Weather, Water, Energy 9-10-07

Sometimes you do just have to admire good idiocy when you see it. German automakers, invested in big, honking cars, say it’s impossible to meet proposed EU emissions standards because their Porsches would become like compact cars. There should be separate emissions limits for different kinds of cars. Uh, the point isn’t really whether we have sports cars or you have profits. It’s whether we have a planet. Live with it. But we’ll see if the EU has the cajones to stand up to this (bad) nonsense. . . . OTOH, good on Norway for calling a stop to automaker claims there that their cars are “green.” Cars are by definition not “green.” Some do less damage than others, but all are contributors for which alternatives must be found. (And once again for you entrepreneurs, the retrofitting of cars to new fuels may end up being a big time investment opportunity. If you can figure out which fuel(s) will win and convince others to give you money if you’re right.) . . . Skeptical Science illustrates more denier and obstructionist BS here. Nothing new really, but a nice example of the cherrypicking and outright deception involved in the “rebuttals” of what’s clearly happening all around these mendacious tools. . . . Three of the Great Lakes have been losing water at unusually high rates and the WI Senators are finally calling for investigation. Part of it’s probably warming, but sounds like much of it is bad management. Question is, can that be turned around effectively, given the demands that will be placed on those bodies in the near future? . . . Classic crap out of NV. State board ignores reality and danger and okays new coal-fired plants but says they have to take action to capture carbon as soon as the tech is available. When exactly in US history has an industry ever done that if not required to at the time? So much for the “no more coal” imperative. . . . Finally, a UN official is calling BS on the lesser developed nations’ effort to get a waiver on their own emissions until their economies are big time, too. The boat’s on fire, folks. We’ll talk blame when it’s out.