MY EARTH DAY MANIFESTO:AL GORE CAN KISS MY CARBON FOOTPRINT

Well, it's Earth Day. A day of celebration even though some of it's founders have turned out to be absolute psychopaths and some are truly showing their Eco fascist and anti-democratic feelings:

"Writing for Forbes Magazine, climate change alarmist Steve Zwick calls for skeptics of man-made global warming to be tracked, hunted down and have their homes burned to the ground, yet another shocking illustration of how eco-fascism is rife within the environmentalist lobby."
 
"‘Gaia hypothesis’ creator James Lovelock asserted that “democracy must be put on hold” to combat global warming and that “a few people with authority” should be allowed to run the planet because people were too stupid to be allowed to steer their own destinies." -INFOWARS
 
Scary stuff! But, not surprising when you remember that President Obama originally picked the likes of  people like Van Jones to be his "Green Czar" too.
 
As for me. I'm all for the environment and helping the earth. I've been doing it for decades using my own money not other peoples. Here's a photo of my latest project:
 

It's the heart of my whole house LED lighting system. As you can see it is still a work in progress. But, it has been operating for over a year at the BCP World Headquarters. During the day two solar panels charge the battery bank on the right. Then at dusk LED lights like this one:

come on in every room in my house and allow me to walk around without turning on a single grid connected light in my wanderings. It's much better than any program the Federal Government has come up with. Mainly because no Government subsidies, grants or tax breaks were used to build the system. It's truly green because it not only helps the earth but, also saves me money by not having to pay the utility company to light my house. That's what being green should be all about. As far as I'm concerned people like Al Gore can kiss my carbon footprint! Being conservative is all about conservation.  But, not in BIG money wasting Government programs.  The eco fascist onn the Left just don't get that.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS CLUELESS AND RECKLESS!

First it was Federal GSA employees gone wild in Las Vegas on the taxpayers dime.

The town Obama warned us about but, obviously did not tell his wife and daughters. Because they also got to party in Sin City recently at taxpayer expense too.


Now along those same lines of stupidity comes the Department of Energy offering software developers $100,000 in prize money to develop apps that have already been invented and are on the market:

"The Department of Energy announced Thursday a $100,000 prize for software developers to come up with mobile applications to tell consumers how much energy they are using.
But there’s already an app for that.
A quick scan of the iTunes and Android markets shows nearly two dozen existing applications that accomplish the same purpose — helping users keep track of their energy consumption at home."-Daily Caller

Once again the Obama administration shows how clueless it is as what is going on in the private sector and how reckless they are with taxpayers money!

The Lying Liberal Lion Ted Kennedy Dies

I sometimes wonder if Barack Obama carries a big bundle of bad karma around with him. Considering all the people who have died that have be associated with him. There was his mother who died very young, his father in a car accident. The grandmother who raised him who died never knowing whether he ever became President. Now comes Ted Kennedy whose endorsement of Obama helped push him ahead of Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination.


I'm a registered Democrat but, I don't put Kennedy on a pedestal as Liberal Democrats do. He certainly was no profile in courage and his positions are often way off the mark as his comments on the illegal immigration through the years have shown:

1965: "The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs."-Senator Ted Kennedy


1986: "This amnesty will give citizenship to only 1.1 to 1.3 million illegal aliens. We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this." -Senator Ted Kennedy

2007: "Now it is time for action. 2007 is the year we must fix our broken system." -Senator Ted Kennedy

Then there was how he used his power to help kill the offshore windmill generation project off of Martha's Vineyard because it would ruin the views of he and his elitist neighbors. Then there was his behavior and complicity in the death of Mary Jo Kopeckne. If the Internet had been around when Kennedy drove his car off the bridge I doubt his political career would have survived as long as it did.

Energy Independence or Blowback?

