Debbie does climate change legislation
June 25, 2009
Update on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill: House energy bill gains support
Unfortunately some of those supporters fail even the the ecoweenie test. Case in point: Debbie Halvorson (from IL):
A presidential phone call helped win at least one vote: Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.), a freshman lawmaker and former state senate colleague of Obama’s, said Thursday evening that after months of indecision, she “feels great” about the bill.
Here’s why she feels so great about it:
“I think it’s something that I’m going to support,” Halvorson said. “It’s a thousand-page bill. It has a lot of amendments. I wanted to read it, take my time.” Later, she added: “I had a nice chat with the president this morning.”
Well, hell, why wouldn’t you support a thousand page bill with lots of amendments that you’ve never read after “a nice chat” with the president.
Ecoweenies on parade (part 3)
June 23, 2009
You know, this shit writes itself. Today’s contributor is none other than President Barack Obama. In his press conference today, he threw his support behind the Waxman-Markey climate change bill. And he is supposed to be the smartest guy in Washington:
At a time of great fiscal challenges, this legislation is paid for by the polluters who currently emit the dangerous carbon emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe.
I’m no science whiz but the water I drink hasn’t turned into Perrier yet. And I’m confused. Am I included in the “polluter” category because I am emitting “dangerous” emissions that “pollute the air we breathe” by breathing out?
In the end I suppose it doesn’t matter. I will pay for it.
Ecoweenies on parade (part 2)
June 21, 2009
Today’s example is Julie Johnston’s comment on Real Climate. Julie says:
I keep thinking that what would actually help is a little bit of urgency, of panic, of fear, of scared-shitlessness on the part of the scientists. These are the people who *know* what is going to happen…
Holy flying leaps, what does it take to get 2500 scientists excited? “Difficult for contemporary societies to cope with”?! Thousands — hundreds of thousands — of people are already losing their lives and their livelihoods, their food security and water sources, their homes and their whole nations at only +0.78 degrees C!
Holy flying leaps, Julie, you do love your drama (and your exclamation points).
She was kind enough to link to her site. Now it all makes sense. Julie says:
Sometimes I just break down and weep. I am one of the unlucky ones … I understand global climate change, I see it happening, I know who is being impacted the worst (and it ain’t rich white people with big cars) – and it breaks my heart.
Now I might feel sorry for Julie but her martyr complex is totally out of control:
I lament that more people don’t share this burden.
And then she goes on to quote global warming jokes. This was her favorite:
“According to a new UN report, the global warming outlook is much worse than originally predicted. Which is pretty bad when they originally predicted it would destroy the planet.” – Jay Leno
My professional diagnosis and prescription: Irony deficient Julie needs either a drink or a smack upside the head.
Big science
June 17, 2009
Stumbled across this today: the International Space Station has now become large enough that you can see it during the day (h/t spaceweather.com). You can check out when it is over your neck of the woods here.. Remember to wave.
State capitals and child abuse
June 16, 2009
Dave’s recent post on (not his) kids at his house got me thinking. The kid’s name is Trenton. Now I’ve never heard that name before. In this world of made up names (I suppose they all are made up but…) that was a new one. Why would you name your child after the state capital of New Jersey? But then I had a V-8 moment. This is the thing to do. State capitals make great names. I thought of my own family. My first cousins twice removed are Cheyenne (WY), Madison (WI) and Austin (TX). And I’ve heard of other children being named Boston(MA) and Jackson (MS).
I’ve decided that I will name my children (if I ever decide to like hoo ha) in the same fashion. Daughters: Topeka (KS) and Tallahassee(FL). Sons: Bismarck(ND) and Annapolis(MD). Or maybe I will be a cruel parent and name the little crumb crunchers Des Moines (IA) or Sacramento (CA) or Springfield (IL).
I’m undecided on Little Rock(AR).
Answer man
June 15, 2009
Some recent commenters have suggested that I put up or shut up on this global warming shit. “Give a solution instead of being part of the problem” they say (damn that was hard not to put “problem” in quotes). Maybe you bitches have a point so here we go. Problem: Global Warming. Solution: Warming tax. If temperatures rise as predicted by what the UN climate models and their “consensus” of scientists say are correct then the tax on carbon emissions goes up dramatically. If the temperatures fall, the tax goes down. Surprisingly, this is not my idea but that of economist Ross McKitrick. He points out:
The IPCC predicts a warming rate in the tropical troposphere of about double that at the surface, implying about 0.2C to 1.2C per decade in the tropical troposphere under greenhouse-forcing scenarios. That implies the tax will climb by $4 to $24 per tonne per decade, a much more aggressive schedule of emission fee increases than most current proposals. At the upper end of warming forecasts, the tax could reach $200 per tonne of CO2 by 2100, forcing major carbon-emission reductions and a global shift to non-carbon energy sources.
Global-warming activists would like this. But so would skeptics, because they believe the models are exaggerating the warming forecasts.
…
Under the T3 tax, the regulator gets to call everyone’s bluff at once, without gambling in advance on who is right. If the tax goes up, it ought to have. If it doesn’t go up, it shouldn’t have. Either way we get a sensible outcome.
That makes sense. Wow. Look at me. Promoting a solution.
Ecoweenies on parade
June 14, 2009
I saw this comment from Gail on Climate Progress and had to laugh:
I have 3 daughters who are well cognizant of the threats of climate change because they hear my wails of outrage rather frequently.
It’s not that they give little thought to it, I think. It is that they have concluded that they are so screwed, that they want to enjoy what opportunities are left open to them before the s**t really hits the fan.
For instance, one daughter is going this summer to tour the Grand Canyon and from there to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. When I pointed out to her that flying is deleterious to the environment, she insisted that she wants to see the snows before they disappear.
So it’s obviously not that she is under any delusion that flying isn’t bad, or that the climate is going to stabilize.
It seems she wants to live while she can because she recognizes that there is already a predetermined limit programmed from past emissions locked into the pipeline, never mind business as usual, so, why not?
I totes love this reasoning. My kids care but WTF the planet is screwed so my kids are going to party like it’s Sixteen Ninety Nine. I’m betting that my “carbon footprint” is much less than Gail’s little fucking traveler. And why go to the Grand Canyon first? That shit isn’t going away any time soon.
A great place to live (if you want to be mediocre)
June 13, 2009
Part one of my famous people from my hometown(s) series. (sorry for the plural but I live in the Quad Cities; maybe that is part of the problem)
Gotta love Linnea Quigley (born in Davenport).
Loved her in Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_36QoP_E-0&NR=1
And who can forget that classic film Virgin High:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jUTF3XOJXI
And keep reading, readers. Part two is about Ken Berry.
Roots and revolution (or History and houseguests)
June 12, 2009
I was shocked today. Totally shocked. Mother’s 83 yo sister is visiting her. No, that’s not shocking (although Mother is a little peeved about it). What’s shocking is that auntie brought a book about the history of our family. Holy hell. I thought our family history basically consisted of Danish immigrants that showed up in the late 19th century to farm shit and to look cute. For the most part that is true but the book she brought documents that my mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s father’s father (my great great great great great grandfather) emigrated from Germany to the US in 1771 and fought in the American Revolution (Private 4th class). I’m a son of the Revolution. LOVE IT!
