Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Thank you, GOP, for fighting climate change with tariffs
Thank you, GOP, for fighting climate change with tariffs: Republicans embrace tool climate-conscious economists, environmentalists see as solution to pollution tied to global trade, economist explains.
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Subsidiarity Economics 2025. The Times more or less locally, Part 1.
The word "beer" in Saxon, as it appears in Beowulf.
January 1, 2025
Wyoming wise, brewing seems to be the most distributist business going.
Cygnet Brewing Company opened in downtown Casper last night, joining Skull Tree, Oil City Brewing, Gruner Brothers, Frontier Brewing, Mountain Hops, Stahoos, and Bull Horn as Casper breweries, and larger Wyoming regional brewery Black Tooth.
Rent shaming is breaking out in various parts of the country to attack absurdly high rents.
January 9, 2025
President Joe Biden blocked the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel.
January 10, 2025
BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, is leaving the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative under pressure from Republican politicians, which believes that man made climate change is a fib.
Ironically, Republicans trying to justify the demented ravings o. president elect Donald Trump have stated that we need it for the sea lanes once the ice melts.
The Ski Patrol strike at Park City, Utah, ended after the resort agreed to raise their pay by $2 an hour.
January 18, 2025
TikTok will go dark tomorrow.
Good riddance.
January 21, 2025
If the President does choose to proceed with tariffs on Canada, Canada will respond, and everything is on the table.
Prime Minister Trudeau.
Trump's going to wreck the economy after having not even been in office for a month.
January 28, 2025
Welcome to the Trump Economy:
Columbia refused to accept U.S. military flights carrying Columbian deportees.
I don't blame it for refusing military flights. Would we accept military flights?
So now we're slapping 25%, going to 50%, tariffs on Columbian goods.
27% of US coffee comes from Columbia.
Double digit inflation, here we come.
And runs on coffee? Yep. I'm buying some coffee tomorrow, I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Oh, on that, the price of coffee went up today.
| Coffee | 346.67 | 1.53 | 0.44% | 5.19% | 85.44% | Jan/24 |
January 27, 2025
Columbian amazingly backed down and the tariffs are off.
January 31, 2025
25% tariffs kick on on Canadian and Mexican imports tomorrow.
This is insane.
February 1, 2025
The Insurrectionist signed an executive order imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 10% on China.
This horrible person isn't legally the President now. Congress needs to do something.
Cont:
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Invoke the 25th Amendment now. Trump is insane.
This is absolutely reprehensible. Trump belonged in prison to start with. Now we'll all pay the price for his not being.'
Cont:
Oh, and Mexico too. They're also imposing tariffs.
Thanks MAGA. Great job there.
Last edition:
Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The Times more or less locally, Part 4. A return to Pre Covid status
Friday, January 17, 2025
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 72nd Edition. Carbon Comparison and Contrast.
and:
‘Make Carbon Dioxide Great Again’ law would ban carbon reduction efforts in Wyoming
The thing that those living in Wyoming fail to appreciate (I'm not using the word Wyomingite intentionally, as I think a lot of actual Wyomingites do get it) is that the entire population of Wyoming would amount to what Californians would regard as a mid sized city.
Yes, Trump will have the keys to the Executive Power of the US over the next four years, or until age or J. D. Vance removes him, but that is temporary and even with the dictatorial powers he aspires to, he doesn't have complete dictatorial control. The clock is really winding down on this one, and the lawsuits about to begin.
Big Tobacco anyone?
Last edition:
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 71st Edition. DiscrLabels: California, Canada, Commentary, Disaster, Greenland, Je me souviens, Lies, Mental Health, Nazi Party, Populism, Radio, The Madness of King Donald, The Second Trump Administration, Zeitgeistediting himself and the rest of us in turn.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
How did so many of us, become so mean?
Indeed I tremble for my country when reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference!
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia
An item from Cowboy State Daily columnist Dave Simpson (who is not from Wyoming, like so many of Wyoming's far right are not):
Dave Simpson: Wyoming Paid Us To Cut Dead Trees
Within the column:
Apparently California hasn't had the good sense to encourage landowners to clear their land of the brush that went up in flames around Los Angeles last week, taking 24 lives and destroying 12,000 homes so far. One report explained that landowners clearing brush could be fined for killing rare, protected plants.
Good grief.
