Climate Change | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 32
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Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 09, 2016 17 Comments
Mother Nature has engaged our neighbors to the North in a battle, as a massive wildfire has consumed the forests around the oil-sands region of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada since May 1. The Canadians may finally be making some progress in containing the conflagration after one-week of intense fire-fighting.
Canadian officials showed some optimism on Sunday they were beginning to get on top of the country's most destructive wildfire in recent memory, as favorable weather helped firefighters and winds took the flames southeast, away from oil sands boomtown Fort McMurray. There was still no time line, however, for getting Fort McMurray's 88,000 inhabitants back into what remains of their town, or when energy companies would be able to restart operations at evacuated sites nearby. The wildfires have cut Canada's vast oil sands output in half. "It definitely is a positive point for us, for sure," said Alberta fire official Chad Morrison in a news briefing, when asked if the fight to contain the flames had a reached a turning point. "We're obviously very happy that we've held the fire better than expected," said Morrison. "This is great firefighting weather, we can really get in here and get a handle on this fire, and really get a death grip on it."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 22, 2016 5 Comments
Regular Legal Insurrection readers may recall that prior to signing the new state minimum wage law, California Governor Jerry Brown was heckled at the Paris Climate Conference. Brown was challenged by a group of protesters opposed to carbon offset programs they said could hurt indigenous people. However, his enthusiasm for imposing draconian rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions has remained quite vigorous.
“This is one skirmish, but I’ll tell you, it’s increasing the intensity of my commitment to do everything I can to make sure we reduce oil consumption in California,” he said. “My zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree, and nothing, nothing is going to stop this state from pushing forward on our low-carbon fuel standard and our cap-and-trade and our ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate.”
Brown's zeal was such that about a year ago he issued an executive order setting a goal for greenhouse gas emissions to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Governor's mandate was short on specifics about how his new goal will be achieved, and relied on currently undeveloped or uninvented technology to ultimately achieve the goal.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 18, 2016 35 Comments
The Environment and Public Works Committee has been gathering testimony from a wide range of witnesses (industry experts, military official, and faith leaders) to discuss the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Because the Senators obviously wanted listed to many different perspectives, those invited to offer input included Alex Epstein, author of A Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and President of Center for Industrial Progress, as well as Father Robert Sirico (a Catholic priest and President of the free-market supporting Acton Institute).

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 16, 2016 44 Comments
I just noted that environmental activists are ramping up a social media campaign against energy giant Exxon Mobil, as the Attorneys General for 17 states are looking to nail that company under racketeering statutes. This attack is the latest in the pseudo-science based thuggery that progressives have directed at those who opt to hold different, data-based views on the nature of climate and weather.  The Koch Brothers, apparently the dark center of all evil in the universe, were singled out by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in an epic rant in 2014:
“Those guys are doing the Koch Brothers bidding and are against all the evidence of the rational mind, saying global warming does not exist,” Mr. Kennedy said, Climate Depot reported. “They are contemptible human beings.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 14, 2016 21 Comments
Energy company and fossil-fuel provider Exxon Mobil is the Jupiter of American business. It's so large, it's gravitational pull attracts Obama Administration strikes to promote wealth-distributing "climate change" policies and otherwise undermine the American economy. Earlier this week, I noted that one of Exxon Mobil's allies in the quest for sensible science regulation (the Competitive Enterprise Institute) was subpoenaed by the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands for correspondence related to its two decades worth of work on climate change and energy policy...including private donor information. Attorney General Claude E. Walker is one of the 17 "AGs for Clean Power" who have colluded to punish "climate change deniers" using civil racketeering statutes.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 05, 2016 28 Comments
Dave Bry is the author of Public Apology: In Which a Man Grapples With a Lifetime of Regret, One Incident at a Time. I suspect he is going to have one more regret to add to his list: Writing a column in The Guardian asking if its immoral to have children... because "Climate Change."
...For while the world is a wonderful place, one we humans have made nicer for ourselves with wonderful inventions like books and record players, penicillin and pizza, it’s also a really awful place, one we’ve ravaged with deforestation and smog, nuclear weapons and mountains of pizza delivery boxes and other garbage. The awfulness seems to be getting worse, especially now that climate change has sped up – sea level rise that was supposed to take centuries has recently been projected as taking just decades. This complicates the already difficult decision of whether to have a kid.... Was I complicit in the damage? I remember every extra paper towel I’ve ever unspooled from the roll, and think about a tree falling in the Amazon, and then think about my son growing up in a gray, dying world – walking towards Kansas on potholed highways. Maybe while trying to protect his own son, like the father in The Road. Will he decide to have a kid? I have foisted upon him a decision even more difficult than my own. It’s all very depressing.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 12, 2016 10 Comments
Don't let it be said the Obama Administration doesn't have it's priorities in perfect progressive order. And near the top of those priorities are dealing with "climate change deniers". Today's forecast related to climate change insanity is grim, indeed. United State Attorney General Loretta Lynch admitted her team has discussed the option of filing a lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry based on its handling of climate data gathered in the course of pursing business.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch has considered taking legal action against climate change deniers. The United States' top lawyer told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the Justice Department has 'discussed' the possibility of a civil lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry. She said any information her office has received has been sent to the FBI in a bid to build a case.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 10, 2016 21 Comments
We recently reported that Navy SEALs have confided that the Navy is so short of combat rifles that the SEALs have been forced to rotate rifles among returning and deploying teams. On the other end of the financial spectrum, the Obama Administration had just deposited the first installment of a planned $3 Billion into the United Nation's Green Climate Fund.
At a time when Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s climate change initiatives is growing, the U.S. government announced Monday that it had deposited $500 million into the United Nations-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF). The payment marks the first tranche of the $3 billion the U.S. pledged for the GCF in 2014.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 25, 2016 23 Comments
Not too long ago, climate alarmists were predicting "bee-pocalyse". A spate of reports about American bee colonies being wiped-out for no apparent reason had people worried about the total loss of one of nature's most important species. There were numerous theories bandied about for bee colony collapse (e.g., GMO's, climate change, pesticides). But usually it was mankind that was the root cause of another impending global crisis. The experts predicted that the consequences to global food production would be unimaginable. We were all going to starve to death!

