Keystone Jobs

     Have I weighed in on the Keystone Pipeline yet? I am too lazy to go read through all of my posts, but I am guessing I have at mentioned it at least once or twice. It's in the news again today, with Congress passing a bill to authorize its construction despite President Obama's promise to veto it. Republicans are trumpeting Keystone as a job creator, while the Democrats are saying it will not create that many jobs and poses a very real threat to the Environment. There are Global Warming and Climate Change implications, which shouldn't surprise anyone who understands this equation:

 Fossil Fuels + Burning for Energy  

= Increased CO2 in Atmosphere and Warmer Temps

     But this time, I think the Democrats have it wrong. (Maybe I should have told you all to sit down before I dropped that on you.) Here's why:

• Building Keystone will employ a few thousand people during construction. Everyone agrees on this. After construction, according to Democrats, the pipeline will only require a few dozen workers to monitor and maintain it while it pipes oil from the tar sands in Northern Canada to the oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. That doesn't make it a job producer on par with what BOTH parties are saying we need to help economic growth. 
• Republicans insist that increased oil production will create hundreds if not thousands of jobs in the Gulf Region and its respective refineries, and that Democrats are using the "myth" of Climate Change to disrupt a real money maker for the Koch Brothers- (sorry)- I mean the citizens of the United States. 
• No one is talking about the jobs that will be created once oil starts leaking.

     Democrats fail to recognize that the Keystone project will also provide the opportunity for another group of workers to find work: Remediation Specialists. You know, people that clean up the environment when oil gets spilled. Sure, many are volunteers, but many are paid workers. Just ask those who have tried to clean up the Duke Energy Coal Ash spill in North Carolina. 

     With all of those thousands of miles of pipeline and the normal lackadaisical maintenance practices of most oil companies, there is going to be A LOT of spilled oil to clean up once Keystone is operating. That should increase the number of jobs created by the Keystone project, and (somehow) benefit U.S. citizens. Supporters of Keystone should jump on this before the bill gets sent to the President.  How can President Obama veto a bill that will create Environmental jobs? He supports protecting the environment, right? What better way to clean up the environment than approve an oil pipeline that will create oil spills? If that isn't bipartisan compromise, what is? Republicans get their precious pipeline, and Democrats get to trumpet their environmental agenda. Its a win win! And everyone gets a job! 

     Lord knows, the President needs to create some jobs for this country. The tens of thousands he created with the Affordable Care Act just isn't cutting it.  

Happy Friday! And, as usual, the sarcasm in this post is free of charge. 

The "Greening" Thanks to CO2

     I happened across an article today from CNS News: The Right News. Right Now. (I wonder which side their political tendencies lean?) In brief, the article states that the increased levels of CO2 have led to an increase in crop production world wide and led to the greening of previously arid areas of the world. They quote some un-cited stats and quote "experts" like Dr James Taylor from the Heartland Institute who uses the word "preposterous" and "objective" in the same sentence a few times. Real scientific, objective stuff, as you may imagine.

     Basically, Taylor states that more CO2 in the atmosphere is beneficial to our world because it gives food/fertilizer/nutrients to plants and trees worldwide. He cites arid regions that are sprouting more plants (although it fails to mention any specific region), redwoods in California growing taller, trees in the boreal forests growing larger and more robust, as well as tropical rainforests that are expanding (when said rainforests are not being slashed and burned, presumably). Basically, he states that CO2 is the reason all these things are "supposedly" happening.

     But, alas, the article's purpose

Best Quotes

     Click the following Climate Reality link to read some of the best environmental quotes of 2014. My favorite is the one below. John Oliver, you are a genius.  

Starting 2015 Off Right

     Welcome to 2015 dear reader. As you know, last year was a watershed year for Climate Guy. Not only did I post more every week than ever before, I had more new visitors to the site than ever before! (There must be a lot of bored people out there.) Now that I have my legs under me, I look forward to pushing forward into the New Year with renewed focus to attract and reach a wider audience. If you have bored friends, tell them about the site! I guarantee to it to almost as entertaining as those Grumpy Cat memes...almost.

     More to come this week, but it being Monday after the long holiday, I wanted to start things off with the proper attitude. Over the weekend, I stumbled across a headline that stuck in my mind. It basically told Baby Boomers to butt out of the Climate Conversation because Generation X and Y and the Millennials were the ones that were going to have to deal with it. It made me think of Congressman Boehner, Senator Inhofe, Ruppert Murdoch and Senator Mitch McConnell.

     Seriously, you old farts, butt out! We young people will be dealing with this long after you are gone. Make the smart investment and start backing renewable energy. It is what will keep your respirators working when they put you in a nursing home. It will keep you warm and the lights on while the nurses are spoon feeding you mashed bananas. Worry about what God thinks then, not now. He's got better things to do, like clean up the mess you all have made on this planet.