Day: March 31, 2011

2011 Anal-Ocity #15

They just keep coming fast and furious……why do those on the lunatic fringe have to speak and show just how moronic they really are and that anyone that takes them seriously needs to be committed to an asylum for observation?

Rick Santorum lost his bid for re-election and since his lose he has continued to spout total BS and now he seems to be positioning himself to run for the nomination of the GOP from the Tea Party fringe….everything he has been saying has not a single thread of truth to it….but does that stop him from making an ass of himself…..NOPE!  He talks and talks and shows his real thinking…..MORON!

This time Santorum was rattling on about Social Security and the problems that are perceived that the fund will have in the future……… and then out of the blue he said this about why there will be less money coming into the fund……

“A third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion.”

I wanted to say something quiet clever….but after the disbelief and then the raucous laughter….the best I can say is….this guy is an IDIOT!

Safe, Clean Energy

That is what we are subjected to daily from the Nat. Gas people….they are pushing for more drilling in the US and selling the idea that it is cleaner then the alternative…..that it will be better for the environment……….is it?

From an article in Pro Publica……..

Advocates for natural gas routinely assert that it produces 50 percent less greenhouse gases than coal and is a significant step toward a greener energy future. But those assumptions are based on emissions from the tailpipe or smokestack and don’t account for the methane and other pollution emitted when gas is extracted and piped to power plants and other customers.

The EPA’s new analysis doubles its previous estimates for the amount of methane gas that leaks from loose pipe fittings and is vented from gas wells, drastically changing the picture of the nation’s emissions that the agency painted as recently as April. Calculations for some gas-field emissions jumped by several hundred percent. Methane levels from the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas were 9,000 times higher than previously reported.

Billions of cubic feet of climate-changing greenhouse gases—roughly the equivalent of the annual emissions from 35 million automobiles—seep from loose pipe valves or are vented intentionally from gas production facilities into the atmosphere each year, according to the EPA. Gas drilling emissions alone account for at least one-fifth of human-caused methane in the world’s atmosphere, the World Bank estimates, and as more natural gas is drilled, the EPA expects these emissions to increase dramatically.

But roughly half of the 1,600 gas-fired power plants in the United States operate at the lowest end of the efficiency spectrum. And even before the EPA sharply revised its data, these plants were only 32 percent cleaner than coal, according to a lifecycle analysis by Paulina Jaramillo, an energy expert and associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

So we see that the promise of clean safe energy source maybe what it sounds like….too goo to be true…..and we know what they say about that…….don’t we?  If I recall correctly back in 2008, the McCain/Palin ticket, had this plank that was basically “cap and trade”…….but now Palin is calling it cap and tax……see if you snooze you lose….it is virtually impossible to keep up with politics and its leap Right, if you only watch the news once a day….

And the dance goes on for alt energy….but can we have an energy source that does not include drilling the crap out of the earth?  We need a renewable source that is almost limitless…..nat gas does not meet that criteria……but yet the Prez thinks it is a good idea….why?

Can we please stop all this now?  NOTHING will be done!  You know…..I know it…..Obama knows it!

It Is All About Energy

Note:  I wrote this back in January and it has been in my drafts all that time……circumstances have prevented me from posting on the energy thing……but our Prez has just made a speech and now we will have a renewal of interests in the whole energy debate…..

Now that the election is over (for now)…..now that the new Congress has been sworn in…..now that thew State of the Union message has been given…it is time to start looking at some of the issues that will come to the floors of both houses……

I have predicted that one of the next big debates (if we can call the games a debate) will be on the issue of Energy……l.but does the GOP have an alternate plan to the Obama cap and trade or as the GOP calls it “cap and tax”?

They do…..but it may have to be altered a bit to win a victory….

