Sunday, July 01, 2007

Worms are killing the planet, says top researcher

Cows and sheep have been in the gun for some time. Now it's worms. Is any life any good? We have been told that trees give off lots of methane so they're no good either. I guess Greenies must be necrophilic (lovers of death). They certainly want to reduce the population of people drastically, so it fits

Worm composting could be doing more harm than good to the environment, a leading researcher claimed today. Jim Frederickson, senior research fellow at the Open Universities faculty of technology [Britain], said: "Worms produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases. Recent research done by German scientists has found that worms produced a third of nitrous oxide gases when used for composting." The `wiggly ones' naturally produce nitrous oxide gases when they are put into the process of composting.

Worms can be used for home grown composting or commercial composting and are typically red worms. They are used to recycle food scraps and other organic material into valuable soil worm compost, otherwise known as vermicompost. This compost can then be used to grow plants.

"We have concentrated on getting waste out of landfill and into worm composting systems but they can actually produce more greenhouse gases than landfill sites produce," Frederickson said. Under the Waste Strategy the Government has strongly supported the composting of waste in efforts to reduce the landfilling of biodegradable waste. This includes encouraging householders to invest in home composting systems. The Government wishes to increase the amount of waste which is composted to 40% by 2010 and 45% by 2015.

Although Frederickson says that worm composting is a positive thing, he claims that not enough research has been done on worms releasing polluting gases.

Frederickson said: "Everybody loves them because they think they can do no harm but they contribute to global warming. People are looking into alternative waste treatments but we have to make sure that we are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire. "We need to investigate all alternative systems for greenhouse potential. "The emissions that come from these worms can actually be 290 times more potent than carbon dioxide and 20 times more potent than methane. In all environmental systems you get good points and bad points."

Source





The joyless Greenies

Tim Blair follows the Global Warming environmentalist scene, featuring researchers who descend on private homes with carbon-measuring equipment and an attendant TV crew to publicly "shame" their occupants into greater Greenness.

Each week they don their orange monogrammed shirts to cordon off the toxic home of an Australian family. They arrive with energy-auditing gadgetry, sobering statistics and lips and eyebrows curled in withering admonishment. They rate these people, shame them, then challenge them to do better.

"One of the things I loved was when you tell them the audit result," says Carbon Constable Fitzgerald, whose daytime cover is head of the science department at Geelong's Oberon High School. "Most of them were expecting to come off pretty well but they were all genuinely, absolutely floored. They can't believe it. It's a great moment."


Tim Blair's only regret is that they don't audit the energy consumption and travel logistics of the TV crews they bring with them. Mine is why they don't get a life. Don't these guys have anything better to do than spend their days telling other people how to live?

But what would be the fun in in minding your own business? The fun is in minding others. What all the earthly paradises promised by social re-engineering projects have in common is not that they are free from unpleasantness and want; Stalin offered a vision of barracks life, cafeteria food and compulsory day-care and people were willing to kill for it; modern environmentalists present one of five-minute showers, subsistance living and rationed toilet paper and they are willing to descend on your home in order to achieve it. They are bleak, unpleasant paradises. The attraction of these earthly utopias is not pleasance but freedom from doubt. Entry into a place where all the answers are supplied and there are no more dilemmas. What is required of that Brave New World above all is the final banishment of Hamlet's soliloquy. The attraction of Communism, a world ruled by the Greens or lashed under the chains of Sharia Law is they leave no room for doubt. They offer a place where every aspect of life will be regulated, our carbon footprints measured at intervals, our piety audited periodically and we shall be rid at last of our greatest burden -- freedom and uncertainty.

For that reason people like the "environmentalists" that Tim Blair describes derive satisifaction from forcing people into line. It is the Global Warming line in this instance, but any line would have done. Any port which will shelter them against the storm of doubt. The very same people who were yesterday's Communists are today's environmentalists and tomorrow's Muslim converts. It's really all the same religion to them. Marx was wrong when he said the whole point of history was not to understand but to change it; for the true believer the whole point of history is simply to find a way to end it.

The saddest aspect of these endeavor is that it blinds its adherents to the fecundity of creation; to the newness of each sunset; the uniqueness in its child's smile; to the potential for discovery; to the possibility that the winds of the world change not by our feeble edicts, but because Spirit bloweth. Free and ever-new.

Source





IN FEAR OF DECLINE, GERMANY'S CLIMATE POLICY COMES UNDER FIRE



Juergen Hambrecht is CEO of the largest chemical company in the world, BASF. SPIEGEL spoke with him about German environmental policy, what to do about global warming, and how the 12th century wasn't all that bad.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Hambrecht, to reduce the effects of climate change Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel is calling for the "fundamental transformation of industrial society." Have you already embarked on this transformation at BASF, the world's largest chemical corporation?

Hambrecht: A corporation that competes internationally must change constantly, but in three dimensions, only one of which is environmental protection. Economic efficiency and social sustainability are also part of the mix. After all, I am responsible for 95,000 employees and their families.

SPIEGEL: There are, of course, conflicts among these three dimensions. Hambrecht: Yes, but one thing is clear: I cannot reach the other objectives without economic success.

SPIEGEL: Is Gabriel's demand too one-sided, in your opinion?

