Song: "You're Walkin' on the Fightin' Side of JB"

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, I posted up another song an' video on YouTube. It pretty much speaks for itself. Have a look-see:

New Song: "The Ballad of Steve Harper"

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, I done it again. Here's a new song all about Steve Harper set to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song.

The Ballad of Steve Harper

Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Steve
Sneaky politician, dirty tricks up his sleeve
The oil companies needed a man on the inside,
So they bought a buncha votes and gave Ol' Steve a ride
(To Ottawa, that is. Parliament Hill.)

Well the first thing you know old Steve's the PM
The oil boys are happy 'cause he's workin' just for them
Environmental rules was holdin' oil back
So Harper killed the rules an' put the pipelines on the track
(Fast track that is, supertankers, Chinese money)

Well now it's time to say goodbye to Steve and all his crew
You've shown Canadians the kind of damage you can do
You're not invited back again to this locality
Since you took advantage of our hospitality
(Big Oil's bitches, that's what they call 'em,
Not nice folks. Get the hell out now, ya hear?)

Harper Declares War!

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, Steve Harper reckons he knows who the enemy is an' he declared war.

BC's Huge Gamble - short film - Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

Enbridge lobbied 23 MPs, 3 deputy ministers, 1 chief of staff & other public office holders

(Reprinted from Lobby Monitor Newsletter)

Enbridge did fall lobbying blitz
January 12, 2012 - 9:22am | Lobby Monitor Staff


In-house lobbyists with Enbridge, the Calgary-based energy company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline, lobbied 23 MPs, three deputy ministers, one chief of staff and other designated public office holders this fall, communication reports filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying show.

Registrations filed with the commissioner's office have Patrick Daniel, Enbridge's president and CEO, listed as the responsible officer for the firm's in-house lobbying. D'Arcy Levesque, the vice president of public and government affairs, and Sonya Savage, the senior manager of government relations, are identified as the two company officials whose lobbying activities represent 20 per cent or more of their duties.

A communication report does not specify which officials did the lobbying, or if the communication was face-to-face or by telephone.

The registration says Enbridge officials were to lobby on “bills (such as C-606 "An Act to amend the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (Prohibition against the transportation of oil by tankers on Canada's Pacific North Coast) - measure or area of interest is the proposed ban on oil tanker traffic.”

It also noted there could be “discussions regarding the development of a national energy strategy and the approach to opening new markets for natural resources” and that the company would be “seeking improved efficiencies in the environmental assessment processes.”

One communication shows Enbridge lobbied 22 MPs, all of them Conservative, at once. Another communication shows Enbridge's in-house lobbyists lobbied Louis Levesque, deputy minister of international trade at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Michael Wernick, deputy minister at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and Michael Horgan, a deputy minister at the finance ministry, were also lobbied, according to two separate communications.

Enbridge is also working with outside consultants, the registry showed. Ensight Canada's Jacquie LaRoque, Gregory Kolz and Robin Sears are registered to lobby the House of Commons and the Senate on behalf of the company.

Earth Hour: A Curmudgeon's View

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, I'm doin' some recyclin' an' I reckon it's OK on accounta it's all about Earth Hour. My boogin' buddy Balbulican has a post on how the anti-Earthers can carry their stoopidity to the next level. I'm recyclin' my comment from StageLeft and usin' it fer my boog story. I ain't sure how many KwH I'm savin'.

I’m a bigass treehugger an’ ol’ Mother Earth is who I fight for every day but I’m a little cynical about Earth Hour. Oh, I’ll participate. It’ll be easy. Ma and I always walk the dogs fer about an hour a night. Usually, we leave the back porch light on but on Saturday, I’ll pull the main breaker down in the basement before we go out and reset all the clocks when we come back.

Here in small town Ontariariario, we get useta power outages — even when yer livin’ in the shadow of the Nanticoke Generating Station. I hafta reset the clocks about 6x a year anyways. One more time ain’t gonna hurt much, sez I.

Reason I’m a bit cynical on Earth Hour is I get the impression some folks think if they turn off their lights fer an hour a year, they’re actually making some difference vis-a-vis savin’ the planet. I reckon symbolism is a little beyond some folks.

I also am a little concerned with the message that conservation involves freezing in the dark. There are far more effective and less inconvenient ways to use less energy than to turn off everything for an hour a year and then carry on with the usual wasteful practices the rest of the time.

Earth Hour can be fun and informative and I’m maybe a curmudgeon but I’ll do my bit on Saturday night. And, man-o-man, do I ever figger that them Small Dead Anti-Earthers is about as anti-conservative as they can get. Wanton waste does not equal conservatism in anybody’s dictionary.

JB

Green jobs, yes we can. Tar sands, no we can't.

Whooee! Well, friends an' foes, I read the other day that Environment Minister Prentice sez Canada and Merka are side-by-side on environmental issues. Strange, sez I. A few short weeks ago, we were side-by-side with Bush. Bush and Obama are pretty much at opposite ends of the environmental action spectrum. How could Harper be onside with Bush and then onside with Obama when he hasn't changed course?

