Comments BlackbirdHighway has made

  • So sad the way many of you have let the deniers dominate this discussion. They post their drivel, and you forget what you need to work on and spend all your time refuting them. That is a waste of time, because they will simply spout more drivel until they have wasted all of your time. That may sound strong, but as soon as they start saying that CO2 doesn't cause a greenhouse effect or that the world is cooling, they are disconnected from the fact based reality. You can't use facts and logic to argue with someone who is disconnected from facts and logic. These people have no interest whatsoever of making a scientific, logical, fact based argument. They intend only to waste time. Much better to ignore these people and get to work on the solutions. There is much to be done, and no time to waste.On We have met the deniers, and they are us posted 1 week, 5 days ago 174 Responses
  • Selti, you are so completely utterly wrong. There has been no cooling at all since 1998. The years 1999-2009 have been, on average, by far the warmest decade ever. Eight of the top ten warmest years ever recorded have occurred since 2000. The coolest year of the 2000's was still warmer than all but one of the 90's. In the 90's record high temperatures occurred 36% more often than record lows. In the 2000's, record highs occurred 104% more often than lows. For three months last summer, the oceans of the world reached the highest temperatures since humankind came into existence. Arctic ice reached it's lowest point ever in 2007. The AP gave global temperature data to several professional statisticians without telling what the data represented. None of them detected the slightest hint of a cooling trend starting in 1998 or any other year. So, there is the data for you. Massive, overwhelming data all indicating that you are wrong.On From hopeful climate to climate of despair posted 1 week, 5 days ago 12 Responses
  • I lay much of the blame on the corporate controlled media. They fail to accurately report the true state of the climate, of climate science, the changes that are needed, and the solutions that are already available. Instead they constantly repeat the denier's falsehoods. If the media did it's job, the people would be solidly behind a strong climate bill and congress would follow.On The real reason the climate bill is going to suck posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago 29 Responses
  • My solar panels did a good job of decreasing my electricity usage. Isn't that a techno fix? My electric car, combined with the solar, cut my fossil fuel usage way down. Isn't that a techno fix? That doesn't mean that every techno fix is a good one. There are a lot of different ideas out there. I don't think you can just categorically say that all techno fixes are good or all techno fixes are bad. The good techno fixes are certainly going to play a part in any solution to the global warming problem. Some behavioral changes are needed too, but I see some people putting forth the idea that we all need to go back to an 18th century lifestyle. That's not going to win over many converts.On Save us, [insert techno-fix here], you're our only hope! posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago 7 Responses
  • I just love my electric car. People don't realize just how great it is to not have to stop at a filling station. Every morning the car has a full charge and is ready to go. You really have to experience it to fully understand it. I have solar panels on my roof that power the car and partially power the house. You can't get panels for your roof that turn sunshine into gasoline! When this V2G technology is worked out, we are going to find that life is a whole lot better for everyone except big oil companies and middle east oil producing countries. If they are smart, they will start getting into the wind and solar business now.On The long and wind-powered road posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago 7 Responses

  • Bull. My electric car is plugged into a "lump" of solar panels, not coal.

    Hey Vinod, where can I buy those magic panels for my roof that turn sunshine into gasoline?

    On The limits of today's electric car technology posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago 18 Responses

  • Solar panel pricing is now under $4 a watt. Still more expesive than coal, but far cheaper than nuclear. If you add in the environmental cost of coal, then solar and wind are the clear winners for cheap, clean power.

    On Solar is getting cheap posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago 14 Responses

  • They said the same thing in 2007. Never happened.

    They said the same thing in 2008. Never happened.

    Now they are saying it again in 2009.

    They still don't have a working prototype.

    Each time they pump up the hype, the stock goes up and the people behind it sell at a great profit. Then the stock price falls back as people realize it's no different than the last time.

    On EEStor CEO says game-changing energy storage device coming by 2010 posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago 30 Responses

  • As Sun Tzu said, we must know our enemy. Go out and watch the documentary "The Corporation". Only then will you realize what you are up against. You cannot make any progress with government without first dealing with the corporations, because our government is mostly controlled by the corporations.