Hambrecht: Mr. Gabriel is like a whirlwind. He chases the cloud across the land, but he doesn't really care where the wind is coming from, just that it blows strongly. What Mr. Gabriel is asking for is a pipe dream. I would like to know whether he even supports Germany as a site for industrial production. What does he want? The transformation of industry into a service economy? Then he should say so.

SPIEGEL: Will you give voice to this criticism at the next energy summit on July 3, when you and other corporate leaders will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other government officials?

Hambrecht: Of course. We cannot continue along the current trajectory. Everything is currently determined by environmental policy, but an energy policy worth its salt doesn't exist. Where do we stand on nuclear power? Will coal have a future in Germany? These are questions we must urgently discuss. Instead, politicians are constantly setting new, unrealistic goals.

FULL INTERVIEW here





NBC Universal Launches Global Warming Campaign

Your unbiased and objective media at work

Forgive my tardiness in reporting this gem but needless to say I'm not on any NBC Universal's publicists speed dial so I had to stumble on upon this all by myself. When I found this thing I had to use all the restraint I could muster to keep from laughing out loud too much.

Back on May 24, 2007 NBC Universal announced a global warming publicity campaign they call "Get On Board." NBC bills this as "a comprehensive, company-wide program to improve the environmental impact of its operations by reducing greenhouse gases, raising awareness about green issues, and stimulating change in the media and entertainment industry."

Wow, no doubt these guys are in the vanguard - of propaganda that is. Led by their fearless leader, Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBCU claims this is all part of a massive campaign being spear headed by parent company General Electric's "ecomagination" initiative. And get this they claim this an extension of the "Get On Board" campaign launched in April to hype this summer's debut of Evan Almighty, NBC Universal's first movie to "zero out" its carbon emissions. Imagine that, a trip to movies without all the guilt.

They really threw everything in here but the kitchen sink. Highlights of "Get On Board" include:

"--Lower emissions and improved energy efficiency across all operations, reducing GHG emissions at least 3% by 2012." 3% now that'll stop global warming for sure!

"--Commitment to environmentally conscious film and TV production" This may well constitute cruelty as defined by the Supreme Court, "an act that shocks the conscience"

"--Formation of a dedicated panel on environmental initiatives, the NBCU Green Council, led by Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick." Can I join the Green Council, can I?

"-Multifaceted employee education programs"

Trumpeting this bold new step NBC says with the launch of "Get On Board," they are committed to being one of the most environmentally conscious companies in the industry, with environmentally advanced productions, content that educates and informs, internal energy efficiency, and green incentives for employees and their communities.

Waxing wisely CEO talk, Jeff Zucker said, "Now is the time for us not just to think green but to act green, we must run our businesses in a way that respects and protects our most valuable resource, the environment. This comprehensive program is a first series of steps that we hope will set a new course for the entire industry." These must be the kind of platitudes they teach you at Harvard.

Evidently they used the production of their new movie Evan Almighty as the archetype. They say that this is the first effort to significantly reduce the environmental impact of a major motion picture. They also say this is "America's number one movie" and describe this comedy remake of the biblical account of the great flood when Noah captained the ark as a "boatload of fun." Sounds like a boatload of b.s. to me.

Oh I get it floods, global warming yes, that's what Al Gore's been babbling about. Like zealot converts, they went to great lengths to feel "green" on this undertaking. Planting more than 2,000 trees to "zero out" the carbon emissions generated by the production of the movie; crew members were given bicycles to reduce car usage; and recycling galore. paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass. Get this, yes even their own website! Hallelujah! I wonder how they're going to handle the delicate matter of the private jet charters demanded these days by any moviestar who's anybody?

There's more. Its just a never ending propaganda fest at NBC.

"--NBC News has appointed Anne Thompson as Chief Environmental Affairs correspondent, covering issues such as alternative fuels, global warming, land usage and new technologies for all NBC News broadcasts including "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" and "Today," as well as on MSNBC and online at www.msnbc.com." We haven't seen this kind of cult worship since Jim Jones went to Guyana.

Everybody is gettin' in on the act.

"--All DVDs distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures International Entertainment will carry messaging about going green." Is this like those subliminal messages they used to flash on the screen to get movie goers to buy coke and popcorn?

And how can they leave out that multi-million dollar in-kind contribution to Al Gore.

"--A "Live Earth" concert will be broadcast across NBC Universal's television networks and on other platforms around the globe on 7.7.07, featuring performances by the world's top musicians and inspiring individuals, corporations, and governments to take action to solve the climate crisis." Everywhere but an NBC press release, this is called "issue advocacy." Clearly, NBC is actively engaged in influencing legislation.

This is truly amazing. Before the internet this press release would be distributed to 50 or 100 reporters tops. In the bad old days, the actual press release would never see the light of day. The reporters would take it reword it a little and disseminate it through the AP and a couple of large newspapers. Rip and read they called it. Now the veil has been ripped off and people like me cut them to ribbons

Source

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Many people would like to be kind to others so Leftists exploit that with their nonsense about equality. Most people want a clean, green environment so Greenies exploit that by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats to the environment. But for both, the real motive is generally to promote themselves as wiser and better than everyone else, truth regardless.

Global warming has taken the place of Communism as an absurdity that "liberals" will defend to the death regardless of the evidence showing its folly. Evidence never has mattered to real Leftists


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