Here in Wyoming, we made our places less prone to fire.
Too bad California didn't encourage landowners to do the same.
They're paying the price now.
What a massively ignorant and mean thing to say.
The replies on twitter, at least, were not clueless:
Stephanie Hewitt@Stephhewitt1 2h
But even with thinning the forest, the Snowy Range would not survive with hurricane force winds during a forest fire. Stop the grandstanding.
Indeed the recent fire in Albany and Carbon Counties more than proved that.
Buckwild @veedawhoo 3h
Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back chief🙄
Exactly.
Traveler@JuniperMesa 1h
Fill Sky will massive amounts heat trapping gases, catastrophically overheat Planet = catastrophic climate change, Aridification, Megadrought, FireStorms gone Runaway, beyond Apocalyptic self reinforcing feedback loop, not "potential", Rocky Mountain Ecosystem, not built for heat
And right again.
Of course, as Simpson, who actual Wyomingites would not regard as a Wyomingite (you have to be born here or in a neighboring state, wondering in as an adult doesn't count), is from the far right, and as a far right migrant who didn't grow up here with winters were real, probably is in the climate change is a fib category.
It isn't.
The old saying is "paybacks are a bitch".
How naive and clueless can a person be to not realize that an urban fire.
There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.
Raymond Chandler, Red Wind: A Collection of Short Stories
The fires were driven by Santa Ana winds, strong, extremely dry katabatic winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California.
Chandler wasn't kidding. They're something else, and indeed "Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks."
I fear that Wyoming is about to get a real dope slap.
California contributes five times more to the Federal coffers than it receives.
Then I rapped upon a house with a U.S. flag upon display
I said, "Could you help me out, I got some friends down the way"
The man said, "Get out of here, I'll tear you limb from limb"
I said, You know, they refused Jesus, too, " he said, "You're not him
Get out of here before I break your bones, I ain't your pop"
I decided to have him arrested, and I went looking for a cop
Bob Dylan 115th Street Dream.
Wyoming receives more than it gives.
Sitting there smug with a 307 beer can isn't going to change that.
And we have disasters, including fire related disasters, every year.
This year, the Hageman homestead was burned in one such fire.
Guess the Hageman's didn't know enough to clear the underbrush?
I suspect nobody is going to say that.
And if the fires return here next summer, and its been a very dry winter, what will people who hold such mean spirted views say?
And will Wyoming, which had its hand out for disaster relief in 2024, be too embarrassed to ask for it in 2024. Simpson speaks for a common view here, and the GOP is threatening to hold disaster aid to California up. Indeed, our Senator, in his new whip role, has hinted at that.
Nature and events have a terrible way of humbling the arrogant.
Every proud heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured that none will go unpunished.
Proverbs, 16:5
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Blaze (in Los Angeles) threatens to leap highway near densely populated regions
A headline in the Tribune this morning.
The tragedy we're seeing here is indescribable. Truly, this is one of the worst disaster in American history.
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Going Feral: The 2025 Resolute Edition.
Going Feral: The 2025 Resolute Edition.:
The 2025 Resolute Edition.
I posted elsewhere that I was going light on New Years Resolution posts, and I basically, kind of sort of, have.
None the less, I have some out there.
New Year's Resolutions for Other People, sort of.
New Years Day. Looking at 2024 through the front of the Church doors.
This blog has a completely different theme, rather obviously. So what I'd normally do is post some personal and more universal items. I'll just do both here, in the worried sort of way both of the above posts are.
This blog is heavily invested in the concept of Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic, which is:
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land... In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.
Aldo Leopold.
We also have a very holistic view of things, in the true meaning of the word. That is, everything is connected. And we also, as people here know, have a very Agrarian, Wendell Berry, view of the world. We are part of nature and we need to acknowledge that, and be true to our natures.
We haven't been acting like that for quite some time. And both the political left, and the political right, are guilty of that.
The populist right, of course, just came into power. And much of its political ethos is based on ignorance combined with the love of money. At no point in American history since 1860, when the Southern wealthy lead the Southern yeoman into a fight to preserve something that benefited the rich, and not the poor, has one class so fogged the intellect of another such that those who stand most to be hurt by developments are fully backing them.
Nearly everything those who love the outdoors, use the outdoors, or depend on the outdoors will be under full out assault in the next four years.
