Energy bill discussions this week remains flavored with politics. The distinction between cars and trucks continues providing a loophole for SUVs and a profit model that car makers feel works.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC and Toyota Motor Corp. all had backed a plan in the House to raise standards to 32-35 m.p.g. by 2022, while preserving the distinction between cars and trucks. freep.com
The compromise also extends credits for flexible-fuel vehicles, a key point for Detroit automakers that promotes corn based ethanol production.
Meanwhile in other news this week,
Some 40,000 walruses have appeared on the Russian Arctic coast, a phenomenon that scientists believe is a result of global warming melting Arctic sea ice...“Because of climate change, ice is disappearing from the Chukchi and East Siberian seas during the summer months,” says Viktor Nikiforov, Director of WWF-Russia’s Regional Programmes. sciencedaily.com
"Survivorship has dropped in the cubs, sub-adults and very old animals and is directly related to the date of (ice) break-up," Ian Stirling, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton, Alberta, and an author on the report analyzing 20 years of population data of polar bears in Canada's Hudson Bay theregister.co.uk
It is ironic that we think that we can deal, buy time, and jockey to preserve profitability/lifestyle by status quo when the vessel that sustains life is literally melting.
The silent voice missing at these talks, our environment, is the one partner that holds all the cards.
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