Global warming, climate change, all these things are just a dream come true for politicians. I deal with evidence and not with frightening computer models because the seeker after truth does not put his faith in any consensus. The road to the truth is long and hard, but this is the road we must follow. People who describe the unprecedented comfort and ease of modern life as a climate disaster, in my opinion have no idea what a real problem is.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Wednesday that so-called Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing and climate regulations from the Biden administration posed a threat to the entire U.S. economy.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Wednesday that so-called Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing and climate regulations from the Biden administration posed a threat to the entire U.S. economy.
ESG, also known as “sustainable investing,” according to the Corporate Finance Institute, can factor in corporate policies on gun control, environmental issues, abortion or other issues in addition to or instead of strictly looking at a corporation’s profitability.
“ESGs by itself just could kill our whole economy,” Manchin said in a brief interview on “Special Report.” “Could kill our whole economy as far as in America basically.”
Manchin and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana voted with 48 Republicans to overturn regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November that would allow the use of ESG by retirement fund managers.
The House of Representatives voted to scrap the rule Tuesday, but the bill faces a veto threat from President Joe Biden.
Biden, who promised to phase out fossil fuels during his 2020 campaign for president, issued a series of executive orders in July to address the alleged threat from climate change. Biden also cancelled offshore oil and gas leases in May, imposed new regulations on onshore drilling in April and revoked a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline in January 2021.
Critics of ESG pointed to crises in Sri Lanka, which banned chemical fertilizers that resulted in a 50% drop in crop yields in 2021, and Ghana, which suffered blackouts.
Missouri announced it was pulling all assets from BlackRock Oct. 18, claiming the company’s push for ESG was a “massive fiduciary breach,” while Florida yanked $2 billion from BlackRock in December over the company’s push for ESG.
Four other states announced they were pulling their assets, the Financial Times reported in October.
Leftists are pushing an agenda to destroy industries that produce reasonably priced energy by claiming those industries cause an existential threat of warming, that is causing extreme changes to the climate, that is threatening our survival.
Leftists are pushing an agenda to destroy industries that produce reasonably priced energy by claiming those industries cause an existential threat of warming, that is causing extreme changes to the climate, that is threatening our survival.
Record cold temperatures, along with record snow and rain are obviously causing skepticism, so the pushers of the theory decided it was necessary to put out a piece of pure propaganda: that record cold temperatures occur because the earth is warming. I call B.S. From David Knowles in an article published yesterday:
California has been hit with an especially cold and wet winter, in which low temperature records have been set and the Sierra snowpack is poised to eclipse its all-time high.
People claim they can control and predict temperatures 100 years out, yet they somehow failed to predict this wet and cold winter. Their dire predictions in the past have been completely wrong; why should we now enact tyrannical policies based on future predictions?
If everything that we have been told caused warming actually caused warming, we would not see record cold and snow. We would not have had a 35-year cooling period between 1940-1975.
Temperatures have always fluctuated and always will. California had extreme droughts over 1,000 years ago, and it was these droughts, not humans and crude oil production, that created the state’s expansive desert landscape we see today.
It is no wonder people, including journalists, want to dumb down children so they don’t ask questions and do their own research. The left doesn’t mind that American children can’t read or do math at grade level — unthinking masses capitulate to government control. Also from Knowles:
But the whiplash from one extreme to another is consistent with climate change, experts say. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, California’s average temperatures have risen between 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit, and the dramatic variability seen in recent years is a consequence of that fact.
Here is an article that people most likely won’t see. A former Reuters reporter, who was a bonafide climate cultist, now sees the truth. Reported on over at NewsBusters with the headline, “Former Reuters Reporter: I Was Wrong to Blame CO2 for Rising Temperatures” the text read:
My Reuters credentials meant that I had easy access to the world’s finest climate scientists. To my amazement, none of these would say categorically that the link between CO2 and global warming, now known as climate change, was a proven scientific fact. Some said human production of CO2 was a probable cause, others that it might make some contribution; some said CO2 had no role at all. Everybody agreed that the climate had warmed over the last 10,000 years as the ice age retreated, but most weren’t really sure why. The sun’s radiation, which changes over time, was a favoured [sic] culprit.
Maybe someday an enterprising reporter will also admit that there is also no correlation between oil, coal, natural gas, methane, and all the other things we are told cause warming and temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity. When there is no correlation there can be no causation. That is actual science.
Many of the same people who seek to control us by destroying affordable and reliable energy are the same ones who set out to destroy us with COVID edicts.
When Trump and others said we should consider the lab-leak theory, the media, bureaucrats, and others sought to silence them by saying that was a disproven conspiracy. They had to shut that down because Dr Fauci, the National Institute of Health and others would be implicated.
We were told that all the government edicts were based on science — but that was a lie.
There was never any scientific data that said masks, Plexiglass, or six-foot social distancing would block the disease. There was no scientific data that supported closing schools and businesses. They downplayed the true science of natural immunity, which as it turns out, is far superior to the “vaccine.” The destruction of America, due to government edicts based on lies, is immeasurable.
People who so willingly lied continuously about COVID, and who can’t define the difference between men and women, would seemingly have no qualms lying about climate change in order to push their radical agenda: to remake, or destroy America. Every solution for them is a bigger and more powerful government, with less freedom and prosperity for the people.
Saying that humans and natural resources cause warming or climate change is the biggest fraud ever. It greatly harms the poor and middle classes, but it makes perpetrators of the theory, like Al Gore, extremely rich.
People should stop pretending that Democrats are the party of science. Science has nothing to do with their policies. All they want is power.
According to Reuters, food inflation in the U.K. is currently 17.1% . The primary driver of the skyrocketing food costs is the energy cost associated with the fast turnover categories.
It’s not just the United Kingdom, but as we await the latest figures from monthly U.S. data, the statistics from the U.K. are hitting the newswires. According to Reuters, food inflation in the U.K. is currently 17.1% . The primary driver of the skyrocketing food costs is the energy cost associated with the fast turnover categories.
With prices increasing 17.1% yet net sales only increasing 8.1%, there is a substantial impact in unit food sales. British customers are buying much less to offset the fact they are paying much more. This trend is not just in the U.K. we have seen the same trend in U.S. data as families are being squeezed at the grocery store.
The prices on name branded products like Kraft and Heinz are leading the escalating food prices. Just last week I noticed 6oz Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese was $6.99, and a 24 oz. bottle of Heinz ketchup at over $8. Dairy products are leading the way with the most rapid increases in price. It appears that we are entering the fourth wave of food inflation currently.
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – British grocery inflation hit 17.1% in the four weeks to Feb. 19, another record high, dealing the latest blow to consumers struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar said prices are rising fastest in markets such as milk, eggs and margarine. It said UK households now face an additional 811 pounds ($978) on their annual shopping bills if they don’t change their behaviour to cut costs.
“This February marks a full year since monthly grocery inflation climbed above 4%. This is having a big impact on people’s lives,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said.
