What You Need to Know About The Kyoto Protocol

A lot of people don't understand why the U.S. is refusing to go along with the Kyoto protocol and blame the Bush administration for being environmentally unfriendly.

The Kyoto protocol is an agreement among nations to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other "Greenhouse Gases" they produce. Carbon dioxide is believed by some scientists to be a cause for what they think is a "Global Warming" trend.

First of all, it isn't just the Bush administration. Under the Clinton administration, the Senate voted 98 to 0 NOT to support the Kyoto protocol. Only Al Gore and a few other enviro-wackoes are staunch supporters of the protocol. No one who understands the issues supports the Kyoto protocol.

One has to wonder if the protocol was written specifically to punish the United States and other leading countries of the world. The protocol is very unfair. For instance, it would require the U.S. and other leading countries to reduce their emissions of "Greenhouse Gases" by 11% below 1992 levels.

However, the protocol would exempt China, India, and many other developing countries entirely. Also it allows the swapping of carbon dioxide credits. Countries that produce too much carbon dioxide could buy credits from countries below their limit.

BUT HERE'S WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU.....

While reducing "Greenhouse Gases" by 11% doesn't sound like too much, because of our growth since 1992, we would have to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels by 30%. This is HUGE!

Can you imagine what it would be like if for two days out of the week we could use no fossil fuel... no gasoline, no diesel, no jet fuel, no heating oil, no natural gas, no coal? You'd have no electricity, no transportation, no TV or radio, no telephone, no lights, no air conditioning or heating, no cooking, no restraurants, no manufacturing, no job.

Needless to say, the Kyoto protocol would destroy our economy and our way of life!

The protocol just went into effect on February 5, 2005. Many of the industrialized countries that signed the treaty are just now realizing what it is going to mean to their economies. Canada, England, Germany and many other countries don't think they will be able to meet their commitments. They are hoping they can buy enough credits to keep their economies afloat.

The Kyoto protocol has cost these economies over $22,000,000,000 since February 5, 2005. It is estimated that it will cost over 100 Trillion dollars to reduce the world's temperature by 1 degree Celius, less than 2 degrees Farenheit!

I haven't even touched on whether or not global warming is real. After studying all the evidence I can find, I am VERY SKEPTICAL! Humans and all other animals on the planet breath in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. All vegetation breathes in carbon dioxide and produces oxygen by photosynthesis. If there is an abundance of carbon dioxide one would think that there would be an increase in vegetation to bring things back into equilibrium.

Also, while 2,200 scientists who have studied the problem signed a statement claiming humans are causing global warming over 22,000 (that's ten times as many) scientists have signed a statement that refutes their findings.

For instance, just five of the largest volcanoes starting with Krakatoa in 1883 and ending with Mt. St. Helens have put more pollution into the air than man has since the Industrial Revolution. Even if we reduced our "Greenhouse Gases" to zero, Mother Nature would continue to put a lot carbon dioxide into the air.

There is strong evidence that the Earth is actually cooling not warming. We are actually heading into another Ice Age.

Ethanol- Alternative Fuel or Farce?

Our State and Federal politicians have pulled one of the greatest scams in the history of governments. What started out as a replacement for the gasoline additive MTBE Congress has mandated the use of Ethanol as an alternative fuel to reduce our need for fossil (petroleum) fuels.

Most gasolines sold in the Midwest and East already had about 10% Ethanol by volume. Recent Federal regulations have forced the use of Ethanol up to 85% by volume and are forcing automobile makers to produce Flex-fuel cars.

MTBE is both an octane enhancer and an oxygenate. Oxygenates are required in California gasolines to reduce pollutants caused by incomplete burning of gasoline in the engine.

California banned MTBE because of possible ground water contamination. Seems that a few underground service station tanks were found to be leaking. Some scientists suggest that MTBE could be harmful if it gets into underground water aquifers. However, the EPA feels that not enough is known about the harmful affects of MTBE to warrant setting limits for it in drinking water.

As is typical in California, rather than fix the problem, they banned MTBE without doing an economic or risk analysis. Of course it never occurred to them to require better underground storage facilities, e.g. double-walled tanks, leak detection devices, concrete tank containers, etc.

Naturally, other states followed California's lead and banned MTBE in favor of Ethanol.

Since there are no pipelines for transporting ethanol, the ethanol has to be trucked or shipped through the Panama Canal. Some estimates have shown using ethanol in California gasolines would add another $0.50 per gallon.

The nominal rationale for adding ethanol to gasoline is to improve the supply of gasoline and add an oxygenate. However, is this the real reason and is it a wise move?

In this country ethanol is made from corn and other grain products. The process requires a lot of heat. The heat comes from furnaces that burn natural gas.

It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than you get out of it when it is burned. A recent study found that it takes 1.49 gallons of ethanol to make a gallon of ethanol. This takes into account the energy required to grow the corn, harvest it, transport it to the distillery, convert it to Ethanol, and transport the Ethanol to terminals to blend into gasoline.

Also, Ethanol contains less than 70% as much energy as gasoline (77,000 BTU/Gal. versus 116,000 BTU/Gal. for gasoline). Therefore, you would have to burn 1.5 gallons of Ethanol to drive a car as far as a gallon of gasoline would.

Using about 3 gallons of Ethanol to save a gallon of gasoline is hardly a way to improve our use of energy resources.

The real reason the government mandates that ethanol be added to gasoline is to provide another market for farmers' corn crops. Now the government has mandated the use of Ethanol as an alternative fuel to replace petroleum-base gasoline and is providing subsidies to farmers who grow corn to make gasoline.

THIS IS NUTS!

Not only has this crazy idea increased the cost of gasoline considerably, it has raised the cost of many food products dependent on corn, including meat. Corn is used a feed for a variety of farm animals, including beef, chickens, and pigs.

This insane Federal policy has not decreased our need for oil imports, it has raised the cost of many food products, and it has created food shortages around the world.

So the next time you hear a politician say that Ethanol is helping our energy situation, just smile and say, "Yeah, right!"

What can you do about it? Write your State and Federal Congress people and tell them to stop this madness. Better yet, at the next election vote these idiots out of office.

I Used to Know It All

When I was younger, I used to know everything. Now as I am getting older I find that I am forgetting more than I am learning. Therefore, I am getting dumber every day.

Before I reach the inevitable ending, I thought I'd better pass along some of the knowledge and wisdom I have accumulated along the way.

The articles in this Blog are my opinions solely. Please feel free to add your comments. I will try to answer your questions as rapidly as possible.