Hot Deep and Wet

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Scientist #1:  "Bob, about Global Warming, any idea why it's petered out?  Any theories on why the Earth's temperature isn't rising, you know, like we said it must?"
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Scientist #2:  "Um, yeah, about that..."
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Scientist #3:  "Given the complexity of the interpretation of the data and the dynamically changing weather metrics of the past century, the best theory we have at this point is that based upon current evidence from the extrapolation of best known scientific processes would seem to indicate that...  Oh shoot, I don't know."
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Scientist #4:  "Can't we just say that the ocean 'ate our heat'?  You know, like when I used to tell my Third Grade science teacher that my dog ate my homework?"
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Scientist #5:  "Sure, why not?"
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All Scientists in the conference hall:  "So say we one, so say we all!"  
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Scientist #1:  Hey, who wants to go out for Baked Alaska?!?!?"  
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The conference hall empties...
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Yes, a new generation of Global Warming / Climate Change theorists are literally bending over backwards (see illustration above) to figure out who 'took their heat'.  For the record, it wasn't me, although the woman in the photo above, well, I guess she IS kind of 'hot'...  But, I digress. .  
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After decades of predicting increased temperatures across the planet, polar ice melt, and 'really great farming at 'the Earth's Poles', the scientific community has yet another theory to spring on you (and they hope you like this one much better than all the other ones they've given you since the 1970's because THIS one buys them more time for something 'climate changey' to happen and YOU can't prove them wrong - unless you can dive really, really deep into the ocean with a thermometer clenched in your teeth.)
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Come one, come all, as you are invited to hear the latest theory on Global Climate change, and where it went!
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Has Earth's Missing Heat Been Found?
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In 1999, the feverish rise in Earth's surface temperatures suddenly slowed, even as greenhouse gas emissions escalated. This unexpected slowdown has been called a global warming hiatus or global warming pause. Most climate scientists don't think this hiatus means global warming went kaput, but the reason (or reasons) for the slowdown has scientists flummoxed. Researchers have offered more than two dozen ideas to explain the missing heat. 
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Now, a study published today (Aug. 21) in the journal Science suggests a natural climate cycle in the North Atlantic Ocean gobbled Earth's extra heat. While the study is unlikely to settle the scientific debate, it does support the idea that Earth's global warming continues in the ocean, even when air temperatures stay flat. 
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Scientists have blamed the oceans for the global warming pause before, but they pointed their fingers at the Pacific, not the Atlantic. However, in seeking to test this idea with temperature data, oceanographer Xianyao Chen, of the Ocean University of China in Qingdao, and Tung, an atmospheric scientist, said they couldn't find the missing heat in Pacific Ocean temperature measurements.
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Tung and Chen then searched ocean by ocean until they hit on the North Atlantic, where the heat was playing hooky.  
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...

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Yes, you read the last line above correctly - the author of this article on 'missing' Global Climate Change states that "The heat was playing hooky" in the Atlantic Ocean.  It was over in the Pacific Ocean for a while but now this very same Global Climate Change Heat has moved from West to East and it's 'over here' now, vacationing where President Obama prefers to golf (pretty much anywhere on the East Coast whereupon he can drop his ball).  
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Perhaps that rascally old Global Climate Change Heat knew that the neighborhood was getting 'bad' on the West Coast with all those illegal aliens coming across the border and he moved because he knew that his Pacific neighborhood was going down hill?  What else MIGHT explain it? 
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Someone needs to tell GCCH (Global Climate Change Heat) that the illegal aliens are pretty much everywhere in the U.S. so maybe he should consider a quick slosh further to the East and get himself into the Indian Ocean?  I mean, if you're a 'go wherever you want to go around the world' kind-of-heat like our friend GCCH, why wouldn't you want to travel to nice places like the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, and / or the Gulf of Oman?  These seem like very exotic and wonderful places, and since GCCH likes to travel (deep below water where non-scientist-types can't find him), sure, why wouldn't he want to get out and stretch his underwater legs once again?
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So the next time you wonder "Hey, what ever happened to that Global Climate Change thing" which you heard about for YEARS, don't look to the sky for the answer, rather, walk into your bathroom and flush your toilet once or twice to send a cooling drink of chlorinated (and fluoridated) water to our friend GCCH.  
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Why?  Because he's hot and needs a drink.  And you'll be doing your part to SAVE the EARTH.
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Thank you for flushing!
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Oh, and before you get all uppity thinking that flushing the toilet is all you need to do to FIX the problem of Global Climate Change just think about THIS...  According to these Baked Alaska eating scientists - Global Climate Change is merely in a state of 'Pause', at any moment it can LEAP back into existence and destroy your world!
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Yeah, so THERE...  
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Have a nice weekend (while you still can)
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[Evil laugh]
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Smoke in the Desert - A Fryer In the Sky