"The nation's electric utilities have failed to fully survey the vulnerability of their equipment to computer-based attacks from foreign countries and hackers, a government-authorized regulatory group concluded this week. That assessment came as senior U.S. officials renewed warnings that experts from Russia, China and other nations have been trying for years to probe and exploit those vulnerabilities. "-Washington Post

I wonder where these countries got the idea to use software to cripple a country's electric grid. Perhaps from the CIA which did exactly the same thing when it loaded bugged software into Russian computers that caused gas valves in a Russian gas pipeline to malfunction resulting in a major pipeline explosion during the cold war. As the song says "Teach your children well" and don't forget payback is a bitch!
Meanwhile all the talk about a "smart electric grid" seems to me like just a big PR effort to justify spending hundreds billions of dollars on such a system. It's to make the sheeple feel like someone is protecting them and the electricity grid so they can always charge their IPODS. Meanwhile the electric utilities and oil companies want to make sure you will always be connected to them. To me it is much more important to become completely independent from them and stories like this one show why.

Why am I not surprised

"WASHINGTON — Dropping her opposition to a vote on coastal oil exploration, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday that the House would consider expanded offshore drilling as part of broad energy legislation when Congress returns next month."- New York Times

While Nancy Pelosi and her liberal dumbocrats continue to cave in on issues like this just like they have been doing on everything from the Iraq war vote, wire taping and giving immunity to the telcom companies. With this latest flip flop on offshore oil drilling we will increase and extend our dependence on oil and push back development of new technologies. As for me I spent yesterday doing a preliminary checkout of a new 48 volt solar panel I recently bought. I am not waiting for anyone in Washington to promote any "alternative energy" proposals. Especially not the weasel Democrats.

Republican insanity

I was reading the Wall Street Journal article yesterday about how the Republicans are hoping to use drilling offshore for oil as an issue against the Democrats. Have they gone insane? First it was picking a candidate like Juan McCain who ignores the conservative middle class of the party base in favor of hispandering to the illegal immigrant vote. Now they believe that the American public will vote for them if they give the oil companies what they want which is more drilling offshore. They are just nuts if they pursue this track. They do not seem to understand that oil is not the future. We have as a nation failed to understand this during previous energy crises. That's why we are paying over $4.00 a gallon for gasoline today. Second even if the Republicans allow the oil companies to drill offshore that does not mean that the oil will be used here in the United States. We have been down this road before and it leads nowhere good. As they say the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. It seems the Republicans are insane if they think that more oil is a winning issue for them.

Renewable energy

I spent most of yesterday cutting down a tree limb on the big oak tree in front of Rancho de BCP. The limb made the tree look a little off balance. But, the real reason I decided to cut it down was it's removal would allow more early morning sun winter sun to come streaming in to the house. Once the I finish cutting the limb up it and it's branches will be used to fuel my Franklin wood stove to further provide heat in the house. A few more dollars in MY pocket and a few less sent to the gas company. And I've got a number of other trees that need trimming too.

Saving energy? Not in the Senate.

An article in today's Washington Post points out that the Senate is about to fold on the new energy bill. Here are the money quotes:

"Democratic leaders in the Senate are planning a vote on a retooled energy bill late next week after they failed to muster enough support yesterday to prevent a filibuster of ambitious legislation passed by the House on Thursday. "

"A new version of the bill will probably scale back some elements of the House's tax package and jettison a requirement that electric utilities use renewable energy for 15 percent of their power generation, but a White House veto threat citing a broad range of objections continued to cast uncertainty over the ultimate fate of the proposed legislation. "

Hmmm Why would anybody in this country not want our utilities to use even a small amount of renewable energy?

"The failure to close debate was a victory for the major oil companies, Southeastern utilities and coal-mining firms that had opposed the legislation. "

Doh! Forget I even asked the question.

First we kill the Day Traders.

As many middle class tax payers head off to work and take another non employer pay cut due to the increased price of gasoline in their commute. Some of the more intellectually curious among them may be asking the question why have prices risen so fast? There may be an answer in today's Washington Post. Here are the money quotes:

"In the past 10 weeks, the price of crude oil has shot up $25 a barrel, closing at $95.93 in New York on Friday, near an all-time inflation-adjusted peak. Unlike earlier spikes in oil prices, which came on the heels of war in the Middle East, this latest ascent does not appear to be linked to any one conflict or to any physical shortage.
Instead, traders who treat oil like any other commodity are widely thought to be driving prices upward, bolstered by a weak dollar and money flowing out of stock markets and other investment vehicles. "

To paraphrase William Shakespeare "First we kill the Day Traders" or at least cut their fiber, high speed cable and phone lines.

Speaking of energy

The natural gas meter for my house is located inside my house. Because my life keeps me on the go quite a bit it seems I have never been home when the meter reader comes by. So it has been a long time since the meter was read. So I went to Gas utilities website a few days later to see what the bill would be. Since I have modified my 1980's installed solar hot water system to provide heat for the house I figured that the gas company's estimated billing should give me some savings. They still had an estimated bill number for the account balance. Strange I thought the meter readers updated numbers should have been entered by now. So I tried to enter the actual gas meter numbers my self. The Gas Company's computer kicked it back saying: "According to our projections regarding usage you should have a reading of 1120-1175 ( my actual reading was 848). It refused to believe the numbers so i had to call a talk to a person and explain I have modified my solar hot water panels to provide heat into the house and have also made other solar and energy efficient changes to my fifty year old house to help heat it. She finally entered the new numbers into the computer and I receive a new updated bill with a $650 credit. Kaching! Houston you do have a problem because I have only begun to make energy efficient modifications to the rancho de BCP. My personal energy plan is about more money in my pocket and less heading to Houston and Saudi Arabia. Stay tuned!

Blog Action day. Shine on brightly!

Today some 15,000 blogs including BCP will participate in Blog Action Day. The blogs will be focusing on some type of enviornmental action. I have chosen to focus on my ongoing process to make things more efficient in my daily life and reducing my carbon foot print at the same time. Blog action Day give me a perfect opportunity to show my latest project. Modifying a classic the Tensor desk lamp located at the BCP Washington bureau news desk. Shown below. The lamps original 14 watt incandescent bulb blew out recently. Rather than replace it with another bulb of the same type. I decide to improve the efficiency of the lamp by changing it to an LED light. But, first a little historical tribute to it's inventor Jay Monroe.

"Jay Monroe, an engineer whose wife’s discontent over the strong light he needed for bedtime reading provoked him to invent a high-intensity, low-voltage mini lamp whose use spread to desks, jewelers’ worktables, limousines and far beyond, died on June 12 at his home in Sands Point, N.Y. He was 80.
His wife, Barbara, said he shot himself after he and his doctor had discussed the possibility that he had cancer.
Mr. Monroe created the Tensor lamp, then manufactured and sold it. The small, skinny lamp focused a narrow cone of high-intensity white light, making shapes, colors and objects appear sharper to the eye. Its first users were professionals like doctors and dentists, then older people and others with weak vision. It soon became an American staple, a lamp that students took to college, couples installed on each side of the bed and stamp collectors adored."-New York Times

The Tensor light even showed up as part of the excuse for the 18 minute gap in the Watergate tapes.

"Most notoriously, in 1973, White House officials attributed the deletion of part of a critical 18-minute tape recording during the Watergate scandal on a combination of hums from the electric typewriter and the Tensor lamp of Rose Mary Woods, President Richard M. Nixon’s secretary. Mr. Monroe, whose engineering sophistication extended to complicated weapons systems, doubted that claim, his wife said."

Well Monroe's innovative Tensor light shines on at the BCP desk. Thanks to my fitting of an LED array as a replacement bulb it does so more efficiently than at any time in it's life. It now uses less than 1 watt instead of the previous 14 watts with an incandescent bulb.




More BCP energy saving projects are coming. Keep checking into BCP for the latest energy improvements.

Al Gore can kiss my....

I'm still scratching my head after hearing the announcement that Al Gore has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his Power Point presentation about global warming. I'm all for the environment and for what each of us can to protect and preserve it. But, does Gore deserve a Noble Peace Prize? I think not. What's that smell? Hmmm smells like hypocrisy.
While the left goes crazy over the new environmental rock star status of Gore following the Oscars and now the Nobel Peace Prize. The right as expected is on the attack. I have to agree with them on this one. They are quite rightly (no pun intended) exposing the hypocrisy of political elites like Gore. Though he is looked upon as a champion of the environment his house and lifestyle raises a lot of questions. His 10,000 square foot naturally gas heated home uses 20 times the natural gas and 12 times the electrcity of the average American home. While his press people try and spin that the home is also used for Al and Tipper Gore's office. Uh huh.
As the Gore's paid spinster pushed it:

Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said: “Sometimes when people don’t like the message, in this case that global warming is real, it’s convenient to attack the messenger.”