    The Republican party is completely controlled by corporations and the Democratic party is mostly controlled by corporations. That's why I voted Green Party. The Green Party has no chance of gaining the White House, at least not until it gains momentum by winning many local and state level races. That's doesn't mean it's not worth supporting. As far as environmental policy is concerned, it is so far ahead of the the two major parties that there is no contest. If you care about climate and you are voting Republican or Democratic then you are shooting yourself in the foot. That's how we end up with the present WM bill.

    Notably, Sun Tzu also said "It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin".

    On Why do U.S. environmentalists remain irrationally committed to a losing strategy? posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago 32 Responses

  • Interesting read, as I'm about to unplug my electric car and drive to work. The weather is forecast to be a mostly sunny day, I should get close to 30KWH out of my solar panels today. Enough to power the car and the house. I'm not as lucky in the winter, since I don't have space for a windmill. Sure wish the utility would get their act together and switch from coal to something cleaner.

    We really, really need to get away from burning things for energy. It's not that hard, just a bit expensive. It's not even that expensive, really, when you consider the ultimate costs of all this ultra-deep, tar sands, processing thick, viscous stuff. Not to mention the environmental cost of dumping all this pollution into the air. Hey, I'm trying to breath that air! Would you mind not polluting it, please?

     

    On It's official -- the era of cheap oil is over posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago 44 Responses

  • Only when the last tree has died,

    When the last river has been poisoned,

    When the last fish has been caught,

    Will we realize that we can't eat money.

    http://www.bant-shirts.com/environmental-t-shirts.htm

    On Gore on CNN posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago 4 Responses

  • It's even worse than this. Much, much worse. Growing corn is a water intensive endeavour and we are depleting water resources to produce this corn.

    The Ogallala Aquifer is being drained and may go dry in as little as 25 years. It wil ltake a very long time to refill, possibly as much as 5000 years.

    Without the aquifer, much of Nebraska, Kanasa, Colorado, and Texas turn into a mini Sahara. The dustbowl of the 30's will be a picnic in comparison.

    It is bad, very bad to drain this precious resource for food. To pay farmers with tax dollars to drain it just so that politicians can get corn state votes is fantastically, horrifically bad.

    The Colorado River now runs dry before it reaches the Gulf of California. The level of the Great Lakes is dropping. We don't have enough water to go around for our basic needs, let alone to waste it turning food crops into fuel.

     

     

    On A bad idea, plus lots of cash posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 7 Responses

  • Not All Glaciers Melting

    I'm surprised the deniers haven't picked up on this: scientists have discovered 63 glaciers that are no longer melting at all.

    Then again, that's because they are gone, completely melted away.On World's glaciers shrink for 18th year posted 9 months, 4 weeks ago 1 Response

  • Coal Jobs

    According to Sen. Inhofe, reducing our usage of coal will "cost Americans thousands of jobs".

    One problem, senator: the wind power industry already employs more people than the coal industry, and coal employment has been going down anyway, while wind is going up.

    Whoops!On Kansas legislature reviving last year's coal fight posted 10 months ago 3 Responses

  • Natural Gas Vs Coal

    "burning exactly the same BTU or therms with natural gas or coal in terms of carbon dioxide?"

    We don't burn natural gas or coal just for BTU's, we make electricity from those fuels.

    Using coal to make electricity produces 950 g CO2/(kW·h), while natural gas produces 600 g CO2/(kW·h). That's a significant reduction and clearly shows that natural gas and coal are not the same in CO2 production.

    Sorry Sam Wells, but with all due respect, you don't know what you are talking about.On Dynegy pulls out of coal-fired power plant partnership posted 10 months, 4 weeks ago 4 Responses

  • Maryland Electricity

    I'm not sure about where Friedman lives, but I live in Maryland and according to my power company, Allegheny Power, 65% of my power comes from coal and 35% from nuclear.

    The solar panels I installed last summer cut my electric bill in half. I have room on my roof to double the number of panels, but that wouldn't make sense for two reasons. First, Maryland's incentive program puts limits on your array, and second, I would sometimes produce more energy than I use, and the net metering law does not allow you to get a payment from the power company if that happens. So then I would be paying lots of money for solar panels while providing energy gratis to the power company. They make enough profit without my help, and I'm not that rich.