He said its research found that rising grocery prices are the second most important financial issue for the public behind energy costs. Also a quarter of people say they’re struggling financially, versus one in five this time last year.
[…] Kantar said that sales of own label products were up by 13.2% in February, well ahead of growth in branded products, which are generally more expensive, of 4.6%.
Kantar said UK grocery sales increased 8.1% over the 12 weeks to Feb. 19, masking a drop in volumes when accounting for inflation. (read more)
The last estimate for U.S. data (January ’23) is in the chart below. We should get the February data the first week in March.
Since 2016, when acoustic sonar surveys required for construction of 1,500 wind turbines began on the U.S. Atlantic coast, 174 Humpback whales have washed ashore dead.
Since 2016, when acoustic sonar surveys required for construction of 1,500 wind turbines began on the U.S. Atlantic coast, 174 Humpback whales have washed ashore dead. This represents a 400 percent increase in mortalities from previous years. And then there are the highly endangered North Atlantic right whales, of which less than 400 individuals exist today. They recovered somewhat after being hunted to near extinction in the 1930’s, but now they are thought to be declining.
Federal government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are authorizing the sonar surveys. Greenpeace, the organization I helped found in 1971, has sided with the wind turbines over the whales, stating there is no “proof” that sonar is involved in this tragedy. Here is a quote from a Greenpeace spokesperson:
“At this time, due to the lack of evidence suggesting harm from offshore wind development, Greenpeace’s position remains that the best way to protect whales is to create ocean sanctuaries, eliminate single-use plastics at the source, and stop our dependency on oil and gas.”
Perhaps it would be a good idea to put the “ocean sanctuaries” where the whales live.
It is a fact that mortalities among whales in this region are often caused by entanglement in fishnets and by vessel strikes. But a 400 percent increase in whale deaths, coincident with the sonar program, should cause environmentalists like Greenpeace to swing into action and spend some of their hundreds of millions on a thorough research program. Instead, they are doing nothing. Well, they do cruise around in their $30 million yacht which they call a “sailing vessel” even though there is an 1,850-horsepower diesel engine in the hold which provides the main propulsion.
It is understandable that federal agencies like NOAA would downplay the concern for the whales. The Biden administration is dead set on building all these contraptions even though they will be much more expensive and far less reliable than nuclear, hydroelectric, or fossil fuel generators.
Whales are acoustic species that use sonar to see the world around them. They have eyes for close-up recognition, but their sonar is how they navigate and speak to each other.
It is not only the sonar surveys that may pose a real problem for the whales. Depending on their size, each one of the 1,500 turbines will require a concrete base excavated into the ocean sediment up to 150 feet deep and 30-40 feet wide. This will clearly cause a huge amount of mud to be dispersed into the water column. Both these species of whales are of the baleen type. They are filter-feeders using their baleen to strain their food into their stomachs. The mud from these many excavations may interfere with their feeding and may also affect the species they depend on for food.
I sailed variously as navigator, first-mate and leader on all four Greenpeace campaigns to save the whales from 1975-1978. We went into the deep-sea Pacific for months at a time during the whaling season, sometimes 1,000 miles from land. We put ourselves in front of harpoons to protect the fleeing whales. When we arrived in San Francisco in early July 1975 with film footage of a harpoon going over the heads of our crewmembers in a small inflatable boat, and then into a Sperm Whale’s back, the images went around the world in a matter of hours. Greenpeace had arrived as a major player in the global environmental movement.
At the time we intervened in the Pacific whale slaughter, the Russian and Japanese whaling fleets together were killing about 30,000 whales annually. Many species – including blue whales, sei whales, fin whales and right whales – had been slaughtered to commercial extinction. Among the most commercially valuable whales, only the sperm whales, the largest toothed animals ever to exist on Earth, survived in large numbers. But they were certain to be all but wiped out if the hunts continued. The much smaller minke whales, which were never considered optimum by the big fleets, are still present in reasonable numbers.
In 1979, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned the hunting of all species – except minke whales – by factory ships and declared the Indian Ocean a whale sanctuary. In 1982, the IWC adopted an indefinite global moratorium on all commercial whaling. Except for the right whales of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, all whale species are either fully recovered or well along in recovery.
I left Greenpeace when they began to refer to humans as “the enemies of the Earth,” a bit too much like “original sin” for me. To top it off, my fellow directors, none of whom had any formal science education, decided we should campaign to “ban chlorine worldwide.” They nicknamed chlorine “The Devil’s Element,” conveniently dismissing that chlorine is the most important of all the 90-plus naturally occurring elements for public health and medicine. I guess this doesn’t count for those who don’t like humankind.
Today, Greenpeace executives work in cushy offices and sail around like a bunch of college kids on a summer cruise. By siding with machines over living, endangered whales they have betrayed their founders and everyone who really cares about the natural world. Now more than ever, I am glad I left them behind in 1986, after 15 years of service. When it had its priorities right, Greenpeace was made up of voluntary crusaders for peace and nature. It has become a big business focused on fundraising, a backroom racket peddling junk science.
Patrick Moore, Ph.D., ecology, is a co-founder of Greenpeace and was a director of Greenpeace from 1971 – 1986. He is a director of the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia, and author of several books, including “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom,” which debunks scare stories used to instill fear.
Today, lithium-ion batteries are found in many electronics, from smartphones to medical devices to cars. They provide reliable power with recharging capabilities. However, the popularity of this type of battery requires knowledge of what to do in the event of a lithium battery fire. Specializing in flame-retardant materials and fabrics, Tex Tech is an industry expert in handling this type of hazard.
Learn the risks related to lithium batteries, how to prevent a fire, and what to do to put out a lithium battery fire.
Why Do Lithium Batteries Catch Fire?
If a lithium battery overheats, it can burst into flames. This thermal instability, referred to as thermal runaway, happens when flaming gases are vented from the lithium-ion cells in the battery. The overheating of one failing cell causes a chain reaction in the other cells. The reaction can happen within milliseconds to hours, depending on how quickly each cell fails. The exothermic heat given off during the reaction may be sufficient to start a fire.
Triggers for lithium battery fires include:
Short circuits. Improper storage, damage, and metal dust left over from manufacturing can cause circuits to short, leading to combustion.
Overheating. Extreme temperatures on loading docks, cargo holds, or tarmacs can lead to overheating or fire during transit or storage.
Rough handling. Dropping a battery or jostling it excessively during transport or use can set off thermal runaway.
Physical damage. Damage from shredding or dismantling a battery during recycling operations can result in an explosion.
Wet/humid conditions. Rainwater, salty air, and humidity might cause short circuits and trigger thermal runaway even without prior damage to the battery.
How to Put Out a Lithium Battery Fire
In the case of a lithium battery fire, there are several ways to extinguish it based on the size and type of battery.
Class D fire extinguishers are effective against lithium-metal battery fires. Lithium-ion battery fires are Class B fires, indicating the presence of flammable liquids, so a standard dry chemical or ABC extinguisher can put them out. Lithium battery fire extinguishers counteract the liquid electrolytes in the battery that create conductive pathways.
Small lithium batteries contain very little lithium, so they can be doused with water. To put out large lithium-ion battery fires, use a foam extinguisher containing CO2, powder graphite, ABC dry chemical, or sodium carbonate.
In battery pack fires, each cell may burn on a different timeline. Place the battery pack in a protected outdoor space to allow it to completely burn out.
If a fire cannot be extinguished, let the battery burn out in a controlled way. Prevent the fire from spreading by soaking the surrounding area with water.
How to Prevent a Lithium Battery Fire
Recognizing the warning signs of a failing lithium battery is paramount to preventing a fire. Unusual heat, noise, smoke, odor, or swelling are all indications that the battery is failing.
Follow these tips to prevent a lithium battery fire from taking place.
Buy batteries from reputable manufacturers.
Never try to recharge non-rechargeable batteries.
Once a charging cycle is complete, disconnect the battery from the charger.
Use the charger that came with the battery or one approved as compatible by the manufacturer.
Keep batteries away from extreme temperatures.
Charge batteries in a fire-safe charging bag, if possible.
Inspect batteries after they are first installed and periodically after recharging. If they appear damaged, do not recharge.
Remove lithium-ion batteries from items before storage.
If a charging device emits excessive heat, unplug it from the power source and store it away from combustible objects until the device has cooled down. If necessary, replace the battery or call the fire department.
Choose Tex Tech for Lithium Battery Fire Safety
Lithium-ion batteries allow us many conveniences. To use these power supplies responsibly, we should be aware of how to prevent and put out lithium-ion battery fires. Though these events are rare, it is best to be prepared.
OMNS (Jan. 5, 2023) As an actively practicing clinical cardiologist for many years in three different communities, I knew about myocarditis. I just never saw it. Quite literally, I recall seeing ONE young woman who presented with a picture of acute congestive heart failure, and her echocardiogram study revealed a big and poorly contracting heart. Such a condition is diagnosed as an idiopathic congestive cardiomyopathy, which basically means the heart is enlarged and functioning very poorly, and you have no idea why. After treating her with traditional measures for congestive heart failure, she started getting better. To my great surprise, after six to nine months of follow-up, her echocardiogram had returned to normal.
Retrospectively, it was then clear that she had likely contracted a virus that focused on her heart. The virus-induced inflammation in her heart muscle cells then decreased the strength of her heart contractions to the point of clinical heart failure with heart enlargement. Presumably, her young immune system eventually “kicked in” and eliminated the viral culprit. Even as a clinician who also received many patients in consultation from other doctors, she represented the entirety of my cases of myocarditis. And at that, the diagnosis was only a retrospective conclusion.
COVID and Myocarditis
Today, the active clinical cardiologist is seeing myocarditis patients on a regular basis. The scientific literature indicates that myocarditis is occurring quite frequently in patients harboring the chronic presence of the COVID-related spike protein. This is being seen in many individuals with persistent chronic COVID, many of whom have been vaccinated, as well as in a substantial number of individuals who have been vaccinated and have never contracted COVID. [1-4] A study in mice showed that the injection of the mRNA vaccine (which produces the spike protein) reliably induced myopericarditis. [5] Regardless of the initial source of exposure to spike protein, it appears to be the reason for the pathology and symptoms seen in chronic COVID. [6]
While not yet clearly documented by any well-designed studies in the medical literature, a great deal of anecdotal information indicates that vaccine mRNA shedding can occur. And once transmitted, the mRNA directly leads to spike protein production. [7] Such mRNA shedding means that the spike protein is indirectly, if not directly as well, transmissible from one individual to another via inhalation or various forms of skin contact. In fact, Pfizer’s own internal documents advise about the possibility of “environmental exposure” by “inhalation or skin contact” of the mRNA in the vaccine being transmitted from a vaccinated individual to another person. [8] Furthermore, while many try to dismiss such an “exposure” as too minimal to be of clinical consequence, such an assertion cannot be assumed to be true when dealing with an agent (spike protein) that appears capable of replication once it gains access to the body. The toxicity associated with spike protein would not be due to a one-time exposure, but one that could persist indefinitely because of this ability to replicate. A toxin that has such an ability is truly a clinical nightmare. It is never a good idea to overestimate the integrity of the pharmaceutical industry. [9]
The spike protein is the part of the COVID pathogen that facilitates its entry into various cells in the body. [10] This cellular entry occurs after the spike protein binds to ACE2 receptors present on the cell membranes found in a wide variety of tissues and organs. Spike protein binding to ACE2 receptors in the lungs, heart, and blood vessels has proven to be of particular importance in determining the severity of many COVID infections as well as the nature of the side effects seen following a spike protein vaccination. Deaths and severe complications have also resulted from vaccine-induced thrombosis occurring in the cerebrovascular circulation. [11,12] Autopsy evaluation of multiple vaccinated individuals who died shortly after receiving their vaccinations revealed acute myocarditis as the only logical cause of their deaths. [13]
Sufficient spike protein binding to ACE2 receptors on the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels has consistently resulted in increased blood clotting. Such clots are tiny in some people, which can then lead to various degrees of tissue and organ damage depending on how severely overall blood flow is impaired to those areas. [14,15] Other clots can rapidly increase in size and result in sudden death. [16] Spike protein can activate blood clotting by binding directly to the ACE2 receptors of platelets in the blood. [17,18] Also, circulating spike protein that has not yet been bound appears to stimulate hypercoagulation as well. [19] Of note, both Pfizer and Moderna appear quite proud to assert that their final formulations supply the “full-length” spike protein in the injections.
Myocarditis, which simply means inflammation of some or all of the muscle cells in the heart, can occur when the spike protein binds to the blood vessels in the heart, to the muscle cells themselves, or both. [20] Even when the myocardial blood vessels get more selectively targeted, inflammation of the heart muscle itself will still eventually ensue as the circulation of the heart gets progressively impaired by blood clotting and/or by an increased resistance to blood flow resulting from inflammation-induced vasoconstriction. Pre-pandemic myocarditis (cases not related to a spike protein presence) generally did not involve any predisposition to blood clotting in addition to the inflammation of the affected heart muscle cells.
Myocarditis presents no diagnostic challenge when it presents in its classical manner. Chest pain and rapid heart rate are often the earliest symptoms. If the myocardial inflammation is evolving rapidly, symptoms of congestive heart failure, including shortness of breath and swelling of the lower legs, can occur as well. Not uncommonly, an upper respiratory tract viral infection will be present or there will be a history of such an infection having recently resolved. Chest X-ray, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiogram can all be used to help establish the diagnosis. An elevated troponin level on blood testing is extremely sensitive in picking up any ongoing heart muscle cell damage, and some elevation of this test will always be seen if any significant inflammation is present in those muscle cells.
