You’ve probably heard or read the news by now that 2014 was the warmest year on record. This related story deserves to be examined.
Senate Votes
On Wednesday January 21, the Senate voted on an amendment to legislation concerning the Keystone XL pipeline. The question was whether climate change is a hoax. It was affirmed to be real by a vote of 98 to 1. That sounded encouraging. That was followed by another amendment that stipulated climate change was real and that human activity significantly contributes to climate change. That was defeated. It needed 60 yes votes but got 50, with 49 no votes. All but four Republicans voted no. Those four joined the entire Democratic group. It is astounding to me that such an important question could viewed so differently and along strict party lines. Here is the list of yeas and nays.
According to the Senate, climate change is real…
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Our View From Iowa 
One of my resolutions for 2015 was to be less snarky. I wasn’t all that snarky before, but every once in a while the flesh was weak. Anyway, I will just say that what surprised me was that four Republicans voted recognizing the human element in the equation. The party has always denied that human activity was the cause as it would eat into profits and “job creation”. Of course, the real job creator will be the development of alternate energy sources as we move away from petroleum based fossil fuels. It has already begun which, it is my understanding, is a large part of the reducing oil prices and lower production levels.
The other day, I saw an article on FB regarding the plastic microbeads found in facial scrubs. and toothpaste finding their way into rivers and lakes and eventually into fish and other organisms. It seems that almost every day there is another discovery of how our activity is screwing up the planet. It is astounding how in such a short geologic passing of time we are wreaking havoc on the Earth.
I appreciate your remarks. I agree that the development of alternative energies will be big. Trouble is, there are such strong forces and interests binding us to stay with fossil fuels. It is a tough chain to break. There are some successes taking place. Here in IA, we produce >27% of our electrical needs from wind.
True. We are making a mess of a lot of things in a short time.
It also was once easier to continue making buggy whips than recognize the fundamental change underway in the transportation industry. It’s human nature to press the snooze alarm rather than abandon anything that represents a bird in hand.
I wonder how long it took for the wheel to catch on.
It might break. It could be harder to push up hill. Making one takes too long. We’ve never done this before…
Do I need a spare? What’s a whitewall? Whoa! Way too fast…slow down! I can’t breathe!