Mr. President: Regulate Our Emissions Now or We Face Extinction

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/mr-president-regulate-now-or-we-face-extinction

President Obama has decided that since Congress won’t act on anything, he’s going to get things done with his regulatory agencies. He may want to start with the EPA if he wants humans to continue living on this planet over the next few generations.

There’s a crisis in the arctic, and we’re helping cause it. And the EPA may be able to do something about it.

Here’s the situation: As greenhouse gases increase, our planet warms – and CO2 is now above 400 parts per million for the first time in the 165,000-year history of humans on this planet. This January was, worldwide, the fourth warmest on history and arctic sea ice was the fourth-lowest level in the history of satellite measurements.

As the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notes, “In the atmosphere, 500-millibar height pressure anomalies correlate well with temperatures at the Earth's surface.” This is fancy science-speak for “temperatures are associated with atmospheric pressure.”

[yeoman6987]

1. I was stunned

I could not believe that when I moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland that Maryland only checked car emissions every two or three years. That seem unacceptable to me. Pennsylvania tests your car every year and they fail cars when they don't have the requirements. Maryland is so much more liberal than Pennsylvania but yet doesn't take environment as seriously as Pennsylvania. I just just disappointed. Even my liberal friends say that Pennsylvania is just using it as a revenue. Maryland having it every 2-3 years is enough. I say either we take emissions seriously or we don't.

[seveneyes]

2. Emission checks are not to reduce CO2

In fact, a properly tuned engine will produce the maximum amount of CO2. The checks are for unburned hydrocarbons and other compounds that are harmful to the living.