Deadly diesel wins again

No matter how big the scandals are, there is nothing that stops the German (and other European) car industry:

Carmakers have won delays to a more stringent “real driving emissions” test, which will allow them to belch out more than twice the legal limit of deadly nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 2019 and up to 50% more from 2021.
The introduction of the tests has been delayed by a year by the European commission.
Revelations about Volkswagen’s use of “defeat devices” to manipulate current NOx tests and studies showing that just one in 10 cars meets current limits, appear to have had little effect on the voting.
Only the Netherlands opposed the proposal, which passed after heavy lobbying from the car industry and EU countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Spain, which are currently facing court action from the EU for failing to meet NO₂ standards.

Read the entire article here.

Environmental news from France: President Francois Hollande's scooter

                                                                    (image by wiki)

Model AMCA Troupes Aeról Portées Mle. 56 - modified by the French military that incorporated an anti tank weapon. It is not known whether M. Hollande uses a modernized version of this French military vehicle.
 

The latest environmental news from France:

Closer, echoing reports published on various websites in recent days, said Hollande routinely drives through Paris on his scooter to spend the night with his 41-year-old mistress.

Shouldn't France's socialist president Francois Hollande at least be complimented for using an environmentally friendly mode of transport during his nightly escapades?

Perhaps not:

When it comes to emissions of nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons – so-called smog-forming pollutants – motorcycles and scooters emit many times more per kilometre than cars and trucks. 2 stroke scooters are much worse than 4 stroke scooters when it comes to smog forming pollutants and, when it comes to smog, are worse than most cars.
In short, scooters produce fewer greenhouse gasses (GHG’s) than automobiles and GHG’s are the primary enemy of climate change. But scooters produce a lot more smog forming emissions than an automobile. These are the emissions that put a haze in the air and provide poor air quality for breathing.

New study: Air pollution (in contrast to "climate change") is a real problem that kills 2 million people annually

It is a well known fact that air pollution - as opposed to global warming - is a real problem, which kills a great number of people every year, particularly in Asia. A new study offers further confirmation:

Air pollution may be responsible for more than 2 million deaths around the world each year, according to a new study.

The study estimated that 2.1 million deaths each year are linked with fine particulate matter, tiny particles that can get deep into the lungs and cause health problems.

Exposure to particle pollution has been linked with early death from heart and lung diseases, including lung cancer, the researchers said; meanwhile, concentrations of particulate matter have been increasing due to human activities. The study also found that 470,000 deaths yearly are linked with human sources of ozone, which forms when pollutants from sources such as cars or factories come together and react. Exposure to ozone has been linked to death from respiratory diseases.

Most of the estimated global deaths likely occur in East and South Asia, which have large populations and severe air pollution, said study researcher Jason West, an assistant professor of environmental sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Air pollution is an important problem. It's probably one of the most important environmental risk factors for health," West said. The study suggests that improving air quality around the world would increase life expectancy for some, he said.

While some studies have suggested that climate change can make air pollution more deadly, the new study found that climate change had only a small effect on air pollution-related deaths.

Read the entire article here

The researchers are to be congratulated for admitting that "climate change" (what ever they mean with it) has "only a small effect" on air pollution deaths. They will certainly face criticism from the global warming alarmist crowd, who will see to it that this new study will receive no attention in MSM media. Neither will this real problem be discussed by experts and politicians at large scale annual international mega conferences, in contrast to "climate change". 

For once Greenpeace is fighting for a good cause

It does not happen often that I find myself agreeing with something Greenpeace is doing. But in this case, I think they should be supported: 

Greenpeace has launched a new crowd-funded campaign to protest the federal court’s decision to support Coca-Cola in its fight against a Northern Territory recycling plant.

Three days ago the Australian federal court sanctioned the dismantling of a Northern Territory 10c deposit recycling scheme after Coke argued the initiative, introduced in January last year, was costly and ineffective.

The scheme was similar to one which has been running in South Australia since 1977.

The soft drink company argued the extra 10 cents added to its products was unfair to consumers, despite the fee being refundable. --

Greenpeace said that in two weeks over 50,000 people had already signed up to the campaign calling on politicians to implement a national ‘Cash for containers’ scheme.

Depicted in the ad is a flesh-footed shearwater from Lord Howe Island, which starved on a full stomach - full of plastic waste it had mistaken for food.

According to Greenpeace, two-thirds of seabirds are affected by plastic trash which pollutes our waterways, rivers and end up in the ocean.

Other species known to be impacted by plastic pollution in our oceans include turtles, whales, seals and fish and Greenpeace asserts that one of the biggest culprits is creating this plastic pollution is the beverage industry.

However, I cannot understand, why there is a need to launch a campaign in order to stop Coca-Cola from opposing the recycling plant. 

Only a few weeks ago Greenpeace International boss Kumi Naidoo boasted about his close relationship with Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent:

"A few weeks ago, the McDonald's chief executive pulled out of the Natural Refrigerants Alliance. So to get them back in, I had two options: start another campaign against McDonald's – which eats up resource time – or use another route. So I had 15 minutes with Muhtar Kent, chief executive, Coca Cola, and I said he needed to pick up the phone and call the chief executive of McDonald's, who he is friends with, and he agreed to it. Also, I am able to call Kent and say "Listen, I understand that you are a part of this association at the state level that has been lobbying against climate, and you guys have to make up your mind which side of the fence are you on because it is inconsistent. You are doing some really positive things on climate action in your practice, but actually you're part of a business coalition that is pushing in the other direction."