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A literary tip of the hat to the musical group, Deep Purple, without whom, today's post title would not be possible...  And if I have to explain it to you, you most likely won't get it any way, so let's just leave it where it is for now.

Okay, for a teeny tiny CLUE, click the following link:  Deep Purple

We now re-join today's post where we left off, at the absolute, complete, and total - beginning...  

As in, the post begins NOW.

. The classroom is dark save for the light emitted by a small LED from a laptop located on a desk in the front of the room.  The children seated in neat rows of desks find themselves too soon done with their summer vacation.  They sit nervously as the man in the gray suit points a hand-held remote towards a projector mounted to the ceiling, a subtle click is heard, and an electric fan begins churning within the device.  The projector chugs to life as the lamp within begins tossing a grayish light onto the screen at the front of the classroom.

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"So kids, did you all have a good vacation?" the man in the suit asks.

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"It would have been better if it was longer." responds the boy in the front row directly in front of the man.

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A girl toward the back of the room raises her hand and says, "I couldn't WAIT to get back to school!"

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"Why is that young lady?" he asks.

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"Because it was so hot at our house this summer!  We don't have air conditioning, we don't have a pool, and even when we had the fans running in the window at night, it was just plain old HOT.  You know what I mean Mr. Moos?  Do you?" she asks this as the man drops his jacket over the back of the chair at the front of the room.

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"I guess you're saying that it was hot?" he smiles as he asks this.  "Why Stephanie, have you looked at the subject for today's lesson online?  Did a little birdie tell you what we're talking about today?" as he asks this last question the projector jumps fully to life and throws an image on the screen to his left.  "Kids, today's lesson is all about heat, air conditioning, time, AND little birds, but the little birds we'll be talking about?  Well, let's just say that their respective geese are pretty much 'cooked'."

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"Why's that, Mr. Moos?" asks the boy whose vacation we already know was much too short.

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"Because well-meaning people have done what they've always done, they've created a whole host of problems where only one existed to begin with." he says.  "And the problems they've created are really quite impressive, although not in a 'good way'.  Let's look at the problem they were looking to solve and then we can review what they've actually done." he clicks the remote and an image and an article appears on the screen at the front of the classroom.

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... 

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Weather.com:  The state-of-the-art Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS), which opened in February, is the world's largest solar plant to utilize "power towers,"  skyscraping structures that receive beams of focused solar rays to generate electricity.
.At Ivanpah, the sun's ray's are redirected from a sea of more than 300,000 mirrors on the desert surface below to hit water filled boilers atop three 459-foot "power towers."  Temperatures near the towers can climb to 800 degrees, which causes the water to produce steam that turns turbines which generate energy.
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All told, the facility at Ivanpah generates enough electricity to power 140,000 homes and eliminates carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 72,000 vehicles a year, according to a press release from Bright Source Energy, one of the trio of investors behind the solar plant.  

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...