Sportsmen, agrarians, conservationist, farmers, ranchers and environmentalist will have to be very much on guard the next four years. Sadly, many in some of these categories vote for the very forces that stand to hurt, or even destroy them.
Friday, October 4, 2024
An embarrasment.
How on earth can people vote for somebody saying something so monumentally stupid?
People are not affecting climate change. You’re going to tell me that back in The Ice Age, how much taxes did people pay and how many changes did governments make to melt the ice?
Marjorie Taylor Greene.
What the crap? The last Ice Age ended 12,000 years ago.
How can anyone vote for somebody so profoundly ignorant?
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Agitio ter consuli, gemitus britannorum . . .Repellunt barbari ad mare, repellit mare ad barbaros; inter haec duo genera funerum aut iugulamur aut mergimur.
So on this Sunday, 2024, I worked, contrary to God's injunction, like on so many others. As a result, I didn't really catch up with the horrific plight of Appalachia in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
It's awful.
Which makes this the worst, and best, time to note this.
We're headed into a legislative session, and an election season, in which the far right espouses a hatride of the Federal Government. If you are in Appalachia, and vote for the populists, you are voting to handle this disaster on your own. If you are in Wyoming, and voting populists, the same is true of the horrible fires we've experienced and are yet to.
If that is your view, don't ask for help, as stupid and cold as not asking for help would be.
We here are distributists, a philosophy that holds things should devolve to the lowest level possible. Here, that level is the Federal government. Distributism works up, as well as down.
Additionally, how long will we choose to ignore the signs? We've waited longer than we should have as it is. There's still time to act, no matter how much it impacts your temrporary pocket books, with you being temporary as it is.
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part 3. The Decarbonizing the West and Electronic eartags Edition.
From CattleTags.com
June 18, 2024
Governor Gordon, who has spoken on his decarbonization initiative, has released his report.
Governor Gordon Releases WGA Decarbonization Initiative Findings
June 12, 2024
Governor Mark Gordon, Chair of the Western Governors’ Association (WGA), today released the report containing findings of his Decarbonizing the West initiative during the association’s 40th Anniversary meeting in Olympic Valley, CA. Governor Gordon launched the initiative a year ago to examine how decarbonization strategies can position western states at the forefront of innovation, reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, and strengthen their economies. The initiative explored a wide range of engineered decarbonization approaches as well as natural sequestration through enhanced land and agriculture management practices.
“Western Governors have a longstanding tradition of addressing complicated issues in thoughtful and bipartisan ways that often lead to national policy reform,” Governor Gordon said, “This topic is not simple. I chose it because it’s important to gain a comprehensive understanding of strategies and technologies that can be utilized in managing carbon.”
Governor Gordon’s hope is to advance environmentally sound and economically reasonable, practical paths to address decarbonization. He is an all-of-the-above energy policy leader, focused on the necessity of ensuring hungry power grids continue to be fed — for the good of his home state and the nation. Yesterday, the Governor joined community leaders and power industry executives, including Bill Gates, in Kemmerer, Wyo. at a groundbreaking for Terra Power’s Natrium reactor demonstration project.
While introducing the initiative at the conference, Governor Gordon thanked Governors Brad Little (R-ID), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Tina Kotek (D-OR) for hosting workshops in their respective states this year. The decarbonization report is a culmination of information gathered at the four workshops and existing WGA policy.
“The diversity of our states represents opportunities for each of us to pursue as we collectively work toward decarbonizing the west,” Governor Gordon wrote in a letter to WGA members, Governor Gordon noted the range of pathways on display at each of the workshops including:
- Gillette, WY: Tour of Integrated Test Center, where cutting edge carbon capture technologies are being tested.
- Boise, ID: Focus discussions of Forestry, agriculture, and soil management can play a role in sequestration.
- Denver, CO: Focus discussions on innovative direct air capture technologies currently being tested in western states.
- Portland, OR: Focus discussions regarding carbon sequestration potential of coastal ecosystems and how biomass can be utilized to remove carbon dioxide.
“These conversations formed the basis for the policy recommendations outlined in the report,” Governor Gordon said, “It’s my hope they spur common-sense policy reform. We can rally around those and work with our partners in the federal government to accelerate developing these carbon management methods without compromising livelihoods.”
Governor Gordon has been critical of federal agency regulations failing to give states and utility companies time and adequate incentives to develop cost-effective CO2 capture technologies.
