Global Warming......yeah, about that!

[UtahPete]

And yet with all of these innovations, we aren't making any difference! (According to all the climate change people) I read several articles that say one of the volcano's erupting, releases more CO2 than all of mankind has since mankind existed.

Can't we just plug it up? "Put a sock in it ..."

[asp125]

Was just listening to a piece on NPR in the car. They were discussing how the mid-western barley crops have been suffering due to warmer / wetter summers. Barley used to be an eastern crop, and has been migrating west as farmers could not get good yields and switched to other crops. Now it's predominantly grown in the mid-west and closer to the mountain states. Long story short, if this weather trend of warmer summers continues, the beer you and I drink might get more expensive as malt barley becomes harder to grow.

[crazycanuck]

the beer you and I drink might get more expensive

you take that back right now

[ARtraveler]

Was just listening to a piece on NPR in the car. They were discussing how the mid-western barley crops have been suffering due to warmer / wetter summers. Barley used to be an eastern crop, and has been migrating west as farmers could not get good yields and switched to other crops. Now it's predominantly grown in the mid-west and closer to the mountain states. Long story short, if this weather trend of warmer summers continues, the beer you and I drink might get more expensive as malt barley becomes harder to grow.

Now that's news. We are on to something here.

[rustynail51]

I'm sure by now everyone that's read my ramblings know which side of the fence i'm on. Here in Minnesota we have established a 150 foot buffer zone between a body of water be it river or lake to help prevent run off from farm chemicals into our water systems personally I wish it was more but have accepted it because to ask farmer to accept more might be a little to much, we have to have a happy medium. To use alternative power sources can improve air quality reduce dependence on fossil fuels [not replace them completely] these new technologies also have there draw backs also, but they also create jobs in the construction and maintenance fields. Is any thing perfect NO but are some systems better cleaner and reduce emissions from fossil fuels. You may say that we us coal to manufacture these systems but the emissions are reduced when a wind farm or solar array go on line and I believe every little bit helps. The good old USA should be leading the way not letting Europe and China get ahead with us playing catch up. When we reduce funding for education and research we hobble our capacity for innovation and leadership. come on USA.

[rustynail51]

the planet on which we live should not be a political football we all have to live on it.

[asp125]

News flash, the Chinese are already ahead of us in investing in clean technology. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ris-agreement/

[rustynail51]

yeah I think I knew that but wasn't sure, thanks for the heads up. So we are already playing catch up.

[asp125]

yeah I think I knew that but wasn't sure, thanks for the heads up. So we are already playing catch up.

A relative was in China this year, and a local national questioned why Americans think climate isn't a priority. He (the chinese) said that they are doing something about it because they can see it and breathe it daily. I guess we gai-jan will wait till we have smog like LA did back in the 60's.

[rustynail51]

Something new to mull over. In the tax cut bill congress wiped out the 9 cent a barrel tax for the oil spill clean up fund, saying it was burdensome on the industry. should we see a price drop at the pump?

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

WOW. It seems that the name of our last President is being censored out of posts.

I'm floored. Let's try Trump.

Edit: Nope. Trump is OK.......but O b a m a is not ????

You got it. Several years ago, from what I understand, there were some super heated discussions that prompted Lamont to censor O's name. Or maybe it was his personal dislike for the guy, I don't know. But anyway the name of President O has been censored for several years. I guess it was put into the same category as the four letter vulgar word for a bodily function.

[jaherbst]

Something new to mull over. In the tax cut bill congress wiped out the 9 cent a barrel tax for the oil spill clean up fund, saying it was burdensome on the industry. should we see a price drop at the pump?

Your dreaming again. What goes up must come down--except prices at the pump!

​Jack

[CA Railwhale]

Mitch McConnell, upon President O's election, publicly stated that the #1 goal of the GOP Senators, of which he was minority leader, was to make sure O*a*a was a one-term President, by denying him any legislative achievements. Obstruction, obfuscation and misleading propaganda was the game plan for 8 years and it worked somewhat.

That's normal for either party when they are out of power. The Democrats are doing far more and worse things now that they are out of power. At least Mc Connel was honest about it.

[missouriboy]

Something new to mull over. In the tax cut bill congress wiped out the 9 cent a barrel tax for the oil spill clean up fund, saying it was burdensome on the industry. should we see a price drop at the pump?

Gooollllllllleeeeeeeeeeeee! 9 cents a BARREL would be how many HUNDREDTHS of a cent per GALLON?

(And don't forget that the crude oil in gasoline is way less than 100% of its total cost. [Not pump price. Cost.])

[daz]

I have problems with people saying climate change is natural. I think everybody agrees with that.

My main point, and one other point.
1. The immediate problem is how fast and how much the climate is changing. Can we adapt to this rapid change?
2. Coal and oil deposits formed when CO2 levels were much higher and vegetation was much lusher. That removed CO2 from the air. If we put all of that CO2 back into the atmosphere, we will have a climate similar to back then.

"Similar to back then"? The earth's distance from the sun and the tilt of it's axis determine the season and weather. The earth is NOT on tracks in space like a railroad train. The earth's orbit changes a bit each year. Our weather patterns change with it.

[rustynail51]

What I was getting at is next time there is an Exon Valdez or Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Instead of the people who spilled the oil we the tax payer will pay to clean it up. The small tax we don't even notice and won't affect prices at the pump will put more money in the pocket of big oil. This is the point, I haven't heard of any oil company filing for bankruptcy because of the burdensome clean up tax that all oil companies pay.

[kep-up]

Who do you think pays now, tax or no tax? We, the consumer. That's who.

When will the general public finally realize that absolutely NO corporation pays ANY TAX AT ALL? ALL costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer all the time. And with a percentage added for handling costs.

Lord have mercy.

[UtahPete]

Who do you think pays now, tax or no tax? We, the consumer. That's who.

When will the general public finally realize that absolutely NO corporation pays ANY TAX AT ALL? ALL costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer all the time. And with a percentage added for handling costs.

Lord have mercy.

Not to mention that the largest corporations for years have employed squadrons of lawyers and accountants to exploit loopholes to pay little to no tax at all. Why not just close the loopholes and demand repatriation of the trillions of dollars kept offshore untaxed?

[gnorthern]

And yet with all of these innovations, we aren't making any difference! (According to all the climate change people) I read several articles that say one of the volcano's erupting, releases more CO2 than all of mankind has since mankind existed.

NASA says the statement about volcanoes is not true. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Fe...ming/page4.php

[johnsimion]

Who do you think pays now, tax or no tax? We, the consumer. That's who.

When will the general public finally realize that absolutely NO corporation pays ANY TAX AT ALL? ALL costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer all the time. And with a percentage added for handling costs.

Lord have mercy.

Corporations do pay tax, the only question is to whom those costs are passed. When you say, "ALL costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer all the time," that's not necessarily true. You are disregarding the laws of supply and demand. Yes, if you have a product in high demand, you can get by with raising your prices and indeed, consumers will bear the cost. However, if too many costs get passed on, demand is reduced as consumers rebel. At some point consumers may simply choose to do without the corporation's product or else find an alternative. At that point, the corporation cannot pass the taxes on to consumers and therefore the taxes will actually be passed on to the corporation's shareholders in the form of reduced profits and dividends. If all costs of doing business could always be passed on to consumers, nobody would ever go out of business.

[ThreeWheels]

I'm going to ask Raquel Welch for a date.
I might have a chance since Hell finally froze over.

[rustynail51]

Here we have a minuscule tax set up and dedicated to a clean up fund that is to be used when the next spill or other oil related mess happens. Now we will be waiting for congress to approve funds for cleanup, like I said we the people had no Idea there was any tax paid for clean up, sure we are paying for it every time we fill our gas tanks but removing the tax takes away the insurance that the money will be there to clean up another catastrophic spill,the point is you won't notice it because every entity that uses a petroleum product form the largest corporation to the kid running his moped around the block paid for it nobody noticed. The only people that will notice will be the oil companies, they will get a few million dollars to raise executive pay or pay dividends, we as the gas buying public won't see any change at the pump or any benefit. Just seems like throwing a giant steak to a fat cat, he likes but really doesn't need it.

[UtahPete]

I find it awful funny that there are people believing in global warming (and complaining we are going to melt) on a website dedicated to a CO2 producing vehicle (Spyder) in which is usually riden for enjoyment A pedal tricycle might be better for the believers (Complainers) so they can be doing their part in stopping global warming

I don't think it's humorous, ironic or hypocritical to express concern that we, as a country, are refusing to acknowledge and deal with a very real issue which affects us all, particularly future generations. It's called civic responsibility.

[UtahPete]

Then please do your part, and stop producing CO2. I myself will continue to ride and be happy

I'll do my part and engage in civil and productive discussion of issues that concern me. And, ride and be happy without guilt. And avoid pin-heads as much as possible.

[rustynail51]

Anything we do now to improve our environment will make things better in the future lets not be selfish.