Ohio Takes a Step Back

     Ohio governor John Kasich just signed a bill passed by the Ohio State Legislature that rolls back renewable energy standards. In short, customers will no longer get discounts or credits for producing renewable energy, the utilities are no longer required to produce a certain amount of energy with Solar, Wind or other renewables. And utilities are no longer encouraged to find energy efficient solution for their customers. You can read the article here.

     What the fuck? Katich ran for office on a campaign that promised voters he would create jobs and was all for clean technology and renewable energy. Signing the bill shows he is yet another lying politician who is in bed with the oil and coal industries. And he will say whatever he has to in order to get elected. It is common nowadays to just toss around that today's politicians are being paid by the fossil fuel industry. When things like this happen, can you blame us? What other logical reason is there to NOT start switching over to renewables? If there ever was a perfect set up for Wind Energy in the US, than its along the shores of Lake Erie in a state decimated by pollution and with a large amount of people living near the poverty line.

     All of these steps back from renewable energy and environmental regulations has my head spinning. Is it really all about money? I mean, renewable energy poses a grand opportunity to put America back on top, to clean up the air and water and land, to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and update the nations power grid. The last one is important for National Security reasons. The potential for growth and innovation in the renewable energy sector far exceed those which could come about by staying married to fossil fuels. So, why the huge push for fossil fuel energy? Are our government officials really in the pockets of the Oil and Coal giants?

     I can't wrap my head around this stuff sometimes. More often lately, in fact, I feel like my head is going to explode, which might be good. Maybe my brain remnants will spread some common sense and enlightened thinking around to the masses.

The Vote on Global Warming

     The US Senate will once again...that's right...AGAIN...vote on whether or not there is really such a thing as Anthropogenic Global Warming. They did this before, and I guess they didn't like the outcome. As often as they bring Man-made Climate Change up for a vote, maybe they got mixed up and think they are actually repealing Obamacare.

     Hey Senate! Can't you do something more constructive, like pass legislation to upgrade the national highways and power grid? Or keep the crooks on Wall Street from making bad investments with taxpayer dollars? Let the qualified people with Physics and Chemistry and Meteorological degrees handle the Science stuff. You need to govern.

Sign the Petition RE: Ted Cruz

     Senator Ted Cruz (he of the long-winded speeches, orchestrated government shutdowns and questionable US citizenship) has recently be named to chair the Sub-committee on Space, Science Competitiveness. This is a travesty for the thousands of people who work for NASA and would continue the War on Science being waged by those in office that are backed by the Fossil Fuel Industry. The time to stand up and tell YOUR Congress that you do not want this is NOW!

     Sign the petition and let Congress know you do not want Cruz as head of this Committee. Cruz will continue to deplete the once proud organization that put men on the Moon and aims to put humans on Mars. It will destroy US competitiveness in the Space Industry, shifting power to the Russians and Chinese. It will allow him to continue to wage his war on scientific study, research and discovery. Sign the petition below and exercise your rights as a citizen in this great democracy.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-ted-cruz-position-nasa-oversight-subcommittee-space-science-and-competitiveness/0hj7fRCY

10 Questions You Should Know How to Answer

     As you know, I am a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corp. I recommend you visit their site and have a look around. There is a s--t ton of good stuff over there; from articles on climate change to some humorous antidotes (it doesn't always have to be gloom and doom, right?) to how you can join or help. climaterealityproject.org

     Today, I am borrowing from them a list of 10 questions that everyone should know and be able to answer. These are the most common questions asked about Climate Change. If you are ever confronted by a climate change denier (who can be fairly adamant that the majority of the world's people are suffering from a mass delusion), knowing how to answer these the right way will be helpful. (And, you can also research the answers to discover that they are based on the BILLIONS of climate observations and studies and records that we have been collecting over the centuries).

     Click the link to go to the Climate Reality page or click the images above and below for the full list of questions.

Something to Think About

     There is quite a bit of discussion about Climate Change these days and whether or not it is real and influenced by human actions. You hear the numbers thrown around all the time: 97% of the worlds climate scientists say its happening and is getting worse because of us. Then there are those who say is a liberal conspiracy to make people by solar panels and drive electric cars. The illusion of this conversation is that it suggests that there is a real debate about the evidence. Like John Oliver demonstrated on his show "Last Week Tonight" a few months back, 97 vs. 3 is not really a debate.

     Yesterday, while I was reading my tenth article of the day on the climate and environment, I had an epiphany. People that do not believe in anthropogenic climate change always say there is no evidence to prove that it is real. When my mind began to turn that statement over in my head, it occurred to me that the sheer amount of scientific data collected on the Earth's climate over the past few decades must be enormous. Using a quick and very unscientific calculation, I figured