Environmentalists Oppose Every Practical Source of Energy

Environmentalists Oppose Every
Practical Source of Energy

because they abhor capitalism and industry

There is no source of energy that is unopposed by environmentalists. Oil and gasoline are their biggest enemies, even though these are the most convenient sources of energy for cars, trucks and locomotives. Environmentalists don't like nuclear energy becaue they say they are worried about proper disposal of spent fuel. They don't like coal, even though we have lots of it here in the U.S., because they fear air pollution. Windmills are out, because the environmentalists say they are unsightly and they kill birds. Hydroelectric dams are out, because eco-extremists are willing to wreck the power grid to save a few fish.

Not only are the energy sources opposed, environmentalists also oppose transmission lines, which carry electric power to the cities; and again, the opposition is for the sake of the birds.

Why do left-wing environmentalists oppose energy? That's easy. Leftists can't stand it when capitalism, industry and "big business" succeed. When that happens, it takes power away from big government. When liberal activists speak about solar and wind power, they claim they want the U.S. to achieve energy independence, but these are the same people who oppose oil drilling in Alaska. The stated concern for plant and animal life is primarily a cover story, although there are people who genuinely believe that animals have rights equal to those of humans.

Be sure to read The Causes and Effects of High Gas Prices, where you will see it's the environmentalists who are driving up the price of gas.

A Country at the Mercy of Environmentalists. For several decades, environmentalists have managed to get Congress to keep most of our oil resources off-limits to exploration and drilling. They've managed to have the Congress enact onerous regulations that have made refinery construction impossible. Similarly, they've used the courts and Congress to completely stymie the construction of nuclear power plants. As a result, energy prices are at historical highs and threaten our economy and national security.

Energy in the Balance. Take the example of renewable energy projects, the very sort about which environmentalists often wax lyrical. But "the greens are blocking the very transmission network needed for renewable electricity to move through the economy," according to The Wall Street Journal. The utilities willing to spend $1 billion to build the needed 240 miles of transmission line are projecting a completion date of 2014 at the earliest because of the length of permitting hearings and subsequent appeals.

We Can Thank Shortsighted Politicians for High Energy Prices. For decades left-leaning politicians have advocated higher prices and less energy. They were going to save the environment by punishing Americans into driving less and driving smaller cars. Now their policies have succeeded with a vengeance. The very left wing politicians who favored a policy of no oil and gas exploration, no use of coal, no development of nuclear power, and no aggressive development of new technologies are now panic-stricken that their policies of higher prices have led to higher prices.

Environmentalism's Big Lie: Renewable Energy. Claims that renewable energy can replace fossil fuels and nuclear power are a fraud. In California, moreover, environmentalists have revealed that their real attitude toward renewable energy is no less hostile than their attitude toward all other forms of man-made power. After the installation of hundreds of "alternative" energy plants in the state — in the nation's most ambitious program to build environmentally correct power plants — the greens have begun to reject one renewable power technology after another.

A Step Back From Enviro Lunacy. Lobbyists and litigators for environmental restriction groups have produced energy policies that I suspect future generations will regard as lunatic. We haven't built a new nuclear plant for some 30 years, since a Jane Fonda movie exaggerated their dangers. We have allowed states to ban oil drilling on the outer continental shelf, prompted by the failure of 40- or 50-year-old technology in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1969, though current technology is much better, as shown by the lack of oil spills in the waters off Louisiana and Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina.

Color Energy Woes Green. The global economy depends on available, affordable energy. Many place their hopes for abundant energy supplies in yet-to-be-imagined technologies. But while researchers tinker with far-off possibilities, there's something we should do right now to keep our primary energy sources flowing — break the radical environmentalists' chokehold on national energy policy.

Seeing The Light: Most of France's electricity has been generated by nuclear power for years, and now Great Britain is again looking to atomic energy. Why can't we increase nuclear output in this country? The answer is, of course, irrational opposition by environmentalists. They screech about greenhouse gas emissions from gas- and coal-fired electric plants but, with a few exceptions, they fanatically resist the most reasonable alternative: nuclear power.