I ain't the only one who noticed that Harper ain't really onside with Obama. Jack Layton and Lizzie May signed a letter to Obama tellin' him what a hypocrite Harper is. I guess Iggy couldn't sign with him agreein' to Harper's plan to destroy the planet and all.

Prominent Canadian Artists, Athletes, Activists and Community Leaders to Obama: Green jobs, yes we can. Tar sands, no we can't

OTTAWA, Feb. 18 /CNW Telbec/ - On the eve of President Obama's first foreign visit to Canada, a group of over 50 prominent Canadians have signed an open letter telling Obama that the tar sands don't fit in the new energy economy.

"In your discussions with the Canadian government, we encourage you to raise concerns over the environmental and social problems associated with tar sands production and make no exemption for the tar sands in any binational agreement addressing climate change" says the open letter.

Actress Neve Campbell, authors Ann-Marie MacDonald and Farley Mowat, musicians Anton Kuerti and Jim Creeggan of the Barenaked Ladies, athletes Adam Kreek (Olympic Gold Medalist) and Andrew Ference (Boston Bruins defenceman), and political leaders Jack Layton of the NDP and Elizabeth May of the Green Party, are just a few of the many prominent Canadians to sign the letter.

"The tar sands are one of the most destructive projects on Earth and this letter illustrates the diversity of Canadian opposition to the dirty oil and support for a new energy economy," says Tony Clarke, Executive Director of the Polaris Institute and author of Tar Sands Showdown.

"We must look at the bigger picture and see the consequences of relying on the tar sands as an economic driver" says Maude Barlow, Chairperson for the Council of Canadians and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly. "There is an opportunity presented by the current pause in expansions to reassess, address, and develop a strategy to meet Canadians' energy security needs that transitions to sustainable energy production."

The open letter is one of many actions undertaken by a network of groups across Canada and the United States leading up to Obama's visit. The full letter and complete list of signatories is available on http://www.obama2canada.org/Ltr_ProminentToObama.pdf

For further information:
Andrea Harden-Donahue, Council of Canadians, (613) 218-5800, harden@canadians.org;

Joe Cressy, Polaris Institute, (613)668-5542, joecressy@polarisinstitute.org

I sure hope the Merchant of Hope gets to read that letter and doesn't bury his head in the tar sands.

JimBobby

Budget: Where's the green stuff?

Whooee! Well friends and foes, I was just over to the ol' Prairie Wrangler's boog. There's some topnotch boogin’ from OlafFeller. Olaf's makin' the case that Harper ain't a real fiscal conservative with all his spendin' and now this here bigass deficit budget. Olaf seems to reckon Harpoon's spendin' like a drunken sailor. That's why the lefties shouldn't oughta criticise Harpoon. He's a big spender. Lefties is big spenderrs. They're peas in a pod.

I'm a lazyass comment recycler so some of this post was copied and pasted from a comment I left over to the Olaf the Wrangler's roost.

I wonder howcum Harper keeps gettin’ votes from real conservatives when he’s such a dang commie pinko big spender? Maybe it’s on accounta the CPC’s social conservatism. With what Olaf's sayin’, it sure as hell can’t be on accounta Harpoon’s fiscal conservatism.

Does this mean that the CPoC is essentially dedicated to social conservatism? Does fiscal conservatism take a back seat to crackin’ down on pansyass artistes in their penguin suits and designer gowns at them fancypants galas all standin’ around munchin’ rice crackers an’ Brie an’ sippin’ Chardonnay an’ exchangin’ tips on the best abortion clinics an’ who’s ass to kiss fer Canada Council grant money?

What’s next fer Harper? Is he gonna go green? Will he look south an’ see President Bracko savin’ the Merkan economy and ol’ Mother Earth simultaneously and finally a CFB goes off in his econobrain an’ sez: "Gee, the Yerpeans an’ Merkans are cashin’ in on this here save the planet stuff."

Bracko’s plan looks a lot like the Green Party policy book. And him takin’ that “whistle-stop” train ride just like the gal I adore, Earth Mother Lizzie May. Bracko ain’t The Manchurian Muslim. He’s The Manchurian Greenie.

I ain't a hunnert percent sold on just how green Bracko really is. He's a whole lot greener than Dubya but that don't say much. I'm a little worried about Bracko's big love affair with ethanol. But, that aside, I reckon he's puttin' a whole lot more emphasis on ol' Mother Earth than Harper's doin'. If Harper don't get on board with savin' the planet stuff, he's gonna isolate Canada even more. Used to be, we had ol' dinosaur Bushman in our corner when we were obstructionizin' global efforts at addressin' CO2. Now, with Oz's Howard gone and the Bushman beatin' a retreat to Texas, Harpoon's gonna make Canada the laffin' stock of the civilized world.

If Harper wants to show he's reachin' out and he's serious about fixin' the economy, he oughta do like Bracko. He oughta latch on to Green Party policies. If he don't, he's missin' the boat, no two ways.

JB

People be Damned. There's Money to be Made.

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I just left a comment over to Excited Delerium. The excited blogger posted up a dandy piece on nuclear power. Here's a bit of it:

Nuclear power is an incredible waste of taxpayer’s money.

Rarely have we seen the full promised potential of nuclear power, the cost overruns have always been well beyond anyone’s wildest imagination and the risks of dealing with waste greatly outweigh any described benefits of nuclear power.

However, it’s very likely that the McGuinty government in Ontario will sign agreements in the spring of 2009 to bring on 2 new nuclear power plants in this province.

...

Please petition / attend meetings / write Smitherman and do what it takes to encourage our provincial leaders to spend $50-60 billion on renewable power generation.

Start here and spread the word .

Yeow! Nuthin' delirious about that, sez I.

I'm a lazyass recycler so I'm re-postin' my comment here.

Here's another source of nuke info: www.energyquest4nanticoke.ca.

Down here on Lake Erie, we got Bruce Power pushin' to build a new nuke plant in Nanticoke. They contend that since they are a private company, stuff like cost overruns and delays are not the public's problem. They been winin' an' dinin' the local gummints an' got the endorsements they was lookin' for. They been spendin' hunnerts of thousands on advertisin' in all the local papers and radio stations. They been holdin' public information (propaganda) sessions where they been puttin' out deluxe buffet dinners for the rubes.

The local folks got a petition goin' against the plant. The local county gummints have refused to hear delegations from anti-nuke citizens' groups but have been more than willing to allow Bruce's paid liars to present fabrications and exaggerations to councils. Councils are interested in jobs an' tax revenue. They have shown that they don't give a rat's ass for public health and safety.

Bruce got its Environmental Assessment officially started in November. They're steamrollin' and the only thing that's gonna stop 'em is public opposition. The Mayors and councillors never did any sorta public opinion gathering before endorsing the proposal. "People be damned; there's money to be made."

This Nanticoke location will put the entire golden horseshoe in jeopardy... all for 1000 jobs and the continued ability to waste energy at will. Our great-grandchildren will curse us in our graves. Our great-grandchildrens' great-grandchildren, too.

JimBobby

Earth Hour: Lay Down Your Weapons for a 60 Minute Truce

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I ain't much of a churchgoer an' I ain't even a believer but I was marched off to Sunday School an' church up til I was about 18 an' left the family home. I don't reckon my Presbyterian upbringin' done too much irreparable harm.

One thing I remember is some o' the hymns an' songs they sing. Not long ago, I was pressed into service playin' my squeezebox one Sunday at the local United Church. They sang a hymn I remembered from somewheres -- "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me."

I ain't gonna bother lookin' up the author or composer or whatever. What's important is there's a dang good message there.

If you want somethin', you need to work at it -- personally.

Right now, the human race is at war with ol' Mother Earth. We're rapin' an' pillagin' an' there ain't a soul among us who's readin' this electronic rantfest who ain't part of humanity's war on Mother Earth.

The Earth Hour campaign is askin' us to call a brief truce in our war against the planet that nourishes us. The Earth Hour deal is to turn off all your electrical stuff between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM on Saturday night, March 29. Lay down your weapons for 60 minutes. Then, back to the senseless matricide.

JimBobby

Environment Commissioner Puts Neck on Line

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, Canada's Environment Commissioner just put out a scathing report and he ain't happy with all this talkin' the talk without much walkin' the walk. He says we know dang well what we oughta do and we've agreed to do it. The only thing is, we haven't followed up on what we've set out to do. And nobody seems to care.

Lip service being paid to environment: report

GLORIA GALLOWAY

Globe and Mail Update

March 6, 2008 at 2:18 PM EST

OTTAWA — Successive Canadian governments have paid lip service to keeping international environment agreements and greening their own operations but little progress is actually being made, Canada's Environment Commissioner said in a scathing report released Thursday.

The 2008 Status Report of Commissioner Ron Thompson revisits 14 key environmental concerns that were the subjects of previous studies and finds that corrective action has been unsatisfactory in nine of those areas.

“The government did not follow through on its own commitments to strengthen the protection of the environment,” said Mr. Thompson.

“I believe that the federal government should lead by example, both in terms of how environmental issues are managed and in terms of greening its own operations.” But he said, his findings “paint a disappointing picture.”

A major concern highlighted by Mr. Thompson is the lack of commitment to protect Canada's most threatened ecosystems and species at risk.

For instance, after agreeing more than 20 years ago that 17 environmentally degraded areas around the Great Lakes had to be cleaned, only two locations have been removed from that list – and it is unclear who is responsible for carrying out the remedial action on the remainder, who will pay for it, and what time frames are anticipated.

