Rasmussen poll: Voters Have an Unfavorable View of the EPA

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/environment_energy/environment_update

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 32% of Likely U.S. Voters have a favorable opinion of the EPA, the lowest finding in the three years the question has been asked. Forty percent (40%) view the agency unfavorably, unchanged from June. Twenty-eight percent (28%) are undecided, the highest finding to date. (To see survey question wording, click here).…

‘Why there will not be a global climate change treaty in 2015’

http://reason.com/archives/2014/12/19/the-coming-climate-crack-up-in-paris

The interests of the rich and poor countries just don’t converge on this issue. The poor nations are not going to forego using cheap fossil fuels to energize their economic growth unless the rich states agree to fork over huge sums to them annually. And the rich countries aren’t about to give hundreds of billions to corrupt governments in the developing world, particularly when many of the latter are declining to make any commitments until they see the money—and are refusing to let anyone monitor and assess whatever commitments they do make.

So there will be a big flop in Paris this time next year. And then the climate-crisis circus will roll urgently on to still more venues in the years after that.…

Ocean acidification: ‘What if Obama’s climate change policies are based on pHraud?’

What if Obama’s climate change policies are based on pHraud?

http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com/2014/12/what-if-obamas-climate-change-policies.html

Reblogged from Heartland’s Somewhat Reasonableby Marita NoonOcean acidification” (OA) is receiving growing attention. While someone who doesn’t follow climate change science might think OA is a stomach condition resulting from eating bad seafood, OA is claimed to be a phenomenon that will destroy ocean life—all due to mankind’s use of fossil fuels. It is a foundational theory upon which the global warming/climate change narrative is built.The science and engineering website Quest, recently posted: “Since the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, we have been mining and burning coal, oil and natural gas for energy and transportation. These processes release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. It is well established that the rising level of CO2 in our atmosphere is a major cause of global warming. However, the increase in CO2 is also causing changes to the chemistry of the ocean. The ocean absorbs some of the excess atmospheric CO2, which causes what scientists call ocean acidification. And ocean acidification could have major impacts on marine life.”Within the Quest text is a link to a chart by Dr. Richard A. Feely, who is a senior scientist with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)—which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Feely’s climate-crisis views are widely used to support the narrative.Feely’s four-page report: Carbon Dioxide and Our Ocean Legacy, offered on the NOAA website, contains a similar chart. This chart, titled “Historical & Projected pH & Dissolved Co2,” begins at 1850. Feely testified before Congress in 2010—using the same data that shows a decline in seawater pH (making it more acidic) that appears to coincide with increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.In 2010, Feely received the $100,000 cash prize from the Heinz Family Foundation awards (established by Teresa Heinz, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry). The Heinz award site touts Feely’s work: “Ocean acidity is now considered global warming’s ‘evil twin,’ thanks in large measure to Dr. Feely’s seminal research on the changing ocean chemistry and its impact on marine ecosystems.”The December edition of the scientific journal Nature Climate Change features commentary titled: “Lessons learned from ocean acidification research.”However, an inquisitive graduate student presented me with a very different “lesson” on OA research.Mike Wallace is a hydrologist with nearly 30 years’ experience, who is now working on his Ph.D. in nanogeosciences at the University of New Mexico. In the …

Obama White House Releases Guidelines To Help Hospitals Prepare For Climate Change – Including increased risk of extreme weather and sea level rise

White House Releases Guidelines To Help Hospitals Prepare For Climate Change

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/16/3604324/hospitals-prepare-for-climate-change/

A car drives past the flooded Hoboken Hospital emergency room in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 in Hoboken, NJ. CREDIT: AP Photo/Charles Sykes The White House released guidelines this week aimed at helping hospitals adapt to the impacts of climate change, including increased risk of extreme weather and sea level rise. The report, released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services, aims to help the healthcare sector become more resilient to climate change, which the White House calls a risk to public health. The report outlines ways health care systems can both adapt to and mitigate climate change, including using technologies such as combined heat and power and fuel cells to reduce energy consumption and constructing new buildings only after taking into account a region’s projections for future climate change impacts. The report is important because, as recent storms have shown, many hospitals haven’t yet done enough to prepare themselves for climate change. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy forced evacuations in multiple New York Hospitals. Three hundred patients in New York University’s Langone Medical Center were evacuated after the hospital’s basement was flooded and its backup generators failed. Coney Island hospital was also forced to evacuate more than 220 patients after turning off its generators to prevent major damage from flooding, and Bellevue Hospital evacuated its patients from the “Katrina-esque” environment the storm had created in the hospital. As Gary Cohen, president of Healthcare Without Harm told ThinkProgress in 2013, the hospitals that were forced to shut down during Sandy should have been among the last buildings standing, but they weren’t designed with climate resilience in mind. That lack of preparedness is what the Health and Human Services report aims to address, giving examples of simple measures hospitals can take to become more prepared for future extreme weather. “Climate change represents a significant health risk for a large segment of the global population going forward,” Robin Guenther, co-author of the report and senior adviser to Health Care Without Harm, said in a statement. “These best practices in resilient health care infrastructure have universal application around the globe. Sharing them will enable health providers worldwide to continue delivering needed services during and after a significant weather event in their community.” Along with the release of the guidelines, Health and Human Services announced that …