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Global Warming Fees Coming to California?

Published
by
malagent
on May 21, 2008
in Climate, Critical Thinking, Current Events, Economy, Environment, Global Warming and News
. 2 Comments

It looks like the are going to start soon…

San Francisco: The Bay Area Air Quality Management District will vote today on a proposal to impose a Greenhouse Gas Fee. The fee applies to () equivalent emissions at the rate of 4.4¢(USD) per metric ton and is expected to initially produce an additional $1.1 million for the District.[1]

It’s all part of a plan that “would increase revenue to enable the District to address increasing regulatory program activity costs, and continue to move toward more complete cost recovery”[1]

Chart of GWP CDE from BAAQMDThe BAAQMD’s website describes “Environmental Justice” (emphasis mine)

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is committed to environmental policymaking and enforcement practices that are fair and equitable to all residents regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, race, socioeconomic status, or geographic location in order to protect against the health effects of air pollution. [2]

The way the proposal is set up it could effect a lot more than and the other listed . Consider that water vapor is the most powerful . I’m not sure what the “ equivalent” or “ potential” of water vapor is but, imagine a “carbon tax” based on the steam from showers or cooking.

Interestingly the supporters of this measure seem to be concerned with the precedent it will set than with the actual impact it would have on the .

The modest fee — 4.4 cents per ton of — probably won’t be enough to force companies to reduce their emissions, but backers say it sets an important precedent in combating change and could serve as a model for regional air districts nationwide.

“It doesn’t solve , but it gets us thinking in the right terms,” said Daniel Kammen, a renewable energy expert at the of California, Berkeley. “It’s not enough of a cost to change behavior, but it tells us where things are headed. You have to think not just in financial terms, but in carbon terms.” [3]

  1. Final Staff Report and Draft Amendments to Regulation 3: http://www.baaqmd.gov/pln/ruledev/3//0300_sr&dr_052008.pdf
  2. BAAQMD.goc - Environmental Justice: http://www.baaqmd.gov/pio/environmental_justice/index.htm
  3. Regulators in California to vote on global warming fees charged to businesses for emissions, International Herald Tribune, May 21, : http://www.iht.com/articles/ap//05/21/america/NA-GEN-US-Global-Warming-Fees.php

Reuters: What happened to Global Warming?

Published
by
malagent
on May 16, 2008
in Climate, Critical Thinking, Current Events, Environment, Global Warming, Media, Media Bias and News
. 1 Comment

Gerard Wynn, over at asks “What happened to ?”

It’s not just that it’s disappeared from headlines this year - shoved off by the credit crunch and natural disasters, for example. It can’t be ignored that 2007 came and went as another very warm year - the 7th hottest on record since 1850 according to the World Meteorological Organization.

But it wasn’t a record. In fact that was 1998, a full 10 years ago - the year of an exceptional El Nino, a Pacific weather pattern which heats the whole globe. So is not living up to the hype?

Two weeks ago Leibniz Institute’s Noel Keenlyside stirred an academic hornet’s
nest by saying that we may have to wait longer - a decade or more - for another
peak year, because a natural weakening in ocean currents may be cooling sea
temperatures.

Many scientists flatly rejected the idea, saying Keenlyside had over-estimated the effect. But some pointed out that a recent switch in a weather pattern called the North Atlantic Oscillation could indeed cool temperatures globally.

Along with the gratuitous photograph of floating ice, this author actually covered a little of the other side. Well one paragraph anyway.

Meanwhile one or two doubters are already saying the present lull in warming
casts doubt on just how far manmade are influencing the . MIT’s Richard Lindzen reckoned that if it was as bad as all that temperatures would be rising faster.

What do you think?

Well, what do you think? You could always comment here, there, or both.

Same old change

Published
by
malagent
on May 16, 2008
in 2008, Media and Parody
. 996 Comments

Election is proving to be mildly entertaining and mostly painful. One can’t pass a without the showing some politician talking about change.

Well at least videos like this come around every so often to mask the pain with a little entertainment.YouTube Preview Image

Research Causes Global Warming?

Published
by
malagent
on May 8, 2008
in Climate, Critical Thinking, Current Events, Environment, Global Warming and News
. 6 Comments

It sure seems like just about everything can be blamed on anthropogenic these days. From acne or the end of beer as we know it, to psychiatric illness and smaller brains, it all can and has been attributed to that evil . And of course it’s all our fault for improving our lives through the use of energy. More specifically it’s all or mostly America’s fault.

As crazy as the alleged effects are, the causes are getting pretty absurd as well. We all know that is the alleged culprit. We are also told that we have to make drastic changes to the way we live - even pay on the we are responsible for. But now we can add research to the seemingly endless list of human activities contributing to . According to Hervé Philippe, a Université de Montréal professor of biochemistry, his own research produces more than twice the amount of than the average American. (44 tons vs. 20 tons respectively).