But it is the inability of federal departments to follow through on the government's own directives that are perhaps most indicative of the inattentive attitude on the part of government that the Commissioner repeatedly alludes to in his report.

While the federal cabinet decreed 17 years ago that all new policies and programs must be assessed to determine their impact on the environment, the Commissioner found that only three of 12 departments were fully complying.
(Globe)

Pretty bad, sez I. Sounds like there oughta be some serious action from the PM. This here Ron Thompson got the commissioner job after the HarpoonTossers fired Johanne Gelinas. Gelinas got fired right after she tabled a scathing report. I reckon Harper's got hisself another Environment Commissioner to fire. I ain't sure they'll be able to label Thompson as a Liberal appointee shit disturber.

They need to keep firin' these commissioners until they get one that understands that politics takes precedence over science and expediency takes precedence over diligence. Firin' successive commissioners has the added bonus of stalling any real action. It's a positive feedback loop.

JB

CO2 Sequestration: Good Science or SciFi?

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I just left a bigass comment over to BigCityLib's boog an' I'm recyclin' most of it here. BCL has a boog story about an idea fer carbon sequestration by use of giant (100m x several KM's) balloons. The idea is to place these giant air mattresses on the ocean floor, 3 KM deep. CO2 is heavier that H2O and it'll sink to the bottom.

I admit I ain't studied this idea too hard. I'd be happy as Larry if somebody come up with a good CO2 sequestration method. Here in Nanticoke, we know how to remove almost all the particulate and conventional pollution from the coal-fired generators. They done a good job of that up in Lambeth but Ginty sez he won't spend the money on Nanticoke on accounta he's gonna shut it down anyways.

The problem with burnin' coal is the greenhouse gases (GHGs). If we could capture all the GHGs from the 1000's of coal-fired electricity plants around the world, we'd be doin' a great thing. So far, most carbon sequestration ideas are only ideas. There ain't a working version anywhere. That don't mean it can't happen. Maybe someday, someone will build a giant pie-shaped container and put it in space and we'll transport GHGs by space shuttle. That'd be the pie-in-the-sky solution.

I got big doubts about this underwater air mattress idea, though.

We're only beginning to fully explore and understand the deep sea bed. New species are being discovered as we develop and deploy more advanced unmanned submersible exploration vessels.

As soon as I saw this idea, I started to wonder about its effect on life forms. Plankton and other microscopic food sources live on the sea bed. What will happen when we cover the seabed with a plastic bag that's kilometres in length? This idea seems like an extension of the ocean-as-a-dump mentality.

Maybe the plastic bags would work better if they were laying above ground. Maybe in the desert somewhere. There are puncture and leak hazards to consider. If the bag springs a leak 3 km underwater, it'll be harder to repair than if the bag was above ground. Maybe even impossible to repair at such depths.

The energy required to pump CO2 from coal-fired electricity plants located 100's of miles from the seacoast will be considerable. Will there be a net gain with such a plan? Or will it turn out to be like ethanol -- creating as much GHG as it saves?

Schemes like this are "have your cake and eat it too" schemes. We need to be working more on energy efficiency, conservation and renewables. These are proven methods of reducing GHG's and they really do work -- if they are sufficiently funded. How many KWH could be saved by investing the cost of one of these undersea air mattresses into replacement of energy hogging old refrigerators and air conditioners?

New technology is sexy but we already have the technology to reduce GHG's. What we don't have is the political will that earmarks sufficient funding to deploy existing proven technology on a large scale.

JB

Environment is My Voting Issue Facebook Group

Whooee! I just went from DeSmogBlog to Facebook and joined this new group -- Environment is My Voting Issue in Canada. After I joined up, I went to see who else had joined. There at the top of the page, were three amigos from the Pergressive Boogers -- Scotty Tribe, Saskboy and yers truly.

Scotty's a Grit and Sasky an' me are both Greenies. I'm hopin' Scotty'll throw in with our merry band of treehuggers. He keeps pushin' GPC policy and practices and now he's sayin' ol' Mother Earth is his voting issue. Might as well get outta the fryin' pan and into the fire, Scotty. :-)

JimBobby

Landmines, Mother Earth and the Salvation Army

Whooee! Well friends and foes, I've made this analogy before so forgive me (or not) if you've already seen this argument. When I see the specious position put forth by Baird in Bali, I question Canada's role in any international agreement that fails to include every country in the world. BTW, are there any agreements that include every country in the world?

Canada joined 121 nations and signed the anti-landmine treaty in 1997. The United States did not sign. Canada ceased production of landmines and, in 1997, committed $500 million to landmine eradication.

Just last week, Bev Oda announced another $80 million of increased funding for Canada's landmine eradication efforts. The commitment to eliminating landmines appears to have been embraced by the Harper government. Why else would they voluntarily increase funding?

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said Monday in Ottawa that the UN MineAction Centre for Afghanistan will receive the funds.

