The Biden administration’s new 681-page EPA-proposed regulatory rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions for coal-and gas-fired power plants. This is but the latest attempt to eliminate America’s fossil-fueled energy independence, prosperity, and global security. EPA’s Most Recent Attack on Fossil Fuels Although last year the Supreme Court blocked the implementation of the Obama "Clean Power Plan," which would have forced a power shift to renewables from coal, the EPA now wants to include … [Read more...]
Those Attacks on Gas Stoves Aren’t Really about Health
Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash Earlier this year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that indoor gas stoves emitted harmful pollution. Several studies claim that the use of gas can cause respiratory illness. The CPSC is considering restrictions on gas stoves, including possible bans in new residential construction. But attacks on gas stoves are based on questionable science and are largely driven by concerns not related to health. The CPSC has reportedly been … [Read more...]
‘Vanishing Habitats’ for Wildlife Greatly Exaggerated in Push for ‘Biodiversity,’ Biden’s ’30 by 30′ Land Grab
Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash The following is a guest article by Rob Gordon. First of three articles on wildlife trends in America. Decades-long mantras about “vanishing habitat” and ever-growing threats to wildlife have long been used to justify locking up more land through federal ownership or other restrictive measures. The perfect example is the Biden administration’s proposal to conserve 30% of the nation by 2030—aka “30 by 30.” Exactly what the administration … [Read more...]
The Dangers of the “One Health Joint Plan of Action”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a page on its website titled “One Health Basics.” There it defines “One Health” as “a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing”—and here’s the crux—“the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.” On that page the CDC writes about the risk of disease … [Read more...]
Why Are Farmers Defying Bans to Cultivate GM Crops?
Farmers across the world are desperate to grow genetically modified crops (GM) in their fields. So much so that in some countries farmers have bypassed existing bans on these crops and even made harvests from them. Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash Why do these farmers risk being prosecuted, and what compels them to grow GM food crops? The answer is straightforward: GM crops give higher yields, are resilient to deadly plant diseases, and can withstand tough environmental … [Read more...]
Welcome to Cold War II
Trying to Save the Planetfrom the People Who Are Trying to Save the Planet Two scenes from my toddlerhood in Calcutta, India, have flashed in my mind thousands of times over the last 60-plus years. The first was of a beautiful tree with a red-flowered vine hanging from its branches. The second was of the emaciated bodies of people who had died overnight of starvation and disease. I saw the tree and its vine as my aia, or nurse, led me by the hand through the courtyard of the building … [Read more...]
California Charges Forward with Energy Disasters of Biblical Proportions
On August 31, just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a mandated switch to electric vehicles (EVs), the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid, called for a Flex Alert asking residents to voluntarily reduce their power consumption by avoiding “large appliances and charging electric vehicles” during peak usage hours of 4 to 9 pm. The unforeseen problem, it seems, in addition to increasing power demands and anemic, unreliable wind and solar … [Read more...]
Science returns to the Middle Ages with a vengeance
Touring Britain's Cotswolds region in Gloucestershire, England, and beyond can be downright inspirational. Castles long ago conquered, now in ruins, recall a cold, hard past — a past that relied on the sun and wood for heat, coupled with wind and water for power. And mostly only feudal lords and royal gentry could comfortably afford even paltry luxuries on a regular basis. Today it's back to the future of medieval times with a vengeance and a modern twist. Not only are we moving … [Read more...]
Could Glacier Melt Cause a Pandemic?
“Bacteria species found in glacial ice could pose disease risk as glaciers melt from global warming.” Such was the headline at Phys.org for an article announcing that Chinese researchers obtained snow, ice and cryoconite from several glaciers; attempted to grow the bacteria they scraped up; and sequenced all the DNA they found. The article went on to identify four potential threats that could lead to a new pandemic: I think the risk of glacier melt causing another pandemic is greatly … [Read more...]
Germany’s Green Energy Fixation Should Teach US a Lesson
Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government vice chancellor and economic minister Robert Habeck, a leading member of his country’s Green Party, has experienced a rude lesson regarding the disastrous consequences of his years of naïve opposition to fossil fuels. After tasking his top officials to assess the energy security implications of Germany’s dependence on Russian supplies in the event of a then-looming Ukraine invasion, their conclusions were desperately dispiriting. Habeck … [Read more...]
