US Temps Will Be 20 Degrees Than Usual -- Not Reported In Mainstream Media

A record (?) low temperature was set at Indianapolis today during the NASCAR race -- it if didn't set a record low, it was awful close. Not reported in mainstream media; one has to really look for these things when Mother Nature refuses to follow the script.

MailOnline is reporting: What happened to the heatwave? Temperatures will drop 20 degrees below July averages.

Many Americans are reaching for their jackets less than a week after a sweltering heat wave pushed temperatures to record highs, as a cold front sweeps across the country that's expected to last up to two weeks.

The cooler weather, which will sink temperatures between 5 and 20 degrees lower than July averages, will primarily affect the Upper Midwest, causing thunderstorms from Michigan to Illinois to eastern Missouri on Friday. Temperatures on Friday will average 75 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago, 70 degrees in Boston and 86 degrees in Charlotte, N.C. Saturday looks to be a little cooler than Friday.

I assume the president has a global warming speech he will be giving this next week. Timing is everything.

But don't let the facts stand in your way. Congress just approved new "stronger-than-ever" EPA head, Ms McCarthy, reported in today's New York Times: 

The president told Ms. McCarthy that his environmental and presidential legacy would be incomplete without a serious effort to address climate change.

“I’m so glad he said that, because if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have wanted this job,” she said. “It’s an issue I’ve worked on for so many years, and it just can’t wait.”

Mr. Obama’s decision to nominate Ms. McCarthy, 59, was an act of defiance to Congressional and industry opponents of meaningful action on climate change. It was also a sign of his determination to at least begin to put in place rules to reduce carbon pollution. 

Ms. McCarthy, an earthy, tough-talking New Englander who drew criticism as the head of the agency’s air and radiation office during Mr. Obama’s first term, then ticked off a list of controversial air pollution regulations she had helped write: tough greenhouse gas standards for vehicles, a tighter ozone limit that the White House rejected, the first rule on mercury emissions from power plants, and a regulation on smokestack pollution that crosses state lines, which has been blocked by a federal court. She warned that earning confirmation from the Senate might be difficult and that safer choices were available.  

So, if you like in-your-face politics, it should be a rewarding three years.

North Dakota #3 in Wind Power; The EPA To-Do List Updated

Nice review of possible Obama order to kill the domestic nuclear industry: nuclear power vs wind power.

The article includes an update of wind energy in the US. North Dakota is #3, behind Iowa and South Dakota. The data comes from the American Wind Energy Association.

I hope these are still photographs 'cause the blades aren't turnin':

Wind Farm, Dickey County, North Dakota, December, 2012
Dickey County is in the southeast corner of the state, bordering South Dakota. With about 6,000 people, it has a population density of about 5 people per square mile.

March 8, 2014: because the Dickey County video above was removed, a new one in its place:

Wind Tower Fail

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Back on November 9, 2012, I posted the EPA To-Do Checklist:

Rough draft:
✓ Permitorium in the Gulf of Mexico
✓ Delay drilling in the Arctic another year (repeat annually)
    Double CAFE standards five years earlier than current timetable
    Increase penalties for migratory bird kills
✓ Unlimited waiver of liability for wind turbines (migratory bird kills)
✓ Confirm tortoises have been relocated (solar farms)
    Increase emissions standards on coal plants
✓ Close 90% of federal land to further oil shale exploration (think sage grouse)
    Federal regulation of hydraulic fracking on state land
    Ban all hydraulic fracking
✓ Kill Keystone XL 1.0
    Re-define "clean coal": [kleen kohl], noun, mythic fossil fuel found only in Australia and China
    Ban export of coal

I need to update the EPA to-do checklist.

Revised draft, #2:

✓ Permitorium in the Gulf of Mexico
✓ Delay drilling in the Arctic another year (repeat annually)
    Double CAFE standards five years earlier than current timetable
    Increase penalties for migratory bird kills
✓ Unlimited waiver of liability for wind turbines (migratory bird kills)
✓ Confirm tortoises have been relocated (solar farms)
    Increase emissions standards on coal plants (that's being worked (March, 2013)
✓ Close 90% of federal land to further oil shale exploration (think sage grouse)
    Federal regulation of hydraulic fracking on state land
    Ban all hydraulic fracking
✓ Kill Keystone XL 1.0
    Re-define "clean coal": [kleen kohl], noun, mythic fossil fuel found only in Australia and China
    Ban export of coal
    Destroy the US nuclear power industry
    Executive order requiring all energy permits to meet international standards

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Speaking of destroying the domestic coal and nuclear industry, it looks like we only have to look to Europe to see where we will be ten years from now (if not sooner) if all this progressive thinking continues. One can take bits and pieces away from this article, but the problem with Europe, in addition to everything everyone always talks about: Europe doesn't know how to manage its energy assets.

Indeed, just four days before the Holy Week came this heartbreaking report from Caritas (one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations): more than 3 million people in Spain currently live in extreme poverty (families with an income of less than $390 per month), and more than one million are barely surviving on charitable donations -- an increase of 150 percent from the pre-crisis levels.
 
And there seems to be no end to this, Chancellor Merkel says that at least five more years are needed to put this horrible human suffering behind. But five years sounds like a short time to produce a German euro area. And a more important question is whether that objective can be achieved without tearing apart the social fabric already stretched to the breaking point in France, Italy and Spain - to say nothing of smaller countries like Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Cyprus, Slovenia, etc.

For the U.S., the euro area chaos is not just an issue of bleak outlook for one-fifth of American exports going to Europe. It is a question of political stability of its key ally and a pillar of the largest and, arguably, the most successful military alliance in history.

 Google "energy" in the linked article. The word does not appear. "The most successful military alliance in history" is now a paper tiger. Spain's extreme poverty: Spain can thank their wind and solar renewable program for much of their problems. Germany is going to have a major problem with energy: won't frack; won't nuke; back to coal. "For the US, the euro area chaos is not just an issue of bleak outlook for one-fifth of American exports going to Europe....." Folks, get real. The world is changing. The shift is moving to China. And it could happen faster than folks realize.

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I can't make this stuff up. President Obama proclaims the month of April to be the month to teach young people how to budget responsibly:

President Barack Obama, who has increased the national debt by $53,377 per household, has proclaimed April “National Financial Capability Month,” during which his administration will do things such as teach young people “how to budget responsibly."

“I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices,” Obama said in an official proclamation released Friday.

Let's get real, folks.