Forest, Wildlife, and Climate News

Department of Homeland Security goes off the deep end

Janet Incompetano plans to battle “climate change” in addition to terrorists

Watts Up With That, December 20, 2010 [here]

Not content to keep to the terrorism prevention mission for which they were founded, DHS’s Janet Napolitano now plans to battle a religious war of “climatic jihad”. … [T]he last time Washington DC took on weather in February 2010 (but not climate), the capital was shut down of course [here]. Now that’s “environmental justice”. Look for pat downs at airports soon for those carrying concealed carbonated beverages. …

See also:

Napolitano Says DHS to Begin Battling Climate Change as Homeland Security Issue

By J. Brady Howell, CNS News, December 17, 2010 [here]

At an all-day White House conference on “environmental justice,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department is creating a new task force to battle the effects of climate change on domestic security operations.

Speaking at the first White House Forum on Environmental Justice on Thursday, Napolitano discussed the initial findings of the department’s recently created “Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force.”

Napolitano explained that the task force was charged with “identifying and assessing the impact that climate change could have on the missions and operations of the Department of Homeland Security.” …

Lame Duck Dems Screw Small Farmers, Ban Farmers Markets

Before they are kicked to the curb next January, radical anti-American Dems plan to impose fees and regulations on small farms and market gardens, effectively eliminating small farms, local commercial food production, and farmers markets. The Bill is S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act [here].

On Nov. 18th the US Senate voted to halt all debate and consider the Bill as is. The Motion to Proceed passed with 51 Dem aye votes but only 4 GOP aye votes. Six Dems and 27 GOPs voted no [here].

Q&A on S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act [here]

Q: I am hearing this bill could threaten the existence of farmers markets as we know them, and furthermore threaten pure organic foods. Thoughts?

A: Of course this is a threat to small farmers - a fee or costly series of procedures that are pocket change for a multi-million-dollar industrial food company could break the budget of a small farmer. It will not end industrial “organics”, but don’t kid yourself and think that the genuine family farmers are going to keep growing food for you if it squeezes them beyond the breaking point.

A: As the co-founder of a farmers market and co-coordinator for 14 years through 2008, I know for certain that farmers markets are endangered. The new section 418 Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls applies a HACCP-like plan requirement to all businesses required to register under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act.

A: Yes it will negatively impact our farm. Especially when you consider that I am being treated no differently that a larger processor (where most the problems lie) and that foreign food sources are not impacted by this legislation in the same manner.

Q: I have a small green house and about an acre of ground. I grow most all plants from seed. I sell the plants for customers to transplant to their own gardens. I also plant my own acre of ground and sell tomatos,peppers, and other produce to friends family and customers. And quite often bring produce to a farmers market. Will this bill affect me?

A: If the secretary so deems you to be defined as a small business affected by certain sections, yes. The wording is not specific but is general so that the person who occupies the post at the time the law is enacted will have the legal authority to make a definitive determination.

Q: Please clarify: will this bill prevent small farmers from selling produce without govenment regulation?

A: Yes.

Q: What is the constitutional basis for the federal government to monitor and control small farms that are not shipping product across state lines?

A: There is no constitutional provision that allows the federal government to monitor and control small farms that are engaged in local, intrastate commerce.

A million strong and bull trout are endangered, seriously?

Roger Phillips, Idaho Statesman, September 09, 2010 [here]

I’M CALLING BULL

… Idaho’s bull trout are more plentiful than people realize, and it’s debatable whether they should even be listed under the Endangered Species Act. …

According to a population estimate published by Idaho Fish and Game biologists in 2008 in the American Fisheries Society journal, “within 262 local populations designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within seven Idaho recovery units, the number of 70-millimeter total length and larger bull trout was estimated at 1.13 million.” …

[I]t’s been 12 years since bull trout were listed under the Endangered Species Act, and there’s still no final federal recovery plan, so there’s no chance of delisting them.

Under a best-case scenario, it will probably be at least two or three years before the feds could even start the delisting process and remove bull trout from ESA protection.

The irony here is that it’s going to take longer to get a recovery plan for bull trout than it was for Idaho to recover them, whether or not they were actually “threatened” in the first place.

Czar She Blows

U.S. names Asian carp czar

Chicago Breaking News, September 8, 2010 [here]

The White House has tapped a former leader of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Wildlife Federation as the Asian carp czar to oversee the federal response to keeping the invasive species out of the Great Lakes.

On a conference call today with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and other congressional leaders, President Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality announced the selection of John Goss to lead the near $80 million, multi-pronged federal attack against Asian carp.