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"Hey, Mr. Moos, well, that's GREAT right?  My Mom and Dad tell me that we need to reduce greenhouse gases so the Earth will have time to heal from all the damage we've done to it because we use gas, coal, and scary nuclear power to make electricity!  Little by little we're poisoning our air, our land, and in some cases even our water supplies by drilling, fracking, mining, burning and accessing these fuels," Billy, the boy now speaking, is seated in the back row of the class and pumps his arm up and down because he's so happy that he's able to repeat (pretty much verbatim) what his parents and last year's Science Teacher taught him about the evils of 'fossil fuel generated power'.

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"So, um, Billy, let's take a look at something which you just mentioned.  I believe that you said that we need to give the Earth 'time to heal' from the use of these fossil fuels?  Is this pretty much what you said?" the man asks this while looking at Billy all the while scanning the faces of other students in the classroom.  "We're 'saving the planet', and all that, have I got that right?"  

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"Yeah, well, I guess so..." Billy's voice trails off when he sees that Mr. Moos is now standing with his arms crossed at the front of the room.

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"I heard that too!" Melissa says as her arm flies up over her head.

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"Anyone else hear something similar to this from your parents, or teachers in the past?" asks the man in the front of the room.

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One by one, each child's hand raises his / her hand tentatively over their head.  The man in the front of the classroom shrugs, pulls out the chair behind the desk and sits heavily into his seat.  "Okay kids, let me ask you this, how do YOU describe 'Saving the Planet'?" he asks as he spreads his hands wide apart and looks around at the kids in the classroom.

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A hand slowly goes up in the middle of the room and a boy of about eleven offers the following answer, "I'm thinking that we will save the planet by doing our part to make it safe for all of the creatures who live on it to be unharmed - right?  You know, by not messing up their environment in which they live - is that it?" he asks tentatively.

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"Okay kids, if this is the goal, how do you explain the portion of the article from Weather.com which you haven't seen yet?" he hits the remote button again as the image on the screen at the front of the room changes and additional text appears...

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That sort of renewable energy source might seem like a triumph for the environment, but the same super-heated skyscrapers that generate renewable electricity are also taking a toll on wildlife in the area.
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According to the Associated Press, up to 28,000 birds per year might be meeting an early death after burning up in the focused beams of sunlight, with birds dying at a rate of one bird every two minutes. The burned-up birds are being dubbed "streamers," after the poof of smoke produced by the igniting birds.
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A report by the USFWS states that most of the birds are dying from various levels of exposure to "solar flux" which causes "singeing of feathers."
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"Severe singeing of flight feathers caused catastrophic loss of flying ability, leading to death by impact with the ground or other objects," the report states. "Less severe singeing led to impairment of flight capability, reducing ability to forage and evade predators, leading to starvation or predation."
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A quasi-food chain is being established around the solar plant, with predators eating birds and bats that burn up in the plant's solar rays chasing after insects which are attracted to the bright light from the sun's reflected rays. That prompted wildlife officials to refer to Ivanpah as a "mega-trap" for wildlife.
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.A spokesperson for NRG Solar, another one of the companies behind Ivanpah told the Associated Press that "we take this issue very seriously." So far, the only remedy appears to be cash. BrightSource has anted up $1.8 million to compensate for bird deaths and the trio of companies behind the project is looking into potential solutions to stop wildlife from colliding with the solar plant.

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The kids in the classroom sit at their desks shaking their heads in disbelief.  A hand goes up in the second row and a girl asks the question which most of the kids are asking themselves, "Mr. Moos, how can this be GOOD for the environment, when almost 30,000 birds per year are dying because of this?  I mean, I thought solar power was supposed to SAVE the Earth, instead of killing parts of it?  And what good does paying millions of dollars do to fix it?  Do birds have checking accounts?  Who's getting that money?"

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The man stands and looks to the screen before answering her.  "Marsha, it appears from your questions that you may not believe that this is such an 'Earth-Friendly' solution to our power generation needs?"