Any continued elevation of troponin in the blood, however minimal, must be regarded with significant concern, even if there appears to be a complete clinical resolution of the myocarditis. Everyone should have this test done, even if they are feeling perfectly well, to both establish a baseline within the normal range or to detect any unsuspected low-grade myocardial inflammation.
The very high sensitivity of the troponin test has revealed that there are countless numbers of people post-COVID infection and/or post-vaccination that are continuing to have sustained subclinical degrees of myocardial inflammation. No matter how minimal the elevation of the test, any increase means that a gradual and continued loss of heart muscle function will occur over time. It also means that the heart is highly susceptible to an acute and potentially severe worsening of heart function when an additional exposure to more spike protein occurs, as is seen with the booster shots being vigorously promoted now. A heart with a minimal elevation of troponin is literally the perfect setting for a catastrophic clinical response when an additional spike protein-laden injection is given, much like what gasoline would do to smoldering coals. Not surprisingly, it has been shown that COVID patients with higher troponin levels were more likely to die than those with lower levels. [21]
Many abnormal troponin tests eventually resolve completely and many do not. The quality of nutrition, the strength of the immune system, and the quality of the nutrient/vitamin/mineral supplementation being taken are all critical factors in determining whether a minimal, subclinical degree of inflammation in the heart is capable of completely resolving with a return of the troponin level into the reference, or normal, range. With much of the world eating poorly and not supplementing at all, there is an ongoing presence of the spike protein in a very large number of people around the world. Clinical myocarditis is simply an advanced state of inflammation in the heart, with much higher levels of troponin being released into the blood. Cardiac injury was detected in 20% to 40% of patients hospitalized with COVID. [22,23] Any troponin elevation in hospitalized COVID patients was associated with an increased mortality. [24]
Troponin testing is currently the most important and widely accepted way to determine whether a suspected heart attack has occurred, with the troponin being released into the circulation as the heart muscle cells die. [25] Some degree of myocardial injury is felt to be present when any troponin level is detected beyond the 99th percentile upper reference limit, whether in the context of a suspected heart attack or the possible presence of any inflammation in the heart. [26,27] Even an increase in baseline troponin levels that remains below the established upper limits of normal has been shown to be significantly associated with increased mortality after noncardiac surgery. [28] Baseline troponin testing is a good idea for everyone, since normal ranges can vary from lab to lab, and because it appears myocardial injury can still be present when the troponin level rises significantly from a baseline point but remains short of the upper reference limit. [29]
The importance of the most minimal of troponin elevations has been established in several studies looking at the relationship of pre-operative troponin levels with long-term mortality following noncardiac surgery. Compared to patients with no troponin elevation, a significant increase in 30-day mortality was seen in patients having minor troponin elevations following noncardiac surgery. [30,31] Another similar study found over a doubling of the mortality rate when the two patient groups were evaluated at three years following the noncardiac surgery. [32]
In a recent Swiss study yet to be published at the time of this writing, troponin levels were measured on 777 hospital employees who received a booster injection after having received two shots previously. On the third day after the booster, troponin levels above the upper limits of normal were seen in 2.8% of those subjects. By the next day, half of the elevated troponin levels had come back into the normal range. [33] Longer-term follow-up data was not available. This study raises more questions than it answers. What would the troponin levels have been at one day post-injection? Did the troponin levels still elevated at day four post-injection resolve completely? If so, how long did that take to occur? Rather than be concerned that some myocardial damage was done by the vaccine, which is openly acknowledged in the study, it is dismissed as being of no importance since half of the elevated troponins resolved 24 hours later. And, as with all of the current papers downplaying the significance of any vaccine side effect, however significant, the authors always conclude that the vaccine is doing much more good than harm without any further qualification as to why such a conclusion is valid.
Having even the most minimal elevation of troponin not only raises the concern of some collective long-term heart damage, or the ease of having a “re-flaring” of inflammation with new spike protein exposures, as from a booster shot, it also raises the concern of electrical instability in some of the inflamed myocardial cells. There is always a possibility of electrical instability in any inflamed myocardial muscle cells, as it is their normal physiological nature to transmit electrical impulses from one cell to the next. Because of this, stressful events that release surges of adrenalin and catecholamines in the circulation, as is seen with peak physical exertion, can readily provoke such electrically unstable cells into starting, and sustaining, an abnormal heart rhythm. Literally hundreds of European soccer players have died or collapsed on the field of play in the last two years. Of note, they have not been seen to collapse while standing or sitting on the sidelines. Similarly, any pilot with even a minimal but otherwise symptom-free elevation of troponin can potentially sustain such a life-threatening arrhythmia when a significant stress-provoking emergency arises in the cockpit.
However, regardless of any benefits a COVID vaccine might have on the overall morbidity and mortality on those receiving it, it completely ignores that MANY effective treatments have emerged that either prevent most cases of COVID or readily cure them when properly applied after the infection has been contracted. [34-38]
With the availability of effective treatments, no vaccine side effect, especially one that has already resulted in many deaths, should be tolerated, unless the vaccine candidate is fully aware of all possible side effects and chooses not be bothered with measures proven to prevent and/or treat the infection.
To date, every vaccine that has ever existed has a significant side effect profile. This information, along with a full disclosure of effective non-pharmaceutical therapies for the condition the vaccine is supposed to prevent, should always be afforded to both physicians and their patients.
It is important to realize that most of the tissues and organs of the body do not have reliable laboratory markers indicating the presence and degree of ongoing spike protein damage. Tracking heart damage with troponin levels makes this organ relatively unique in this regard, and since ACE2 receptors are present in most organs and tissues, any continued elevation of troponin can also be considered a reliable indicator that spike protein damage is occurring in organs and tissues outside of the heart. Spike protein would be expected to bind ACE2 receptors wherever it finds them, and such binding would always be expected to cause cellular inflammation and damage. Blood testing for natriuretic peptides also reflects myocardial damage, but the primary focus should remain on troponin testing and doing whatever is necessary to return that test into the normal range. [39-45]
COVID, Arrhythmias, Heart Block, and Pilots
As would be logically expected, any agent that can cause inflammation in the heart would also be expected to sometimes involve the cells in the heart that generate and conduct each electrical spark that initiates every contraction of the heart. As myocarditis can be patchy and not affect all of the heart muscle cells uniformly, heart rhythm problems are not always part of the clinical presentation of myocarditis. However, various degrees of heart block have been reported because of the COVID-19 infection and/or because of the COVID-19 vaccination. [46-51]
A new condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has emerged since the onset of the COVID pandemic, appearing primarily in advanced COVID infections. [52,53] MIS-C, and MIS in adults, simply means the COVID infection has resulted in a widespread amount of inflammation in the body, often involving the heart and the lungs. Minimal to advanced heartbeat conduction problems have occurred secondary to MIS-C, ranging from the often-innocuous prolonged PR interval (see below) on the ECG to advanced and potentially life-threatening degrees of AV block. [54,55] When heart function is normal, the AV node allows a rapid conduction of the heartbeat throughout all of the heart muscle cells so that heart muscle contraction is synchronized and optimally efficient. AV block results in an abnormal slowing of the heart rate and sometimes fatal secondary arrhythmias, including complete stoppage of the heartbeat (asystole). It appears likely that the spike protein can damage the heart at any age, and that the spike protein can be present because of the infection itself and/or the vaccination targeted at the infection.
The PR interval is the amount of time that the heartbeat takes to traverse the atrial chambers in the heart before reaching the conduction-accelerating AV node. The normal PR interval ranges from 0.12 to 0.2 seconds. In younger individuals, especially well-trained athletes, a PR interval greater than 0.2 is usually completely normal. However, when PR interval measurements have always been 0.2 or less and then start to lengthen as an older adult, there should be significant concern that the aging conduction system might manifest more significant conduction abnormalities in the future.
In the setting of the pandemic, it is of particular concern when PR interval prolongation is seen for the first time following a bout of COVID and/or following a vaccination. This is a clear indicator of new inflammation in at least some of the heart cells, however minimal it may be. Regardless, it should not just be assumed to be of no importance. All disease has a spectrum of pathology, and the earliest stages of pathology should never be trivialized. [56] In a Harvard study that extended over a 30- to 40-year period, it was found that individuals with PR intervals greater than 0.2 seconds had twice the risk of atrial fibrillation, three times the risk of needing a pacemaker (meaning the presence of advanced degrees of heart block), and nearly a one and a half times increase in all-cause mortality. Furthermore, greater degrees of PR interval prolongation led to an even greater risk. [57]
However, ignoring the inherent pathology in a pandemic-induced prolonged PR interval is exactly what the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) appears to have done. Facing a shortage of pilots due to both the vaccine requirement it initiated during the pandemic for the pilots to fly, along with many early retirements that resulted, the FAA decided to change the rules, disregarding long-standing parameters of normalcy based on medical science and not convenience. The FAA has now declared a PR interval of 0.3 seconds to be the “new normal” in the FAA Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners as of October, 2022. The October, 2021 standards asserted the PR interval was normal only at 0.2 seconds or less. When the pilot has “no symptoms” he or she can now obtain clearance to fly with a PR interval of 0.3 or less. And when that interval is greater than 0.3, a “current Holter and cardiac evaluation” are then required. Considering that the normal PR interval ranges between 0.12 and 0.20 seconds, an interval of 0.3 seconds represents a “permissible” increase in this interval by over 100% relative to the low normal interval of 0.12 seconds. This is not a nominal increase in PR interval, but a very large one.
Even now, a treadmill exercise stress test is not required to receive medical clearance to fly, even for commercial pilots. This is simply not a safe policy by the FAA and arguably a shocking one, as many pilots are in the age range when heart attacks occur without any early symptoms but with a normal ECG, the ECG being the only mandatory heart-related test. Roughly a third of all deaths around the world are due to cardiovascular disease. And in western countries sudden cardiac death occurs in about half of all coronary artery disease patients. [58,59] Much more vigorous cardiac evaluations should be performed in prospective pilots, and repeated at appropriate intervals. A normal ECG means a heart attack has not occurred, nothing more. A fatal heart attack from very advanced coronary artery disease could occur 10 minutes after the normal ECG was recorded. No pilot should ever fly when there is a persistent elevation of troponin levels and/or D-dimer levels (see below). It is irrelevant that the pilot might feel well, have a normal ECG, and have no clinical evidence of myocarditis.
COVID, Blood Clots, and D-dimer Levels
A D-dimer blood test is a measure of the degree to which blood clots already formed are breaking up (lysis) and releasing those breakdown products into the blood. It is not a measure of how prone the blood is to clotting in the first place (increased coagulability). However, it is a very sensitive test that will always be elevated when increased blood clotting is taking place, since those clots must still be broken down to keep the circulation from shutting down. Except when elevated in the setting of a very minimal number of chronic diseases, an elevated D-dimer test very reliably means there are blood clots breaking up because too many new blood clots are continuing to be formed. Only rarely is significant thrombosis seen in the absence of an elevated D-dimer level. [60]
In the setting of the pandemic with a history of active or chronic COVID infection, as well as a history of having had one or more vaccinations, an elevated D-dimer test is always a cause for GREAT concern. It is clear-cut evidence that there is an ongoing spike protein presence binding ACE2 receptors in the inner lining (endothelium) of blood vessels in the body, resulting in platelet activation and subsequent blood clotting. [61] Blood clots can range from microscopic to massive. Such clotting can also be part of a myocarditis presentation, although not necessarily so. Certainly, having both an elevated troponin level and an elevated D-dimer level is especially worrisome and warrants prompt treatment in order to normalize the pathology causing them.
Both the COVID vaccine and the COVID infection have been documented to cause increased blood clotting and thrombosis. [62,63] Viral infections in general have also been found to cause abnormal blood clotting. [64] In critically ill hospitalized COVID patients, elevated D-dimer levels were found about 60% of the time. [65] Not surprisingly, the longer that D-dimer levels remain elevated in COVID patients, the greater the morbidity and mortality. [66-68] Similarly, the higher the D-dimer level on hospital admission for COVID, the greater the chances of in-hospital mortality. [69]
When the underlying infection or other pathology can be resolved, D-dimer levels will generally resolve as well. If a thrombotic event occurs, resolves, and has no ongoing underlying pathology, D-dimer elevations will generally persist for only a few days before returning to normal. Chronic COVID infections often demonstrate persistent blood clotting problems. In one study, 25% of a recuperating group of COVID patients who were four months past the acute clinical phase of their infections demonstrated increased D-dimer levels. Also of note, the other common laboratory parameters of blood clotting had already returned to normal in over 90% of the patients, indicating the sensitivity that D-dimer testing has for detecting the blood clotting pathology. These other tests included prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, and platelets. Even C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, tests that track inflammation, had typically also returned to normal. [70]
Platelet levels generally drop in the blood at the same time D-dimer levels are increasing, as they are consumed in the formation of the blood clots. [71] A post-COVID vaccination syndrome known as vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) with these laboratory findings has been described. [72-75]
While the pandemic has given more attention to D-dimer testing than it ever had before, other conditions can cause a D-dimer elevation. [76] However, anyone today who is not acutely ill but found to have an elevation of their D-dimer levels is likely suffering from the consequences of persistent spike protein presence in their vasculature, whether due to lingering COVID infection and/or due to having received one or more COVID vaccinations. And even if such an individual never had COVID or received a vaccination, an extensive medical evaluation is warranted, since a D-dimer elevation is never normal. A persistently elevated D-dimer levels should never be dismissed as inconsequential just because the patient feels well.
Therapeutic Recommendations
Quite simply, the goal is to normalize both troponin and D-dimer levels in everyone under treatment. This can be more difficult to achieve in older patients with chronic medical conditions that are being clinically managed. But a concerted effort should still be made at the outset to normalize these tests.