Greens Will Leave us Cold and Hungry. Earthworks is about to initiate its own "No Dirty Energy" campaign "to alert the public to the climate, ecosystem and community risks associated with mining and burning the world's dirtiest fuel sources?" Labeling coal and oil "dirty" is pure PR and ignores the fact that coal, a cheap and abundant energy sources, provides just over fifty percent of America's electricity, an energy without which the entire nation would cease to function. It ignores the way the Green's campaign against oil has for four decades thwarted the right of American's to access and use its national oil and natural gas reserves yet to be found and extracted from 85% of our coastlines or the well-known fact that billions of barrels of oil remain untapped in ANWR.

Blame the greens when the lights go off. In successive weeks, Greenpeace has denounced proposals for new coal-fired power stations and a new generation of nuclear power plants. It may be true that clean-coal technology is a long way off, but whatever other complaints can be made about it, nuclear power is an alternative to fossil fuels and honest greens are hard-headed enough to admit it. James Lovelock, the greatest environmentalist of our time, describes it as 'the one safe, available, energy source' and despairs at the green movement's 'irrational' objections.

The Nancy Pelosi of Kansas. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas … has spearheaded Kansas efforts to ban new coal plants, becoming the first state to reject new energy generation on health (read global warming) grounds. … But as Planet Gore's own Sterling Burnett has reported, 13 potential Kansas wind-farm projects are endangered as a direct result of the state's rejection of the coal plants!

Britain Plans World's Biggest Tidal Power Station. Great Britain is mulling plans to build the world's largest tidal power station. Though the climate-friendly energy source is expected to provide 5 percent of the country's power, environmentalists oppose the project, which they say will destroy vital wildlife habitat.

Uranium mining potential: What does uranium have in common with Arctic oil, offshore natural gas, coastal wind and cellulosic ethanol? They're all sources of energy that government bureaucrats have declared off-limits — needlessly. Just last month, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Arizona Democrat, declared an emergency situation to withdraw public lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon from uranium mining.

Virginia Is Sitting on the Energy Mother Lode. Virginia is one of just four states that ban uranium mining. The ban was put in place in 1984, to calm fears that had been sparked by the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979. ... [Henry Bowen and Walter Coles] are asking the state to determine whether mining uranium really is a hazard and, if not, to lift the ban. But they've run into a brick wall of environmental activists who raise the specter of nuclear contamination and who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue.

No Energy, Please. Andrew Mencinsky, executive director of Surfer' Environmental Alliance, called the natural gas project "an ecological disaster waiting to happen — one that could be triggered by an accident or a terrorist attack." Yeah, right. Terrible things could happen, might happen, or may happen. In fact, accidents happen. That's why they're called accidents. People and businesses go about their lives acting with reasonable caution. We don't live our lives based on what the Greens call "the precautionary principle", the belief that any possibility of a problem is sufficient reason to not precede with any project. Were that the case none of us would never get behind the wheel of our car because auto accidents kill about 40,000 Americans every year.

So much for "checks and balances."
Uranium mining halted by House. House Democrats on a single committee used an emergency power Wednesday to halt new uranium mining claims near the Grand Canyon, in a move Republicans say violates the Constitution. Voting 20-2, the Natural Resources Committee passed a resolution declaring an emergency and directing the Interior Department secretary to block new claims. Under a 1976 act of Congress the new resolution has the force of law, without needing the full House or Senate.

Enviros sue to stop drilling. A coalition of 10 environmental and wildlife organizations filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday [7/11/2008] in an effort to stop hotly contested drilling on the Roan Plateau. … The Roan Plateau, northwest of Rifle, has become a battleground between energy interests and environmentalists who hope to keep drill rigs off the top to protect deer and elk habitat and creeks full of native cutthroat trout.

The Editor says...
If my car ran on cutthroat trout, I'd root for their side.

Let's Drill. Eighty-five percent of the untapped domestic sources of oil have been put off-limits. There's a federally mandated moratorium on drilling offshore, and huge roadblocks to exploiting the oil on the vast federal lands have been erected. "What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity," wrote Robert Samuelson recently. Lifting the moratorium requires action by Congress and the White House. So don't hold your breath. The Democratic Congress is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environmental lobby, which regards oil exploration, much less drilling, as a sin against nature.