No Krieder it's not that people don't like the message. It's that people don't like the hypocrisy!

The left is trying to circle the wagons on this false face of Gore including left leaning media henchmen like Keith Olbermann by saying Gores 20 room house is justified and "green" because the Gores pay an extra $423 dollars extra for energy provided from "green" sources. Oh please what B.S. They conveniently ignore that since the Gore's are operating a business from their home this of course becomes tax deductible. Unlike many of us middle class homeowners and others struggling to pay our bills who pay full freight for our energy use.
An even more disturbing revelation for me. Is that when you compare the homes of George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bush's home looks a lot greener than Gore's.
While the left continues to ignore the hypocrisy of Al Gore and his energy use. They lambasted the right for exposing it. But, I think the right have done the public a service. No Al Gore is not a victim. I think the Nobel Prize should have been awarded to someone who REALLY walks the walk not just gives the talk on energy conservation. Yes the real victim and the guy who should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize is ED BEGLEY Jr. A real hero of the earth. As for Al Gore he can kiss my carbon footprint!

Greening our schools with green from our wallets?

I spend much as much of my time as I can during the summer on a sailboat in the waters around Long Island. I am very much involved and aware of the natural surroundings and live with a small footprint and green with my solar panels, no air conditioning etc...but I am still able to enjoy a cold beer. When I am forced back to land I continue to keep my lifestyle the same. The solar panels that were on the boat are taken down and used to drive fans that pump solar heated air around the house. Helping my personal energy policy know as SST (starving the Saudis and Texans) it is working pretty good and every year I improve on my efficiency.
While I do practice energy efficiency in my daily life as much as possible. I am a little suspect of the recent buzz about "greening our schools". I am suspect about organizations that have as an action plan "Form a committee". Pretty soon all kinds of organizations and businesses are piling on spending money for the sake of "going green". Saving energy in homes and schools often does not require alot of money especially taxpayers money which seems is easier to spend for those in school districts than their own. As I move back on land I will be posting on this blog some of the things I do around Rancho BCP to save energy and money. They are not expensive and do help to save money, energy and the planet and you don't need to join a committee to do them.

Nuclear Power is good for something.

As is usual I picked up the POLITICO and Hill newspapers in Union Station for my trip back to Long Island from Washington. There were ads in the papers including companies like Areva promoting the "wonders" of nuclear power. I guess energy legislation is coming up in congress soon. After skimming those papers I opened up my mail and found that I was somewhat richer thanks to the nuclear power industry. Let me explain.
Back in the 1980's I was opposed to the Shoreham Nuclear Power plant here on Long Island. It really awakened my activism and involvement in politics. I did the usual things like attending rallies, wrote letters to the editors, visited my elected officials. but, I thought something was missing. That was taking my personal message to the LILCO (the utility building the nuke plant) directly. So I bought shares of stock in the company. I just did not buy one share just so I could speak at the shareholders meeting. I think people who do that get dismissed easily by the audience and the media. Lucky for me that the stock price was low and over a pretty short time I was able to buy several hundred shares. I spoke at the LILCO shareholders meeting the following year and armed with my research and statistics asked a question of the CEO about the plans for electric production when the Shoreham plant was shutdown for maintenance or an extensive outage. He could not answer it. I still remember the stunned silence from the audience of stockholders as the executive fumbled for an answer. Moving forward the Shoreham Nuclear plant never opened. LILCO became a public power utility it's gas operations were sold to KEYSPAN which was then sold recently to NATIONAL GRID. My low priced shares were finally sold to National Grid for forty two dollars a share (and had been paying dividends for several years before that to boot) When I deposit the check I feel the final cord will have been cut between me and my opposition to the Shoreham plant. But, I am still continuing to cut the cord between me and the utility companies. I keep moving forward in my own personal energy plan for Rancho de BCP aka my house. Thanks to advances in conservation and my solar additions to my house I am getting closer energy independence all the time. Meanwhile, the nuclear industry is pushing for a revival of nuclear plants. Part of me is laughing all the way to the bank. But, another part of me is ready to take them on again because unlike most other Americans and the mainstream media I HAVE READ THE MEMO!

There's something in the wind.