“This is a serious challenge, a serious threat,” Durbin said. “When it comes to the Asian carp threat, we are not in denial. We are not in a go-slow mode. We are in a full attack, full-speed ahead mode. We want to stop this carp from advancing.” …

The challenge for Goss, who was director of the Indiana DNR under two governors and served for four years as the executive director of the Indiana National Wildlife Federation, will be to make sure millions in federal money is spent efficiently, to oversee several on-going studies — including one looking into the possibility of permanently shutting down the Chicago waterway system linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River-and to bring together Great Lakes states currently locked in a courtroom battle over the response to the Asian carp threat. … [more]

Nota bene: this article is about the carp czar, not the crap czar. The crap czar is someone else.

Nota bene duo: Czar, czar, everywhere a czar. Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this, don’t do that, can’t you heed the czar.

You can’t walk down the street these days without tripping over a czar. They’re thick as fleas on a dog.

I want to be the czar czar, the czar that oversees all the other czars. I could be Czar Czar Binks or Czar Czar Gabor. Czar vil be no escapes from my czarishness.

Security guard pays $1,735 for killing black bear

Great Falls Tribune, September 2, 2010 [here]

A security guard at the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club has paid $1,735 in restitution and fines for illegally killing a black bear while trying to haze the animal away from a paintball course.

The Montana Standard reports Shane Barstad paid $1,000 in restitution and a $735 fine in Justice Court in Madison County this week.

Justice of the Peace Mary Ann O’Malley says Barstad paid the penalties for the misdemeanor citation for killing a large animal out of season.

Barstad told state Fish, Wildlife & Parks officers that he killed the bear on Aug. 11 when he accidentally used a live round instead of a rubber bullet while trying to haze the bear. … [more]

Note: if the bear had attacked a paintballer, would the judge have fined the bear?

Chicago Climate Exchange drops 50%, new record low

by Anthony Watts, Watts Up With That, August 31, 2010 [here]

The only lower price than today’s closing price on a ton of carbon is ZERO

Perhaps reacting to the news yesterday about the IPCC getting taken to the woodshed [here], the growing number of stories in the MSM about the IPCC failure, and the recent layoffs at CCX [here], carbon trading has once again been devalued by the market. …

The CCX [Chicago Climate Exchange] end of day table really says it all, 50% off, from a dime to a nickel [per ton] in a day. …

Charcoal briquettes and coal have more value than a ton of CCX carbon instruments these days. [By the way, the spot price for Central Appalachia 12,500 Btu, 1.2 SO2 coal this week was $69.50 per ton. Compare that 5 cents per ton for fiat "market" carbon futures.]

Unless CCX starts making adjustments in single cents, the next downward adjustment is zero. The latest CCX advisory says they will be closed for labor day, and will reopen for trading September 7th. One wonders.

See also: The $10 Trillion Climate Fraud [here]

ICE buying Climate Exchange for over $600 million [here]

US Government in Massive New Global Warming Scandal – NOAA Disgraced

by John O’Sullivan, special to Climate Change Fraud, 09 August 2010 [here]

Global warming data apparently cooked by U.S. government-funded body shows astounding temperature fraud with increases averaging 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

The taxpayer funded National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has become mired in fresh global warming data scandal involving numbers for the Great Lakes region that substantially ramp up averages.

A beleaguered federal agency appears to be implicated in the most blatant and extreme case of climate data fraud yet seen. Official records have been confirmed as evidence that a handful of temperature records for the Great Lakes region have been hiked up by literally hundreds of degrees to substantially inflate the average temperature range for the northeastern United States. …

Under a scheme called ‘Sea Grant’ NOAA collaborates with national universities to compile an official federal temperature record. In this instance, the partnership is with Michigan University’s ‘Coastal Watch.’

Together the two institutions show temperature maps for northern Lake Michigan registering an absurd 430 degrees Fahrenheit — yes, you read it right –- that’s four hundred and thirty degrees — and this is by no means the highest temperature recorded on the charts.

In the heated debate about Earth’s ever-changing climate you certainly don’t need to be scientist to figure out that the Great Lakes would have boiled away at a mere 212 degrees, so something has seriously gone awry inside this well-funded program. …

Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, really got cooking this July 4th around 9:59AM, according to NOAA and Coast Watch. It was there, at the bottom left row of the temperature data points, that the records reveal on that day a phenomenally furnace-like 600 degrees Fahrenheit! … [more]

Popsicle®’s Ten Things To Do To Save the Planet

Popsicle® will donate $25,000 to the National Geographic Polar Fund to support research and exploration of the polar ice caps and global warming issues. What can you do to help fight global warming? [here]

1. Take a reusable bag to the store instead of one made out of paper or plastic.

2. Create a lending library. Share items such as books, DVDs or video games with your friends and neighbors.

3. Set the thermostat to no lower than 78° F in the summer and no higher than 68° F in the winter.

4. Choose locally grown food. Transporting food long distances wastes fuel and creates extra CO2.

5. Plug electronics into a power strip and flip off the switch when the gadgets aren’t in use. (Make sure this won’t mess up clocks and recordings.)