Recommendations in the WGA report of particular interest to Wyoming citizens include:
- Federal policies to limit CO2 emissions should be tailored to state needs, and promote, not impede, the development and deployment of CO2 capture technologies. Federal regulations should seek to expand cost-effective deployment of CO2 capture at power plants and other industrial sources.
- Congress should amend Section 45Q of the U.S. Tax Code to provide credit based on the amount of CO2 removed, regardless of whether it is stored or utilized.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture should develop innovative carbon finance mechanisms to provide upfront capital to landowners seeking to implement [natural sequestration] projects.
- The EPA should establish clear and consistent guidelines to states for obtaining primacy and should increase agency capacity to review state primacy applications in a more timely manner. EPA should include aquifer exemptions for Class VI wells.
Governor Gordon has also promoted the important role private landowners have in providing natural CO2 sequestration through management of grazing and forest lands.
A complete copy of the report can be found on WGA’s website.
Decarbonizing is coming, and soon, and probably not in an "all options" manner that Governor Gordon urges. The only question is whether there will be a bit of a hiatus due to a second Trump presidency or not. But it is coming.
In spite of that, there will be howls of derision from Wyoming's far right on this, which will refuse to be proactive and insist the past can be returned.
Related to this, and acknowledging that electric vehicles are coming, a draft bill for the 2025 legislature proposes to tax electric vehicle charging. While that sounds punitive, the thought it that it will make up for lost gasoline taxes used for roads. The introductory part of that bill:
In other news which will impact a Wyoming industry that isn't going a way, new electronic ear tags are coming to the cattle industry:
Press Release
Contact:
APHISpress@usda.gov
Requires electronic ID for Certain Cattle and Bison Moving Interstate
WASHINGTON, April 26, 2024 – Today, by amending and strengthening its animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is putting in place the technology, tools, and processes to help quickly pinpoint and respond to costly foreign animal diseases.
“Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly – but will help keep our markets open,” said Dr. Michael Watson, APHIS Administrator.
One of the most significant benefits of the rule for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which is the key to maintaining our foreign markets. By being able to readily prove disease-free status in non-affected regions of the United States, we will be able to request foreign trading partners recognize disease-free regions or zones instead of cutting off trade for the entire country. Traceability of animals is necessary to establish these disease-free zones and facilitate reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event.
This rule is the culmination of goals established by USDA to increase traceability, one of the best protections against disease outbreaks, and enhances a rule finalized in 2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock.
USDA is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter using affordable technology that allows for quick tracing of sick and exposed animals to stop disease spread. USDA will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease. For information on how to obtain these free tags, please see APHIS’ Animal Disease Traceability webpage.
The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.
The rule requires official eartags to be visually and electronically readable for official use for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison, and revises and clarifies certain record requirements related to cattle.
A copy of this rule may be viewed today, and the rule will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks. This rule will be effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.
To learn more about animal disease traceability and how APHIS responds to animal disease outbreaks, visit www.aphis.usda.gov.
#
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions: Animal Disease Traceability Rule
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
June 20, 2024
June 26, 2024
Wyoming is setting aside $800,000 from the coal litigation funds to use to fight pollution rules.
The Governor announced the state had hired Virginia firm Consovoy McCarthy for this effort, which is an insult to the state's legal community.
June 29, 2024
The Delta Blues*
In local and semi local news:
1. Last Saturday evening, a Delta Airlines 757 bound from Atlanta to Salt Lake City lost cabin pressure and had to land at the Natrona County International Airport.
2. On June 17the Casper/Natrona County International Airport Board of Directors notified the Fly Casper Alliance (FCA) that it voted to withdraw support for the minimum revenue guarantee which has kept SkyWest flying as the Delta Connection to Salt Lake. This will almost surely end commercial air service from Casper to SLC.
Footnotes
* The reference is to the type of blues associated with the Missippii Delta.
And then there's this:
Governor
Gordon Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Chevron
CHEYENNE,
Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the
Chevron doctrine today, calling the decision a victory for common-sense
regulatory reform. The Governor’s statement follows:
“For years, unelected bureaucrats running
federal agencies in Washington D.C. have used “deference” as an excuse to
target certain industries based on politics. Wyoming has experienced that
firsthand,” Governor Gordon said. “Limiting their power to overreach is cause
for celebration, and this ruling begins that process.