    The climate change community seems to be very much caught up in lots of distractions like lightbulbs and vegetarianism when by far the biggest and most difficult problem is coal. At this point we need to focus almost exclusively on eliminating coal from our energy grid if we are going to stop changing the climate. Once we start making progress on coal, we can start working on everything else.On A very long review of Friedman's latest book posted 1 year ago 14 Responses

  • McCain In PA

    McCain campaigning in Pennsylvania says that he is the "Coal Booster" and will greatly expand coal production and consumption, because it will create jobs.

    He has thrown his previous claims of caring about global warming completely out the window.On Hansen et al: We must phase-out coal emissions by 2030 and stabilize at or below 350 ppm posted 1 year ago 2 Responses

  • Very MuchThe Same

    I still think the two Democratic candidates are very similar. I don't hear what I would like to hear from them. That would be:

    • An immediate ban on all new coal plants.

    • A plan to elimiante coal plants over a period of time, preferably as quickly as possible. Since this is going to encounter extreme reistance from the coal lobby, and coal state congresspersons, we will need a realistic way to convince them to go along. That probably means spending lots of cash to buy them out. Throw cash at coal produceers to get them into some other business. Throw money to coal states to get them to realign their economies to some other industry.

    • Huge incentives are neeeded for solar and wind and other alternatives. We need to look at the German solar program and setup something similar here.

    • The reality of the situation is that we will still need nuclear power. We need to solve the waste issue, and it is solvable. We can learn some lessons from France. They reproccess used fuel into new fuel, while we just treat it as waste. Their method means must less waste, and less need to mine fresh uranium too.

    • A huge push is needed to get electric cars on the road. Ethanol and biodiesel can help some, but  are not really effective fixes overall. Higher taxes on oil, investment in electric and battery research are needed. Also incentives for both makers and buyers of BEVs and PHEVs.

    • Setting a goal for emissions in 2050 is not very helpful. That's like setting out on a drive from NY to LA, without determining the route first. You need to have intermediate goals, or you're not going to get there. You need to know whether you're going to go through Chicago, or St. Louis or what. We need emissions goals for 2012, 202, 2030, 2040, and 2050.

    • We won't have the money to do any of this unless we end the Iraq war, ASAP.
    On Campaign energy wonks clarify candidates' differences on climate change posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses

  • They Can't Stop Me

    Screw CARB, screw the naysayers, I'm buying an electric car anyway! And I don't even live in California.

    Further, I'm putting up solar panels, and I'm driving on sunshine. Screw OPEC! Screw Exxon!

    They can't stop me!On Is CARB up to its old tricks? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 17 Responses

  • Why Talk To The Skeptics?

    I don't think that anything you can say to a skeptic can convince them to change their minds, any more than anything they say will change my mind.

    Consider first of all that people believe and trust in the science behind airplanes, autombiles, the calculator, the electric light, electricity in general, batteries, the electric motor, the gasoline engine, the steam engine, the diesel engine, the jet engine, rockets, microwaves, fiber optics, nuclear energy, nuclear bombs, vaccines, microscopes, telescopes, telephones, radios, television, computers, the internet, x-rays, plasitics, hydralics, navigation, and much, much, more, and All That Stuff Works!.

    So, the scientists are not always 100% right, but they are very, very close. Yet when scientists come up with something that doesn't agree with some people's personal ideas or views on how they think things should be, or threatens their economic stakes, like with evolution or global warming, then suddenly those people forget all about all the scientific stuff that works, and they start saying that scientists are untrustworthy, don't know what they are talking about, they have an agenda, and so forth. These arguments are clearly not based on reason, so attempting to use reason to argue against them is fruitless.

    I don't see any value at all with wasting time on such people who are not going to listen to reason. They see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and believe what they want to believe, and no one is going to change that. You might as well empty the ocean with a small spoon.

    To me the only logical course is to either believe in science, and all that comes with it, no matter how easy or difficult it is to accept, or you go live in a cave and live on nuts and berries. You can't selectively believe in some science and not other science depending on what you find convenient.On 'There is no evidence' -- Yes, there is posted 2 years, 1 month ago 59 Responses