Shut Up and Produce Some Oil. Liberals are flailing about looking for some political cover on energy and gas prices. For decades now, they have supported the policies of extremists who have systematically sought to shut down every major energy source for our economy. We can't drill for oil offshore, we can't drill in the frozen tundra of north Alaska, we can't even develop oil shale on the mainland. Liberals are even opposing the development of new oil discoveries in the Plains states.

Report: Most oil, gas beneath public lands off-limits. A new report from the Bush administration says most of the oil and more than 40% of the natural gas beneath public lands in the United States are off-limits to drilling. Rolling back environmental safeguards and employing new drilling technologies would give energy companies access to 19 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, administration officials said Wednesday [5/21/2008].

Coal Power Opposition Raises Blackout Possibilities. The lights may soon go out in the Washington, DC metro area and other parts of the country due to environmental activist opposition to coal-fired power plants, energy analysts are warning. "Electric power has already become painfully expensive in Washington and its suburbs. Now, local utilities, say, it could become something even worse: scarce," the Washington Post reported on February 3.

Protest halts coal train for six hours. Thirty-seven demonstrators were arrested after about 1000 people halted trains in Newcastle yesterday [7/12/2008] in a protest against the coal industry's role in climate change. … Three coal trains bound for Carrington Coal Terminal — one of the ports which make Newcastle the world's biggest export point — were halted for about six hours after about a dozen protesters chained themselves to carriages. Hundreds of others lined the fence as mounted police held them back from the rail line from 11:00 am until about 2:30 pm.

Environmentalists Oppose New CO2 Scrubber Idea. Scientists at Columbia University are developing a carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubber device that removes one ton of CO2 from the air every day. While some see the scrubber as an efficient and economical way to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, many environmentalists are opposing the technology because it allows people to use fossil fuels and emit carbon in the first place.

The Editor says...
One could easily conclude that the environmentalists don't care about reducing CO2 in the atmosphere as much as they care about suppressing and inhibiting industrial activity.

Alaska's 'Frustrated' Governor Palin On Our 'Nonsensical' Energy Policy. We believe that listing polar bears as such is a significant threat to development, because most live on the North Slope. (But) the biggest problem with the ruling is that we are the only state that is impacted. Most polar bears (are found) in Canada. We've got other places in the world once again telling us Alaskans how to live, and whether we can develop. We've coexisted with bears for decades to no detrimental effect. Our bear population is thriving. This listing is nothing but interference from outsiders who insist on keeping Alaska from developing our resources responsibly.

CEI Fights Sierra Club Demands for CO2. The purpose of the Clean Air Act is to protect public health and welfare from hazards created by airborne pollutants. The act's fundamental logic requires that EPA first determine the dangerousness of an air pollutant before taking steps to regulate it. In the case of CO2, EPA has not yet issued a finding that CO2 emissions endanger public health or welfare.

Fossil Fool. As pressure builds to develop America's domestic energy resources, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now says it's a health issue. Coal and oil, he says, make us sick. So why does he oppose nuclear power?

How the Greens Captured Energy Policy: Through its influence in the media and government (both bureaucracy and congress), the Greens effectively abolished nuclear power, curtailed domestic oil production, and left the American energy industry in the comatose state in which it abides to this day. Nor this was an error or overreaction — it was a deliberate effort to fulfill the Green agenda.

Judges deliver major setback to Big Stone II project. A proposed new coal plant near the Minnesota-South Dakota border was dealt a major setback Friday [5/9/2008] when two Minnesota administrative law judges recommended against construction of its power lines in western Minnesota. The transmission lines are necessary if the $1.6 billion Big Stone II plant is to be built near Milbank, S.D., just a few miles from Minnesota's border.

