Another Obama-Funded “Green” Energy Company Bites The Dust: Amonix Solar Closes After Receiving $15.6 Million DOE Grant… Stop me if you’ve heard this one before . . . Via LVRJ: The Amonix solar manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, heavily financed under an Obama administration energy initiative, has closed its 214,000-square-foot facility 14 months after it opened. Officials at Amonix headquarters in Seal Beach, Calif., have not responded to repeated calls for comment this week. The company today began selling equipment, from automated tooling systems to robotic welding cells. A designer and manufacturer of concentrated photovoltaic solar power systems, Amonix received $6 million in federal tax credits and a $15.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to build the plant in North Las Vegas.
Good News: Obama Administration Announces More Solar Energy Projects… Solyndra part XVII? Via The Hill: The Obama administration will open public lands in six Western states to more solar projects as part of a solar energy road map it publicized Tuesday. The Interior Department set aside 285,000 acres in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah for the initiative. Firms can apply for waivers to develop projects on an additional 19 million acres. Calling the announcement a “proud moment,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters in a conference call Tuesday that it reaffirms Obama’s commitment to solar power. He noted public lands hosted no solar projects when Obama took office. The administration has since approved 17 major solar projects on public lands producing about 6,000 megawatts of power, Salazar said. “We have made huge strides in the last three-and-a-half years, but we realize we are only at the beginning of this effort and that there’s a lot more to do,” Salazar said. “I have no doubt that the United States will lead the world in solar energy development.”
Irony Alert: Greenpeace Protest In The Arctic Threatens To Wreak Environmental Havoc… http://www.humanevents.com/2012/07/23/greenpeace-protest-in-the-arctic-threatens-to-wreak-environmental-havoc-this-summer/
Seemingly Unaware Sea Levels Have Dropped, John Kerry Tells DNC: We Must Stop The “Rise Of The Oceans . . . A Responsibility From The Scriptures”… <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ikh703_Y4hg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0"></iframe> Apparently Senator Horseface hasn’t heard the good news, and Obama had nothing to do with it. “And despite what you heard in Tampa, an exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet. That is a responsibility, that is a responsibility from the Scriptures.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/weather-cycles-cause-a-drop-in-global-sea-level-scientists-find/2011/08/25/gIQA6IeaeJ_story.html
The way the Dems look at things by taking a snapshot in time, It would surprise me not that they have no idea of the tides and have been gradually moving toward high tide with their measurements.
Goracle To Do “Dirty Weather Report”… Gore’s monumentally profitable “global warming” empire is crumbling. Via E2 Wire: Al Gore hopes to show links between climate change and the effects of extreme weather worldwide with an online and social media-fueled event built around the idea of “dirty weather.” Gore’s advocacy group, the Climate Reality Project, announced Sunday that its second multi-media “24 Hours of Reality” event will occur Nov. 14-15 and bear the title “The Dirty Weather Report.” “We are in a new era where the . . . extreme weather that is occurring is not fully caused by the natural cycles of time and natural events, but by dirty energy, so it is really important to articulate that and name it more precisely,” said Maggie Fox, the CEO of the Climate Reality Project, in an interview Saturday. Organizers call the November event part of an effort to counter the lobbying and financial power of oil and coal interests by using social media and other tools to engage people directly. Gore said on Sunday that “dirty weather” is weather that’s enabled by emissions from fossil fuels and “misinformation” about climate change. “This crisis has to be understood in order to be stopped. The misinformation includes messaging that it is not happening, that we can’t solve it, that we can’t afford to act,” Gore said in a videotaped announcement.
Liberal Dem Rep. Jim McDermott Introduces Bill To Tax Carbon Emissions In America… Although your carbon emissions can be offset with pixie dust and/or unicorn farts. Via Daily Caller: Last week, Fox News released a United Nations survey which suggested “innovative” ways to fund global development projects, including a tax on financial transactions and a global carbon tax on rich countries. “Indeed, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change mandates only that higher-income countries make specific targeted reductions, as those countries are responsible for most of the man-made concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere and are best able to bear the economic burden,” the survey said. “In this vein, a tax of $25 per ton of CO2 emitted by developed countries is expected to raise $250 billion per year in global tax revenues,” the survey continued. The carbon tax is being debated in the United States as well. In August, Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott of Washington introduced a bill that would create a carbon emissions permitting system, placing an initial maximum price of $18.75 per ton of carbon which would then steeply rise to $131.25 per ton of carbon over a decade. The Managed Carbon Price Act of 2012 aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent of 2005 levels within 42 years of its enactment, and the Treasury Department would issue permits which are not allowed to be traded. Permits could only be purchased from the Treasury or refunded by them. The proceeds from the tax going to a trust fund where 25 percent would go towards deficit reduction and 75 percent would be spent to offset price increases for the public.
WaPo: Goracle’s “Green-Tech” Companies Have Received $2.5 Billion From The Obama Admin, Has Amassed A $100 Million Fortune… Modern-day snake oil salesman. Via WaPo: Before a rapt audience, Al Gore flashed slides on a giant screen bearing the logos of 11 clean energy companies he predicted could help slow climate change. “We can’t wait. . . . We have a planetary emergency,” the former vice president told industry leaders and scientists at the 2008 conference. “Here are just a few of the investments that I personally think make sense.” Today, several of those clean tech firms are thriving, including a solar energy start-up and a Spanish utility company that has dotted rural America with hundreds of wind turbines. Al Gore is thriving, too. The man who was within sight of the presidency 12 years ago has transformed himself, becoming perhaps the world’s most renowned crusader on climate change and a highly successful green-tech investor. Just before leaving public office in 2001, Gore reported assets of less than $2 million; today, his wealth is estimated at $100 million. Gore charted this path by returning to his longtime passion — clean energy. He benefited from a powerful resume and a constellation of friends in the investment world and in Washington. And four years ago, his portfolio aligned smoothly with the agenda of an incoming administration and its plan to spend billions in stimulus funds on alternative energy. The recovering politician was pushing the right cause at the perfect time. Fourteen green-tech firms in which Gore invested received or directly benefited from more than $2.5 billion in loans, grants and tax breaks, part of President Obama’s historic push to seed a U.S. renewable-energy industry with public money.
UK Government Report: Global Warming Stopped 16 Years Ago… Still not going to stop the MSM from obsessively hyping it. Via Daily Mail: The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures. This means that the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years. The new data, compiled from more than 3,000 measuring points on land and sea, was issued quietly on the internet, without any media fanfare, and, until today, it has not been reported. This stands in sharp contrast to the release of the previous figures six months ago, which went only to the end of 2010 – a very warm year. Ending the data then means it is possible to show a slight warming trend since 1997, but 2011 and the first eight months of 2012 were much cooler, and thus this trend is erased.
Obama’s EPA Planning To Crush Coal Industry With Avalanche Of New Regulations After Election… “If somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can – it’s just that it will bankrupt them” – Barack Obama Via Washington Examiner: President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency has devoted an unprecedented number of bureaucrats to finalizing new anti-coal regulations that are set to be released at the end of November, according to a source inside the EPA. More than 50 EPA staff are now crashing to finish greenhouse gas emission standards that would essentially ban all construction of new coal-fired power plants. Never before have so many EPA resources been devoted to a single regulation. The independent and non-partisan Manhattan Institute estimates that the EPA’s greenhouse gas coal regulation will cost the U.S. economy $700 billion. The rush is a major sign of panic by environmentalists inside the Obama administration. If Obama wins, the EPA would have another four full years to implement their anti-fossil fuel agenda. But if Romney wins, regulators will have a very narrow window to enact a select few costly regulations that would then be very hard for a President Romney to undo.
yesterday in La we tied a record for highest temp at 94 loves the weather person said last time was that hot 1889 and then he looked at camera and said wasnt any global warning back then .... was to sweet.
As a youngster growing up on a farm in North Dakota in the 30s, I recall dust, thistle stacked against fenses, draught, locusts so thick they obscured the sky, hailed out one year. I believe there were seven crop failures. The only time I saw my parents cry was during tha hail strorm. There was no global warming.
vicm - My great grandparents hailed from ND as German farmers (Wolf and Wiedrich), out near Hazen. They didn't give up on the farm until the early 80s when the one pair passed and the other were too old to farm, and moved into town. I made several trips before that out to the farms growing up, which was a heck of a drive in the late 70s from Billings. I made one last trip out to the ol' homestead early in the 90s and it was sad to see nothing but piles of rocks out in the fields and wild grain. (I've also visited my grandfather, a crane operator, in other wide spots in the road like Zap and Killdeer.)
Heartache: CIA Closes Global Warming Office… Now who will protect us from a figment of Al Gore’s imagination? Via Greenwire: With the U.S. intelligence budget shrinking, the CIA has quietly shut down its Center on Climate Change and National Security — a project that was launched with the support of Leon Panetta when he led the agency, but that drew sharp criticism from some Republicans in Congress. Multiple sources with knowledge of the center said it closed its doors earlier this year, with its staff and analysis continuing under other auspices. CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz confirmed the change. “The CIA for several years has studied the national security implications of climate change,” Ebitz said in a statement to Greenwire. “This work is now performed by a dedicated team in an office that looks at a variety of economic and energy security issues affecting the United States.” The CIA launched the climate change center in September 2009 after a spate of reports linking climate change and national security that drew interest from some members of Congress seeking political action on climate change.
AAA has issued a warning regarding E-15 gas which contains an increased level of ethanol. Auto mfrs. have issued warning that it will damage vehicles and will void warranties. This besides lowering mpg, since ethanol delivers considerable less energy than gasoline and therefore is more expensive than gasoline. This has been recently o.k.ed by the EPA
I have not heard this for vehicles that are E-15 certified. If the manufacturer advertises it to run on E-15 then it can't void your warranty for doing so.
I know that vehicles which are e-15 certified are buses, etc. , those which can also run on pure ethanol. The articles warning is aimed at vehicles manufactured prior to 2012. The problem with E-15 as I understand it is that it breaks down the ethanol/gasoline separation leading to pure ethanol consumption at times, which causes fuel related problems.