Thursday, November 16, 2017

The Schemes used by Climate Change deniers, and the bigger problem of Ethanol production.

Note: Ideological purity is the lifeblood of the Republican Party, from no tax pledges that rule out solving problems by paying for things, the first ever free-market health care system, and supply-side trickle-down economics that has failed time and time again.

With that in mind, I noticed 3 major points the GOP claims are liberal ploys, when in fact, they're not. Instead, Republicans take the following purely ideological positions. I would call it projection. From a Wikipedia post on climate change:
Point #1: Senator James Inhofe (Republican, for Oklahoma) concluded, "With all of the hysteria, all of the phony science ... in which the facts are predetermined, and ideological purity trumps technical and scientific rigor.

Point #2: The Cooler Heads Coalition notes "an elaborate conspiracy in which hundreds of climate scientists have twisted their results ... to protect their research funding."

Point #3William M. Gray said in 2006 that global warming became a political cause because of the lack of any other enemy ... its purpose was to try to introduce a world government, and to control people, adding, "I have a demonic view on this."
The highlighted points are part of an arsenal of weapons to attack liberals, Democrats, and progressives, their "demonic" "enemy" pushing climate change. 

Ironically, Trump's own government report says the president and climate deniers are lying: 
The conclusions of the 600-plus-page Climate Science Special Report, which is part of an even larger scientific review known as the fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), is the nation's most authoritative assessment of climate science ... states that the global climate will continue to warm ... Without major reductions in emissions, the increase in annual average global temperature could reach 9 degrees Fahrenheit relative to pre-industrial times. Efforts to reduce emissions, it says, would slow the rate of warming.
 Now we're finding out ethanol production is worse than the problems posed by fossil fuel use:
A University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows that the shift of more than 7 million acres into cropland led to massive releases of carbon emissions into the atmosphere after a 2007 federal law mandated ethanol in gasoline.

The increased carbon emissions are equivalent to 20 million new cars driving down American roadways every year, according to the researchers' estimates in the study released Wednesday. 
While pro-ethanol special interests tried to downplay the findings:
Many pro-ethanol groups say ethanol has been a boon to farm income. Corn prices, for example, jumped higher. Geoff Cooper, executive vice president of the Renewable Fuels Association, said "the additional corn needed to support expansion of the ethanol industry came from increased productivity on existing cropland — not from converting native grasslands into new cropland,"
But...
However, in Wisconsin, figures show that more land went into corn production beginning in 2008. Corn production rose 14% from 3.8 million acres to 4.35 million acres between 2008 and 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Production remained above 4 million acres and fell to 3.9 million acres this year, the Agriculture Department reported.
A great little video summarizing the science surrounding climate change, like why it's warmer some places and cooler in others, and how warming oceans are making weather conditions more extreme. No, Al Gore does not make a cameo appearance...

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