"Canada will continue its strong support of mine action activities in Afghanistan and the United Nations mine action service with a contribution of $80 million over the next four years," Oda told a press conference at the Canadian War Museum.

The Tories already budgeted $8.8 million for Afghan de-mining last February.
(CTV.ca)

But...but... but...

Landmine production and deployment continues unregulated by non-signatories such as the US. Canada's arms, weapons and munitions manufacturers have been cut out of the lucrative international trade in anti-personnel mines. It's not fair.

Canada is not responsible for the deployment of any significant percentage of the world's landmines. Canada alone cannot hope to remove all the landmines. At best, we can hope to eradicate maybe 2%. But what's the point when the US continues to produce landmines and they are still being deployed in various hotspots all over the world?

Over 50 years ago, when I was about 5 or 6, my Mum gave me a dime to put into the Salvation Army's Christmas bucket. She told me the money would buy Christmas dinners for poor folks. Even then, I had an idea of what could be bought for ten cents. I asked Mum how a dime would help. She replied, "Every little bit helps."

What a simple concept. At age 6, I had no trouble grasping the idea. Why can't our so-called leaders understand such a simple concept? With regard to landmines, they appear willing to act -- even without the co-operation of the big landmine producers. Why are they so intransigent regarding the environment?

Times have changed since 1955 but I'm willing to bet that if a 6 year old puts a dime in the Sally Ann bucket, the bellringin' believers will be thankful for every penny. My ol' Mum is now 82. I took her out Christmas shopping last week and we saw a Salvation Army guy in the mall. I won't say how much I gave but I know my Mum approved and we both know my little bit will help.

JimBobby

NUCLEAR POWER SPEEDING UP GLOBAL WARMING

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I'm on a email mailin' list where I get info about nuclear power an' alternative energy an' that sorta stuff. I got one today that was written by a good ol' boy name o' Ziggy Kleinau. I seen ol' Ziggy speak at a meetin' over in Jarvis a coupla few months back where they was talkin' about puttin' a nuke plant here in Nanticoke. Ziggy's been livin' off the grid fer somethin' like 12 years. I don't think he has a boog so I'm gonna share what he had to say to the email list.

NUCLEAR POWER SPEEDING UP GLOBAL WARMING.

Much has been made of the power contained in a single uranium fuel bundle used in Ontario’s CanDU reactors to produce electricity.

It is supposed to be able to generate as much electricity as 380 tonnes of coal or 1,800 barrels of oil (Canadian Nuclear Association website "Nuclear Facts").

Compared to the burning of fossil fuels to produce the steam to generate electric power the fuel bundle undergoes a fission process, splitting the uranium atoms to produce heat to fabricate the steam to drive turbines connected to the generators in a complicated process of electricity generation.

Matter-of-fact so much heat is produced by the fission-activated neutrons that – to keep the fuel from uncontrolled meltdown – there need to be huge amounts of cooling water drawn from Lakes Huron and Ontario.

The 6 operating Bruce Power reactors, by the way, are drawing close to 17 million litres of lake water A MINUTE( ! !) to keep the process from overheating (Golder Associates Ltd. Consultants).

What happens to this cooling water? Most of it is discharged back to the lake, but not in the same condition – it goes back out up to 12 degrees Celsius warmer! This so-called thermal plume has been heating up the Lakes for decades, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Very little ice has been forming on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay over successive, even colder, winters, resulting in lake water evaporation over the full 12 months instead of the normal 8 months of ice-free water. Without ice cover solar irradiation will also have the effect of additional warming of the open waters, while ice cover would have reflected the sun’s rays!

No wonder lake levels continue to drop, now at record low levels, affecting the economy of shipping companies and marinas, with waters getting warmer, resulting in increased evaporation and cloud forming.

That powerful fuel bundle – and there are 5760 of them in each reactor – can remain productive for just over 12 months, at which time it has to be removed BY REMOTE CONTROL because the fission has made it so highly radioactive that it would kill a person, standing as close as 3 metres, instantly.

When it is removed it still contains over 99% of potential energy,"but to extract it out costs a lot more than just to take it out and put it under water" (Jeremy Whitlock, past President, Canadian Nuclear Society, quoted on New Media Journalism website).

That ‘spent fuel’ bundle is so hot (37,000 watts – AECL 1994, NWMO Study ‘Choosing a Way Forward – 2005) that it, together with its compatriots, has to be kept in huge swimming pools, called irradiated fuel bays, for at least 10 years to bring the heat down to 5 watts, at which point it is supposed to be safe to store it above ground in heavy concrete containers.

So this impressive energy contained in the fuel bundle creating all the heat – how much electricity does it actually produce? Figures quoted generally pertain to primary power generation only.

This writer has toured the Bruce Power plant several times, also the huge Waste Management Facility adjacent to the reactors. There are a large number of auxiliary buildings absorbing lots of power, huge pumps sucking the cooling water from the Lake, stand-by power yards, fire fighting equipment – of course computers are running all the functions on site – all these together consume about one third of the electric power generated.

