Islands Trying To Use 100% Green Energy Failed, Went Back To Diesel

(Hat tip: KimR) - The islands of Tasmania and El Hierro tried to power their economies with 100 percent green energy, but both islands eventually went back to diesel generators after suffering reliability problems and soaring energy costs. Read more at the Daily Caller Read More......

Carrier’s Move to Mexico Was Entirely Predictable

(Hat tip: KimR) - Carrier Corporation garnered national attention last week with a gauche announcement that it would close down its Indianapolis manufacturing facility, lay off 1,400 workers, and move to Mexico -- all this despite receiving millions in federal support to create domestic green jobs. Read more at National Review Read More......

Energy Department Gives $259 Million ‘Green’ Conditional Loan to Politically Connected Corporation

The Department of Energy’s disastrous loan program lost taxpayers at least $780 million as companies like Solyndra, Fisker Automotive, and Abound Solar crashed and burned. But as I write today, after a four-year hiatus, the Energy Department has announced a new fuel-efficient-vehicle loan — a $259 million conditional award to Alcoa.  It’s a pretty sweet deal: The Energy Department touts on its website how this loan program “offers attractive financing for U.S. auto industry,” including no application fees, a closing fee of just 0.1 percent, and interest rates estimated at no more than 4 percent.

Read more at National Review
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Talk about laugh: How China Turned Obama Into Its Useful Green Idiot

China’s approach to international energy and environmental policy can be summed up very simply: tell the idiot gwai lo whatever they want to hear – then carry on doing what China wants, regardless.  Fortunately for the prospects of the US economy, it would appear that not every US politician has fallen for the risible line, heavily promoted by the Obama administration and its amen corner in the environmental movement, that China cares every bit as much as the West does about the allegedly urgent need to curb global CO2 emissions.  Two who very much haven’t are Republican senators Roy Blunt (Missouri) and Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma) who have just launched a challenge to the bilateral climate change “agreement” reached by President Obama with China last year, whereby both countries have supposedly made a commitment to reducing their “greenhouse gas” emissions.

Read more at Breitbart.com
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

For Earth. For Humanity. For Freedom.

For decades the Green Movement has claimed that Earth is threatened by the activity and even the existence of mankind. Green policies dictate that the noble response is relinquishing our liberties to "save" the planet from peril. Award-winning filmmaker JD King sets off on a cinematic journey to challenge these Green philosophies, and overturn the tables on issues like carbon emissions, climate change, over-population, natural resources, and unmasks the UN's Agenda 21 plan. BLUE casts a bold new vision: that through greater freedom we can realize a fuller potential for our fellow man and this beautiful blue planet we call home. BLUE BEATS GREEN.

Watch the official BLUE trailer at BlueBeatsGreen.com.

Read More......

Charles Fischer loses 5-year fight to build six houses on his 30-acre farm

$67,000 NOT substantial, according to Commissioners Modrell and Jaramillo, whose lack of compassion was stunning.
Read article at Corvallis Gazette-Times: Commissioners reject M49 claim

Disgusting! Republicans, don't forget this ruling.  Caught between Measures 37 and 49, the outcome of Mr. Fischer's case was not written in stone. The Commission had the latitude to grant Fischer his due but chose not to. Please note that Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo (also chair of the Benton County Democrats) plans to run for a fourth term! --bc Read More......

BLM unveils new wilderness push

THE DAILY SENTINAL, 12/23/2010 by Dennis Webb - "The Bureau of Land Management will launch a new effort to identify and protect lands with wilderness characteristics under an initiative announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today. ∴ The effort comes in response to a 2003 settlement between former Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other parties including the state of Utah that left the BLM without a national wilderness policy. 'That is simply unacceptable,' Salazar said in a news conference in Denver. ∴ Salazar said the Norton agreement “frankly should never have happened and was wrong in the first place.” The new initiative won’t disavow that agreement by the Bush administration, but will make use of existing BLM authority to evaluate its lands for designation as “wild lands” following a public process. Such lands would be managed to protect their wilderness characteristics unless a new public management process results in a modified designation. ∴ Wild lands would differ from wilderness areas, which Congress designates and can be modified by legislation, and from wilderness study areas, which the BLM typically must manage as wilderness until Congress decides whether they merit wilderness designation. ∴ Salazar said the wild land designation provides more flexibility for multiple uses of land, such as for alternative energy development. But it would give lands with wilderness characteristics “a significant place at the table,” whereas in the past such characteristics weren’t valued, he said." Read More......

