NC Media Watch

Oops, Union Editor gets fact check by local blogger

Russ Steele

In today's Union Jeff Pelline writes: Who's to the right of Attila the Hun?

Here is the original text:

She led the charge to defeat the National Heritage, 2020, land-use debate six years ago.

After local blogger sends an e-mail correction, the current text on the Union Web Page reads:

She led the charge to defeat the Natural Heritage, 2020, land-use debate six years ago.

If you did not live in Nevada County six years ago, one might wish that NH2020 stood for National Heritage. It was one of the most divisive periods in Nevada County history in the last 20 years. It is unfortunate the MGI may create a historical repeat, and may set a new record on how to tear a community apart.   

Climate Change Update: Some bad news and some good news

Russ Steele

The bad news:

Mary Nichols, the chair of California's Air Resources Board, has responded to the letter from 13 House Republicans this week asking California to back down from its pursuit of the right to regulate tailpipe emissions.

I agree that climate change requires a national solution, and I look forward to working with you to pass strong federal legislation to aggressively reduce our Nation's greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that a successful national program must build on the foundation of successful state programs such as California's Clean Cars law that will continue to deliver cost-effective GHG reductions, drive the market for new clean technology, and save consumers money. 

Nichols does not explain how California's greenhouse gas regulation are going to save consumers money.  In the UK and EU  regulations and taxes are causing political turmoil, with some promoters being turned out of office, other reconsidering. Consider this from the Globe Mail:

After hundreds of angry drivers shut down highways in England Tuesday in protest against green automobile taxes, and drivers and fishermen in France and Spain paralyzed their ports and roads in a fuel-tax protest, politicians began to signal Europe's ambitious emission-control policies may soon have to be abandoned.

While Europe has led the way in using tax incentives to encourage people to buy low-emission cars and to build carbon-neutral houses in order to meet Kyoto targets, it has become increasingly apparent that inflation-battered voters are no longer willing to go along.

Political leaders in Britain and France are seeking the reversal of tax policies designed to make polluting vehicles more expensive, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and some British ministers calling on their own governments and the European Union to relax ecologically friendly taxes in order to give relief to citizens suffering from fast-rising food and fuel prices.

California no longer top of the list and diesel prices.

Russ Steele

Diesel Prices:  Dave C writes that diesel is how $5.00 in Glenbrook. We bought our first $5.00 a gallon diesel near Binghamton NY on I-81 yesterday. A little farther down the road on US-7 the price was $5.13. We expect it will reach $6.00 before we get home in July.

Bad Roads List: Until we reached a stretch of I-81 between Binghamton and Albany, California's I-80 from SR-20 to SR-395 was the worst stretch of Interstate we have encountered on our cross county trip so far. New York State has now captured the top of our list. New York DOT has not even bothered to try filling some of the huge potholes on I-81, no sign of any patch work, just gapping holes at the joints. California is not longer at the top of our bad highway list. Number two maybe, but no longer number one! 

Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less!

Russ Steele

I have had issues with Newt Gingrich over his acceptance of the human caused global warming hoax, but I am on board for his Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less campaign to lower fuels prices.  The price of fuel is all about supply and demand.  When the demand goes up and the supply goes down the price goes up. Simple supply and demand economics. 

When other countries control the supply, we are subject to their whims and schemes for controlling the supply, thus the price we pay at the pump. Newt writes on his American Solutions web page:

As gas prices continue to increase, Congress continues to blame others while ignoring practical steps to stop the pain Americans are feeling at the pump. To lower gasoline prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we need real solutions to our energy challenges.

Even though 73% of the American people agree that with appropriate safeguards to protect the environment, we should drill for oil off America's coasts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, congress continues to block all efforts to increase the supply of oil by drilling on land we control.

You can sign a petition in support of Newt's the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less campaign here.

Yes, the MGI is all about egos

Russ Steele

Pat Butler writes about the GV City Council meeting to discuss the MGI: Tempers flare over growth debate. Here is the telling paragraph in the story.

Earlier in the evening, Cattaneo said the initiative would give "voters the opportunity to vote on these matters." He also complained that the city had treated his organization poorly in the past.

Yes, the MGI is all about Grant Cattaneo's bruised ego.  All future changes to will put Grant Cattaneo and CCAT at the forefront of every proposed change which will have to be voted on. Once this initiative is passed "You will have to listen to us," they are declaring. Do we want Grant Cattaneo's bruised ego to be the pivot point for all planning in Grass Valley. I think not! 

A little climate change fact checking at the Union

Russ Steele

This story by Laura Brown in the Union this morning caught my attention: Wacky weather normal for May, experts say.

Wildly changing weather patterns across the United States in recent days do not portend climate change or La Nina conditions, meteorologists and climatologists from the National Weather Service and NASA said Tuesday.

Mentioned in the story are Bill Patzert, a climatologist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and Johnnie Powell, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

I was interested in finding the source for Laura Brown's story, so I entered Bill Patzert's name in Google along with the quote in the story "We’re having a wild spring in the U.S.,”  I could not come up with the source story, though I tried several different variation. But, I did find this quotes by Patzert in reference to two tornadoes at March Air Reserve Base on Thursday afternoon.

"It's not just unusual, it's extremely unusual," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "You would expect this in January, February or March, but not in May." Full story here

I also found this press release from JPL: Larger Pacific Climate Event Helps Current La Nina Linger, April 21, 2008

“This multi-year Pacific Decadal Oscillation 'cool' trend can intensify La Niña or diminish El Niño impacts around the Pacific basin," said Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The persistence of this large-scale pattern tells us there is much more than an isolated La Niña occurring in the Pacific Ocean." (Emphasis added)

I am still scratching my head how Laura came to the conclusion in her lead paragraph that what we are seeing in just typical May spring weather. Even her source says that there is some thing unusual going on in the Pacific.  Johnnie Powell, from the NWS in Sacramento talked about March weather, not the killing frost in May. While I am writing this the Weather Channel is talking about the record number of tornadoes in May.

The lead in Laura's story is misleading. Her cited experts do not support her story that this is normal May weather.  Laura could help the reader by providing links to her sources, but that might take the spin out of the  story.

USDA issues Climate Change Report and NWS issues freeze warnings.

Russ Steele

While I was reading this USDA report on Climate Change, I was watching the Weather Channel in the background and the National Weather Service was issuing frost and freeze warnings for the mid west.

NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO PULL COLD CANADIAN AIR INTO THE
GREAT LAKES REGION TODAY. CLEARING SKIES AND DIMINISHING WINDS
WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO QUICKLY FALL TONIGHT...WITH OVERNIGHT
LOW TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW FREEZING IN MANY AREAS.

The blue is for freezing and the gray for frost.

The USDA report finds that climate change is already affecting U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and will continue to do so. A complete list of the specific findings can be found here. But, this was the finding I found most interesting, given the above warnings.   

•    The growing season has increased by 10 to 14 days over the last 19 years across the temperate latitudes. Species' distributions have also shifted.

During the last 19 years during ,the last third of Pacific warm phase PDO, the growing season increased and food production was up as more land at higher latitudes could be put into production. Now with the Pacific in a cool phase PDO we can expect the the growing season to be shortened by 10 to 14 days, reducing food production.

If we were to enter a mini ice age the growing season could be shortened by an additional 10 to 14 days, that could add up to a whole month shorter, reducing food production even more in Northern Hemisphere grain producing regions.

Now I ask you, which would you rather have modest warming and more food, or modest cooling and less food. Or, sever cooling and food shortages across the nation and around the world as grain production declines in American and Canadian bread basket regions?  If we have some killing frost in June, you best buy an extra loaf, or two, and put them in the freezer. You will be glad you did.

Marketing that works on the web.

Russ Steele

Jeff Ackerman the Union Publisher writes in his weekly column: Growth is the least of our concerns

If what I've been hearing is accurate - and it's coming from too many sources not to be - growth will be the least of our worries by November's election.

I have (and will continue to between now and November) told you that this "managed growth" initiative proposed for Grass Valley is a bad idea, mostly because it's not needed and will only worsen an already-bleak economic outlook. In fact, there are signs that we are in the midst of a recession that some predict has a 20 percent chance of turning into a full-blown Depression, the likes of which we haven't seen in almost 80 years.

Jeff has some good advice for local business, though some might think it a bit self serving as the publisher of a newspaper to suggest more local marketing.

Are you happy with how your tax dollars are spent

Russ Steele

Consider this from the SF Chronicle:

One month before Schwarzenegger took office in November 2003, just eight state employees earned more than $200,000 a year working in the core state government, which excludes universities and the Legislature. In April of this year, there were nearly a thousand, according to records.

And the number of state employees making six-figure salaries has more than doubled since 2003, to nearly 15,000. Meanwhile, the number of state workers has grown by 26,000 under Schwarzenegger after being cut by Davis, who was recalled from office in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

I wonder how may employees have been added to save the planet from global warming?  A useless waste of our tax dollars that will have no impact on the environment. Schwarzenegger green house gas reduction proposals will only increase the cost of transportation and slow our economy even more. He should be paying attention to what is happening in the UK, the politician that supported increased car taxes are being turned out in droves. Schwarzenegger and his greenhouse gas initiative lackeys in the our spend thrift Legislature are next.  If the Brits can do it so can we.

Patriots in the heartland

Russ Steele

Ellen and I were impressed by the patriotism displayed through out the middle of America, especially in Tennessee and the area around Nashville. They seem to be less touched by the negative attitudes on both coasts. Here is an example from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, via the Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds.