California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming [...] Chu warned of water shortages plaguing the West and Upper Midwest and particularly dire consequences for California, his home state, the nation's leading agricultural producer.In a worst case, Chu said, up to 90% of the Sierra snowpack could disappear, all but eliminating a natural storage system for water vital to agriculture.
"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he said. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California." And, he added, "I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going" either.
A Sierra Club propagandist? A Gore trainee? Nope - joke's on Chu, America. He's Obama's new energy secretary!
Whoops - better put a hold on those buggy whips...
[Obama's regulatory czar] has made no secret of his devotion to the cause of establishing legal “rights” for livestock, wildlife, and pets. “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture,” Sunstein wrote in a 2002 working paper while at the University of Chicago Law school.
“Extensive regulation of the use of animals.” That's PETA-speak for using government to get everything PETA and the Humane Society of the United States can't get through gentle pressure or not-so-gentle coercion. Not exactly the kind of thing American ranchers, restaurateurs, hunters, and biomedical researchers (to say nothing of ordinary consumers) would like to hear from their next “regulatory czar.”
From tax evasion, to terrorist pardons, to granting your goldfish the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - is there nothing that an Obama cabinet can't do?
Lord help us.
Look for yet another "I screwed up" from Obama with the MSM loving him even more.
looks like Barry is real nutter magnet . . . they just home in on his crazy beacon.
Can Obama and his crew really be as bad as this... Yes. Yes they can!
As much as I hate to say this, I have to beieve that American have used up most of the available water supplies. If I recall correctly, the Colorado River runs out of water before reaching the sea. And, the water in the Colorado is used so many times for watering that it's so loaded with fertilizer that it won't grow anything in the last few miles.
This guy may not be all that far off the mark. Why do we have so many people attempting to acquire licenses to import water FROM Canada?
via Newmarksdoor
J. Scott Armstrong, noted professor of marketing at Wharton and author one of one of the best-written textbooks I've ever read--Long Range Forecasting, out of print but now available free--concludes that forecasts of global warming are not scientific (the paper is co-authored with Kesten C. Green). A couple of the highlights:
We have concluded that the forecasting process reported on by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lacks a scientific basis.
1. No scientific forecasts of the changes in the Earth’s climate. Currently, the only forecasts are those based on the opinions of some scientists. Computer modeling was used to create scenarios (i.e., stories) to represent the scientists’ opinions about what might happen. The models were not intended as forecasting models (Trenberth 2007) and they have not been validated for that purpose. Since the publication of our paper, no one has provided evidence to refute our claim that there are no scientific forecasts to support global warming.
We conducted an audit of the procedures described in the IPCC report and found that they clearly violated 72 scientific principles of forecasting (Green and Armstrong 2008). (No justification was provided for any of these violations.) For important forecasts, we can see no reason why any principle should be violated. We draw analogies to flying an aircraft or building a bridge or performing heart surgery—given the potential cost of errors, it is not permissible to violate principles.
2. Improper peer review process. To our knowledge, papers claiming to forecast global warming have not been subject to peer review by experts in scientific forecasting. . . .
5. Forecasts are needed of the costs and benefits of alternative actions that might be taken to combat climate change. Assuming that climate change could be accurately forecast, it would be necessary to forecast the costs and benefits of actions taken to reduce harmful effects, and to compare the net benefit with other feasible policies including taking no action. Here again we have been unable to find any scientific forecasts despite our appeals for such studies.
Is it too soon to break out the "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For McCain" bumper stickers?
Mike,your remark about the Colorado is entirely correct. The river doesn't really enter the Gulf of California any more, it just ends in a salt swamp. However, this has nothing to do with Chu's remarks. He's claiming that California will run short of water because of the melting of the Sierra snowpacks because of climate change.
Fact is, California has too many people for its current water use demands given the supply available naturally, whether climate change reduces the supply or not. The southern half is a desert, after all. There's no shortage of water, however, there's only a shortage of potable water. The problem could be solved if the state would introduce large scale desalination, but it's plagued with far too many antinukes for this to be a solution.
However did people manage? Hmm. I guess they grew their own vegetables and canned them for year-round use. How terrible.
California's going bankrupt anyway. The last person will have left long before the water dries up.
Almost makes one long for sharia. Indeed, if it weren't for Islamist thugs, I think we'd be seeing a lot of conversions to Islam.
California has been whipping buggies for years. The larger the ride, the more whipping it has been given. Public whippings, at least -- the people have been buying what they need, despite the screaming in the press.
Great....looks like the Yanks have their own version of David Suzuki.
Good luck with that.
Prediction: a new bill will protect the rights of all animals except homo sapiens, from conception to natural death.
Eating chicken eggs will become a moral outrage.
if california dries up its okay, canada will not export water no matter how much water it imports in the form of produce. no more chardonney for the art set. no more coors for the beer and popcorn group.
we can sit back smug in our knowledge that 90% of our water will run out to sea unused but loved by every greeny and dipper in the country.
meanwhile CBCpravda promotes the 100km challenge , try scrounging all your food from a 100k around churchill, or have 5 million fold scrounge within 100 k of toronto, or make sure you only sell to folks within a 100k of delisle.
In China, nearly every animal available is used for food, clothing, medicine and any other purpose they can think of. China is now the largest CO2 emitter on Earth and I'm fairly confident that they produce a drop or two of real pollutants as well.
Google "World's biggest CO2 emitters."
Their political leaders must be herniating themselves from laughing so hard at the increasingly ignorant, stupid and delusional western societies.
What a great make work project. Dig a canal from Ft. St. John to the Napa Valley. Part of the deal would be to use Canadian contractors for the entire construction phase. I'll set the grades. The water will syphon over Montana, I promise.
There's really no way to send water in any sufficient quantities. If they run out of water, they have to move on. Desalination will work for coastal areas, but large scale irrigation needs natural sources.
They can predict all they want. Even if it does warm up, changes in precipitation patterns are not predictable. A few years ago, Agriculture Canada was predicting that all of southern Alberta would be an arrid zone within 10 years. They were looking for money to fund irrigation projects. It's been raining ever since.
I see a piece on Drudge about frost covering 90% of the US tonight. I wonder if Gore has the houseboat beached to prevent ice scratches? Maybe some cultists will throw themselves into the lake to maintain an ice free moat around the boat.
Will animals then have the right to marry their former owners? I mean to say, you cannot 'own' a being if it has rights now can you?
If not why not? What are rights for but normalize abomination or is that Obamanation?
2008 is the year America went start raving mad. Pass the popcorn, this show has only just started.
there was a plan at one time to divert a portion of the peace river south to the dry part of Alberta, I know it involved hopping thru several watersheds ,
would that we be a shovel ready project.
Special Ed should have them comb the shelves of the legistlature to find the plans.
get the money before Danny Williams puts his paw out.
The bloom is fading, and it's only been two weeks.
The Upcoming Meltdown.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDA1MTkzYTc4NjA5MWQxOGNjMzU3YmZiYTJhZDQ5YTY=
Do y'all get the feeling cabinet posts are being handed out as payoffs for "favors"? So many of these guys are showing up dirty, its getting funny. The confirmation hearings are going to be a giggle, eh?
A while back I posted my concerns about who BO was putting in in these less public positions.
While everyone was cheering some of the financial appointments as being a sign of BO's moderate position he was stuffing all the lesser ones in other departments with card-carrying left-wing loons - people who are now empowered to do huge damage to the operation of commerce in the US and anyone who wishes to do business with america.
And they do not need any new legislation to be created - they have all the power they need to due enomous damage to the (global) economy.
Anyone seen anything in the MSM about this... Bueller?
cal2. the u.s. is on the other side of the great lakes and we can no more control them than we can the climate.
"jokes on Chu"
Nice one!
Chu wanna bet how long he'll last as the economy tanks??
I give him chu months.
The failed Obama administration! Chu first heard it here.
Actually I believe that California has more than enough water for its population, after all the Sierra snowpack is huge.
What happens is that most of the water is used in irrigation in the Central California valley, and therefore only a small proportion makes it as far as LA.
As for shipping Canadian water south, we get all our fresh produce from California for 8 months of the year, so I don't see the big deal in shipping them water to grow our food for us.
Didn't they scrap the $125 cow fart tax?
James is correct - the amount of h20 used for irrigation is huge and some of the methods are very antiquated and wasteful.
As for water exports from cda - certainly from some watersheds that would be unwise, but what about diverting say 5% of the fraser river's flow at a point a few hundred yards upstream from where it becomes salt? Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater on this issue.
In a related story, look at this photo of Council of Canadian dopes insisting that the Northern Alberta economy be dramatically damaged.
in and around LA there is so much "paved" ground that water can not penetrate into the ground, thus it just runs off, this is one of their problems. Another problem is that they divert much of their water to prevent flooding, and again it prevents water from seeping into the ground. So you have very little water replenishing the water table and most of the rainfall channelled into the ocean, all in a semi-desert area, thusly much of their water problems are self made. I had this discussion with a local (in SoCal) water management specialist, who predicted future (this was in the early 80T's) water shortages, guess he was correct.
Forecast for California tomorrow - Rain !
Thursday - Rain !
Friday - Rain !
Sat - Showers !
Re Cal2 and OWG - not too late to remind the Newfs that they can change their minds.
I won't be distressed if they are the first to leave and they take the unlovely Danny W with them.
They'll have plenty of water after another major earthquake or two along the fault line and most of residential California goes the way of Atlantis. In the meantime, who cares if all those dipsy hollywood actors and directors die of thirst.
Watch them push the Vegan, as well the PETA agendas on us. First will come ads saying how bad meat is . Than a consumer tax on meat like tobacco while graphically showing how meat is prepared, & that it is in reality a health risk.
Than ban BBQ's or make regulations for meat so hard it becomes a rare commodity. While this dance is being held. At the same time they will normalize animal ri9ghts to the point of civil liberties which would allow more extreme taxes on meat products.
Think I'm nuts? Just give it time.
They have already over taxed snack foods in the name of a fat plague. It will be the precursor of a peanut ban. I bet they even trot out kids allergic to meat. The left always against democracy sneaking there delusions mandatory on the popular. By stealth rather than a straight up vote. Because you all know its insane, with normal people never going along. So out come the Liberal facists to backdoor legislation or use the Courts filled with their own kind of nut.
PETA must be in ecstasy with this flake on their side.
JMO
Hey, wait, the Swiss plant rules will soon follow.
"Last spring, this small Alpine nation began mandating that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant's dignity."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122359549477921201.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Here is Al Gore being ... well, Al Gore aka A Complete Moron.
Do not forget that California has a huge unofficial antiChamber of Commerce encouraging bad news about California. Many - most! wealthy Californians are sickened by the floods of people who come to California for the climate, the glamor, the high tech. They see the new subdivisions popping up and freak out. There's plenty of money and encouragement around for those who actively discourage folks who want to come to California. They love government officials who have turned California into a business hell - hole. Free government services for their cheap illegal gardeners and cooks is great! Who cares if the firemen and policemen get $200,000 a year salaries - only the little people pay taxes. And high taxes helps discourage likely newcomers. "Welcome to California! now go home" is not funny to Californians.
"A recent paper published by Dr. Humfrey Melling of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney BC, indicated that though subsurface moorings placed through out the arctic to monitor sea ice conditions did indicate a minimal decreasing trend in sea ice thickness, ice concentration or overall coverage seemed to be increasing, at least in the Beaufort Sea. Global Climate Change aside, for the foreseeable future, sea ice through out the Northwest Passage will remain a potential barrier to passage and a challenge to the navigator.'
Warmongers drought in California yesterday, rain all this week;
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA/CENTRAL CALIFORNIA ZONE FORECAST...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA CA
804 AM PST THU FEB 5 2009
CAZ505-506-060630-
COASTAL NORTH BAY...INCLUDING POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE-
NORTH BAY INTERIOR VALLEYS-
804 AM PST THU FEB 5 2009
UPDATED FOR WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
.REST OF TODAY...WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS
5 TO 15 MPH.
.TONIGHT...SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN
THE UPPER 30S TO MID 40S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.FRIDAY...SHOWERS LIKELY AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
HIGHS IN THE 50S. EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE
UPPER 30S TO MID 40S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF
SHOWERS 50 PERCENT.
.SATURDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S TO UPPER 60S.
NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 40.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF RAIN. HIGHS IN THE 50S TO
LOWER 60S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOWS
IN THE MID 30S TO LOWER 40S. HIGHS IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S.
.MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE 30S. HIGHS IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOWS IN
THE MID 30S TO LOWER 40S.
.WEDNESDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE 50S
TO LOWER 60S.
Calif is also one of the largest grower of rice, which sucks up water galore. Not a good crop to be growing in a desert area.
After living through a couple of droughts in the San Francisco Bay Area that encompassed a good deal of Northern California, I can tell you the melt from the Sierra Nevada feeds major reservoirs that support densely populated areas. It would be a tragedy if global warming were real and the snowpack declined because then many of California's unwashed masses, and democratic constituency, would head in our general direction. That lunacy was left happily behind 20 years ago.