Lights out, America? The lights may soon go out in Washington, DC — and it could happen where you live, too. "Electric power has already become painfully expensive in Washington and its suburbs. Now, local utilities, say, it could become something even worse: scarce," reported the Washington Post this week. Maryland, for example, may face rolling blackouts as early as 2011 or 2012 on summer days. The core of the problem is that the region's ability to meet its ever-increasing demand for electricity is being short-circuited by environmental activists who are doing every thing they can to make it as difficult as possible to generate and transmit power. … The euphemism the environmentalists use for this strategy is "conservation." But "rationing" is perhaps the most honest descriptor.

Green groups bolster lobby against offshore drilling. Environmental groups are scrambling to shore up opposition in the Democrat-led Congress to more offshore oil drilling, countering the push for added domestic production by President Bush and voters pinched by rising gasoline prices. "There are plenty of us on the other side creating pressure, too," said Nick Berning, spokesman for Friends of the Earth, which is unleashing a campaign targeting select congressional districts to fend off calls for Congress to let the offshore drilling ban expire Sept. 30.

Refusal to drill impacts gas prices. You no doubt have noticed all of the headlines concerning the recent escalation in the price of oil. … While these headlines caught your eye, there was another one that probably didn't: "SF County Approves Drilling Moratorium." With a unanimous vote the Santa Fe County Commission, with the governor's full support, laid down a moratorium of at least one year on the granting of any drilling permits in the Galisteo Basin. The 100 people in attendance stood and cheered the Commission's decision.

Al's Ignoble Nobel: Al Gore has made an enormous business of his opposition to the oil companies. He has made literally tens of millions from his crusade (far, far more than any oil company executive presently working).

Nuclear energy: Power play. Utilities face a serious problem. Electricity demand is projected to increase 40 percent by 2030, according to government estimates. Meanwhile, overzealous regulators make it difficult to expand energy capacity. So power companies are left with few options. ... Unfortunately, instead of loosening regulations to induce capacity expansion, state and federal governments are moving toward rationing electricity.

We're (Still) No. 1. We were once limited by only our dreams. Now we are limited by politicians who can't see beyond the next election. They punish entrepreneurship and innovation through regulation and taxation. They punish success and reward failure. Profit is a dirty word. They want to redistribute income rather than create wealth. Maybe America could compete better if we didn't have the highest regulatory and corporate tax burden in the world. We import oil from terrorist supporters while leaving ours in the ground. China is building nuclear and coal plants. Why aren't we?

Energy transmission companies are the new Public Enemy. Across America, radical environmental activists are doing everything possible to stop the construction of power lines, dams and roads. The way they see it, cutting down on using energy is the best way to make sure more energy is available. Want to meet the rising demand for more residential electricity? Don't build more power lines. Instead, change your light bulbs and make them energy-efficient.

May the sun set on global warming frenzy. In the belief that anthropogenic CO2 is the primary cause of global warming, triumphant activists praise the blockage of new coal-fired electric power plants, with the justification that someday "cleaner options" will be available … With an abundance of coal readily available, technological improvements in coal-fired power plants are rejected in favor of wishful thinking about forthcoming renewable energy sources, while here and now power needs are increasingly ignored. The power industry is then chastised for brownouts caused by insufficient supply.

The Virtues of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide: If Al Gore were truly alarmed about hydrocarbon use, he would be clamoring for nuclear power plants. The construction of just 50 nuclear installations similar to that partially completed at Palo Verde near Phoenix would erase most of the U.S. carbon dioxide output — and would also erase most of the U.S. trade deficit at the same time. Yet, while The Wall Street Journal recently counted 381 nuclear power plants in various stages of planning or construction around the world — but none being constructed in the United States, Al Gore and his retainers actually oppose nuclear power.

Mandating Renewable Energy: It's Not Easy Being Green. Environmentalists abhor all fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum) and nuclear energy. They collectively refer to this type of energy as "brown" power. … While we all know that brown power has its share of problems, a close look at green power reveals a surprising number of serious environmental and consumer-related problems that advocates would rather not talk about. As it turns out, environmentalists are far more united in their opposition to brown power than they are in their support of green power.

Greenpeace is wrong — we must consider nuclear power. Until the past couple of years, the activists, with their zero-tolerance policy on nuclear energy, have succeeded in squelching any mention by the IPCC of using nuclear power to replace fossil fuels for electricity production. Burning fossil fuels for electricity accounts for 9.5 billion tonnes of global carbon dioxide emissions while nuclear power emits next to nothing. It has been apparent to many scientists and policymakers for years that this would be a logical path to follow.