There are a few bills with Republican support in Congress right now that are designed to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. They include Sen. George Voinovich’s [R, OH] “Enabling the Nuclear Renaissance Act” (S.3618) and Sen. Maria Cantwell’s [D, WA] “CLEAR Act” (S.2877). But these aren’t really comprehensive, and they don’t seem to have deep enough support to pass the divided Senate next year.

The one bill that seems to have deep Republican support that some Democrats could conceivably get behind as at least a step in the right direction is Sen. Richard Lugar’s [R, IN] “Practical Energy and Climate Plan Act of 2010” (S. 3464). Its co-sponsors include Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC], who was one of the central players in climate bill negotiations last year (though he ended up backing out), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK], who has taken more money from electric, oil and gas companies than just about anyone else and typically leads efforts against any energy legislation that the utilities don’t like.

This bill’s designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, make energy consumption in the U.S. more efficient, and shut down some of the dirtiest power plants. Lugar estimates that it would accomplish “nearly half the president’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goal,” though there is no mechanism in the bill specifically for ensuring that any targets are met.

It would establish benchmarks for industries to diversify their energy sources away from coal, but it’s designed to be flexible and to allow states to grant temporary waivers to companies that say that they will catch up with requirements in the future. The baselines for diversification range from 15% by 2019 to 50% by 2050. Under the bill, diversified energy sources include solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower, but it would also allow some more controversial sources to qualify, including, nuclear, biomass, and “advanced coal.” Old fossil-fuel dependent plants would be allowed to opt out of the diversification requirements if the sign an agreement to cease operations by 2019. This could have the effect of exempting these plants for several years from any new EPA emissions requirements that could encourage them to shut down sooner rather than pay for the necessary upgrades.

In order to increase energy efficiency, the bill would set up a new federal-state partnership for helping energy-intensive industries finance transitions to more efficient technologies and processes. It would also set up new national minimum targets for energy efficiency in new building construction and help homeowners retrofit their homes.

Another major provision in the bill would revise vehicle fuel efficiency standards to be approximately in-line with recent EPA proposals. The bill would codify the Obama fuel efficiency standards proposal of May 2010 (a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2016), and then raise that standard by 4% every year thereafter. That would mean the standard would be above 40 mpg by 2020. However, the bill allows the Transportation Secretary to issue a waiver if they determine that the efficiency standards are unachievable, and with car companies already saying the proposed new EPA targets are impossible, it’s easy to imagine the waiver being issued under the pretense of helping the already struggling auto manufacturers.

These are the alternatives….but will any or all of these provisions remain in the final product?  If there is one, that is……

And The Prez Speaks……Again!

From the VOMITORIUM

I guess I will make today “Energy” day…….

Today Obama made his speech on energy….and hot damn we have a ….YAWN!  Will some please tell these people to stop all the damn lip service to our dependence on foreign oil?  He basically said the same crap that started with Nixon….and thanx to Politfact for the info……

Richard Nixon kicked off his 1974 State of the Union speech by commenting on how it was the first of its kind to feature energy as the No. 1 priority. He went on to say that even if the embargo is lifted, “conservation will continue to be necessary.” And private enterprise will “develop the new resources, the new technology, the new capacity America will require for its energy needs in the 1980s.”

Gerald Ford picked up the thread, calling in 1975 for more synthetic fuels, home insulation, efficient cars and the like. And in 1976 he advocated “technology to capture energy from the sun and the Earth.”

Jimmy Carter was an avid conservationist, and talked at length about the subject during his State of the Union speeches, such as in 1981 when he endorsed technology such as “photovoltaics, which generate energy directly from the sun.”

Reagan made very little reference to dependence (go figure)…..Bush I the same….Clinton was not that forthcoming with views on the dependency thing….and now Obama…..

Please stop it!  For nearly 50 years presidents have been pointing out that we are dependent on foreign oil and for 50 years NO one gives a sh*t….so why NOT just give it up…..as long as big oil has a control of Congress we will always be dependent….and if you think all that will change with domestic drilling…all I can say is…….HA HA HA HA HA!