Northern Illinois Patriots

 Not wanting to alienate any potential campaign contributors, President Obama will continue to delay a decision on Keystone XL pipeline. Standing on the left side are the self-proclaimed protectors of the earth, the Environmentalists. If they had their way we would all be living in caves, eating raw meat and grubs. Because the far left is the only base he can truly count on for reelection he must not alienate them by approving the pipeline.

Standing on the right side are the unions. They stand to gain the 20,000 jobs needed for the construction of the pipeline. The unions have bought the politicians needed to promote their membership and the administration has rewarded them with job security and impunity from persecution. If he rejects the pipeline those votes may be lost.

The Department of Energy Dependence has completely failed in their mandate to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Our President has not only embraced but funded oil exploration by foreign countries while jettisoning thousands of domestic jobs. The gulf oil spill was but an excuse to shut down domestic exploration to appease the Environmentalists and extort $20 billion dollars from BP for his campaign slush fund.

He has squandered billions on the financially unjustified development of solar and wind energy while leaving untapped, vast stores of domestic energy resources. While our nation is mired in a true unemployment rate closer to 11%, our President remains undeterred in the pursuit of an ideological agenda. Rather than having a President that is On the Ball, we have a President who prefers to sit On the Fence.

 Environmentalists can’t seem to catch a break. First it was global cooling but then they determined that our planet was instead warming. Then, to cover both bases, they decide to call it global climate change. Then the bad news: it was a hoax, results and information had been fabricated. Careers hung in the balance. The news was devastating.

But perhaps they could find their salvation in the incredible vanishing polar bear. Surely, we could all agree that man made global warming would cause the extinction of the cuddly little polar bear. Warming would cause the range of suitable habitat to shift faster than the species could adapt, hence, no more polar bears. In 2005 the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as endangered or threatened.

But the bad news continued. An NPCA study by Dr. David Legates, director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Climatic Research and state climatologist found that polar bear populations were in good shape. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international organization that has worked for 50 years to protect endangered species also issued a report. There are 20 distinct polar bear populations accounting for about 22,000 polar bears. The study showed populations have survived in both warmer and colder periods and showed no temperature related decline.

They further found that polar bear populations declined in areas that experienced temperature decreases and grew in areas that showed temperature increases. The very pillars of the environmental movement had once again been shaken. Rather than engage in proven scientific methods, they have chosen to engage in witch hunts and unsubstantiated claims.

The news of a stable thriving polar bear population must be simply Unbearable.

 If the road to hell was paved with good intentions, consumers would still not buy the Chevy Volt. First there was the outrageous claim that the Volt would get 230 miles per gallon. Then there was the claim that it would reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Then we were told that it would reduce CO2 emissions. American consumers were on to the scam and the lack of sales confirmed their sentiment.

The claim of 230 mile per gallon was just a publicity stunt designed to promote a technological and political disaster. We were told the Volt would reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. But the use of coal burning power plants to recharge the Volt increases our dependency on fossil fuels. The claim that CO2 emissions would be drastically reduced again is not supported by the facts. When we take into account the emissions produced by the gas powered engine in the Volt and the emissions produced by the coal fired power generating plants used the recharge the batteries, the amount of CO2 produced by the Chevy Volt would be equivalent to a conventional gas power vehicle that is rated at 21 miles per gallon.

 Enter Jeff Immelt. President Obama’s hand picked Job Czar, responsible for thousands of jobs being shipped overseas pledged to purchase 25,000 Chevy Volts by 2015. Sales of the super size golf cart have averaged less than 300 per month. The Washington version of “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” is a win/win for President Obama and Jeff Immelt. Jeff gives a boost to Obama Motors and the President puts Jeff on the preferred supplier list. When ever our government takes charge of the private sector nothing good will come of it. The behavior of Jeff Immelt and President Obama can best be described as Re Volt Ing.

 Another climate change case is headed to the Supreme Court. Apparently no one got the memo: Man made global climate change is a fraud. First they called it global warming and that was proven false. They then called it global climate change to cover any fluctuations in temperature that were either high or low. Environmentalists simply covered their bets on both ends. Then, the lie was discovered. Data had been falsified.

 Enter the Supreme Court. In 2007, the court declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Having no scientific background or Constitutional justification, the Justices were undeterred. Carbon Dioxide is, in fact, a nutrient necessary for the growth of plant life.

 Carbon Dioxide represents only 0.04% of our atmosphere. Only 3% of the carbon dioxide emitted annually is attributed to human activity. Carbon dioxide has been increasing steadily in our atmosphere for the past 18,000 years. Correlation does not mean causation. An increase in temperature and a corresponding increase in insect, plant, and animal life will, of necessity, increase the levels of carbon dioxide.

 But environmental activists have never let facts get in the way of their political agenda. We now have a Judiciary that is a willing partner in achieving their goals. It is not man and his inventions but the Supreme Court that has created a Hostile Environment.