Nearly all of the elevated troponin and D-dimer levels at this point in the pandemic will be secondary to persistent spike protein presence in the body following COVID infection, one or more COVID vaccinations, or both. The likely ease of spike protein transmission also means there will be some individuals who have elevated test levels without having knowledge of ever having been infected, and without a history of vaccination. In other words, these tests should be performed in everyone at this point in time, and any elevations should be aggressively treated. And if those tests are completely normal, they will still serve as excellent baseline data when dealing with future medical conditions or infections, COVID-related or otherwise.
There is no one set protocol for dealing with a persistent spike protein syndrome with elevated troponin and/or D-dimer levels. Some individuals will respond quickly and regain a normal health status after relatively minimal measures are taken. Others will require very aggressive and prolonged treatments, and still others will simply not normalize regardless of what is done. In younger patients, the inability to regain a normal health status should be extremely rare, especially when a quality regimen of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals is being introduced for the first time.
The following recommendations apply to an individual with elevated troponin and D-dimer levels, or with either one elevated and the other normal. Specific reference ranges, or normal ranges, for these tests should come from the laboratory running the tests, since significant variation in these ranges can be seen from one testing source versus another. These recommendations apply to both the clinically normal individual and someone who is suffering from chronic COVID or any of a variety of nonspecific symptoms. This protocol, and all variations thereof, should be administered with the guidance of a licensed healthcare professional.
Intravenous vitamin C, dosed roughly between 50 and 150 grams (1 gram/kilogram body weight), infused over 60 to 120 minutes. Add 25 mg of hydrocortisone to each IV. If not available, take 50 mg of hydrocortisone orally about one hour before start of infusion. Also add 500 to 1,500 mg of magnesium chloride to each IV bag. For more information on vitamin C administration: [77]
Alternatively, take 5 packets of liposome-encapsulated vitamin C orally three times daily. If available take 10 to 20 mg of hydrocortisone orally with each dose.
Alternatively, 2 to 4 grams of sodium ascorbate in juice three times daily with 10 to 20 mg of hydrocortisone with each dose.
Follow each vitamin C infusion with a separate infusion of methylene blue [a potent anti-pathogen proven to be of great benefit even in the most advanced stages of COVID] [79-84]:
50 mg of MB in 250 ml of 5% dextrose solution can be infused over 30 to 45 minutes.
Alternatively, 50 mg of MB can be taken orally each day of vitamin C administration. 5 ml of 1% MB solution in juice (tomato a good option). Taking through a straw avoids temporary teeth and tongue staining. Prompt administration of 3% hydrogen peroxide removes skin stains.
Hydrogen peroxide nebulizations as tolerated to eliminate low-grade colonizations of COVID and other pathogens in the aerodigestive and lower digestive tracts. [85]
Any, or all, of the following nutrient/vitamin/mineral supplements for general support of long-term health: [86]
Vitamin C
Magnesium chloride
Zinc and quercetin
Vitamin D
Vitamin K2
Olive leaf extract
Multivitamin, multimineral preparation that has no added calcium, iron, or copper
Nattokinase, lumbrokinase, and/or serrapeptase to minimize any future blood clotting problems
At the discretion of the healthcare professional, any of the following measures can be added:
Ozonated blood or ozonated saline infusions
Ultraviolet irradiation treatments of the blood
Intravenous infusions of hydrogen peroxide
Hyperbaric oxygen treatments
Chlorine dioxide treatments
Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine
Ivermectin
Any modifications of these treatments, along with deciding how long they should be continued, must be determined on an individual basis with the help of the chosen healthcare professional working with the patient.
Recap
Myocarditis was once rare. Because of COVID vaccines and COVID itself, myocarditis has become genuinely common. The troponin test has shown that there are many individuals who continue to have low-grade myocardial inflammation after a return to clinical normalcy. This makes such individuals ticking time-bombs ready to develop a serious worsening of their underlying pathology when a booster shot is received or a recontraction of COVID or one of its variants occurs. The persistent inflammation in the heart means there is a persistence of the spike protein in that organ and very likely through much of the body. This sets the stage for a sudden and dramatic decline in health when more spike protein is administered or allowed to be replicated in the body.
Elevated D-dimer levels indicate an overactive state of blood clotting in the body, and when these levels remain elevated, the long-time prognosis is likely very poor in terms of morbidity and early mortality.
Heart rhythm problems and heart block can occur when troponin levels remain elevated. The FAA is currently changing its rules to allow more pilots to fly who have PR interval greater than 0.3 seconds, a development that should be of great concern to all who fly. PR intervals that lengthen in the older population can presage significant heart problems, including early death. Science should never be displaced by political expedience and the need to make ever greater amounts of money.
Any persistent elevations of troponin and D-dimer tests must be treated with the goal of normalizing them completely. Obviously, this is especially important in the pilot population. Measures to accomplish this along with recommended types of long-term supplementation are discussed.
(Cardiologist and attorney-at-law Thomas E. Levy is a Contributing Editor for the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. Dr. Levy serves as a consultant to LivOn Labs. He may be contacted attelevymd@yahoo.com)
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Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine
Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org
The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.
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Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana) Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana) Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria) Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia) Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain) Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA) Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia) Susan R. Downs, M.D., M.P.H. (USA) Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia) Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia) Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA) Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico) William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA) Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark) Tonya S. Heyman, M.D. (USA) Patrick Holford, BSc (United Kingdom) Suzanne Humphries, M.D. (USA) Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA) Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden) Dwight Kalita, Ph.D. (USA) Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, MD, FRCP, DTMH (Ghana) Jeffrey J. Kotulski, D.O. (USA) Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria) Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan) Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines) Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA) Pedro Gonzalez Lombana, MD, MsC, PhD (Colombia) Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico) Juan Manuel Martinez, M.D. (Colombia) Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA) Jun Matsuyama, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan) Joseph Mercola, D.O. (USA) Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico) Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland) Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria) Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China) Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana) Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia) Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA) Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands) Han Ping Shi, M.D., Ph.D. (China) T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland) Thomas L. Taxman, M.D. (USA) Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India) Garry Vickar, M.D. (USA) Anne Zauderer, D.C. (USA)
Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief Associate Editor: Robert G. Smith, Ph.D. (USA) Editor, Japanese Edition: Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan) Editor, Chinese Edition: Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. (USA) Editor, Norwegian Edition: Dag Viljen Poleszynski, Ph.D. (Norway) Editor, Arabic Edition: Moustafa Kamel, R.Ph, P.G.C.M (Egypt) Editor, Korean Edition: Hyoungjoo Shin, M.D. (South Korea) Editor, Spanish Edition: Sonia Rita Rial, PhD (Argentina) Editor, German Edition: Bernhard Welker, M.D. (Germany) Associate Editor, German Edition: Gerhard Dachtler, M.Eng. (Germany) Contributing Editor: Thomas E. Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA) Contributing Editor: Damien Downing, M.B.B.S., M.R.S.B. (United Kingdom) Contributing Editor: W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA) Contributing Editor: Ken Walker, M.D. (Canada) Assistant Editor: Helen Saul Case, M.S. (USA) Technology Editor: Michael S. Stewart, B.Sc.C.S. (USA) Associate Technology Editor: Robert C. Kennedy, M.S. (USA) Legal Consultant: Jason M. Saul, JD (USA)
This article (extracts below) is littered with climate propaganda and evidence-free claims about weather and warming. But then a Stanford University professor is quoted saying carbon capture is “not going to help the climate”. The story of the Satartia CO2 pipeline rupture is disturbing.