US House passes Waxman-Markey (Cap and Trade)

Friday (6/26), the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (known as Cap and Trade or Cap and Tax) by a slim margin. The final vote was 219-212. Crossing party lines, eight Republicans voted for the bill and 44 Democrats voted against it including Rep. Peter DeFazio. The vote of the entire House is listed by party at Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Blog.

Oregon Representatives voted thus: Peter DeFazio (D-Dist 4) No, Greg Walden (R-Dist 2) No, Earl Blumenauer (D-Dist 3) Yes, Kurt Schrader (D-Dist 5) Yes, and David Wu (D-Dist 1) Yes.

The eight Republicans who voted "FOR" H.R. 2454 are: Mary Bono (R-CA), Michael N. Castle (R-DE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), John M. McHugh (R-NY), David G. Reichert (R-WA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).

Next step: The U.S. Senate
Let your Oregon Senators know how you feel.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), DC (202) 224-3753, Fax (202) 228-3997, Salem (503) 362-8102
Sen. Roy Wyden (D), DC (202) 224-5244, Fax (202) 228-2717, Salem (503) 589-4555.

ADDITION: Did they read the bill? See related article at Sweetness & Light... Read More......

A Quixotic Pursuit: Tilting at Green Windmills

WASHINGTON POST, 6/25/2009 by George F. Will (Hat tip: John H. Detweiler) - The Spanish professor is puzzled. Why, Gabriel Calzada wonders, is the U.S. president recommending that America emulate the Spanish model for creating "green jobs" in "alternative energy" even though Spain's unemployment rate is 18.1 percent -- more than double the European Union average -- partly because of spending on such jobs? Calzada, 36, an economics professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, has produced a report that, if true, is inconvenient for the Obama administration's green agenda, and for some budget assumptions that are dependent upon it. Read more at the Washington Post... Read More......

Hundreds vote on goals at town hall

Corvallis Gazette-Times, October 9, 2008, by Matt Neznanski, Reporter - Rod Lawlor put aside a competing interest in Tuesday’s [10/7/08] presidential debate to instead engage in a discussion of sustainability in Corvallis. Lawlor came to Tuesday’s town hall as a professional in the housing and architecture industry, as both a student and a concerned citizen. “I’ve got questions, definitely,” he said. “I’m mostly interested in housing issues. Anything that increases housing density, I’m for.” Lawlor could take comfort in the fact that 450 other residents made the same choice and filled Oregon State University’s CH2M Hill Alumni Center’s main hall to take action on big ideas.

During the third and final town hall meeting, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition unveiled the work of 12 groups formed to tackle specific topics such as energy use, transportation, education and housing. The groups created broad goals and a host of specific actions designed to move the community toward meeting them.

The coalition is a network of more than 130 organizations and individuals in Benton County dedicated to creating a community in which resources are renewed at the same rate as they are used. Partner organizations include nonprofits, businesses, churches, schools and local government.

Mayor Charlie Tomlinson praised the meeting’s participants and everyone who had pitched in over the summer to create a roadmap for sustainable efforts in the city. “We live in challenging times,” he said. “With optimism for the future, (however), we come here tonight because we believe in making positive contributions and we believe in our call to action.”

City leaders are banking on the idea. This year, the City Council invested $30,000 in the town hall meetings and has promised to use the plan to develop city policy. They have also promised to take the coalition’s findings into account when crafting city policies promoting sustainability next year.

