Climate Change

the space between black and white

Keystone files new alignment

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Keystone at it again! I haven’t seen the new alignment, but an email was forwarded to me,

From: Mike Harroun [mailto:mike_harroun@transcanada.com]
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:45 AM
To: its@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Transportation Studies and Traffic Plans

Good morning,

I was wondering if you might be able to help me (or direct me to someone who may be able to).  We are looking at understanding what goes into the creation of transportation studies and traffic plans (both domestic and international ground, rail, marine, and air, depending the methods you are using).  Are their specific regulations or guidelines that outline what, as a minimum, needs to be reviewed and included in either of these documents (including any engineering needs for bridges, road, etc.)? 

Any assistance you could provide would be great!  Thanks very much for your time!

Regards,

Mike Harroun

HS&E Coordinator

Facilities Projects

TransCanada

TransCanada Tower

450 – 1 Street SW

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

T2P 5H1

How many ways can one say “I’m sorry. I’m not the right person to ask.”

Heartland Scores…

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In case you hadn’t seen it, two days ago the Heartland Institute ran a billboard campaign that equated scientists and members of the general public who are worried about climate change to the Unabomber. The response was overwhelming and shortly thereafter the Heartland Institute claimed it was running an “experiment” and quickly took it down.

The really fascinating part was how offended they were by the level of intensity of the responses. Clearly, they don’t read the comment section in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal or even the Sacramento Bee, where rightwing commenters routinely berate those that post anything that might seem even remotely moderate.

Fighting ‘pseudoscience’ with UC admissions

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The LA Times reported yesterday that “climate change skepticism” was increasingly being taught in the classroom with, of course, big oil Texas leading the way. A watchdog group, the National Center for Science Education, will announce today they will be monitoring the teaching of climate change in the classroom. This same group was instrumental in defending the teaching of evolution in classrooms.

What I found really interesting though was a comment posted last night,

The University of California (and the CSU system as well) should step in and nip this in the bud.   UC and CSU should put school-boards (in-state and out-of-state) on notice that science classes that fail to present the scientific consensus (or present pseudoscientific denial arguments) regarding global warming will not fulfill UC/CSU admissions requirements. Science classe that present material from web-sites like wattsupwiththat and other sources of pseudoscience should absolutely not be counted toward UC/CSU admission.   

Fly to Durban or drive a year in a Lincoln Navigator

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In the last few years, it’s become very trendy to fly to different places either for investigative purposes (e.g., CPUC to Europe for energy efficiency; honestly, it’s really not that hard), or to brag (e.g., the state contingency that flew to Copenhagen a few years back).

The Pace Law Blog just published this piece with good advice on how to gauge the benefits of your attendance at these events:

Each participant ought to ask themself the question: is my participation going to lead to the equivalent of one Lincoln Navigator being taken off the road for the next year?