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 23, 2016 17 Comments
One prediction I can now comfortably make after years of observation is that there is a direct, linear relationship between how much government funding a scientist gets and the inaccuracy of the theories generated. The more politically connected the researcher, the more erroneous the "consensus" will be. I have a new data point to add to the collection. There are reports that a large colony of penguins died of climate changed induced starvation.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 05, 2016 31 Comments
In his last year in office, Obama promised to be more bold (reckless?) in pushing his agenda, and one thing that has long irritated him about our great country is our consumption of oil. To address this pet peeve of his, Obama has released a budget in which he proposes a $10 per barrel tax hike on oil; the money, he says, will go to boost the failed "green" energy economy for which he's long pined.  Never mind his embarrassing and costly past plans to boost the green energy sector. The Hill reports:
President Obama will propose a $10-per-barrel fee on oil production to fund a new green transportation plan, the White House announced Thursday.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 20, 2016 24 Comments
One image I will not soon forget from the recent State of the Union were the grim faces on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Though it may be the tradition of our military to be stoic during such occasions, the latest order probably adds to their troubles considerably:
A new directive issued by Pentagon leaders mandates that the agency work to “assess and manage risks associated with the impacts of climate change,” according to a copy of the Jan. 14 directive issued by Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work. As the Obama administration focuses on a larger effort to push its climate change agenda, the Pentagon will now “address the impacts of climate change.” This includes engaging in “deliberate preparation, close cooperation, and coordinated planning” to “improve climate preparedness and resilience,” according to the directive.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 03, 2016 9 Comments
The EPA has been hit with a veritable flood of scandals recently. We covered the Animas River spill, caused by the EPA's rush to solve a non-problem involving a mine's wastewater, which impacted the water quality for several Western states. In 2013, one climate change expert who posed as a CIA operative was jailed for conning the agency out of nearly $1 Million.
The Environmental Protection Agency's top climate change expert and highest paid employee was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison today for defrauding the government. John C. Beale, who lives with his wife in Virginia, claimed he was a CIA agent working in Pakistan so he didn't have to show up for work for months at a time and defrauded the government out of more than $900,000....

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 30, 2015 6 Comments
2015 will be remembered as a wild year for many reasons, including the weather. While the Eastern part of the country was enjoying record high temperatures, the Great Plains was slammed by "Winter Storm Goliath".
Winter Storm Goliath, the seventh named storm of the 2015-16 season, brought more than three feet of snow and extremely dangerous blizzard conditions to parts of the Southern Plains. New Mexico was under a state of emergency, where the governor called the weather a "dire situation." The panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma were also hammered by this storm, and officials were forced to close Interstate 40, which runs through Amarillo, because of the life-threatening conditions. Major roads were covered in snow, and drifts up to 10 feet were reported.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 24, 2015 12 Comments
On Christmas Day 2011, as part of our "Open" post, we noted the following:
What a bunch of kill joys, How to Discuss Climate Change With Your Uncle During the Holidays (because after racist relatives, climate change deniers are the biggest problem at family Christmas dinners).
The advice was from a guest contributor at Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/24/391548/discuss-climate-change-holidays/ Of the several pieces of advice, I liked this coaching on how to bolster your own credibility, because nothing says "genuine" like a preplanned strategy to bolster your own credibilty:

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 19, 2015 17 Comments
In case you missed it yesterday, Obama gave his last press conference of the year. We've compiled some clips to give you an idea of how it went. Obama clearly stated that the U.S. is going to defeat ISIS. NBC News reported:
Obama: 'We're Going to Defeat ISIS' President Obama dispelled any notion Friday that he intends to be a lame duck president and pledged that in 2016 "I'm going to leave it all out on the field." "We still have some unfinished business," an upbeat Obama said at what's likely to be his last press conference of the year before flying off to Hawaii for a family Christmas vacation.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 14, 2015 23 Comments
Here's something you may have missed over the weekend. While most Americans are concerned about terrorism and the growth of ISIS, President Obama and other world leaders met in Paris to discuss climate change. When an agreement was reached, journalists reacted like excited teenage girls. T. Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner has the story:
Reporters shout, jump for joy after climate change agreement Journalists appeared to erupt in cheers Saturday afternoon after representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed to adopt the Paris Agreement, a major accord vowing to fight global warming.