One for you, 19 for me. On Saturday [8/4/2007], the House passed $16 billion in new taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts. "We are turning to the future," announced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The goal, obviously, is to make it less attractive to drill or import oil, and more attractive to try and supply our energy needs with solar panels and windmills, as well as to shift millions of acres to the production of corn for ethanol (while continuing to block the import of cheap ethanol from Brazil).

The Greenies Hold Up Solar. The Bureau of Land Management announced that it's placing a two-year freeze on proposals for new solar-energy farms on federal lands, pending the results of … an environmental impact study. Turns out that with solar technology advancing briskly, energy firms have been rushing to get their hands on the flat, sun-drenched land the federal government holds in abundance in many western states. … The bureau estimates that the planned solar projects could power more than 20 million homes.

No Sun Intended. The Bureau of Land Management quietly decided in May that the development of solar plants in 119 million sun-soaked, federally owned acres in the western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah would have to wait at least two years while bureaucrats sorted out their environmental impact. For decades environmental groups have been pushing the government and private sector to develop more alternative sources of energy. But that campaign is beginning to look like a sham to cover the groups' BANANA — Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything — activism.

Preservationists say gas drilling imperils ancient carvings. Along Utah's Nine Mile Canyon lies what some call the longest art gallery in the world — thousands of prehistoric rock carvings and paintings of bighorn sheep and other wildlife, hunters wielding spears, and warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

The Editor says...
Here's the easy solution: Outlaw the use of natural gas in states that prohibit drilling. But seriously, is there really great value in every drawing that was ever scratched on a rock? Is there enough value to halt any further use of that land?

An idolatry called environmentalism. The so-called Dead-Red Canal, inspired by Theodor Herzl's original idea of a Dead-Med canal, envisions a 166 km. waterway that would generate power thanks to the dramatic 400 m. elevation gap between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, and fuel a series of desalination plants as well as a Riviera that would shoulder three times as many rooms as Israel's entire hotel industry currently has. … Needless to say, the canal would also refill the Dead Sea. Also needless to say, all this is anathema to assorted environmentalist crusaders.

Turbine plan brings whirlwind of questions. For years, environmental groups have viewed electricity-producing wind farms with a touch of reverence: energy from the natural rhythms of the air, without the need for fossil fuels or polluting greenhouse gases. But questions about the risk, cost and environmental impact of offshore wind threaten to slow what some call a headlong state rush to approve a $1.6 billion, 150-turbine wind farm off Rehoboth Beach, along with one of two on-land, backup natural gas-powered generating plants.

Citizens Protest Wind Farm Plan for Maryland. Seven hundred Maryland residents showed up at hearings at the state capitol and in western Maryland to protest an industrial wind farm proposal they say would despoil the region's mountaintops. The proposed wind farm, which would be operated by an out-of-state company, would sit on 400 acres of currently undeveloped wilderness.

Conservationists lose wind farm ruling. A divided Public Utility Commission shut the door Wednesday [10/17/2007] on conservationists' efforts to air concerns about the effect of planned Gulf Coast wind farms on migratory birds. The groups sought to intervene in an application for a 21-mile transmission line that would run through the sparsely populated Kenedy Ranch.

Group trying to stop BP refinery expansion. The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a federal court appeal Wednesday [7/9/2008], alleging that BP Whiting's air permit will allow an expanded refinery to emit substantially more pollution than the Clean Air Act allows. The environmental group hopes the lawsuit will send BP and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management back to the drawing board to draft a new, more stringent permit.

Environmental Group Sues to Block Oil Refinery Expansion. An environmental group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit intended to stop the expansion of a BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. A shortage of oil refining capacity is often mentioned as one reason for soaring gasoline prices.

Republican Bill Would Encourage New Refinery Building. House Republicans [are trying to] drum up support for a bill that would "expedite" the construction of new oil refineries in the United States. … But environmental groups and others oppose the bill….