The elitist limo liberal Senator Ted Kennedy is at it again. First it was his leading role in trying to ram through the illegal immigrant amnesty bill through the Senate. Now he is continuing to fight offshore wind energy projects off the coast of Nantucket because as his nephew Robert Kennedy Jr put it:
"the project would be built in one our family’s favorite sailing and yachting areas.”
As U.S. troops continue to die in Iraq to make sure that we will have access to it's oil fields and alternative energy sources like wind power would decrease our dependence on this oil. It has become increasingly clear that we need to take back our country from family political elites like the Kennedy's and the Bush's because they are only going to do what is good for their own interests and not what is good for America.

Time for new energy

As the summer winds down the Washington Post has an article about some companies exploring new clean energy technologies. I am reminded it is time for me to think about ramping up the BCP energy plan for winter. I'll be posting about it from time to time in the near future.

Save your energy President Bush

While George Bush was out visiting the latest example of our failing U.S. infrastructure with his dog and pony show. The House passed an energy bill that would among other things require utilities to get 15% of their energy from renewable sources like solar and wind. But our clueless President George Bush threatened a veto because the bill did not encourage increased drilling for oil. Ah, Mr President that is the point of using renewable energy in the first place.

Live Earth, Wind and Wildfires

Well the private jets have taken all the rock stars back to one of their homes after Al Gore's Live Earth concerts around the world attempted to entertain and educate a few members of the earth's population about how nature is the real decider and not George Bush after all. Of course those of us who spend time sailing and outdoors already know that. I guess ultimately it is good to get some of our youth away from their video games, Ipods and stopping them from text messaging for a little bit and remind them about the natural world we live in.
Meanwhile, on Nantucket Island a bunch of wealthy homeowners are trying to rake the ocean bottom in a vane attempt to stop the natural erosion that is occurring on the bluffs that their homes sit on. They want permission to dredge up sand to temporarily stop the shoreline erosion so they can enjoy their views for a few more years. This is the same crowd that will complain and have their political connections in Washington throw up roadblocks when companies attempt to put offshore wind farms off the coast that would provide clean wind energy and help lessen our dependence of non renewable energy resources like oil and gas. But, of course their views literally come first.
Meanwhile, nature is sending another message to those people living out west in the woods and forest in the form of wildfires burning yet again. But, it does make pretty pictures for the mainstream news media to keep showing over and over on TV. Though they could save lots over money just re airing the video of the last fires. It is a reminder from nature that these people are living under it's rules. It is also a reminder to me that there is a reason why middle class communities like mine have a volunteer fire departments

I got your energy plan. Right here!

Two influential House Democrats backed away yesterday from proposals that had split members of their party and delayed debate on energy legislation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed to pass before July 4.-Washington Post

What a surprise! This is why I don't wait for Washington to solve the country's energy problems. I have my own energy policy which is to keep as much money in my pocket and put less into the wallets of the Texans and Saudis. And it is working! In fact sometimes to much. This week the BCP energy plan is to cover up the solar panels on the roof because the sun is causing too much heat to be contained in the storage tank. That is my energy plan this week.

Policy made behind closed doors does not work!

President Bush did another smoke and mirrors show in the White house Rose garden yesterday to give the appearance that this former oil man actually is concerned about the high price of oil. It seems the Bush Administration was more concerned about keeping the names of those who attended the behind closed door meeting to discuss energy policy several years ago. Does the White house really think anyone really believes the President anymore?
"We're taking action by taking the first steps toward rules that will make our economy stronger, our environment cleaner and our nation more secure," Bush said."

Excuse me while I spit! Meanwhile, across town the Democrats are doing their own little deal behind closed doors regarding illegal immigration. The back room meetings the Bush Administration held was wrong and the illegal immigration meetings pushed by the Democrats to pass the McCain/Kennedy amnesty bill is wrong also. I'm sure whatever emerges will not be in the best interests of the American taxpayer. Harry Reid will be attempting to push the legislation on illegal immigration to a vote. Someone needs to remind Senator Reid that the illegal immigration issue is to important to America to not have a full debate and allow time for people to look at the bill that emerges from behind closed doors. Perhaps Mitt Romney had the money quote:
"McCain-Kennedy gives benefits to illegals that would cost taxpayers millions. And more importantly: Amnesty didn't work 20 years ago, and it won't work today."
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