Why doesn't Kumi just pick up the phone, and tell Kent to stop Coca-Cola's fight against the recycling plant? Or is their relationship restricted only to the AGW hoax?

Greenpeace yacht to begin polluting two week cruise of the Great Barrier Reef

Yachts like the Rainbow Warrior 3 disturb the sensitive reef ecosystem. 

"The highlight for me was getting to surf and dive in places that not a lot of people 

have actually gone to"

Dominico Zapata, Greenpeace cruise guest activist, travelling on Rainbow Warrior 3

The Australian reports that the new Greenpeace yacht Rainbow Warrior 3 is about to begin a two week cruise of the Great Barrier Reef:

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is about to visit Australia to highlight the threat to the Great Barrier Reef from climate change and coal exports.

The boat will remain on the Great Barrier Reef for two weeks, as part of a campaign against the expansion of the Abbot Point coal port in central Queensland.

Not a bad time to visit the possibly greatest natural wonder of the world. With loads of sunshine, warm seas, refreshing sea breezes and a warm climate all year round, tropical North Queensland weather is hard to beat.

In order not to make ordinary visitors, not able to afford the comfort of a small cruise ship, too jealous, the people at Greenpeace have chosen to call the cruise a campaign "to highlight the threat to the Great Barrier from climate change and coal exports". 

Scientists have for years now been worried about the great number of tourist boats disturbing the  sensitive reef ecosystem:

The millions of visitors that the Great Barrier Reef draws every year are also an unintentional contributor to the general decline of the reef. Not only leisure vessels heading out for tours to the reef but also reef-based activities such as reef-walking, using submersibles and even the runoff from various sunscreens are all thought to be contributing negative factors that – when combined with the sheer volume of tourists who frequent the reef – are much more impactful than they may seem. This is also not taking into account intentionally or neglectfully destructive practices such as littering and various other forms of man-made pollution.

The Greenpeace greenies obviously could not care less. These people think that their idiotic fight against imaginary human caused global warming gives them the right to pollute this and  other unique habitats.

China: Real pollution vs climate change

One of the tragic consequences of the almost total international fixation on fighting (bogus) human caused global warming is the fact that real and deadly pollution problems go almost unnoticed. Communist China, with its booming industry, is one of the countries worst affected. 
Fortunately ordinary Chinese people are now waking up to the dangers posed by dirty air and soil. Pollution problems have become a leading cause of civil unrest:

China has long been known as a place where the world’s dirtiest mines and factories can operate with impunity. Those days may not be over, but a growing environmental movement is beginning to make the most polluting projects much harder to build and operate.

Large and sometimes violent demonstrations against the planned construction of one of the largest copper smelting complexes on earth prompted local officials in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province to continue backpedaling furiously on Wednesday. The local government of Shifang, the planned site of the smelter, announced in a statement that the construction of the $1.6 billion complex had not only been suspended but also permanently canceled.

Thanks to the Internet — China has more Internet users than any other country — the protests appear to have resonated across the country. “Shifang” was the most-searched term on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, on Tuesday and again on Wednesday morning, before abruptly disappearing entirely from the list of frequently searched terms in a possible sign of censorship.

Several posts praising the Shifang protests on Tuesday evening had been deleted by Wednesday morning, another sign of censorship. But more posts had replaced them.

Read the entire article here

The US Embassy in Beijing is also playing a role in focusing attention on China´s huge air pollution problems. The embassy measures the air quality in Beijing hourly and puts the findings on this Twitter page. (At least 90% of the time the records show either hazardous, very unhealthy or unhealthy air quality). 

Here are the tweets for the last couple of hours:

BeijingAir ‏@BeijingAir

07-08-2012 16:00; PM2.5; 139.0; 193; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)

BeijingAir ‏@BeijingAir

07-08-2012 15:00; PM2.5; 130.0; 188; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)

BeijingAir ‏@BeijingAir

07-08-2012 13:00; PM2.5; 135.0; 191; Unhealthy (at 24-hour exposure at this level)

No wonder then that the Chinese goverment wants to forbid the US embassy publishing the data: 

Last month, Chinese officials issued a general warning to foreign embassies, (but really aimed at the U.S.) to stop publishing reports about their country’s air quality.

The warning — in reference to a U.S. embassy Twitter account that, since 2008, has posted hourly readings of pollution levels of Beijing — illustrated how sensitive the government is about the country’s pollution problem.

And it's a problem that is becoming a growing concern among the public and considered a leading cause of civil unrest. The planned construction of industrial plants has sparked protests in some cities. Bowing to public pressure, officials shut down a planned copper plant for a southwestern China city on Wednesday after thousands protested the possible health impact from the facilty.

However, this is a fight the Chinese government is bound to lose. The corrupt communist party leaders will not be able to stop the growing protests of ordinary people who demand clean air and soil. 

PS

China Air Daily is another interesting and useful site for observing the air quality in a couple of Chinese cities: