Surprise: North Korea is part of the Kyoto Protocol!

On Apr 28, 10:07 am, Xan Du wrote:
On 4/28/2010 12:48 PM, TibetanMonkey, the-Monkey-with-the-Bag-of-**** wrote:

What's dooming the West is NOT the rational mind of the scientists,
but the reckless abandon of those who ignore the warnings of science
and keep driving an SUV in "automatic pilot." Eastern philosophies are
more spiritual in that sense, but don't have the power to stop Western
materialism (see China& India).

I don't have much faith in China or India being any friendlier to the
environment than the West. China is gearing up to produce automobiles
for the export market, borrowing heavily from Japanese production and
design techniques. The Economist expects Chinese automobile factories
to be as state of the art as the product they eventually produce, and
therefore quite competitive. The US will of course slap heavy tariffs
on them to keep the UAW campaign dollars flowing into their election
coffers.

I'm too lazy to find the Economist article, but here's a recent blurb on
the Chinese auto industry:

http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2...car-live-china

Now, to its credit, the Chinese have been making noises about becoming
more "green" in their own domestic energy production, but I suspect that
this is more political than practical -- BP and ExxonMobil have been
hyping their renewable energy research for years, but have made very
little progress in my estimation. The simple fact is, fossil fuels are
too cheap and too readily available at the moment to make it
economically viable for emerging economies like China, or struggling 1st
World economies like the US, to abandon any time in the near future.

This is why Kyoto is moribund, and why the Copenhagen AGW summit
accomplished all but nothing. My opinion is that climate engineering is
going to be the most overall cost-effective means to combat climate
change. It has a strong backing by some climate scientists, but is
politically very unpopular on the left -- unrealistically so, I might add.

IMHO, that is. I am still learning.

Now, who are those who ignore scientists if not the Christian sheep? I
just want to meet a man who believes in science that denies what
science is projecting into the future. I haven't met many.

The both get my...

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture...ow67/3_013.jpg

Excellent find sir, excellent. If God exists, may he bless the
TibetanMonkey!!!!

-Xan

Well, this question of climate engineering got the monkey curious and
here's some article on the subject...

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspi...cle175278.html

My wise opinion? I believe before it comes to that we should start
with the common sense approach: bicycles, public transportation,
bullet trains... I believe in science, but science fiction is beyond
my simian brain.

You mention China & India, but Japan didn't go that way. I think the
Japanese are smarter, except for making SUVs for America. My sources
tell me cyclists ride on sidewalks though, and that's very
uncivilized. But their approach to public transportation is first
class. I don't think they want to be B-I-G like America.

On Apr 28, 1:10 pm, "Xan Du" wrote:
"TibetanMonkey, the-Monkey-with-the-Bag-of-****"

I believe in science, but science fiction is beyond
my simian brain.

You read a bad article. The links I gave you are far more grounded.

You mention China & India, but Japan didn't go that way. I think the
Japanese are smarter, except for making SUVs for America. My sources
tell me cyclists ride on sidewalks though, and that's very
uncivilized. But their approach to public transportation is first
class. I don't think they want to be B-I-G like America.

I do give credit to the Japanese for being very smart about quite a number of
things ... the '90s economic meltdown there notwithstanding. Hopefully they've
learned their lessons on that score.

Here are 2005 C02 emissions in tonnes/person:
US 23.5
UK 10.6
Japan 10.5

Here are 2005 net food imports in millions of USD:
US 7,424
UK 11,069
Japan 13,911

On a per capita basis, Japan has 4 times higher net agricultural imports than
the US. The UK has 8 times higher net agricultural imports than the US.

In the US, agriculture accounts for about 9% of our greenhouse gas emissions. I
can't find the numbers for UK or Japan, but I haven't looked very hard either.
But maybe you can see where I'm going with my math here.

-Xan

Oh brother, these debates are leading to some serious stuff. I hope
all the world leaders are following us...

Anyway, I should start with this issue, whether we believe or not: We
are going to have to do like Jesus and ride a donkey or something...
Actually we can make the campaign sound catchy such as: GET ON YOUR
ASS AND CHANGE THE WORLD!

As you say, our roads are SAVAGE & INTIMIDATING, but if we provide a
safe area for bikes many people will actually get on their ass and do
something!

This is PLAN A (PREVENTION) and then PLAN B (HIGH TECH) comes when we
have the money to make those technologies feasible. Bush spoke those
alternative vehicles that never seem to come. "Pie in the sky" like
God.

Putting America on a diet and being frugal like Japan & Germany is
feasible, though not likely.

On Apr 28, 12:20 pm, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:
"TibetanMonkey, the-Monkey-with-the-Bag-of-****"

You mention China & India, but Japan didn't go that way. I think the
Japanese are smarter, except for making SUVs for America. My sources
tell me cyclists ride on sidewalks though, and that's very
uncivilized. But their approach to public transportation is first
class. I don't think they want to be B-I-G like America.

I love my bicycle, but the only way they'll ever become a major player in
the transportation game is:

A) Make bike lanes which cannot be entered by cars unless the car somehow
becomes airborne. Painted lines are a silly idea.

B) Put most automobile drivers to death, or otherwise prevent them from ever
operating a motor vehicle.

Until that happens, I'd never use a bike as a daily method of travel. The
more you do it, the greater the chances of being mowed down by an
automobile.

Oh thank you, partner. Same here. You know something: That's the
reality of the jungle that many so-called cyclists deny --usually the
"pros" riding on weekends for no practical purpose. They say I'm
chicken, but I don't like playing chicken with the BIG BOYS.

I have a solution to that problem, nice, simple & free, actually it
may make some good money for bike facilities such as bike paths. My
solution is:

A BIKE IS A VEHICLE ENTITLED TO THE LANE. YOU THE DRIVER OVERTAKE THE
BIKE BY LEAVING THE LANE 30' BEFORE AND AFTER SAID VEHICLE. ANY
VIOLATIONS WILL BE CAUGHT ON CAMERA AND YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR IT...
SO SMILE. A COLLISION BETWEEN BIKE AND CAR IS ALWAYS THE FAULT OF THE
DRIVER UNLESS PROVEN OTHERWISE.

In the meanwhile we are waiting impatiently for better times.