Polar Bears' Plight Raised In Drill Bids For Oil, Gas. The Interior Department yesterday announced $2.6 billion in winning bids from companies seeking to drill for oil and gas in Alaska's Chukchi Sea despite protests from environmental groups and members of Congress that oil and gas exploration would endanger polar bears.

There's no need to 'save' the polar bear. Environmental groups are pushing to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and the Bush administration is considering their demands. It might make sense — if the polar bear were endangered. But the worldwide population of these bears has more than doubled since 1965, to an estimated 20,000-25,000 today. Far from being threatened, by all accounts the bears are thriving. So what's behind the push to "save" the bears? A desire to ban energy exploration in much of Alaska, and a threatened species tag is just the ticket to make it happen.

Polar Bears and Stalking Horses: If the polar bear is declared "threatened," this could trigger a number of restrictions on activities that produce carbon emissions in the "lower forty-eight" states — a persistent objective of the more extreme environmentalists. To get to that point, several groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed suit to put the bears into the "threatened" category. The environmentalists' concern for polar bears is touching, but the furry creatures are only a stalking horse for their real objective: stopping the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the Lower Forty-Eight in order to tap the 35 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves in the North Slope.

Alaska disputes polar bear threat. The polar bear can be found in just one place in America — Alaska — and is perhaps as much a symbol of the state as, say, alligators are of Florida. So you might think Alaska's politicians would be pounding on doors in Washington to protect it. You'd be wrong. As the federal government decides whether to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Gov. Sarah Palin and the state's Republican congressional delegation are solidly opposed to the idea.

Did someone mention Polar Bears?

Dozens of Coal Plant Proposals Scrapped Due to Global Warming Concerns. At least 16 coal-fired power plant proposals nationwide have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed as utilities face increasing pressure due to concerns over global warming and rising construction costs. The slow pace of new plant construction reflects a dramatic change in fortune for a fuel source that just a few years ago was poised for a major resurgence. Combined, the canceled and delayed projects represent enough electricity to power approximately 20 million homes.

Coal plant permit denied. Delivering a stunning victory to those concerned about global climate change, Kansas' top regulator rejected a proposal to build a coal plant in western Kansas. The decision puts Kansas squarely in the center of the growing debate over global warming and energy policy, and adds the state to the small but growing list of states where plants have been rejected based on their carbon emissions.

The Editor says...
It's very unusual to read about "a stunning victory" in the news. Usually defeats are stunning.

Update:
Coal plant denial awaits review. Angry legislators aren't sure what to do about the denial of a permit for two proposed coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas, but a committee plans to resume its investigation next month into the permitting process. The committee is likely to press Rod Bremby, secretary of health and environment, to explain his rejection of an air-quality permit last week for Sunflower Electric Power Corp., because of potential carbon dioxide emissions.

Kansas Rules Against Electricity. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has rejected a proposal to build new coal-fired plants due to carbon-dioxide emissions. I wonder if the folks at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment think that electricity is made by fairies who live in the garden or that an army of elves produce it?

Confronting Liberalism's Elusive Causes and Effects: To the people of Kansas, the power grid is fine, since no shortages have yet occurred. Furthermore, with the decision to put environmental consciousness ahead of the mercenary interests of those nasty power companies, Kansans can applaud themselves for being so environmentally aware and friendly. Surely they have done their part to save the planet. The harsh reality however, is that those who consider the Kansas Department of Health and Environment decision to be a worthy one, and who have determined to ignore the looming fallout from such a decision, are merely playing the same game that the American left has played with America's well-being on numerous fronts, and from which America has, time and again, reaped horrendous consequences.

Negotiations loom after final House action on coal plants bill. Senators and House members are preparing to bargain over the final version of a bill to allow two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas, hoping whatever they draft can survive a potential veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

'Sour grapes' accusation on clean coal technology. A rift in the environment movement has widened, with the head of WWF accusing other groups of "sour grapes" over its support for clean coal and Greenpeace rushing forward the release of findings opposing the technology. "There are other groups obviously who are intractably opposed to coal, almost from an ideological point of view," WWF chief executive Greg Bourne told The Age.

