Here are some headlines, all talking about the same thing. See if you can guess what it is (no links):
Of course, there’s always someone who missed the memo:
Yeah, that makes sense: cutting production of gas-powered cars to concentrate on EVs… when all signs point to growing consumer rejection of the latter. Nice one, Ford:
…when you should, in the words of some famous guy, just keep on truckin’.
Without the Lightning.
Over at American Thinker, Guy Mitchell concludes that the whole CO2 scare is a load of old bollocks. Details here, but a succinct summary says, starting with the premise:
The basic premise in the man-made global warming hypothesis is that CO2 molecules in the lower troposphere, emitted by the burning of fossil fuels on Earth, absorb the LWIR photons emitted as the Earth cools. The CO2 molecules “trap” the heat energy in the photon, which causes the troposphere to warm. Then the CO2 molecule reradiates an LWIR photon of the same wavelength it absorbed back to the Earth’s surface, which warms the Earth’s surface. The more CO2 molecules that are emitted into the troposphere by burning fossil fuels, the more heat is trapped and reradiated back to the Earth’s surface, increasing atmospheric and surface warming in a never-ending cycle.
Conclusion (after a whole bunch of actual, you know, data and science and stuff, emphasis added):
Scientific analysis using publicly available data demonstrates that an LWIR photon emitted by a CO2 molecule in the Earth’s lower troposphere does not penetrate the oceans’ surface to a depth greater than 100 μm, thereby having no effect on the ocean’s temperature. The ARGO Float Program temperature measurements of the world’s oceans confirm those scientific analyses.
And:
Therefore, if the first principles of science and observational data on the ocean’s temperature indicates that CO2 emissions cannot heat the world’s oceans, why does the U.N. IPCC continue to promote the global warming hypothesis? The legal definition of fraud is intent to deceive.
Yeah, we all knew that.
Insty has noted that even Ultra-Rich Asshole Bill Gates is getting a little fearful of the coming draconic enforcement of the Green New Deal (a.k.a. Net Zero 2030 and similar tropes). Maybe he’s afraid that his corporate jet may be banned, or something.
In Virginia, the Republican (natch) VAGov is going to walk back on their similarly-stupid mandate for Duracell cars (EVs):
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) is looking to repeal the state’s electric vehicle mandate if his party does well in Virginia’s November elections.
A spokeswoman for the governor claimed the mandate, which adopts California‘s strict air quality standards and is designed to increase the use of electric vehicles, has had poor results in California. Virginia’s adherence to the mandate was put in place during former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, making Virginia one of only 17 states tied to California’s emission standards.
Wait: seventeen states have signed on to this foolishness?
Anyway, while this other Glenn has the right idea, I’m a little miffed that he’s using the “anti-California” mantra to stop his state from falling into chaos instead of pointing out that the entire eco-frenzy is not only unsupportable (by the actual science) but also unsustainable (in terms of its implementation.
But hey, whatever works, right?
I just hope that the Virginia Republicans use this as a campaign issue, but I fear that a lot of them may not only have bought into the EV-foolishness, but even of not, be afraid to use it lest the ecofreaks and Jackals Of The Press [much overlap] go all hair-on-fire on them.
Here’s the Hall of Shame:
Alfa Romeo?????
As for the rest, I hope they all go out of business.
No doubt, some of them will continue to sell gasoline-powered cars here in the U.S. (to keep their poxy profits up), but as for me: I wouldn’t buy any of their offerings, just on principle.
“Climate warriors”, my aching right foot.
Here are two different stories, but with a common link. First, the news from Volkswagen:
Volkswagen’s managing director has warned the sale of electric vehicles is ‘stagnating’ as a poll revealed just 2 per cent of drivers would buy one in the near future.
Alex Smith warned there are currently few incentives to buy EVs.
He claimed sales are in ‘stagnation’ with EVs still ‘relatively expensive’ compared to petrol and diesel cars, adding: ‘It’s true to say that with the retail price of an electric car, you will find a premium.’
Not so much “find” as “get beaten about the head by” that premium, but let me not interrupt the thread.
It came as a poll of 2,375 UK motorists found that just 2 per cent would buy an EV right now. The survey, carried out for industry body the Society for Motor Manufactures and Traders found more than half are not planning to buy one until 2026 or later.
The figures led to growing calls for more support for private buyers to switch to EVs ahead of the planned ban on new petrol and diesel car sales from 2030.
The “support” is, of course, a bribe I mean government subsidy. Funded with taxpayer money.
But apart from the price “premium” (exorbitant cost), why would people’s enthusiasm for Duracell cars be weakening? Of course, there’s that small matter of there being not enough power sockets — even in tiny Britishland — to replenish the battery when the juice runs low: “Oh, the government should just pay for those” (with taxpayer money).
Then there’s this little wrinkle in EV ownership:
An electrical vehicle fire at Nissan Headquarters Tuesday afternoon required several more hours and 45 times more gallons of water to put out than a conventional vehicle fire.
It’s a challenge the Franklin Fire Department warns “all fire departments are struggling with” because lithium-ion battery fires often cannot be extinguished until the battery cell has released its energy.
Firefighters were dispatched around 4:42 p.m. after the car caught fire in the parking lot of 1 Nissan Way. According to Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King, the vehicle, a Nissan Leaf, had been charging on a Level 3 charger, which is the fastest charging device.
That’s when its lithium-ion battery cell reportedly overheated, went into a thermal runaway condition and caught fire. He said firefighters applied water to cool the battery cell for several hours before the fire was extinguished.
No damage occurred to the charger or other vehicles. According to King, firefighters are accustomed to responding to conventional vehicle fires, which are typically put out with one fire engine and anywhere from 500 to 1,000 gallons of water.
However, Tuesday’s fire required nearly 45,000 gallons of water and multiple units, including an engine, tower, battalion chief, rescue, hazmat, and an air response vehicle. In a news release, the fire department urged EV owners to take precautions against fires.
The very best precaution against these kinds of fires, one would think, would be not to buy these spontaneously-combusting wheeled Roman candles in the first place.
As for dealing with the fires themselves: I think that every charging station should be required to have a large tank of water — maybe double the size of a normal backyard swimming pool — so that the fire department can just push the burning vehicle into it until it’s completely submerged.
Then, when all the fuss has subsided and the fire has finally died, the car’s owner should be required to drink a pint of water from the tank.
And now I think I need to head off to the range, because when I read how Gummint is trying to force everyone to buy one of these fucking firebombs, I can feel myself going into a “thermal runaway condition”.
Here’s a way to deal with the Glue Movement — okay, first a little background from Reader Mike L.:
Coco Gauff’s U.S. Open semifinal victory over Karolina Muchova was delayed by 50 minutes because of a disruption by four environmental activists in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands Thursday night. One protester glued his bare feet to the concrete floor.
My first reaction to this little reindeer game was to think: “If they’re glued to the floor, they can’t run away, can they?”
Which led to the following (perhaps unworthy) visual:
Oh sure, like I’m the only one who thought of that when reading the article…