This article (extracts below) is littered with climate propaganda and evidence-free claims about weather and warming. But then a Stanford University professor is quoted saying carbon capture is “not going to help the climate”. The story of the Satartia CO2 pipeline rupture is disturbing. – – –
The opportunity to compete for billions of dollars in federal funding is on the line as Illinois considers the future of carbon capture, according to the Prairie Research Institute report, as well as the chance to create jobs and boost local economies, says Phys.org.
And at a time when the state and federal government and nations worldwide are trying to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stave off the worst effects of global warming—including catastrophic floods and droughts—carbon capture also holds out the promise of making the job easier.
Carbon capture and storage “could play an important role in achieving the state’s decarbonization goals,” according to the report, which was commissioned by the state legislature.
According to Navigator CO2, the Heartland Greenway pipeline would have the ability to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 15 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 3.2 million cars off the road.
But as the fight over Navigator CO2’s pipeline illustrates, battle lines are being drawn, with opponents questioning carbon capture’s very reason for being—its real-world effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gases.
There are also safety concerns. Landowners fear a pipeline could rupture, releasing a potentially suffocating gas not far from bedroom windows.
“Right now, to move forward with a carbon dioxide pipeline is unconscionable,” said Pam Richart, lead organizer of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, which includes citizens and environmental groups. “It just brings too much risk.” . . . ‘A boondoggle’
Carbon dioxide, which traps heat close to the earth, plays a vital role in maintaining the planet’s temperature [Talkshop comment – a mere assertion].
But now, scientists say, we have too much of a good thing. Due largely to carbon emissions [Talkshop comment – another assertion] from fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, global temperatures have risen in the last century.
As a result, there’s been an increase in extreme weather events [Talkshop comment – another one] such as droughts, heat waves and floods; trees and corals have died off in large numbers; and millions of people have been exposed to acute food and water insecurity, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Scientists say urgent action is needed and effective solutions are available, including replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar energy, switching homes and businesses from gas to electricity, and turning to electric cars.
Carbon capture is more controversial, especially when it comes to keeping coal or gas-burning power plants open for business.
Among the critics is climate scientist Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.
“If you don’t care about climate or air pollution or energy security, go for it,” he said when asked whether Illinois should pursue leadership in carbon capture. “You can pump a lot of money into carbon capture and create some jobs, but it’s not going to help the climate.”
Jacobson, author of a 2019 study in the journal Energy & Environmental Science that raised doubts about the real-world effectiveness of carbon capture, said that the widely quoted figure that the technology can capture 90% of carbon dioxide emissions is actually an assumption based on idealized measurements.
When Jacobson looked at the real-world performance of the $1 billion Petra Nova project in Texas, at the time the biggest coal-plant carbon capture project in the United States, only about 55% of carbon dioxide emissions were being captured.
And that figure didn’t take into account emissions from the natural gas turbine that had to be built to power carbon capture. Also excluded: emissions from mining and processing the coal and natural gas used at the Petra Nova.
When those factors were taken into account, Jacobson found that carbon capture only reduced average annual emissions by 11% to 20%.
“There’s just no evidence this stuff is useful,” Jacobson said of carbon capture. “And all the evidence suggests it’s just a boondoggle and we could have spent all that money on actual emissions reduction.”
Asked for studies that show carbon capture’s effectiveness in reducing emissions, the authors of the Prairie Research Institute study responded via a spokesperson, who offered a written list of studies, none of which appeared to look at real-world emissions before and after carbon capture. . . . Unanswered questions
Among the questions that Illinois still hasn’t answered clearly: Who will bear the long-term responsibility for underground carbon storage sites? Who owns the potentially valuable underground space where carbon dioxide can be stored?
And what will happen if some landowners want to offer up their property for carbon dioxide storage, and other, adjacent, owners do not?
The Prairie Research Institute report includes a range of recommendations addressing such issues, including that the state should create legal and regulatory frameworks for the long-term stewardship and oversight of carbon dioxide storage sites.
The report also recommends the establishment of an interagency planning and oversight committee to consider carbon capture and storage activities in Illinois.
Carbon capture, utilization and storage “should be both enabled and appropriately regulated to ensure long-term storage of CO2 in full consultation with impacted communities,” the report says.
In the wake of a 2020 carbon dioxide pipeline rupture near Satartia, Mississippi, the federal government is also considering more regulation.
At the Satartia pipeline rupture, which followed heavy rains and a landslide, the escaping carbon dioxide roared like a jet engine and carved a crater an estimated 40 feet deep in the ground. A potentially suffocating green fog rose from the pipeline and started moving downhill toward Satartia, according to rescue workers who testified before the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Gas-powered vehicles stalled out on the road due to lack of oxygen, according to testimony. People passed out. In one car, rescue workers found three people unconscious, two with froth coming out of their mouths.
“It looked like the Zombie apocalypse,” testified Yazoo County Emergency Management Agency Director Jack Willingham, who arrived in Satartia about five hours after the rupture. “It was hazy. … There were abandoned vehicles everywhere, many with doors ajar, many with their windows smashed from the rescue efforts.”
No deaths were reported, but 45 people sought medical attention at local hospitals, according to a government report, and federal regulators took notice.
In May, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced that it would start a new rule-making process to update standards for carbon dioxide pipelines, including new requirements related to emergency preparedness and response.
Meanwhile, some counties in Illinois have taken matters into their own hands, declaring moratoriums on permits for pipeline construction.
A CO2 pipeline in Mississippi ruptured last year, sickening dozens of people. What does it forecast for the massive proposed buildout of pipelines across the U.S.? . . . This story is the result of a 19-month HuffPost/Climate Investigations Center investigation into the Satartia pipeline rupture, and the safety of CO2 pipelines.
“The government is encouraging investment in renewable generation including through £30 billion to support the green industrial revolution, and just last year our renewable energy auctions contracted record amounts of clean energy.
The developer of the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire has urged the government to offer targetted support
Image: Orsted
Rising supply chain costs and other financial pressures are threatening the development of what could be the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the coast of Britain.
The Hornsea Three Offshore Wind Farm is expected to have a capacity of almost 3GW and generate enough energy to power three million homes.
Energy giant Orsted, which is behind the construction of the massive wind farm, has said it needs more government support to achieve project progress.
