ELECTRIC CARS AND UNICORNS: ONTARIO’S NEW GREEN SCHEME

Ontario’s new draft Climate Change Action Plan is a breathtaking work of fantasy, wrought by folks who evidently never met an engineer, an economist, or anybody else who knows how the real world works. Glen Murray, the Environment Minister, is a notoriously Big Thinker. There is nothing necessarily wrong with government ministers who majored in social work and community development. But they absolutely should not be allowed to run amok unsupervised.

The provincial government will reduce our carbon footprint by micromanaging every aspect of our lives and our economy. Its plan will throw our auto and energy industries into chaos, and further enrage every small town in Ontario, whose rights have been trampled by German salesmen selling giant industrial wind turbines. It will drive some of the highest electricity prices in North America even higher.

http://www.infowars.com/electric-cars-and-unicorns-ontarios-new-green-scheme/

NASA: HIGHER CO2 LEVELS REPONSIBLE FOR ‘GREENING’ EARTH

Greening is evidence of accelerated plant growth and heightened rates of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is a main source of fuel for plants — and thus, all life on Earth — and previous studies show a rise in CO2 results in plant growth.

But other sources of nutrients and external factors can accelerate photosynthesis and greening, including changes in nitrogen levels, land usage, temperature and weather.

An international team of researchers isolated each of these factors and ran them through a series of computer models. The results suggest rising CO2 levels best explain the increase in leaf cover, or greening, measured by NASA and NOAA satellites.

http://www.infowars.com/nasa-higher-co2-levels-reponsible-for-greening-earth/

 

Here’s why the surface of Mercury is so dark

For years, scientists have wondered why Mercury is so dark. It doesn’t have as much iron and titanium as the Moon, so it should be brighter. A team at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory finally has the answer, though. Thanks to a spectral analysis of color images from NASA’s Messenger probe, they’ve determined that carbon (specifically, graphite) is the probable culprit behind Mercury’s dim look. Most likely, what you’re seeing is the aftermath of the tiny planet growing up. As the young Mercury’s magma ocean cooled 4.6 billion years ago, the graphite would have floated to the top and formed the original crust — there just happens to be enough of it left to affect visibility.

The data might not just solve one riddle. Besides explaining some of Mercury’s early history, it could also give a sense of the materials that were swirling close to the Sun as the solar system formed. The exact blend of minerals still isn’t known, but this one insight could easily pay dividends. And given that Messenger collected much more data, it won’t be shocking if there are more answers in the near future.

http://www.engadget.com/2016/03/08/scientists-explain-why-mercury-is-dark/

Tag:  astronomy, carbon, graphite, johns hopkins, mercury, messenger, planet, science,space, spectrometer

Washington considers nation’s first carbon emissions tax

Washington could become the first state in the nation to impose a direct tax on carbon emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline and natural gas.

A ballot measure before the state Legislature would create a carbon tax of $25 per metric ton of fossil fuel emissions burned in Washington, while reducing taxes.

Lawmakers have until the end of the session on March 10, to enact Initiative 732, offer an alternative proposal or automatically pass the carbon-tax measure to voters in November as written. It’s not clear whether lawmakers will approve an alternative by the end of the session.

The grass-roots group Carbon Washington — which gathered more than 350,000 signatures to qualify the initiative — says a carbon tax is the best way to reduce emissions and tackle global warming. It says the tax encourages people and businesses to switch to cleaner energy by making fossil fuels more expensive.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/washington-considers-nations-first-carbon-emissions-tax

WASHINGTON CONSIDERS NATION’S FIRST CARBON EMISSIONS TAX

A ballot measure before the state Legislature would create a carbon tax of $25 per metric ton of fossil fuel emissions burned in Washington, while reducing taxes.

Lawmakers have until the end of the session on March 10, to enact Initiative 732, offer an alternative proposal or automatically pass the carbon-tax measure to voters in November as written. It’s not clear whether lawmakers will approve an alternative by the end of the session.

The grass-roots group Carbon Washington — which gathered more than 350,000 signatures to qualify the initiative — says a carbon tax is the best way to reduce emissions and tackle global warming. It says the tax encourages people and businesses to switch to cleaner energy by making fossil fuels more expensive.

http://www.infowars.com/washington-considers-nations-first-carbon-emissions-tax/