Burn Baby Burn… Fall 2017 Update

My editorial: *Because of the indictments in association with the Trump Administrative this morning (10/30/17) there is hope that government stances on the climate change issue, through political change, will occur sooner, not later, and that egregious damage to the environment won’t come to fruition due to United States policy. I reread what has been written on this post during the spring of this year. Not surprisingly, all that I wrote below is being implemented by the Trump Administration. I am reposting this again to let all know that elections have consequences, and these could be dire depending upon the twisted designs and goals of those put in charge.*

Back in February 2017 I  posted two pieces relating to the rate that carbon pollution is spewing into the atmosphere:

Nasty Carbon Dioxide Trends

How Much Is Too Much?

In both posts I hinted that there are no substantial signs that carbon pollution is being curtailed despite the best efforts of environmentalists and those making green energy cheaper and economically viable. What is happening now confirms my suspicions that part of humanity will always be greedy and short sighted enough to sell any discovered oil, coal and natural gas. The new powers that be are gearing up to exploit a general public confused enough over the climate issue to make huge profits.

On “Nasty Carbon Dioxide Trends” I gave some alarming vehicle number stats. Very much related, the  U.S. government has worked and negotiated with industry over the last few decades to put in place regulations called CAFE standards to boost the miles per gallon vehicles should get not only for the climate issue,  but to stymie pollution in general. Not any more. For the climate issue the news is ominous:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/15/trump-starts-review-obama-era-fuel-economy-rules-putting-electric-cars-in-doubt.html

From the Fox article: Jack Nerad, Kelley Blue Book’s executive editorial director and executive market analyst, said relaxing fuel-economy targets will likely steer automakers away from heavy investments in alternative powertrains.

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“I think what’s going on with fuel prices has made it very difficult for car companies to sell highly fuel-efficient vehicles. So no matter what they do with vehicle development, it’s like leading a horse to water. [Electric cars] are not what’s popular now,” Nerad told FOX Business.

The Trump administration’s plans to dump or lower CAFE standards are not surprising. Just connect the greedy dots. A half trillion dollars over the next decade, potentially, in Russian oil revenue is on the table. The Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is big oil personified with Russian connections:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/11/rex-tillerson-big-oil-trump-cabinet

Rex Tillerson will work to overturn the Paris Accords. Scott Pruitt, the new head of the EPA, will deregulate the coal industry. What is the other shoe to drop here? The world due to recent, better fracking technology is awash in oil, so the market needs to be expanded by those wishing to maximize profits. Why yes, that means building vehicles that get less gas mileage and in the process squeezing out the electrical vehicle market. Greed may once again in human history trump science (pun intended). Wanting to garner profit in of itself does no harm to humanity and does good in most instances, but blatant disregard of science for the want of profit does.

Dr. Jeff Masters goes into great detail about how the Trump administration’s new budget slashes climate research here:
So now those of us who have been working on the climate change problem are up against a three headed monster-  The potential of a half trillion dollar oil deal with Russia, reduction of environmental standards for vehicles purposely resulting in a bigger market for oil, and a reduction in science’s ability to keep tabs on carbon pollution damage.
All of this to a lesser degree is like the three headed monster of what tobacco companies wanted to do back in the 1970’s and 80’s; produce more cigarettes, get more people to smoke, and stymie any science and legal efforts uncovering truth. Now the truth of the climate problem, at least for awhile, will play second fiddle to alternative facts in association with big money oil.

Yesterday NASA announced that February 2017 was the second warmest February on record, globally, next to February 2016:

NASA 2017

 

I have a feeling that due to deregulation of CAFE standards on top of other factors, the planet’s temperature will not be coming down for decades if not centuries to come. Just one word here: Sad.

The Climate Guy

 

 

 

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