The court has essentially removed the fox from
the hen house. This decision ensures that
agencies can no longer unilaterally expand their authority beyond the letter of
the law. It rejects the strategy of attacking a state’s industries through
rules and regulations like those advanced by the Biden Administration.”
Attorney
General Bridget Hill filed an amicus brief on the Loper Bright
Enterprises v. Raimondo case on behalf of the State of Wyoming in July of 2023.
In that filing, it was noted that the number of Federal regulations are at an
all-time high and the rules published by Federal agencies have outpaced the
laws Congress enacted at a rate of 26-to-1.
-END-
This will have enormous implications, but nobody really knows what they will be.
July 6, 2024
Wyoming Outdoor Council Plays Shenanigans With State-Run Oil And Gas Auction
July 16, 2024
The price of oil fell due to predictions that Chinese demand has fallen.
The stock market has been dramatically climbing in expectation that Donald Trump will win the 2024 election.
July 19, 2024
The IMF warns the US should raise taxes.
This is patently obvious from an economic standpoint.
July 20, 2024
A computer bug caused massive computer failures globally.
Modelo Especial has overtaken Bud Light as the number one beer in the United States.
July 21, 2024
Nuclear technology company BWX is evaluating locations in Wyoming for commercial nuclear fuel production.
July 27, 2024
The world's largest soda ash company is planning a major expansion of operations in southwest Wyoming.
August 3, 2024
Kum & Go's in Wyoming are becoming Maverik's.
Maverik already has a presence here. The convenience store in their Mill's location sells Cinnabon's. . .
Related to this Big D's seem to be springing up in Natrona County.
August 4, 2024
Rocky Mountain Power filed a request to increase rates in order to underwrite new infrastructure and cover the rising costs insurance premiums relating to wildfire risk.
Another reminder of something we discussed yesterday:
Intellectual disconnect. With everything on fire, will people wake up?
August 6, 2024
US stocks crashed yesterday, something that would matter to me if I was every going to retire, which seems unlikely.
The price of oil also dropped.
All this due to recession fears.
All this was due to massive overreaction to job reports.
August 12, 2024
A Federal grant will be used to provide high speed internet to the parts of Wyoming lacking it.
August 14, 2024
Natrona County Passenger Increase
Nearly 30% more passengers flew out of Casper/Natrona County International Airport in July than did a year ago, airport officials reported Monday.
Casper Star Tribune, August 14, 2024.
August 15, 2024
Inflation has hit a three year low.
From the Casper Star Tribune:
Total employment in Wyoming grew by a scant 1.3% from first quarter 2023 to first quarter 2024, but total payroll grew by 4.1% over the year, the Research and Planning section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services reported Friday. Average weekly wage in the state grew by 2.8%.
August 16, 2024
California will ban the sale of new gasoline powered vehicles by 2035.
Starting in 2026, 35% of new vehicles sold in California will be required to be hybrids or fully electric.
August 18, 2024
A development we'll see more and more of.
Colorado-Based Tri-State Ditching Coal Power Alienates Its 8 Wyoming Co-ops
Americans are moving away for coal generation, and no amount of Wyomingites denying its occuring, or trying to prevent it, is going to stop that.
August 23, 2024
The Canadian government has forced the Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National railroads into arbitration with their unions, so rail traffic in Canada will resume shortly.
September 5, 2024
Crude oil hit a nine month low.
The Japanese government is encouraging employers to adopt a four day work week to deal with labor shortages.
September 6, 2024
Crude oil are now at a fourteen month low.
September 7, 2024
The Natrona County International Airport had its busiest month in a decade.
Related threads:
Blog Mirror: Tom Lubnau: Wyoming's Future -- Diversification Or Destitution?
Coal: Understanding the time line of an industry
Labels: boats and ships, British Navy, Coal, Daily Living, Industry, Lodging, Mid-Week at Work, Petroleum, Railroads, Transportation, U.S. Navy, United States Fuel Administration
Last prior edition:
Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or less locally, Part 2. The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 Edition.
Labels: 1960s, 1966, 1980s, 1988, 2020s, 2024, 2026, Coal, Electrical Power, Government, law, Methane, Nuclear power, Petroleum, Wyoming, Wyoming's boom and bust economy, You heard it here first
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