The National Academy of Dubious Science. "Highly sophisticated computer models" means a really complicated guess. The computer models are programmed with simplified assumptions about how the climate works, then asked to project results 100 years into the future. These models are notorious for leaving out important factors — like clouds — and failing to predict today's actual weather. The target of the global warming theory, "greenhouse gas emissions," means coal, oil, natural gas, and just about everything else that we use to generate power.

Reid opposes new coal-fired power plants worldwide. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the threat of global warming should preclude the construction of new coal-fired power plants anywhere in the world. The Nevada Democrat last month came out against three proposed major coal-fired plants in his home state, but has now extended that opposition to any such new plants worldwide.

Something Fishy about Eco-Extremists' Power Play. If the Hoover Dam isn't one of the wonders of the modern world, it's not for lack of trying. Tens of thousands of people spent years building this amazing mountain of concrete. But some on the crazy eco-left want to tear it down — along with as many other dams as they can get their hands on.

America's dams are in danger. Not just from terrorists or the ravages of time, but from the extreme fringe of the environmental movement. Operating under a well-organized national campaign, groups like Environmental Defense, the Sierra Club and others are systematically trying to tear down dams, destroy hydroelectric facilities and prevent new dams from being built. In many cases, it's simply to save fish, especially salmon.

Utility blasts its Oregon dam to make way for fish. The largest dam removal in the Pacific Northwest in 40 years began on Tuesday with blasts of 4,000 pounds of explosives, the dam's owner, Portland General Electric, said.

A Cartel Worse Than OPEC: What has become the obvious intent of this cartel is the destruction of America's access to its own resources. Examples are: "protection" of a spotted owl despite near destruction of the timber industry in Oregon and Washington; desperately needed petroleum reserves set aside in Alaska to protect the sex habits of the caribou; the set-aside of vitally needed sulfur-free coal reserves in Utah; and denial of offshore drilling for a number of reasons, including the spoiling of the view of a few people by rigs 15 miles away. This list could continue for a full column.

Abundant energy supplies off-limits. Good news: The more we look for oil and natural gas in the United States, the more we find. That might even be great news — if so much of the energy wasn't out of reach. According to a new Interior Department report, there are substantial onshore energy deposits on federal lands. A companion study of offshore energy reserves released earlier this year reached the same conclusion. But both reports found much of this energy is either explicitly off-limits or hampered by regulatory constraints that effectively make it so.

The Green Fever Subsides. Despite their rhetoric, the environmentalists who keep the movement going with countless organizations, by lobbying the government, and with a constant propaganda program, care little about a healthy, growing, successful economy. They say they do, but so much of what passes for environmentalism is actually a constant attack on the most basic elements of the nation's economy.

Greens are the Real Energy Problem. It goes without saying that the global economy depends on the availability of affordable energy. … Regardless of form — whether oil, gas, coal or nuclear — the Green movement is blocking efforts to harness our accustomed energy sources while leading us down the primrose path of so-called "renewable energy."

It's a Wonderful Life, So Far. The single-family home with the white picket fence, two cars in the garage, and a couple kids in the backyard has everything wrong with it, according to some environmentalists. The home is made completely or in part of wood … but logging is a bad thing. That little yard in a small suburban or rural community contributes to "urban sprawl." When those two cars leave the garage for work or the grocery store or to take the kids to school, they burn unacceptable quantities of fossil fuels traveling paved roads which, in all too many cases, prevent animals from migrating (apparently only chickens are able to cross the road). Oh, those two kids? They are a problem, too. Overpopulation, you know. Enjoy America while you can.

If Environmentalism Succeeds, It Will Make Human Life Impossible. Earth Day approaches, and with it a grave danger faces mankind. The danger is not from acid rain, global warming, smog, or the logging of rain forests, as environmentalists would have us believe. The danger to mankind is from environmentalism.

Democrats target truckers, utilities with global warming bills. Targeting truckers, contractors and others, [California] Senate Democrats on Thursday [2/22/2007] introduced legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond the landmark global warming law that took effect this year. The package of bills would ban methane releases from garbage dumps, reduce exhaust emissions from trucks, construction equipment and school buses, and force utilities to increase energy from renewable sources.

