Remember the GOP propaganda pushed by Rep. John "God is infallible and science is not" Shimkus that more CO2 is good for us because it is "plant food?"
It's a lie, a lie of omission, but a lie nonetheless. Here's the reality:
The Obama administration announced what appeared to be a breakthrough in international cooperation to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation sector. Here is the description from the State Department.
The United States welcomes the historic agreement today at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on international aviation and climate change. Delegates to the Assembly adopted an unprecedented global commitment to collective action among countries around the world —developed and developing—to limit and reduce carbon emissions from international aviation. ICAO recognized that further work is necessary to define the path forward on implementation and the United States affirmed its commitment to further efforts within ICAO.
An agreement "to limit and reduce carbon emissions from international aviation" would indeed be worthy of celebration because aviation emissions currently represent 5% of industrial emissions. Unfortunately, the agreement is mostly smoke and mirrors.
My Mom is where I learned about public service. For 17 years she was a County Commissioner in the second largest county in Michigan by population. During that time she had opportunities to run for higher office, but stayed where she was because she though it was the highest level of public office where one could see the affect of the work one was doing.
It wasn’t always an easy row to hoe. Being that it was Michigan there was always a problem with finding enough money in the budgets to fill all the priorities. There were times when she did what she thought was right, even though people complained. When she set up two health clinic where teens could get condoms without shame or hassle (in the ‘80’s) there was a lot of out cry. Still Mom knew that with the 17% teen pregnancy rate in her district something had to be done.
"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"
The Energy Bill has been shelved for now -- another Price exacted by the Do Nothing Party.
Senate Halts Effort to Cap CO2 Emissions
Democrats Forgo Centerpiece of President Obama's Energy Plan, as Cap-and-Trade Fails to Lure Broad Support in Congress
By Stephen Power, Wall Street Journal -- July 23, 2010
Mr. Reid refused to declare the idea dead. But Thursday's decision called into question when or whether any legislated cap on greenhouse-gas emissions would reach Mr. Obama's desk.
Now, businesses, such as wind-turbine makers, that had bet on a greenhouse-gas provision to make alternatives to coal and oil more cost-competitive must recalculate how long it might take for that to happen.
[...] the solar industry is growing at the rate of about 40% a year in terms of electrical power installed and is likely to continue to grow, said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Corp.'s Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group in Huntington Beach, Calif.
We need some new Senators (at least 60), who actually care about Energy Independence -- enough to act.
One of my techie hopes is that Science will one day figure out how to Split our excess CO2 production, back into its component parts: C and O (harmless Carbon and Oxygen).
One small problem though -- Carbon Chemical Bonds are among the strongest bonds out there. These chemical bonds are the reason HydroCarbons (long chains of Carbon atoms tied to each other, and padded by Hydrogen Atoms), can power our homes, our vehicles, and our Electric power plants.
Burning a HydroCarbon molecule releases all that condensed Energy, previously stored in those Carbon Chain bonds, by millions of years of Geologic heat and pressure.
Just Think:
methane
propane
butane
pentane
hexane
octane
and you may get an idea WHAT "fueled" our Industrial Age -- the quick and easy release of all that Chemical Energy, stored in all those Organic Carbon bonds.
Anyone got a Match?
We live in Epic Times.
For nearly the last Million years, CO2 levels in the Atmosphere, stayed mostly below 300 ppm (parts per million).
Well those happy days are apparently over.
Welcome to the New Normal!
Earth's CO2 Home Page
Atmospheric CO2 for May 2010
392.94 ppm
Preliminary data released June 7, 2010 (NOAA-ESRL MLO)
Well maybe 393 PPM of CO2 is not really that big of a deal?
What level is safe?
The upper safety limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million (ppm). Atmospheric CO2 levels have stayed higher than 350 ppm since early 1988.
Well maybe that extra 43 ppm's is not really big enough to matter? (... we can hope.)