I did my PhD on nucleotide sequencing in the hope of advancing our knowledge of biodiversity, but I never thought that the research itself could have a negative impact on biodiversity,
he said, during a recent biology department symposium.

The solution?

For universities, he recommends having less frequent international conferences, increasing the use of -conferences, avoiding research on well explored topics, reducing publications and evaluating the amount of produced by research projects

So there you have it: is official caused by hot air from the researchers themselves.

of Montreal (, May 7). Research Contributes To , Professor Discovers. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 8, , from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases//05/080507155305.htm

Democrats Fight To Keep America’s Borders Unprotected

Published
by
malagent
on April 9, 2008
in Current Events, Immigration, Media, Mexico, News, Television and Video of the Day
. 21 Comments

Each year, an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 illegal immigrants try to make the 15 to 30 mile hike through the wilderness to reach cities in the United States. “That works out to a city the size of Baton Rouge, La., living in the park without a sewage system, without garbage collection, without a grid of dedicated roads or sidewalks. They move where they want in four-wheel-drive cars, ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles and their own feet.”[1]

In March of 2006 the Pew Hispanic Center (PHC) estimated the undocumented population in the U.S. ranged from 11.5 to 12 million individuals[2], a number supported by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO)[3]. Using data from March of 2004, PHC estimated that 57% originate from .[4]

Most illegal immigrants live in families where the adults are undocumented, but the children are U.S.-born. An estimated 13.9 million people - including 4.7 million children - live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is an illegal immigrant.[5]

Illegal immigrants continue to out pace the number of legal immigrants - a trend that’s held steady since the 1990s. While the undocumented continue to concentrate in places with existing large communities of Hispanics, they are also increasingly settling throughout the rest of the country.[5]

Today’s from AmericanResolve explains how politicians are once again fighting to keep our borders open and unprotected. In this case the politicians are , although that’s not always the case. Protecting the is the excuse used in this round. Continue reading ‘Democrats Fight To Keep America’s Borders Unprotected’

Muslim Debate - Punishment for Apostasy

Published
by
malagent
on April 1, 2008
in Arab, Islam, Theology and Video
. 968 Comments

Several debate the fate of who reject while the audience votes on the Matter. The viewers were asked this question:

  • What is the best way to deal with apostates who converted from ?
    • through dialog only
    • killing them
    • leave it up to the legal system

Those in the studio were asked if a has the liberty to change his or not. The results were 76% no, 24% yes.

One guest on the show, Dr. Gamel Al-Bana, makes some very good points - although they were not well received by some of the others.

Apostasy is commonly defined as the rejection of in word or deed by a person who has been a .

The four major Sunni and the one major Shia Madh’hab (schools of Islamic jurisprudence) agree that a sane adult male apostate must be executed.[1] They differ on the punishment for a female apostate - some schools calling for death and others for imprisonment. Whether Sharia laws governing apostasy are derived from the traditions alone or also from the Qur’an is disputed. According to Wael Hallaq nothing of the apostasy law are derived from the Qur’an, although the jurist al-Shafi’i interpreted the Quranic verse [Qur'an 2:217] as providing the main evidence for apostasy being a capital crime in .

YouTube Preview Image
  1. (”Murtadd”, Encyclopedia of )
    (http://www.-qa.com/index.php?ref=12406&ln=eng)

Fitna the Movie - Geert Wilders’ film about the Quran

Published
by
malagent
on March 30, 2008
in Censorship, Critical Thinking, Current Events, Islam, Media, Terrorism, Theology and Video
. 1,578 Comments

I’ve decided to join the crowd of those that have a copy of Fitna posted. I’ll wait to see if I too get some persuasion from the “ of Peace” to remove it.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the as an “offensively anti-Islamic film”, “hate speech” and “incitement to violence.”

Following is the text of the statement by UN SG Ban Ki-moon on the film :

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of ’ offensively anti-Islamic film. There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here. I acknowledge the efforts of the Government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of this film, and appeal for calm to those understandably offended by it. Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.

The United Nations is the centre of the world’s efforts to advance mutual respect, understanding and dialogue. We must also recognize that the real fault line is not between and Western societies, as some would have us believe, but between small minorities of extremists on different sides with a vested interest in stirring hostility and conflict.

It baffles the mind to think that pointing out that has violent roots in the is considered an “incitement to violence”. If it’s untrue then how is it inciting violence from such a “peaceful” ?

It’s sad to see the LiveLeak pulled due to threats of violence along with a few others around the net. However, it’s encouraging to see the growing number of sites that have it posted in spite of (or perhaps due to) the threats and censorship elsewhere.

http://malagent.com/flavor/Fitna-Eng.flv

Continue reading ‘Fitna the Movie - Geert Wilders’ film about the Quran’