Together with transformer and transmission line losses and with the THERMAL POLLUTION HEAT LOSS, only about 33% of the heat released by that fuel bundle, while in the reactor, reaches the end user as electricity! ("Nuclear Heat", Issue Brief, Union of Concerned Scientists, August 2006).

Talking about efficiency – EFFICIENTLY HEATING UP OUR ENVIRONMENT WITH A HUGE AMOUNT OF WASTE HEAT!

IS NUCLEAR POWER REALLY THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING ??

Ziggy Kleinau, Coordinator for non-profit organization Citizens For Renewable Energy(CFRE) has taken part in Environmental Assessment and licensing hearings before the Atomic Energy Control Board(AECB) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission(CNSC) for over 12 years.

Yeow! Ol' Ziggy sed a mouthful. I reckon there's a few things Ginty and his bunch might wanna look into before they mortgage our grandchildrens' futures with their bigass push to spend $40 billion bucks on nuke power.

JimBobby

The Fat Man, The Doctor, The Diet and Intensity Targets

Whooee! I was just over to Eric's Gettin' it Right boog where he's tryin' to explain intensity targets by usin' an analogy of a Toyota vs. a gas guzzlin' Chev. The analogy's okay but I been tryin' to come up with a better one - one that's easier to understand. I think I got one that ain't too bad. It ain't politically correct, I reckon, an' some body-mass challenged victim of McCulture will probbly gimme shit but, here goes --

The Fat Man, The Doctor, The Diet and Intensity Targets

Once upon a time, there was a fat man. His name wasn't Steve. He was gettin' fatter an' fatter an' he was gainin' about a pound a week. That's about a half kilogram, fer you younger folks.

The fat guy goes to his doctor an' the doc sez, "Fatboy, yer killin' yer stoopidass self. You gotta lose weight an' fast or else yer headed fer a nasty life an' an early death." He tells the fat man he's gotta go on a diet, start exercisin' an' get thinner. Or else.

So, the fat feller starts walkin' down to the corner store instead drivin' the chugmobile. When he's there, he buys the small bag o' chips an' only half as many chocolate bars as before he got the death sentence from the sawbones. With his efforts at exercise an' dietin', the fat feller cuts down the rate at which he's gainin' weight.

He cuts it down to a pound a month from a pound a week. He's reduced the intensity of his weight gain by 75%. Sounds good. A 75% reduction must be good.

But.. but... but... the doctor told him he was gonna die if he didn't lose weight. Cuttin' down the rate at which he's gainin' weight ain't losin' weight. He's still gainin' an' he's still puttin' his stoopidass self into a early grave.

I reckon the fat boy (whose name ain't Steve) was only foolin' hisself. The epitaph on his gravestone can read -- "He reduced intensity by 75%. R.I.P."

JimBobby

Lightbulbs, McGuinty and the Nanny State

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, Red Tory's got hisself a good boog story all about Ginty's idea to make compact fluorescent lightbulbs mandatory like they do in Australia an' some other places. Red's bringin' up the bit where the anti-Earthers are bitchin' that Ginty's makin' Ontariariario more of a nanny state an' they want the right to use whatever dang lightbulbs they please.

I ain't a bigass proponent of the nanny state but we got all sortsa rules an' regulations an' if we wanna save ol' Mother Earth, we're gonna need to get a little bit tuff. We got things like speed limits on the highway, laws that say you can't dump garbage anywhere you please, laws that say I gotta pick up dog shit behind ol' Spot, laws that say I gotta pay taxes so's Steve Harper can hire a primper, laws that say cars gotta meet certain standards and a blujillion other laws.

Laws are mostly there to protect society in general from anti-social elements, like wanton polluters an' mass murderers. Without some rules an' regulations, we wouldn't have a society like we do. We'd be livin' in Mad Max world.

Nannies are there to protect dumbass kids from hurtin' themselves an' to make sure they get the necessities of life an' maybe a stroller ride in the park. Some fellers an' gals probbly figger they're responsible enough an' don't need Ginty tellin' 'em what to screw in their sockets. Troublem is, from what some of 'em are sayin', it seems they are too stoopid fer their own good an' are talkin' down the CFB's themselves along with the nanny. "Aw, Mom! I don't need a babysitter anymore." Anybuddy who's had kids, knows that line an' knows it usually means that they DO need a babysitter.

This whole thing reminds me of when we switched to unleaded gasoline. Yeow! The selfsame sorta hew an' cry went up. Lo an' behold, 20 years later, we're doin' fine as far as the no-lead aspect of gasoline is concerned. How many are grumblin' about the nanny state takin' poison lead outta the gas every time they fill up the chugmobile?

Some of the drawbacks to CFB's Red Tory was on about were relevent with early CFB's but have been largely overcome. The dimmer issue is one such problem. CFB's are available that do work properly with dimmers an' 3-way switches. These bulbs, admittedly so far, are more expensive an' more difficult to find.