Democrats oppose new dams in California, favor conservation. Democrats in the state Senate on Thursday said California does not need to build new reservoirs as it tries to cope with the expected consequences of global warming. Instead, the state should rely on conservation, underground storage and boosting the height of existing dams. Their plan, outlined in a series bills, runs counter to Republicans' desire for new reservoirs to help California address the changes anticipated from global climate change.

Senator Kerry's Propellers: While left-over hippies with gray beards chain themselves to the gates of future nuclear power plants hoping to stop progress, and while bird- and caribou-watchers shed tears over the imagined trauma that Alaska oil drilling might cause, the rest of us get on with the business of business — finding real ways to make and save energy.

The False Panacea of Renewable Energy: The true environmental costs of supposed environmentally friendly energies are exposed: wind machines kill birds and massive amounts of toxic waste result from the production of solar panels.

Greens Attack America: The one abiding goal of both the Greens and "animal rights" lunatics is to attack America's economic base in every way possible. This is why, for the past few decades, they have sought to undermine every kind of industry in the nation, from timber to energy, from agriculture to fast foods, from mining to ranching.

The Pseudo-Scientific Road to Destruction: Through their corrupt scientific methodology to their exaggerated and false claims that are backed by government guns, environmentalists manipulate and coerce men into accepting their ultimate goal: returning man to his meager, pre-industrial existence.

If Environmentalists Succeed, They Will Make Human Life Impossible. The fundamental goal of environmentalists is not clean air and clean water; rather it is the demolition of technological/industrial civilization. Their goal is not the advancement of human health, human happiness, and human life; rather it is a subhuman world where "nature" is worshipped like the totem of some primitive religion.

The Green Taliban Of America: The hubris of the Greens has allowed them to dictate to everyone just how we should conduct our lives for decades. That is why you can't build a home, an office building, a factory, a hospital or a school, without an "environmental" study. That is why Americans have been steadily deprived of pesticides, many used safely for decades, to protect us against the diseases spread by insect and rodent pests. That's why millions of acres of our national forests burned this year because Greens won't let them be managed through selective logging or to allow roads to be built into those forests. The list goes on and on because the Greens have been responsible for one third of every law and regulation in the Federal Register today.

The Editor says...
Let me refresh your memory about The California Energy Crunch of 2000.

There Is No Electricity Tooth Fairy. The North American Electric Reliability Council projects that the nation needs about 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity each year through 2008 to keep up with an annual rise in demand of 1.8 percent.

The Cause of the California Power Blackouts: The childish quest for a free lunch is what has led to blackouts all over the state of California. People trapped in elevators that stopped between floors when the electricity was cut off should understand that this is part of the price paid for years of moral posturing by the environmentalists and the "consumer advocates."

California's Dim Bulbs: Californians didn't want dams across their rivers, derricks on their ocean, power lines across their borders, or fossil fuel smoke in their sky. These might interfere with all the smart things Californians do, such as hang-glide. California was going to rely on "negawatts" -- dramatic power conservation. And California was going to rely on alternative power generation.

Greens Say "Turn Off Your Lights". The Greens, who brought about that State's energy crisis, wants to worsen it by reducing the dam's hydroelectric generation in order to protect salmon while millions of Californians wait for the next rolling blackout. If this isn't insanity, I don't know what is.

Energy solutions mean ignoring eco-nuts. In doing some research for an environmental article recently, I noticed that virtually every one of the leftist environmental groups is opposed to coal-fired power plants. ... When ecological groups present their arguments as calm, well-reasoned factual reports, they do a good job of making their cases to the American people and our leaders. When such groups, however, base their arguments on few facts but lots of emotionalism, that's when they cease to be good public health advocates and instead start to sound like envirowacko loonies -- unreasonable ones, at that.

Environmentalists Square Off in Squirrel Squabble: When a Pacific Northwest utility company announced in January [2001] it would build the world's largest wind power plant, it came at a moment when the West was feeling the pinch of energy-starved California. But there's a problem: The Washington ground squirrels, which are protected under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

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