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"Mr. Moos, this is terrible.  Don't birds and bats eat insects?  It says in the article that bugs are attracted to the light thrown off by this thing and the birds follow them into this giant toaster oven.  So what happens when insects, like mosquitoes, carrying diseases lose their natural predators?  And, with this summer being as hot as it was in California, how does generating enough 'heat' to boil water at over 800 degrees help in stopping Global Climate Change?  These things are nightmares." Marsha says.

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"Would you feel any better knowing that the same group who built this facility is planning on building another which is roughly TWICE the size of this one?" with this comment the man hits the power button on the remote and the screen goes dark.  He walks to the wall and flips the light switch in the classroom.  "Have a nice day kids," he says as he puts his suit jacket back on.

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"Hey, wait a minute Mr. Moos, you can't tell us about this and just leave it there - what are you going to do about it?" Marsha asks.

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"Me?  What am I going to do about it?  I'm just one guy.  My job is to get out the message, which I believe I have just done.  You kids are going to be stuck with this mess long after I'm gone.  You want to 'Save the Earth'?  Start at home by not wasting electricity, setting your air conditioning thermostat at 78 vs. 72, and then ask your parents to call the people who approve lunatic schemes like this one and tell them to study their environmental impact just like they've demanded of Hydraulic Fracturing.  You cannot chose one technique over another just because it 'Sounds friendlier to the Earth'.  Power generation should not be decided based upon its perceived political correctness."  With this the man walks back to the desk, closes his laptop, picks it up, and begins walking to the door.

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"Mr. Moos, that's it?" Billy asks.

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"Yup, that's it.  Billy, class is over for today, our time is up for now, but we'll talk again, trust me."  The bell in the hall rings and the kids leave the classroom slowly, speaking to each other as they walk out.  "Hey kids, look at the bright side, there's always 'Wind Power', right?" he says with a smirk.

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Yeah, there's always Wind Power...  

But from an environmental perspective, it kind of blows too:  Cuisinarts of the Gods 

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Cars... The Return

I searched for the tackiest dealership ad I could find. 
I found it in Norwood, MA.

Cars

Here in my car, I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live
In cars


Here in my car, I can only receive
I can listen to you, it keeps me stable for nights
In cars


Here in my car, where the image breaks down
Will you visit me please, if I open my door?
In cars


Here in my car, I know I've started to think
About leaving tonight, although nothing seems right
In cars

Gary Numan - Cars

I find myself back where I have started several times before.  Over the past couple of years I've written quite a few posts with the word 'Cars' in the title. (i.e.:  Cars (Part I),  Cars (Part II),  Cars (Part III) )

Of course, there have been the obligatory posts about cars, sans 'cars' in the titles:  (i.e.:  Two Birds : One Stone, No Birds - No Stone, President Obama's Tax Cut for... Wealthiest ... , & It's Not Easy Being Green)

Why?  Well, because cars have quite a bit to say about we happy, happy Americans feel about the US Economy, ourselves, and the future of manufacturing here in America.  Over the past few weeks I've read many articles regarding 'cars' in America, and if cars have something to say about us, we just may want to take a moment to listen to 'them'.  

Boomers Replace Their Children as No. 1 Market for Autos - Bloomberg.com

For generations, car buying declined as consumers entered their golden years. Now, boomers are refusing to follow their parents’ lead and go quietly into the car buying night.

The 55-to-64-year-old age group, the oldest of the boomers, has become the cohort most likely to buy a new car, according to a new study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. Graying boomers replaced the 35-to-44 year old age group, who were most likely to buy four years ago.

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Indeed, young people don’t seem that interested in driving. Just 79 percent of people between 20 and 24 had a driver’s license in 2011, compared with 92 percent in 1983, according to the Michigan study.

Conversely, the oldest boomers are trooping down to the Department of Motor Vehicles in growing numbers to remain licensed to drive. Almost 93 percent of those age 60 to 64 had a driver’s license in 2011, up from 84 percent in 1983.