John McEvoy was part of the group that tackled water-related issues. After eight meetings over the past five months, he said, the group was able to reach consensus on a difficult topic. “It wasn’t easy,” he said. “People have written books on water, and to distill it down into outline form, I feel we’ve gotten to the essence of the problem.” The group suggested reducing the amount of water required in the city and reviving its watersheds to support native fish. Both ideas met with approval from the larger group. “I think everyone has the sense that it’s a good effort,” McEvoy said. “Hopefully what happens is people say ‘Boy, I can do that,’ and if a lot of us do that we can get to goals that seemed far-reaching.”

The coalition will now craft a citywide plan for sustainability and present it to the City Council before the end of the year.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net.

The following goals were deemed worthy of being made top priority by the hundreds in attendance at Tuesday’s town hall meeting. The coalition plans to conduct a more scientific survey in January to gauge broader public appeal. Percentages with each goal are the number of participants who chose that to be the top priority in its category.

Community inclusion - Describe who is in Corvallis and start talking to each other. (53 percent)
Economic vitality - Encourage 50 percent of residents, organizations, government and business to buy local first. (47 percent)
Education - Integrate sustainability concepts into local school curricula and facilities. (70 percent)
Energy - Reduce per capita energy consumption by 50 percent. (48 percent)
Food - Produce 60 percent of food consumed in Benton, Linn, Lincoln or Lane County. (51 percent)
Health and Human Services - Eliminate discharge of and exposure to toxic pollutants. (63 percent)
Housing - Make all housing energy efficient. (52 percent)
Land Use - Create compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods over 80 percent of the city’s area. (34 percent)
Sustain 50 percent of the city with products produced within 100 miles. (34 percent)
Natural Areas and Wildlife - Manage all public and private natural areas to optimize ecological integrity and resilience. (35 percent)
Transportation - Reduce per capita gasoline consumption by 50 percent. (46 percent)
Waste and Recycling - Cut per capita weight of landfill disposal in half. (48 percent)
Water - Cut municipal water usage in half. (51 percent)

GT Reader Comments
The comments below are from readers of gazettetimes.com and in no way represent the views of the Gazette Times or Lee Enterprises.

CarpeDM wrote on Oct 8, 2008 5:26 PM:
" What a bunch of utopian crap ! Why not call for world peace and an end to hunger by 2025 also. "

Ellie wrote on Oct 8, 2008 10:49 PM:
" Carpe, if you weren't there you really have no idea about what was truly involved. It was an impressive array of community members, including academics, business leaders, politicians and educators among others. I'm sure you can contact someone on the committee to get you the details on the goals and steps to reaching those goals. I agree that some of the goals are pie in the sky, but heck, if you're going to dream why not dream big? It sure beats sitting on the sidelines naysaying while other people move on. "

CarpeDM wrote on Oct 9, 2008 8:17 AM:
" Ellie...I was more involved than you know. Its another grab at property rights, anti growth rhetoric , and a diversion of funds/excuse for [more] taxes....to "implement"....spare me. " Read More......

A Nicer Shade of Green

We Can Have Green Conservatism -- And We Should
Human Events, Vol. 2. No. 17, April 23,2007 - Newt Gingrich wrote,

[...] For the last 36 years, I have watched the pro-regulation, pro-litigation, pro-taxation liberals label themselves as the only Americans who care about the environment.

The leftwing machine would have you believe that to care about clean air and water, biodiversity, and the future of the Earth you have to both buy in to their catastrophic scenarios and sign on to their command-and-control bureaucratic liberal agenda, including dramatic increases in government power and draconian policies that will devastate our economy, as the only solution to environmental challenges.

The time has come to define a fundamentally different approach to a healthy environment and a healthy economy. The time has come for the development of Green Conservatism as an alternative to big bureaucracy and big litigation liberal environmentalism.

Read the entire article at Human Events where Mr. Gingrich adeptly covers these topics:

• Conserving Our Environment, Not Expanding Our Government
  
• Liberal Environmentalism: Radical, Hysterical and Inaccurate
  
• Green Conservatism: Pro-Freedom, Pro-Market, Pro-Environment
  
• Key to Green Conservatism: Energy Independence From Dangerous Dictatorships
  
• Sounds Good, but How Do We Get There?
  
• Our Entrepreneurs and Markets vs. Their Lawyers, Bureaucrats and Regulations

Read More......