A commenter over t' Red's site brought up the fluorescent flickerin' causes migraines issue, this is something I don't see in the CFB's. I'm sensitive to flickerin' but it don't gimme migraines an' I ain't seen any scientific studies but... the flicker that we all seen in them commonly used 4-foot fluorescent tubes ain't happenin' with the CFB's. Leastwise, not so's it's apparent to my eye.

As far as the colour spectrum of the light itself, there were originally only "cool white" CF bulbs available. Now, the light comin' from the warmer version is pretty much identical to the spectrum emitted from conventional bulbs.

Like the anti-Earthers complain, CFB's take a little time to reach full brightness. So does my LCD monitor. So what? From my experience, I'd estimate they reach 70% brightness within 2 seconds and, except in cold outdoor conditions, they reach full brightness within a minute. Not much of a drawback considerin' they use less than one quarter the energy of regular bulbs.

Red talked about the fact that up-front costs are high with the CFB's. It's true but they last anywhere's from 5 to 7 years an' they pay fer themselves, on average, within the first year with reduced energy costs. Economy of scale will play an important part in reducing the up-front costs. When CFB's account for the bulk of lightbulb use, manufacturing and distribution will become more efficient.

Red brought up the mercury issue, it is true that CFB's do contain mercury and should be disposed of properly -- just like old paint, fuel, thinners, industrial chemicals, medical waste, batteries and a plethora of other commonly used items. We do it for those other things and we can do it for CFB's. It ain't like CFB's is spent nuclear fuel rods.

Still on the mercury issue, the increased energy demand of incandescants requires electrical generators to provide electricity that they would not need to produce if CFB's were used. Coal-burning generators emit mercury from their smokestacks. Trace amounts, just like what's in the CFB's. The difference is that while the coal-burning generators spew the mercury into the air, CFB's contain the contaminant and can be disposed of without releasing it into the air.

I ain't a hunnert percent sure that legislation is the way to go. I ain't fightin' it on accounta I believe that switchin' over to CFB's is gonna save electricity an' help save ol' Mother Earth. I reckon the gummint could probbly be just as effective if it'd lead by example.

My idea would be for the Ontario gummint to embark on a program to immediately replace its own incandescant bulbs with CFB's in each and every gummint building. I'm talkin' Queen's Park, every driver's license outlet, every courthouse, every maintenance garage, storage facility and every school and university in the province.

When they're doin' that, they should mount a bigass PR campaign explainin' how much energy their savin' an' how, even in the medium term, they're gonna save the taxpayer megatonnes of money. Ontariariarians ain't stoopid. If we see our gummint savin' money an' doin' the right thing at the same time, we'll mostly wanna get in on the benefits.

JimBobby

(P.S. Most o' this here boog story was originally posted as a comment over t' Red Tory's fine boog.)

Conservative Conspicuous Consumption

Whooee! I seen on the Lloyd Robertson TV News Show last night the HarpoonTossers got themselves a bigass new campaign office with a bigass TV studio an' a buncha computers an' cubicles an' they're showin' it off t' the press. Over t' Accidental Deliberations, they was on about the wastefulness an' I see it, too.

They're sayin' the press got a look-see at a room with a hunnert computers all runnin' but nobuddy workin'.

Howcum they need t' waste electricity like that?

Howcum PitBullBoy Baird was braggin' up the war room when it's a perfect example of wastin' energy?

These guys showin' off their fancyass new toys is about as enviro-conscious as yer average Hummer driver.

If the Harpoon gummint replaced every single incandescant light bulb with CFB's in every single gummint-owned, gummint-leased or gummint-controlled building, I betcha we'd be able t' shut down one o' Ginty's coal-fired generators. If the Cons was serious about ol' Mother Earth, they'd implement a procurement policy that made 'em buy hybrid or ultra-fuel-efficient vehicles fer their gummint fleets. If they was serious, they'd refuse t' use them limo services that show up in bigass Crown Vic's an' Caddies an' Lincolns an' they'd be takin' the transit or a hybrid taxicab.

Same goes fer Ginty's Liberals in Ontariariario an' probbly fer every other provinkal gummint.

The Cons ain't conservers. They're consumers an' their conspicuous consumption sets a bad example fer all Canajuns.

JimBobby

Sing Us a Song, You're Enviro-Man (audio)

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, here we go again with anuther polytickle song. Yesterday, I was over 't the Gazetteer's fine boog an' he had hisself a boog story 'bout lullabyes an' playin' piana fer the kiddies an' he was on about ol' Billy Joel's song The Piano Man. The GazetteMan got that melody runnin' 'round my head an' it weren't long before I had the chorus fer a new song.

