Green Options » Greenhouse Gasses

George Bush Admits Global Warming Real: Pray, The Next Big Hoax?

Sam Aola Ooko — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:21:29 +0000

For those who fervently follow global warming to the secret labyrinths of the White House, we all know what the professional spinners did with that email attachment from the Environmental Protection Agency about how greenhouse gasses were polluting the environment and should be checked.

Instead of acting upon it or even printing copies to president George Bush and his handlers, they tossed it in a cyber trash bin called Spam folder as if that was the only green thing to do.

Many months after Scott McClellan quit spinning for Dubya, climate watchers are crying foul that he never ever touched the seemingly hot subject in his recently released book, What Happened. But in his famous spins, he had blamed human activity - you and me - as responsible for global warming on more than one occasion.

Spin can be clever tomfoolery sometimes but the White House stance on global warming is well known and George W. Bush has never disappointed with his public statements that smack verily of official ignorance or pretense on the subject as an inconvenient truth.

Anti-Fart Shots for a Cleaner Environment?

Max Lindberg — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:06:11 +0000

Aw, c’mon, pull my finger!

You’ve probably had that one pulled (pardon the pun) on you at least once in your life, and the old guy got a good laugh out of your response. It’s ok, old guys do strange things, I know.

Well, this isn’t about old guys, but sheep, cattle, deer and goats, the premier emitters of methane gas in the world. In this case, nature is “pulling the finger.”

Obesity Contributes to Climate Change

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 28 May 2008 04:30:43 +0000

Those extra pounds Americans are carrying around are causing climate change. Considering eating more food requires more agriculture production and transportation costs, obese people are contributing to food shortages and higher energy prices, according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility,” said Phil Edwards. “Obesity is a key part of the big picture.” 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are produced by agriculture.

Image: colros on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

EPA Ordered to Release California Emissions Waiver Documents to Congress

Max Lindberg — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:42:24 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been ordered to release all documents pertaining to Administrator Stephen Johnson’s controversial blocking of California’s waiver to control greenhouse gasses in that state.

The announcement came in an email released by Public Employees forEnvironmental Responsibility (PEER), saying Johnson has bowed to a Congressional request for the information, following the controversy sparked by his controversial decision.

PEER’s Executive Director Jeff Ruch is quoted as saying: “What made Johnson’s decision so striking is that for months he said he was basing it on the scientific and legal merits and then did the precise opposite. One employee told me ‘I am ashamed to admit that I work at EPA’ and another asked ‘What am I supposed to tell my children when they ask me what I am doing to fight global warming?’”

Johnson has said he will not attend a field hearing of Senator Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA), Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on January 10th in Los Angeles. His appearance before Congress, however, promises to be contentious at best.

Random Green Stuff: GasFindir Camera

Juergen Horn — Wed, 09 May 2007 12:56:58 +0000

It's a good thing that I can't afford this camera. It'd probably be fine here in Ireland, but just imagine using it in NYC or any other big city.

You can now buy a camera that can detect greenhouse gases. Infrared-imaging company FLIR Systems recently revealed the GasfindIR-LW, a thermal imaging camera that can detect sulfur hexalfouride SF6 and 20 other environmentally perilous gasses. If you ever wanted to hunt down acetylchloride; allyl flouride; or Freons 11, 12, 112, 113, or 114, the GasfindIR-LW is just the device you need.

Continue reading: Crave Cnet

Random Good Stuff

Editor's note: If I remember correctly, sulfur hexafluoride was my high school chemistry teacher's favorite prank (other than dribbling a bowling ball in the classroom). It does the opposite of helium when you inhale it; your voice gets very deep and scary. Not that he wasn't scary anyway…