 With the price of gas above $3.50 a gallon in all but one state, there are signs that Americans are cutting back on driving, reversing a steady increase in demand for fuel. President Obama’s all out assault on fossil fuels is finally paying dividends. But there is a silver lining in that dark cloud.

The answer to our energy and global warming crises has been in front of us all along: the BICYCLE. Bicycles consume no petrochemicals and produce no pollution, except for the occasional emission coming from the rider. As an added bonus we are already reducing our dependency on foreign oil. As the United States and China pass on the roads of Prosperity and Disparity, changes are coming. Soon, all Chinese will be driving cars and all Americans will be riding bicycles. And let’s not forget the health benefits: weight reduction and an improved cardio vascular system.

But if President Obama is to be a role model for energy conservation he must lead by example, perhaps fewer trips on Air Force One or maybe a smaller plane. Instead of those fuel guzzling limos, he could take more walks or use one of those fancy Chevy Volts. And for this winter, he could turn down that thermostat and put on a jacket.

But a government run by elitists does not subject itself to the same sacrifices that it routinely inflicts on its citizenry. We have allowed ourselves to feel shamed for becoming the most prosperous and successful nation the world has seen. President Obama promised he would fundamentally transform our nation, a promise he intends to keep. So the next time you are going to work, rather than fire up the SUV or the BMW, just hop on your Bicycle.

 President Obama seems obsessed with the color green: greenbacks and green jobs. While he is setting a record pace on printing greenbacks he is mired in the reality of economically noncompetitive green technologies and green jobs. Unfamiliar with and detached from the realities and constraints of free market principles, he appears to be doubling down on his clean energy objectives.

A US solar production facility that received $500 million in stimulus has closed factories and laid off thousands of workers. Solar and Wind energy production combined produce less than 1% of our nation’s energy. Solar, wind, and other alternate energy sources are not economically competitive. They are expensive to produce and install and must be subsidized by the government.

Even if green energy could economically compete with conventional energy sources, a hostile business environment would send those jobs overseas. When the President says “We fell down on the job”, the “We” really means “He”. Devoid of an understanding of the supply and demand and the economics of a free market system, President Obama has sought to impose an ideological solution on a financial and energy problem.

The President’s call to invest is really a call to spend money we do not have. The trillions spent since he took office have simply added to our national debt with no tangible benefits. This administration fiddles while our economy burns. When President Obama sees European nations that have abandoned Socialism turn their economies around, he will be Green with Envy.

 In yet another example of a failed government supported, agenda driven, money robbing program, wind energy has run into a predictable problem. The only thing green about wind driven electrical energy is the money leaving the pockets of the taxpayers.

 Rather than let the free markets decide the utility of a commodity based on consumer demand and cost effectiveness, our government has decided that they know best. Having pushed the concept of wind turbines to provide pollution free energy without regard to the environmental or economic impact, the inevitable has happened. Rather than learn from the experience of Great Britain, our government has chosen to ignore the facts and repeat their mistakes.

 Great Britain has the greatest available shoreline winds available in Europe and has invested heavily in wind turbine technology. They have concluded that wind turbines are expensive to build and maintain and must be subsidized by the government to compete with existing energy sources.

 CapeWind, off Cape Cod, has outlasted a decade of government review, a slew of court brawls and fierce opposition from mariners, fishermen, Indian tribes, and Kennedys just to win the right to sell its wind-fueled electricity. It sold half its power to a Public Utility but has found no other takers because the cost of wind generated power is not competitive with conventional sources.

 Our government wants to be judged on good intentions. But good intentions do not dictate supply and demand economics. Wind energy may one day be feasible and competitive but that day is not today. It is not the wind off the New England coast that is a force to be reckoned with, it is the Washington Blowhards.

 After the global warming alarm was exposed as a hoax, climate change advocates were forced to come up with the new word to scare us into pouring billions of dollars into projects them deemed worthy.

 Our atmosphere is comprised of approximately 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. Carbon dioxide represents 0.04% of our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in not a pollutant; it is in fact a nutrient necessary for growth of plant life. Rather than report the facts alarmists would rather enflame emotions. Of the total greenhouse gasses emitted, only 0.3% can be attributed to man. Approximately 99.7% of greenhouse gasses are due to natural causes (non-manmade). Of the 186 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere annually, on 6 billion tons are from humans.

 To borrow an old expression, “Correlation does not mean causation”. Carbon dioxide levels have been steadily rising for the past 18,000 years. If there is an increase in temperature, it is not the increase in carbon dioxide that is raising the temperature; it is the increase in temperature that is raising the carbon dioxide levels. As we have emerged from the most recent ice age, more land mass has become exposed. This increased exposure leads to more vegetation, more insects, and more animal life. A natural byproduct of this increase in life is an increase in carbon dioxide.

 We must be good stewards of out planet and minimize the impact we will have on future generations. But we must not allow self-proclaimed guardians of the earth dictate how we should lead our lives. Based on their luxury Cancun vacation they have turned ecocide into Chic-O-Cide.