Wind turbines in southern Minnesota. Photo by Futurism Now.<\/p>\n
There is a strange backlash against wind energy all across the country, which is why a lot of financial support for it in any climate bill needs to be there.\u00a0 In my area, which is quite “conservative” (by which I mean, anti-science and just flat-out obsessed with taxes) one nearby city has preemptively banned wind turbines.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish that was a joke, but it’s not.\u00a0 The article about it in a local newspaper quoted city officials\u00a0 saying wind was banned\u00a0 because they were worried people would try to install wind turbines in the future. They have been preemptively banned because they were deemed “unsuitable” for an urban area (“urban” is not how I would describe this small city) and they might tip over.\u00a0 Yes, wind turbines have been banned in central Minnesota because some people are afraid they might tip over.\u00a0 By that logic we should ban oil rigs because they might blow up and sink. (Except wait — they actually do that.) (Here’s the story).\u00a0 It may not be a coincidence that this is Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district.<\/p>\n
According to NASA and Climate Progress,\u00a0 it was the hottest April on record according to NASA data.\u00a0 They also predicted that this will be a record-setting year for heat.<\/p>\n
More significantly, following fast on the heels of the hottest March and hottest Jan-Feb-March on record, it\u2019s also the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record. . . . \u00a0 The record temperatures we\u2019re seeing now are especially impressive because we\u2019ve been in \u201cthe deepest solar minimum in nearly a century.\u201d It now appears to be over. It\u2019s just hard to stop the march of manmade global warming, well, other than by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, that is.
\n Most significantly, NASA\u2019s March prediction has come true:\u00a0 \u201cIt is nearly certain that a new record 12-month global temperature will be set in 2010.?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What is Washington DC doing about this?\u00a0 Not nearly enough!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
American Power Act Contains Little Direct Support for Renewables
\n Bill introduced by Sens. Kerry and Lieberman lacks a renewable portfolio standard.
\n Published: May 13, 2010<\/p>\n
Washington, D.C., United States — On Wednesday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) released the details of their energy and climate change legislation. The bill includes few provisions designed to directly support renewable energy. These provisions include a statement from Congress on the importance of large-scale deployment and accelerated progress in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, direction for how the allowances distributed to states and Indian tribes should be used for the purposes of promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, and a statement supporting voluntary renewable energy markets.\u00a0 Noticeably\u00a0absent from the package was either a renewable portfolio standard, or renewable electricity standard, which the industry has been lobbying for over the course of the last year.<\/p>\n
“The wind energy [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wind turbines in southern Minnesota. Photo by Futurism Now. There is a strange backlash against wind energy all across the country, which is why a lot of financial support for it in any climate bill needs to be there.\u00a0 In … Continue reading