6. Turn off the car instead of letting it idle while you’re waiting.

7. Reuse creatively! For instance, use empty yogurt containers as paint cups or plant pots.

8. Keep those fans buzzing in summer instead of turning on the air conditioner.

9. Wash only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher.

10. Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent ones. They last up to ten times longer and can use a quarter of the energy.

Note: in addition -

Don’t use, or else reuse, toilet paper

Never take a shower

Eat your pets

Turn off your critical thinking capacity, if you have any.

Don’t purchase products that come with wooden handles, like Popsicle®s for instance

Don’t subscribe to un-recyclable, heavy clay-coat, glossy magazines with huge carbon footprints, like National Geographic for instance

Climate change: Behold, the gospel according to the UN

The Methodist Church is adopting the IPCC’s report on global warming as holy writ

by Christopher Booker, UK Telegraph, August 7th 2010 [here]

Anyone who has observed the way the belief in man-made global warming has become for many a new religion might be intrigued by a lengthy document published by the Methodist Church, in the hope that next year it will become official Methodist policy.

Entitled Our Hope in God’s Future, it kicks off by proclaiming that “the theological task is to reflect on modern scientific accounts of the threats posed by climate change in the context of affirming the triune God as creator and redeemer of the universe”. “What is required of God’s people,” it goes on, “is repentance.” The first step must be “confessing our complicity in the sinful structures which have caused the problem”.

The document makes it clear that all good Methodists must take as their new Bible the latest report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, along with the famous report by Lord Stern. Inspired by this holy writ, like any Old Testament prophet it reels off all those familiar apocalyptic warnings of the catastrophes sinful mankind is bringing on the planet – floods, droughts, hurricanes, killer heatwaves, melting ice caps, sea levels rising by 20 feet (although they did get that one from the prophet Gore). … [more]

Note: AGW is a religion, and the Methodists are pimps for anything that looks religious. Next they’ll be worshiping Baal Obama.

AP Cites Discredited NOAA Bureaucrat to Push Global Warming Alarmism Report

Science Writer plays up climate threat, including questionable claim of warming-driven Mexican migration to U.S.

By Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute, 7/30/2010 [here]

Who needs a public relations department when you have a willing accomplice like the Associated Press?

A July 28 story written by AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid took a very uncritical look at the recently released “State of the Climate” report. According to Schmid, this report, which has a fair share of critics, makes a definitive call about climate change.

“Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are ‘clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: Global warming is undeniable,’” Schmid wrote. “Concern about rising temperatures has been growing in recent years as atmospheric scientists report rising temperatures associated with greenhouse gases released into the air by industrial and other human processes. At the same time, some skeptics have questioned the conclusions.”

Schmid continued on to cite Tom Karl, who was described as “the transitional director of the planned NOAA Climate Service.” But there’s one problem – a 2008 story by the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Chris Horner for National Review Online reported Karl had misidentified himself as “Dr.” Tom Karl, but in fact had not earned the credential:

“The evidence in this report would say unequivocally yes, there is no doubt,” that the Earth is warming, said Tom Karl, the transitional director of the planned NOAA Climate Service.

Schmid also cited the questionable claim from Michael Oppenheimer in a paper published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) that warming would force mass immigration to the United States from Mexico.

“And a study by Princeton University researchers released Monday suggested that continued warming could cause as many as 6.7 million more Mexicans to move to the United States because of drought affecting crops in their country,” Schmid wrote.

However in a story for the Examiner published on July 29, Thomas Fuller debunked this “scare” that Schmid accepted without evaluation. … [more]

Note: The complete and utter lies spread by “journolists” like Schmid regarding the Global Warming Hoax (the greatest scientific fraud in history) are doing an extreme disservice to this country, our political sovereignty, human rights, our economy, and to the entire world.

Montana-Saskatchewan climate project shelved

Money troubles have stalled indefinitely a proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a Canadian coal plant and store the gas underground in Montana - a largely unproven concept considered key for addressing climate change.

By MATTHEW BROWN, Tacoma News Tribune, 07/25/1010 [here]

BILLINGS, Mont. – Money troubles have stalled indefinitely a proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a Canadian coal plant and store the gas underground in Montana - a largely unproven concept considered key for addressing climate change.

Montana and Saskatchewan’s elected leaders had sought $100 million from each of their federal governments for the proposal, but have failed to deliver the money.

It was billed as an industrial-scale test of technologies that could reduce carbon emissions from some of the 650 coal-fired power plants in the two countries. Coal power is the leading industrial source of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

But without money for construction, Montana’s sponsor in the proposal, the six-state Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership, is shifting its efforts to another carbon storage project, said partnership director Lee Spangler, a professor at Montana State University. … [more]

Note: An unproven concept, to “solve” a non-problem, which would cost $100 million, spearheaded by a college professor (Associate Professor, Physical Chemistry, Molecular, and Materials Spectroscopy [here]). And it got shot down. Imagine that. Somebody up there must be sane, at least partially.

