Category Archives: Global Warming & Such

Climate Change May Mean More Mexican Immigration: Scientific American

Republicans are usually really bad on cause-and-effect relations but they might want to pay attention to this. The more the climate becomes unstable, the more Mexicans are going to lose their jobs and farms. Which means even more will come to US looking for work as long as folks are willing to hire them.

Anyone willing to pass some immigration reform yet?

Also, more on how the Senate knows nothing about science.

New wave of solar plants could worsen air quality – Las Vegas Sun

Here is a prime example of what happens when corporations sink their venomous fangs into public news. If you only read the headline you would be correct in thinking “oh man, I didn’t know solar plants were so bad for us”.

Read the article, however, and you run into information like “According to the developer, the Amargosa (solar) plant would produce about 4.9 pounds of carbon monoxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced, compared with 822 pounds per megawatt hour for a natural gas plant.”

Wow, wait a minute. I thought you said the solar plants would WORSEN things? Worsen as in being more polluting than doing nothing? Sure. If I stopped breathing the Earth would have more oxygen. But I don’t plan on dying right now.

And sure, if plants here – where there is a lot of sun – replaces a more inefficient fossil fuel facility somewhere else, then yeah, the local environment may suffer a bit. Overall, however, we’re in better shape for it.

That said, measure the impact responsibly, and move forward if the plan looks to benefit more people than, say, plopping a few more oil derricks off the American coast. Yes, there is a cost to develop. But casting doubt on methods that are WAY more safe than those currently in use only earns you thirty pieces of silver and a reputation for being a corporate whore.

My other example of corporate propaganda comes from NPR, now apparently funded by Monsanto. In an article that should be touting the benefits of grass-fed beef – which should be obvious – the article snidely goes about trying to diminish what thinking people and our ancestors knew: animals each grass to survive when given a choice, not corn meal or the ground up bits of other animals.

Monsanto, and their paid NPR reporter, wants you to question what just seems right and obvious. Once again, why should I donate to put more of this filth on the air?

Climate change in our own backyards | Marketplace From American Public Media

I have having a conversation with someone the other day and this story from Marketplace came to mind. Basically, it concerns the destruction of forests in Montana thanks to milder winters there in recent years.

The lack of good solid cold snaps is letting a native beetle species flourish and destroy large tracts of pine trees. Granted, Montana may have two Democratic senators and a governor, but it’s a pretty conservative place. Without being too giddy about it, I’m pretty sure these folks are reaping what they sowed when mocking climate change news. Now it is in their backyards, literally.

Sometimes it takes a harsh lesson to learn truth and put aside politically motivated myth, and this *is* a hard one to learn at that. Hopefully these folks will teach their conservative brethren the fallacy of their rhetoric. I mean, Georgia is turning into a desert and that hasn’t changed any minds.

In short, conservatives need to get on board and help address the threats that affect ALL of us. Too bad that you can look at the majority of the commenters on this story and still see a lot of kool aid drinkers.

Honestly, when our economy fails and the ecology collapses, I won’t have one iota of humanity left for these bastards. I hope they starve outside whatever front door I have while I help protect those who actually realize that our actions have consequences. Let those whose greed destroy our world suffer for their misdeeds.