I recorded the song this mornin' an' I did it a little different than usual. I usually run my singin' through a vibrato filter so's t' disguise my voice an' I usually don't have any instrumental stuff. This time, I wanted t' toss in a little piana playin' on accounta it bein' the Piano Man song. I ain't much of a piana player an' I 'specially ain't any good at accompanyin' my own singin' self. But, dang it all, I did it anyways. So's I wouldn't bend my piano notes, I didn't disguise my voice fer this one.

Here's the MP3 audio boog file.

Sing Us a Song, You're Enviro-Man

It's nine o'clock up in Ottawa,
Most of the MPs are there,
They're all in their seats, except Steve's on his feet,
Tryin' to prove that he cares.

He says, "Folks, I'm as green as those other guys,
Thirteen years and they didn't do squat,
Except sign on Kyoto then sit on their thumbs
Playin' games while the Earth got too hot."

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Sing us a song, you're Enviro-Man,
Tell us another one, Steve.
We're all in the mood for Kyoto compliance,
So, what have you got up your sleeve?

The Big Oil magnates are friends of yours,
They contribute to your campaign,
Their brand of green funds your party machine,
And you listen when they complain.

They say "Steve, Kyoto is killin' us,
Emission caps should be banned,
At least 'til we make a few billion,
Extracting crude oil from sand."

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Sing us a song, you're Enviro-Man,
Tell us another one, Steve.
We're all in the mood for Kyoto compliance,
So, what have you got up your sleeve?

Now, Steve is an egghead Prime Minister,
There's a pit bull named Baird at his side,
Who snarls and snaps about emission caps,
While his limousine's idling outside.

And the Speaker is practicing politics,
As the insults and taunts fill the air.
While the climate is changing, they're just rearranging,
The Titanic's three hundred deck chairs.

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Sing us a song, you're Enviro-Man,
Tell us another one, Steve.
We're all in the mood for Kyoto compliance,
So, what have you got up your sleeve?

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR STREAM AUDIO

My undisguised voice ain't a whole lot better'n the usual vibrato version an' I reckon I hit a wrong note or two. I'm workin' on it but I been noticin' as I get older, my voice is soundin' more'n'more like a old codger - even when I'm jest talkin'.

Yores trooly,
JimBobby

Greens Harper's Best Friends in Quest for Majority

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I reckon me an' my Green Party buddies is gonna help ol' King Steve Harpoon get his majority when we have our next electionvote. I can't say the idea don't make me a little bit queasy. I'm a little queasy but I ain't shittin' my pants an' I'll tell you why.

Steve's an egghead. He ain't jest an ordinary egghead. He's an egghead's egghead. I don't figger there's many Canajuns who don't give Harpoon sum credit fer usin' his massive brainpower t' get his Cons elected. He's one smart cookie, no two ways. I'm countin' on his brain t' work things out an' come t' the only smart conclusions a brainiac egghead can come to.

So far, Harpoon's been lettin' PitBullBoy yap an' yammer an' Baird sez he ain't buyin' inta any carbon taxin' or carbon tradin' scheme. But that's gonna change, sez I. The Cons has shown they ain't afraid o' flippety-floppin' an' I figger they're settin' 'emselves up fer a flip-floppin' on carbon tradin' jest like they done with the income trusts. When sumpin' makes economic sense, like taxin' income trusts or gettin' in on carbon tradin', they gotta do it.

King Steve's specialty is economics. A couplafew weeks ago, they had the World Economic Forum over in Davos, Switzerland. The world's biggest bizness guys an' industrialists an' economists all agreed that man-made climate change is sumpin' t' worry 'bout an' also that it's sumpin' where there's money t' be made. They're economic smartypantses jest like Harpoon an' they're all gung-ho on carbon tradin'. They're gettin' in on the ground floor an' I figger Harpoon the economic egghead ain't so stoopid as t' watch while Canada's economy goes down the tubes on accounta we didn't get in on the carbon market.

Steve knows that jobs-jobs-jobs equals votes-votes-votes. The sector where we got the best chance o' creatin' jobs-jobs-jobs is energy. Sum o' them jobs'll be created when we make the tar sands produce more oil an' less GHG's. Other new jobs'll be created when we build up alternative energy supplies. There's thousands o' jobs an' billions o' bucks t' be made in wind power, tidal power, hydro power, geothermal power. Steve ain't stoopid an' anybuddy who ain't stoopid can see where new jobs'll come from. The Cons is already modified their slogan from "Canada's an energy superpower" to "Canada's aiming to become a clean energy superpower."

I'm purty well resigned t' the fact that the Cons'll win a majority an' I figger the elctionvote's comin' sooner rather than later. I figger the Green Party's gonna take 'bout 10% o' the popular vote. I figger that'll put the Con candidates first past the post in a majority o' ridin's. They'll get a majority gummint with the smallest popular support ever. An' jest like everybuddy's scared of, they'll be able t' do jest what they want fer 5 years or so.

I'm countin' on 'em doin' what makes economic sense fer Canada an' that's t' capitalize on carbon tradin' an' green-collar job creation.

Yores trooly,
JimBobby