That helps explain why consumers age 55 to 64 had the highest rate of vehicle purchases in 2011, while the youngest age groups had the lowest rate. Even consumers age 75 and above bought cars at a higher rate than 25-to-34-year-olds and 18-to-24-year-olds, the Michigan study found.


Translation:  The 'American Dream' of getting a job following college, buying a new car and starting your 'Independent Life' away from your parents is, at best, on life-support.  With more kids graduating from college, moving back in with the 'Rents, being deeply in debt with training for jobs which no longer exist, Peggy Sue and John Boy are prepping themselves for a life of 'mediocrity' and 'just scraping by'.  

Dreams die hard, but the do... die.  But I must say, your kid looks most-excellent in your handed-down 1984 Saab 900! 

A Hankering for Hybrids, NYTimes.com

DETROIT — When automakers rolled out their new electric cars three years ago, they had big plans. Even President Obama, in his State of the Union address in 2011, predicted there would be as many as a million of them on the nation’s roads by the middle of the decade.

Results have, so far, fallen way short of expectations. Only about 36,000 battery-powered vehicles were sold this year through July, according to the auto research site Edmunds.com. And many of those sales were spurred by heavy discounts from car companies desperate to move electric models off the lot.

But for hybrid cars, it has been a different story. Automakers have sold about 298,000 hybrids, which alternately run on gasoline engines and battery power, so far this year.

And while electric vehicles may be considered greener and more glamorous, hybrids have quietly entered the mainstream of the American auto market.

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For many consumers, price is the biggest factor in choosing a hybrid over a vehicle that runs primarily on battery power, though a $7,500 federal tax credit is available for plug-in models and all-electric cars.

For example, the base price for a regular, gasoline-powered Ford Fusion sedan is $21,900. The conventional hybrid version of the car goes for $26,200. But the plug-in variation costs $38,700. Faced with sluggish demand for electric vehicles, auto companies have increasingly been forced to slash prices to stimulate demand. Ford, for example, recently cut $4,000 from the price of its all-electric Focus.

Manufacturers are also fighting an uphill battle to win over consumers worried about the distances they can travel before recharging an a purely electric car.

Despite the lukewarm acceptance of electric models, automakers are nevertheless pushing ahead with more of them. One critical consideration is the increasingly stringent fuel-economy rules set by the federal government, which mandate that a car company’s total fleet must average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, nearly double what it is today.

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David Blum, a graphic designer from Lake Elsinore, Calif., bought a Prius last month to replace the older model he has driven since 2005. He originally purchased the Prius to take advantage of the incentives offered by California, including tax credits and a sticker that allows him to drive in the state’s car pool lanes.

“I got used to the mileage, and it was difficult to go back to a gasoline engine,” Mr. Blum said. “When you get 40 to 50 miles to the gallon, it just becomes the normal.”

He said he would not buy an electric car because the price was high and he would need to install a charging station in his garage.

“There is not yet an affordable electric option with enough range to make it viable,” he said.

Translation:  Try as hard as it will (with your tax dollars) Federally-created 'Incentives' to buy crappy products will encourage only either the 'profoundly stupid', or the 'profoundly stupidly wealthy', to invest in products not ready for prime-time.  When a vehicle has a range of fewer than 150 miles and costs THOUSANDS more than it's gas-powered equivalent, how can anyone be surprised that only a very small percentage of the US population is purchasing this flawed, unproven, and environmentally 'unfriendly' technology?  

The only question remaining is:  Will you call to tell President Obama, or should I???  Oh, never mind, you do it, as I'm sure the President's NSA has been reading my posts for the past few years.  Silly me, he already KNOWS...

   

American Automobile Glut? Unsold Cars Are Piling Up, Businessweek.com

Even with U.S. car sales zooming along, there are some signs automakers might be stepping on the gas a little too hard.

