 – Western culture and the Greens

The Greens Agenda: Part 2 – Ideology

The Greens Agenda: Part 3 – Economic Policies

The Greens Agenda: Part 4 – Social and other policies

Note: Because of the design of the www.kevinandrews.au.com Web site, your initial visit will prompt you to sign up for his newsletter. You can choose to skip that via the lower link there “Skip signup…” Once you have done that once, the links in this posting should work directly.

Beginning January 1, 2011, energy prices will skyrocket in California, due to the required use of renewable energy sources as established in AB32. This will add tremendous stress to an already struggling economy. With more money being spent to pay for basic necessities, less money is available to spend on discretionary items. This will hurt small businesses that will also be paying higher energy bills. Prices will have to be increased to cover the higher overhead costs. The loss of money in the economy combined with the rising cost of operating a business will result in many businesses having to close their doors. There is no better prescription for job killing legislation than this.

Alternative sources of energy are dramatically more expensive than conventional coal power. An article in The Morning Bell from The Heritage Foundation on October 21, 2010 reveals the prices of energy that President Barack Obama’s very own Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects for various sources of electricity per megawatt hour in 2016 (based on 2008 dollars) as follows:

• Conventional Coal Power $ 78.10
• Onshore Wind Power $149.30
• Offshore Wind Power $191.10
• Thermal Solar Power $256.60
• Photo-voltaic Solar Power $396.10

by Laura Rambeau Lee
Florida

Source: http://moveoverdotcom.blogspot.com/2010/11/is-california-dreaming.html

The Queensland State Government has announced a plan to create a new category of restricted land called “Strategic Cropping Land” which bans mining or development. This could blight 4% of Queensland, representing an area more than twice the size of Holland and including many areas likely to contain the mineral and energy resources for tomorrow.

Farmers should not celebrate this cynical move by an anti-farming state government to pepper Queensland with more restrictions on their land titles.
(more…)

The use of tools, weapons and fire is the feature that most distinguishes the human race from other species. It is the key to human survival in a changing and often adverse environment. Carbon products are the essential ingredients of these tools. The history of coal and oil explains the creation of the modern world. For a majority of the world’s population, carbon fuels and the tools they create are all that stands between us and hunger or starvation.

Complete article: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/coal-and-oil.pdf [PDF, 624 KB]

Coal and oil are the key ingredients that have lifted much of mankind from a Stone Age existence to a world of comfort and plenty never before seen.

The Greens would have us close every coal mine and coal power station and their policies would also close most of our oil and metal refineries. And they will subsidise and mandate stupid alternative energy schemes whose main effect will be to boost backup gas consumption, increase electricity charges and increase network instability.

We should be careful what we wish for. Not long ago we were using wooden ploughs and all energy came from biofuels. Labour was cheap but food was scarce and expensive. Is this the green future?

More in this newsletter:

• Crocodile Tears about Cropping Land
• Oil Spills – Myths and Reality
• Cosmic rays control clouds control earth temperature
• The Election

Download here: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/learning-from-history.pdf [PDF, 83 KB]

Extreme conservation policies are sterilising so much of Australia’s resources that it is becoming a threat to our national security.

Most wars are about land and resources.

In the colonial era, aggressive Europeans swarmed into Africa, the Americas and Australia attracted by underused land, minerals and timber. More recently, Hitler invaded Eastern Europe and Russia in the search for “living space” and access to Black Sea oil and Japan went to war attracted by the resources of South East Asia and Australia.

Australia is the odd man of Asia – a huge land mass with a small population.

Our populous and rapidly developing northern neighbours need the primary products that Australia has in abundance – food, fibres, minerals and energy. So they note with disbelief the way in which Australia is sterilising these valuable resources.

More: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/resources-and-security.pdf [PDF, 47KB]

This chart shows the relationship between past temperatures and CO2 concentrations.

A high resolution (2388×1657) version of the image is available here (246 KB):
http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/antarctica-temp-co2-l.png

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called for an end to the massive subsidies to the green car industry and to rich buyers of green car toys.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, said that to waste taxpayer funds helping foreign car manufacturers to produce cars that consumers don’t want is bad policy.

“Worse still is a policy that encourages people to trash a roadworthy car and buy a trendy new one they do not need.”

Forbes explained:

“To collect, transport and scrap one car and build and deliver another one costs a lot in money, metals, and energy.

“These misguided policies benefit car manufacturers, car dealers, car financiers and some consumers. Everyone else, including the environment, is a loser.

“None of the so called green cars are really green.

“Electric motors, compressed air motors and hydrogen “fuel” are promoted as clean and green, but none of them are sources of energy. All of them need conventional electric power to provide their stored energy.

“Electric cars must fill their batteries from a power point. Compressed air cars must fill their tanks from a compressor which probably uses electricity. And a hydrogen car, if one ever appears, must fill its tank from a refinery using heaps of electricity to produce hydrogen from water or hydrocarbons.

“And where will the electricity come from? In Australia right now 93% of electricity comes from combustion of hydrocarbons such as coal, gas and oil. That will not change dramatically or quickly without putting the lights out. And a dramatic switch to “green” cars plus bans and taxes on hydrocarbon energy increases the chance of that.

“Electric cars are nifty and quiet, and may reduce harmful concentrations of hot exhaust gases in city air, but in Australia they will run mainly on carbon fuel. There will be zero reduction in the production of carbon dioxide (as if that matters anyway).

“The market is the best judge whether diesel, hybrid, electric, petrol or compressed air cars are used. The answer will vary from family to family and from city to country.

“For too long governments have been throwing subsidies at foreign car companies and “green” car buyers. Now they are pushing low cost cars out of the market with their “big bucks for old bombs” giveaway.

“Subsidies always encourage waste of the subsidised product – it is not a sustainable policy. The marginal savings in fuel consumption will never compensate for this extravagance.

“Green car subsidies are dud policies and should be subject to an immediate recall notice.”

Full article: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/green-cars.pdf [PDF, 248 KB]

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called for an end to wasteful spending on attempts to change the climate by taxing and rationing carbon.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, said that man will never control climate.

“Noah did not blame cooking fires for the flood – he built a boat before the rain came”.

Forbes explained:

“It’s time to stop wasting money trying to control the climate – this will be no more successful than slaughtering sacrificial goats, even if tax payers and electricity consumers are to be the goats.

“Man will never control the climate. Wealthy societies can and do improve their local environments of air, land and water. But to think that trading carbon credits, taxing carbon, or subsidising carbon geo-sequestration, wind towers or ethanol production will improve our climate is delusionary…”

More items in this newsletter:

• Greens aim at a black future for all Australians
• Making Things still Matters
• Bio-Bug – the Car for Canberra has been invented
• Bed Bugs for Breakfast?
• Finally, the Voltswagen

Read in full: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/be-prepared.pdf [PDF, 46 KB]