In a statement, Duncan Clark, Head of Orsted UK & Ireland, said: “Since the auction, there has been an extraordinary combination of increased interest rates and supply chain prices.
“Industry is doing everything it can to manage costs on these projects but there is a real and growing risk of them being put on hold or even handing back their CfDs.”
Mr. Clark has called on the government to offer targeted support on investments such as tax breaks.
A government spokesperson told ELN: “The government is encouraging investment in renewable generation including through £30 billion to support the green industrial revolution, and just last year our renewable energy auctions contracted record amounts of clean energy.
“We are working together with the sector on how we can further increase our energy security and independence through greater renewable deployment.”
Rocketing power prices and routine blackouts are the inevitable consequence of the ‘inevitable’ wind and solar ‘transition’ – California is no exception.
Rocketing power prices and routine blackouts are the inevitable consequence of the ‘inevitable’ wind and solar ‘transition’ – California is no exception.
Indeed, thanks to their deranged leaders’ obsession with chaotically intermittent wind and solar, Californians will be lucky to have power, at all. Putting aside the question of whether all but the elite will be able to pay their bills, as and when power might be delivered.
Notwithstanding the evidence that’s well and truly stacked against their utopian belief that all you need are sunshine and breezes, their Governor, Gavin Newsom is determined to wreck what’s left of his state’s power supply, as Thomas Calenacci details below.
California’s grid faces collapse as leaders push renewables, electric vehicles, experts say Fox News Thomas Calenacci 14 February 2023
California’s electric grid faces years of potential blackouts and failure as state leaders continue pushing aggressive measures to transition to renewable energy sources, policy experts tell Fox News Digital.
The state’s grid, which is still mainly powered by fossil fuels, is undergoing a major shift from natural gas and coal power to renewable power like wind and solar. Simultaneously, state officials are pushing an electrification of the economy, particularly in the transportation sector through electric vehicle mandates, which is expected to increase pressure on the grid.
“California is drastically cutting our dependence on fossil fuels and cleaning our air,” Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a November announcement unveiling the “world’s first detailed pathway to carbon neutrality.”
The state’s plan involves goals to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 85%, cut oil usage by 94% and deploy more solar and wind capacity over the next two decades. The aggressive plan to overhaul the state’s energy system came three months after a top California environmental agency moved forward with a rule requiring all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2035.
In 2021, the most recent year with data, wind and solar accounted for about 25% of total electricity generated in California while natural gas accounted for more than 50% of in-state electricity generation. And 19% of new car sales in California were zero-emission vehicles, state data showed.
Experts told Fox News Digital environmental mandates implemented by Newsom and his administration have already created instability in the grid, an issue they argued would only get worse as existing fossil fuel power generation capacity was taken offline and replaced by intermittent sources.
“They’re going to have to build an outrageous amount of wind and solar in a very short time if they want to accomplish their objectives of electrifying — our whole transportation sector and our whole home heating and cooling and residential sector,” Edward Ring, a senior fellow with and co-founder of the California Policy Center, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“There’s a burden to the consumer that’s going to get very heavy,” he continued. “Even if they can pull it off without blackouts, the burden to the consumer is going to be ridiculous.”
Over summer, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state’s electric grid operator, repeatedly warned that high demand would significantly strain utility providers’ ability to supply consumers electricity amid a heat wave.
CAISO issued an “energy emergency alert 3,” its highest alert level, at one point in early September, saying residents should maximize conservation and expect rotating outages, and a flex alert for more than seven consecutive days. The operator also recommended residents refrain from charging electric vehicles to reduce stress on the grid.
“They already are suffering,” said Myron Ebell, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment.
“They’re, in fact, telling people that they’re going to start shutting off natural gas to houses and that they have to convert to electricity,” he told Fox News Digital. “Then, they’re forcing people to buy electric vehicles and they’re going to stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles. That will add to the grid’s demand.”
In its annual report released in December, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a nonpartisan grid watchdog, stated that California faced a “high risk of energy or capacity shortfall” in coming years, particularly during summer months, as a result of traditional power plant retirements and increased demand.
Ebell added that the intermittent nature of solar and wind, meaning they produce less power relative to their total generation capacity, could create instability. Green energy developers and government officials often highlight total capacity of new renewable power projects, but fail to mention how much actual power the project is expected to produce.
Solar panels, for example, produce just 25% and wind turbines produce 34% of their listed capacity, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“The only way the electrification of the transportation sector and of home heating and cooling can work is if the utility sector continues to build natural gas fired plants and looks to building nuclear plants and perhaps building new coal plants because the grid in these states that are pushing these policies is already overloaded,” Ebell continued.
“As everybody moves to EVs, if it happens, the only way to do it is to find more baseload power and dispatchable power.”
The total capacity of the state’s natural gas power plants has fallen 15% between 2013 and 2021, according to the California Energy Commission. In April, Newsom was forced to reverse course on plans to allow California’s only remaining nuclear plant, which alone produces 9% of the state’s electricity generation, to close.
California also imports more electricity than any other state in the U.S., receiving between 20%-30% of its supplies from mainly fossil fuels out-of-state, EIA data shows.
Another potential hurdle to the future of California’s grid stability is the need for new transmission line infrastructure to handle additional demand and connect new renewable energy projects, often located in rural regions, to the grid, Steven Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital. He also argued leaders should put greater emphasis on battery storage which remains far behind where it needs to be.
“These are tremendous costs which haven’t been fairly calculated by the renewable energy people,” Malanga said in an interview. “Essentially what happens is we have this power grid that has been built up over the decades and to go renewable doesn’t just involve building renewable like wind farms and solar farms, but you also have to build new transmission lines.”
“And more significantly, you have to build storage capacity,” he continued. “In a lot of places like California, they’re not even backing up renewables with natural gas, which is really what most sensible people, utility people, say you have to do because renewables are intermittent.”
The Department of Energy estimated last year that the U.S. would need to expand its transmission infrastructure 60% by 2030 and triple its size by 2050 to meet climate goals.
According to an independent analysis by energy researcher Robert Bryce, at its current pace, it would take an estimated 282 years to triple the nation’s transmission capacity. Like other energy projects and infrastructure development, transmission lines often face delays from environmental regulation and local opposition.
“You have to get that power to cities which are the big users of electricity,” Malanga told Fox News Digital. “So, you have to build all new transmission lines. Transmission lines are not only expensive to build, but they face tremendous environmental regulations. Permitting them takes years.”
“It takes ten years just to get approvals to build some of these transmission lines and that’s just one generation,” he added. “Some of these places have renewable targets that are 2035, 2040 and 2045. That’s not that’s far in the future if you’re talking about building a whole new energy infrastructure, which is essentially what we’re talking about in California.”
“The truth of the matter is that in many places we’ve seen how the energy grid is already dangerously close to failing because we’re not paying enough attention to sustaining the grid. This is going to result in blackouts. And we’ve already seen them. The stories are tragic.” Fox News
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