Global Warming

E veryone knows that $4 gasoline in 2008 finally led Americans to abandon their gas guzzlers and start buying gas sippers - right? Turns out, everyone is wrong. According to a new report released with little fanfare last week by the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans bought vehicles in 2008 that averaged only 0.4 mpg better than a year earlier, when gas cost nearly 50 cents less. Yes, some car buyers looked for ways to drive cheaper. Some dealers ran out of highly efficient hybrids.

April 22 is Earth Day. It was on that day in 1970 that Americans made the decision to get involved with the environment, its preservation and beauty. And now, 41 years later, the environment is the focus of many awareness groups and is ever-present in political dialogue. The Climate Change Initiative of Howard County is one such group. This grassroots organization's mission is to inspire and engage residents in efforts such as reducing the county's “carbon footprint,” or carbon emissions that harm the environment.

This week I saw 50 years into the future of Chesapeake Bay: Bring boots. For days, offshore winds, with a little boost from the approaching full moon, pushed tides from Long Island to Baltimore about 1.5 feet higher than predicted. Around the lower Eastern Shore, it meant wading to take a walk and avoiding low-lying roads. It also meant parking lots flooded, docks underwater, marshes submerged. Some schools let out early so buses could avoid rising waters, and there were concerns about response times for fire trucks and ambulances due to the flooding.

Tomorrow is not an option. Those ought to be the words coming from the White House right now on global warming. Never again can we tolerate a year like 2009, when attempts to cap carbon pollution go nowhere. Already this month, President Barack Obama has confirmed two painful truths. First: Congress will not complete work on a global warming bill in 2009. And second, the corollary blow: There will be no international climate deal in Denmark next month, dashing years of international hopes.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. Articles  • Our dearly departed: Crime boss Whitey Bulger arrested. ( LAT )  • A very slow exit: Obama moves toward exit from Afghanistan. ( Reuters )  • Target marijuana: Ron Paul, Barney Frank seek to decriminalize pot. ( AFP )

I am encouraged by the conciliatory article in the aftermath of the midterm elections ("Change wins again," editorial, Nov. 4). My question would be whether or not Rep. John Boehner can really be trusted to work together with congressional Democrats. Breaking congressional gridlock was President Obama's strongly stated intention when we elected him, but from day one he was met with a stony-faced "no" from the defeated Republicans. As much as I want to trust this new promise of bipartisanship from Rep. Boehner, I'm afraid a significant percentage of the politically conservative American people he represents have for too long been influenced by those who regale them with undocumented information, e.g. that Obama is a closet Muslim, that all Muslims are plotting terrorism, that global warming is a hoax, that homosexual people are not allowed equal rights under the law, etc. It would certainly help convince me of Rep. Boehner's trustworthiness and clarify his stance to the American people if the newly elected lawmakers could begin by addressing some of these nagging issues and finally laying such rumors to rest.

I am writing In response to the July 5 letter on Columbia's open space. In order to manage storm water runoff, save us money, and be "green," CA has increased stream buffer areas and done some community reforestation centered around Earth Day and supported by grass roots groups and local residents. There is no big plan to eliminate open, unforested areas, and an area doesn't need to be a grass field in order to be considered "usable. " Many residents prefer to use open space with trees and shade.

The University of Maryland received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday for research on environmentally friendly cooling systems. The grant was part of $92 million awarded to 43 projects that the department says will speed innovation in "green" technologies. "These innovative ideas will play a critical role in our energy security and economic growth," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a statement. "It is now more important than ever to invest in a new, clean energy economy."

T his is a strange time for the promoters of apocalyptic global warming - oops, they now prefer "climate change" since the Earth hasn't been warming for a while - to assail skeptics (like me) as Sun columnist Tom Schaller did this week. (See "Climate skeptics are denying facts, not 'theories'" on this page Jan 5.) He says "deniers" are caught up in absurdities and self-delusions. It's weird timing because, much to the dismay of the believers that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are causing what will quickly be cataclysmic warming that must be thwarted by any means possible (even though there is really nothing that can effectively reverse such a climate change if it is under way)