NC Media Watch

Over the Email Transom: Assemblyman Kevin de León -- punish academic freedom

Russ Steele

Here is the email:

A recent study by two Sacramento State University business professors shined a light on AB 32's devastating consequences for our state.
 
While the study merely points out the obvious, (that massive tax increases and burdensome over-regulation is bad for the economy) far-left Assemblyman Kevin de León has responded by introducing a bill to ensure that research questioning the party line view never happens again.
 
De León, who also is seeking to punish Sacramento State University by opposing future research contracts with CSUS, is proposing in his AB 2656 that no more government money is "wasted" on "junk science" like the AB 32 study.  "I strongly support academic freedom but ..."

Academic research is supposed to be based on the free exchange of ideas and the freedom of academic inquiry ... unless those ideas dare to question AB 32 and Assemblyman de León.
 
Please contact Assemblyman de León and tell him to IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW AB 2656 and pledge his support for an open and honest debate on the merits of AB 32.

Assemblyman Kevin De León Capitol Office
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0045
Tel: (916) 319-2045
Fax: (916) 319-2145

I guess Assemblyman de León only supports academic freedom when it supports his far-left politics.  The only global warming junk science is the UN IPCC Reports which CARB used to support the need for AB32 in the first place.

H/T to the papertiger.

El Niño pattern to continue - Wet Spring, Normal Temps

Russ Steele



Here is a summary from the World Meteorological Organization:


• A basin-wide El Niño event continues. Its strength peaked in November-December 2009 at a moderate level. So far, declines in strength have only been modest;



• Further decline in strength is expected over the next few months, but considerable uncertainty remains regarding the timing and rate of decay. Nonetheless, the most likely outcome by mid-year is considered to be near-neutral;



• The period March-June is a particularly difficult time of the year for forecasting tropical Pacific developments, and while near-neutral is considered the most likely outcome by mid-year, it is still considered possible for El Niño to persist or for the early stages of a La Niña to be present by mid-year;



• It is however important to recognize that impacts of the current El Niño are expected to continue to be felt in many parts of the world through at least the second quarter of 2010. This is because impacts on many climate patterns both close to and remote from the Pacific, can occur even during the decay phase of an El Niño event.

What does the extended El Niño mean for citizens of Northern California.

McChrystal bans junk food, does that include Girl Scout Cookies?

 Russ Steele

The Times On Line has the details

First he [General McChrystal} banned booze in his Kabul headquarters. Now the notoriously austere commander of US and Nato forces has a new target in his war on terror: ice cream and fast food.

General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of Special Forces in Iraq, who runs eight miles a day, eats one meal and sleeps for only four hours a night, has given orders to close the junk food concessions on Nato bases.

The Friends of Nevada County Military is holding a special packing party on April 6th at the Vets Building. This special boxing party is to send the hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies donated by the community  to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Also, when sending our regular boxes we stuff bags of Jelly Bellies in every open space among the other goodies.

My exit question:  Will the General McChrystal allow his troops to eat the Friend's Girl Scout Cookies and Jelly Bellies? 

Climate Change is a Sacramento Connect featured topic

Russ Steele

The Sac Bee finally has their Sacramento Connect tool bar working on the main page. Here are some of the featured issues:


Note that Climate Change is one of the featured topics, mostly from environmental posts on our local yubanet.com blog. But is CO2 Climate Change real, or is the Sac Bee and their linked blogs just promoting a US and UN Political agenda. "The main issue in the global warming debate is the truth," writes the Climate Realist.

The only question in this debate is “does human emission of CO2 causes global warming?” One way to answer this question is to compare the IPCC projections for the mean global temperature anomaly with actual measurements as shown in the above chart.

The above result shows that the IPCC projection is incorrect. Actually, the observed (hadcrut3) mean global temperatures are even less than the projections with emission commitment held constant at year 2000 values, as shown by the orange curve in the above chart.

It is crucial that public policy be based on facts. CO2 driven global warming is not supported by the data.

Exit question: Is the Bee and and the featured Blogs promoting science or a political agenda?

Sacramento Connect, call the FUE, your Toolbar is missing

Russ Steele

With all the promotion by the Sac Bee Editor and on the FUE’s Blog, I was primed for a look a Sacramento Connect, a tool bar on the Sac Bee and participating websites.

You can find the network and toolbar, which will appear at the bottom of the screen, beginning Monday at sacbee.com and on partner sites.

Nevada County has four partner sites: yubanet.com, the Nevada City Advocate, the FUE’s blog and the FUE’s Sierra Culture magazine.  No Sac Connect Tool Bars?

Exit question: What should the Union’s response be with the Sac Bee’s all out attack on collecting local news for its web site. 

AT is more than an “@” -- its something Nevada County Assessor voters need to know !

Russ Steele

Claims of deception at the local Recorder-Elections Office have been generating headlines in the newspapers and on local blogs. This time it is the Assessors race, between Sue Horne and Rolf Kleinhans, that will be generating tomorrows headlines.

Completing the Ballot Statements is an important part of the candidate selection process.  The Statements are designed to help the electorate choose between candidates. The voters expects those statements to be accurate and forth right.  Looking at Ballot Statements for the Assessor’s race raised a question.   What is an “AT Licensed Assessor”?

Mr. Kleinhans lists his primary profession as an AT Licensed Assessor, Broker?  I knew him as a Real Estate Broker, representing  the Nevada County  Association of Realtors on the Economic Resource Council Board of Directors.  So, what is an “AT Licensed Assessor?”

According to the Election Code Subdivision (a) (3) any candidate licensed by the state to engage in a profession is entitled to list that profession on his or her Ballot Designation. Under this provision Mr. Klinehans listed his profession as an “AT Licensed Appraiser.” But, what does “AT” mean?

The Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA) lists the AT designation as -- Appraiser Trainee.  Mr. Klinehans had a Trainee License for two years 1/5/2007 to 1/4/2009, which expired before he completed the required training. It was reissued on 11/30/2009, just in time for the election registration process.

However, all appraisals completed by an AT licensee appraiser must be co-signed by a Certified Residential Appraiser. Before signing off on appraisals an AT must complete 150 hours of basic education and then complete 2,000 hours of supervision under a Residential Licensed Appraiser and have no less than 12 months of acceptable appraisal experience.

It appears that Mr. Klinehan really is an Appraiser Trainee.  However, it is interesting to note that a Trainee Appraiser License issued under OREA has no bearing on the qualifications for County Assessor.  So, why all this effort to re-brand himself as an appraiser with training wheels on the Ballot Statement?

County Assessors are licensed under the Board of Equalization.  Regardless of which one is elected,  Rolf Klienhans or Sue Horne,  all County Assessors have to take the same 30 day training course and then complete a full year of ongoing training before they are certified by the Board of Equalization.

Exit question: Did you know that an AT is just a deceptive real estate Appraiser with Training wheels?

Disclosure: I have donated to Sue Horne's campaign.

More bike trails and fewer roads for commuters and trucks in Nevada County?

Russ Steele

On his Blog, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announced a “major policy revision”  to give bicycling and walking the same policy and economic consideration as driving.

“Today I want to announce a sea change.” “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."

According LaHoods blog, to set this approach in motion, we have formulated key recommendations for state DOTs and communities:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve non-motorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Now, this is a start, but it's an important start. These initial steps forward will help us move forward even further.

Nevada County has a Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan which was adopted by the BOS on August 8, 2000. This plan and tail maps are available on on the mynevadacounty.com webs site, search for “non-mororized”  I believe that plan is currently being updated, or has been updated.

Nevada County's Transportation Commission has been a supporter of bike transportation for years. Today all of the Gold Country Stage vehicles are now bike-rack equipped, and this provides the opportunity for transit patrons to utilize the transit services as a “bike-ride” mode of transportation.

However, according to the 2000 Census data on travel to work less than one percent of home-based work trips for Nevada County residents are made by bicycle, and approximately three percent are pedestrian trips.  As a former Transportation Commission I have always questioned spending large amounts of money on bike lanes and bike trails when so few bikers actually use them to ride to work. On the other hand the bikers say build them and we will ride to work.

It appears that Nevada County is ahead of the Transportation Secretary and has a plan. A plan which has been underfunded in the past. With the new emphasis on biking and walking by the Department of Transportation is funding deficit maybe rectified, now that biking and motor vehicles will have equal standing.

My concern is that bikes and walking will have equal status as other transportation modes when funding is allocated.

My exit question is: If Nevada County is give $1 million dollars for transportation, does 50% have to be spent on bike and walking trails.

My bonus exist questions is:  How many jobs does a bike trail create, and how may tons of freight can a bike carry? 

H/T to a regular reader who sent this transportation tip

All Lights on in honor of Earth Hour

Russ Steele

All the outside lights are on, place is lit up like a Christmas Tree.

Track the results on the California ISO Daily Status web page.

CBO:Federal Climate Change Program Funding

Russ Steele

On Friday the CBO released a study of government funding of climate change projects, including the climate change funding in ARRA . The article below is from the CBO Directors Blog.

As awareness of global climate change has expanded over past decades, Congresses and Administrations have committed several billion dollars annually to studying climate change and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide. Most of that spending is done by the Department of Energy (DOE) and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, although a dozen other federal agencies also participate. The effort has included funding science and technology, creating tax preferences, and assisting other countries in their attempts to curtail greenhouse-gas emissions. In a study released this afternoon, CBO examines the government’s commitment of resources to those purposes. The study presents information on current spending and analyzes recent patterns and trends in spending.

From 1998 through 2009, appropriations for agencies’ work related to climate change totaled about $99 billion (in 2009 dollars); more than a third of that sum—$35.7 billion by CBO’s estimation—was provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (see the figure below). During that period, the nation’s commitment to climate-related technology development increased significantly, as has the forgone revenue attributable to tax preferences. Funding for climate science and international assistance, by contrast, stayed roughly constant.

Federal Climate Change Funding, by Category

(Budget authority in billions of 2009 dollars)

Earth hour is upon us once again (update 03-27-10, 2:34)

Russ Steele

Update #1: Anthony Watts has more on Earth Hour and you can track the changes in California and other locations at WUWT.

As you recall, Earth Hour suggested that we turn off our lights for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30 this Sunday Night.  Last year at earth hour the Steele’s and Rebane’s turned on all outside lights in defiance of the idea. Apparently we were not alone. According to the California power monitoring system, there was no dip in power usage last year.