Some 3.27 million new cars are now sitting on lots across the U.S., more than there have been in almost five years, according to Automotive News. That’s a lot of cars—just enough to equip every man, woman, and child in the state of Iowa with a new vehicle, and just slightly less than the number of iPhones added to Verizon’s network last quarter. A year ago at this time, by contrast, there were 2.7 million vehicles lying in wait across the country; summer 2011 saw an inventory of about 1 million fewer cars.

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But August isn’t the best time for dealerships to be full, as most 2014 models will be rolled out in September. Some carmakers are flirting with a potential glut. General Motors (GM), for example, has enough Cadillacs finished to meet demand for more than four months. It also has 85 days’ worth of Buicks ready to roll. (At the other end of the spectrum, Toyota and Subaru (9778:JP) are running lean—current U.S. inventories for both companies should be gone in less than 60 days.)

Looking for a deal on a vehicle in the next month or two? Dealership lots that stock American automakers appear to be ripe for bargain seekers.

Translation:  If you are a 'seasoned' American with money (from when the economy was 'good'), time, and a valid driver's license, get ready to buy your NEW 2013 _____________________ (Insert vehicle name here) on the CHEAP because its 2014 cousin is mere weeks away from delivery!  

And, if it's a Government Motors vehicle, knock an extra $500 off because, well, just because!  After all, you already gave them a bunch of money a while back (courtesy of the 'ObamaCars' program). 

Meet the one city in America where cars have been banned since 1898, Treehugger.com

When early automobiles first arrived on the scene in the late 19th century, few people could have imagined that they would one day take over the world. In fact, some towns found the noise and exhaust from these novelty 'horseless carriages' so off-putting that early cars were actually outlawed in some places.

In time, of course, restrictions were lifted and the car soon became ubiquitous across the country -- but there is still one place in the United States that has yet to change its mind. Meet Mackinac Island, where cars have been banned since 1898.

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One resident at the time was quoted as calling cars "mechanical monsters" -- clearly not a glowing review.

Although the small island is home to only around 500 people, in the summer, that number swells to 15,000 during tourism season; aside from a couple of emergency vehicles, there's nary a car to be seen. Transportation on Mackinac is limited to walking, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycling -- a pleasant departure from the car-centric society that exists beyond its borders.

"The air is cleaner and injuries are fewer," writes Jeff Potter, who published an article about Mackinac. "Island residents are healthier due to the exercise. There’s a cherished egalitarianism: everyone gets around the same way. They also save a tremendous amount of money that would normally go to commuting by cars."

Translation:  This is the TreeHugger version of the future (firmly 'rooted' in the past).  

I have a couple of questions to leave you with:

ONE:  How'd they get those buildings put up and nice-looking asphalt road laid down if motor vehicles were banned for the past 100+ years?  Did they make horses pull that heavy construction / road-building equipment?  If so, I've got the ASPCA on speed dial and I'm ready to make THAT call.  (Although, if the NSA could call on my behalf, that'd be great too as I'm REALLY busy today.)

TWO:  I kind of like the idea of an area devoid of working motor vehicles.  It reminds me of current-day Detroit.  

THREE:  The last time I looked / sniffed, horses (presumably pulling these carriages) make create both 'noise' and 'noxious odors' (not to mention leaving large, steamy, piles of poop in their wake).  While vacationing on the Island, do you wear sandals, or rubber boots?

FOUR:  The women in the last photo here look very 'sturdy' (and I really do like their hats!).  Yes, I kind of like the idea of a sturdy woman who can use her thighs to crush walnuts.  Although, I believe there are few men, besides myself, who would ever attempt to marry one.  

It'd kill a 'lesser man'.

FIVE:   Hey Mackinac Island, why stop at eliminating automobiles?  Lose the electric and TV while you're at it.  Those electric plants throw off a lot of heat and noise AND they burn evil fossil fuels.  Shut off the lights, cut the cable networks, and now that I think about it, plug up the dang plumbing.  

If 'TreeHugger' folks want to 'get away from it all' in 2013 - let's give them the authentic 'nature' experience.  Sure, they'll never come back again in the Summer of 2014, but there are plenty of 'Treehuggers' lined up behind them to take their place (for a singular season, at least).

But you won't, will you?  

You, you, wacky TreeHugging-Egalitarians...

        
Yeah, that's what I was thinking you'd say.  

Have a nice day folks, as for you still reading this really long post, please don't kill yourself, I, and everyone else you know, will miss you.  

You are unique - keep doing what you do best - being yourself.  

The World is a better place for it. 

I'll be moving my son into college tomorrow, I'll be off for a bit - be nice to each other while I'm away.  Seriously, I'm NOT kidding.  Don't make me come down there...

Mike (a.k.a.:  Moos)

Seriously, You Cannot Win...

Here I sit, preparing to leave the office when I think to myself, "Self, maybe you should do a quick scan of current 'Weird News' to see if there'll be anything to post about tomorrow when you're off from work?"

Why wait till tomorrow for something you can do while your kids are at home starving???

So I scanned a site.  I WENT there. 

And this is what I found when I arrived...

Environmental groups sue to block wind farm

But, I thought Wind Farms were...  GOOD?
Nah, wind farms USED to be good. 

Now, to environmentalists (who REALLY care) power-generating wind mills are 'SPINNING WINGS OF DEATH'...

From the article: 

Some conservationists have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the startup of Maryland's first industrial wind farm because it allegedly threatens federally protected Indiana bats.

The complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt seeks to stop Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. from beginning operation of its 28 turbines on Backbone Mountain in Garrett County unless the company first obtains an "incidental take permit" from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for any Indiana bats that might be hit or injured by the spinning blades.

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A similar lawsuit brought in the same Greenbelt court last year forced developers of a West Virginia wind project to reduce the number of planned turbines after the judge ruled that Indiana bats hibernating in the area almost certainly would be harmed by the blades. The West Virginia developer also agreed not to operate the turbines at night or at times of year when the bats would be flying until it obtained federal permits.

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They claim they wind turbines, with blades extending 415 feet high, will "almost certainly" injure or kill Indiana bats.

The small brownish-black mammals range across much of the eastern United States, but their population is so low and thinly spread that federal officials consider them at risk of extinction. Listening equipment Constellation set up while building the turbines this year detected calls of Indiana bats. The lawsuit contends there is a "robust population" of Indiana bats that hibernates in a cave 13 miles from the project site.


Strictly an observation on my part, but it would appear that Indiana Bats MAY be an endangered species - however, there's no shortage of Moon-Bats in the State of Maryland.  I wonder how these folks will get the electricity to power their $42,000 Chevrolet 'Volts' to cruise the alloted 20 miles from home to view these bat caves and get back again?

They certainly can't use OIL to generate the electricity (last time I looked, we're FLAT out of dinosaurs).

They can't use COAL (because it's 'dirty' and 'Mama says' that being 'dirty' is BAD.  And you'll never meet NICE people if you're 'dirty'.)

They can't use NUCLEAR because, well, just because.  Venture back to my post earlier this week about Chernobyl for additional 'Glow in the Dark' fun.

And NOW, they don't want us to use WIND POWER because we might end up 'Cuisinarting' these wonderful little bats.  (But I hear that they ARE delicious the way Paula Deen cooks 'em up with a little butter, flour, and salt!)

     Awwww, isn't he CUTE?!?!

I don't know folks.  Seems like the only POWER SOURCE left us as an option is HEAT POWER. 

[This would be the power we COULD capture from the amount of HOT AIR coming from Environmentalists given some new, highly-efficient, thermal technology]

These folks, apparently, will not be happy until we're all driving with Fred...

Yabba.  Dabba.  Doo...

Oh, look, a (purple) dinosaur!!!

I can't wait until 2012 - when the Mayan Calendar runs out. 

You thought this year is weird so far? 

You ain't seen nothing yet.