Global Warming Is a Plus for Marmots for Now

By Karen Kaplan, Vancouver Sun, July 21, 2010 [here]

Every year, scientists fan out across Colorado’s Upper East River Valley to count the yellow-bellied marmots that make their home there in rocky meadows bordered by aspen, pine and spruce trees.

Over the last decade, the work has gotten more tiring. Now they know why - the population of squirrel-like critters has exploded due to environmental changes brought on by global warming, according to a study to be published Thursday in the journal Nature. …

But the fortunes of the yellow-bellied marmots will probably be reversed as their habitat continues to get hotter, said study co-author Daniel Blumstein, who heads the ecology and evolutionary biology department at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The summer food is drying up,” he said. “Summer droughts really nail the population.” At that point, the yellow-bellied marmots will have few options. … [more]

Note: Gloooobal waaaarming will kill all the marmots, except that their population is exploding, which is fatiguing the poor, filthy, overworked researchers, bless their pea-sized brains.

Also, despite all the hand-wringing from bug-eyed alarmist pseudo-scientists, the National Climatic Data Center reports that Colorado’s annual temperatures have actually been trending downward at a rate of 2.03 degrees F per decade for the last 10 years! The National Climatic Data Center also indicates that summer droughts are unlikely to be a problem because Colorado’s summer precipitation has trended upward by 31% during the last 10 years!

Ain’t that a pip!

EPA classifies milk as oil, forcing costly rules on farmers

by Monica Scott, The Grand Rapids Press, June 14, 2010 [here]

GRAND RAPIDS — Having watched the oil gushing in the Gulf of Mexico, dairy farmer Frank Konkel has a hard time seeing how spilled milk can be labeled the same kind of environmental hazard.

But the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is classifying milk as oil because it contains a percentage of animal fat, which is a non-petroleum oil.

The Hesperia farmer and others would be required to develop and implement spill prevention plans for milk storage tanks. The rules are set to take effect in November, though that date might be pushed back.

“That could get expensive quickly,” Konkel said. “We have a serious problem in the Gulf. Milk is a wholesome product that does not equate to spilling oil.”

But last week environmentalists disagreed at a Senate committee hearing on a resolution from Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, calling for the EPA to rescind its ruling.

“The federal Clean Water Act requirements were meant to protect the environment from petroleum-based oils, not milk,” he said. “I think it is an example of federal government gone amuck.”

But Gayle Miller, legislative director of Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, said agricultural pollution probably is the nation’s most severe chronic problem when it comes to water pollution. … [more]

Note: Got Eco-fascism?

Billionaire Fisherman Is Part Female

Stunning gender bender news from the US Fish and Wildlife Service:

New Report Issued on Trout Fishing

USFWS News Release, June 21, 2010 [here]

An old and familiar Chinese proverb states “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” According to Anna Harris, an economist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, if a man has learned to fish for trout, he fished an average of 11 days a year in 2006, had an above average education, earned an above average income, spent $4.8 billion in pursuit of his prey, which generated $13.6 billion in economic output, and 25 percent of the time — he was a she.

These are only a few brief highlights contained in a more detailed economic report compiled by Harris, “Trout Fishing in 2006: A Demographic Description and Economic Analysis,” just released by the Service. The report is an addendum to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation published by the Service. … [more]

Note: Thanks for the news tip to Julie Kay Smithson, doyen youthful doyenne of Property Rights Research [here, here], and who claims to be a woman female 100% of the time.

Graham urges GOP to address issues important to young people, Hispanics

Senator says offering ideas on immigration, energy will expand party’s base

By Clark Brooks, June 13, 2010 [here]

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says the GOP cannot hope to regain the White House and grow in coming decades if Republicans are not significant players in passing meaningful immigration and energy reform.

Those issues are of great importance to two groups Republicans badly need: young people and Hispanics, Graham told The Greenville News .

Graham said clean energy is a critical issue for young people, and “we have a problem with 30 and younger voters.” If GOP lawmakers continue to argue there is no downside to carbon pollution, the party is “going to lose young people forever as Republicans because they’ve grown up being very environmentally sensitive,” he said.

“So for the Republican Party, we’ve got to make a decision,” Graham said. “Are we going to be the party of carbon pollution forever? If so, then I think our ability as a party to grow in terms of young voters is going to be severely hurt.” … [more]

Note: Flip-Flop Graham is grasping for excuses to justify his former support of Cap-and-Taxilla. He did it for the children and for the little brown voters. Why, they’ll never believe that CO2 is not a pollutant but instead the fundamental nutrient of all life. Because they’ve grown up attending public school and had their heads stuffed with garbage. So let’s pander to their ignorance. It’s for the good of the Party.