China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks

Barack Obama and the climate alarmists switch between 'contribute to' and 'cause' when talking about climate change. Since the climate has always changed, even before mankind contributed to carbon emissions in any measurable way the argument was always suspect.  Add in the fact that global warming morphed into climate change and now is even referred to as climate disruption. The eco-Marxists have used their contempt of capitalism and fossil fuels to fund a new approach of wealth distribution.  Although they have been able to dupe the general public in the West to a large degree, China, the worlds main polluter has outplayed the  Obama administration and the new left once again.   While the west will produce energy at significantly higher costs and cripple its own industries by leftist design, China will exploit cheap energy and the Utopian desires of the 'progressives' to rule the world industrially and militarily.  Excerpted from The NYTimes:

China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks

BEIJING — China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, has been burning up to 17 percent more coal a year than the government previously disclosed, according to newly released data. The finding could complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming. 

Even for a country of China’s size, the scale of the correction is immense. The sharp upward revision in official figures means that China has released much more carbon dioxide — almost a billion more tons a year according to initial calculations — than previously estimated.
The increase alone is greater than the whole German economy emits annually from fossil fuels.

Or:

Illustrating the scale of the revision, the new figures add about 600 million tons to China’s coal consumption in 2012 — an amount equivalent to more than 70 percent of the total coal used annually by the United States.

Not only has China not been telling the truth about their emissions but the amount of CO2 actually produced has been significantly higher than estimated and hasn't increased the rate of predicted warming.  Strange indeed. Almost as strange as the history of climate alarmism.

ALEC Member & Coal Giant's $10 Million Loan to Democrats Is Now a $10 Million Donation

Coal Giant's $10 Million Loan to Democrats Is Now a $10 Million Donation

—By Andy Kroll

| Fri Mar. 1, 2013 7:49 AM PST

Last summer, with organizers struggling to raise enough money for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, party planners turned to Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, for help. Duke, the nation's largest utility company, stepped up with a $10 million line of credit for the convention. Organizers insisted Duke would be repaid after the convention.
Or…not.
A Duke Energy official told the Charlotte Observer on Thursday that Democratic officials would not repay the $10 million they owe the company. Instead, Duke Energy will write off the loan as a business expense. Shareholders are expected to absorb $6 million of the cost of the loan.

In effect, Duke Energy's "loan" has turned out to be a $10 million contribution to the Democratic convention. Duke CEO Jim Rogers hinted at this possibility in an interview with the Observer last month, when it was becoming clear the Democrats might not repay the company. "At the end of the day, we'll do our best to get our money back," he said. "But if we don't, it's just a contribution we're making I think for the greater good of our community."
The decision by Democratic organizers not to repay the loan smacks of hypocrisy. In the run-up to the convention, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chair of the Democratic National Committee, vowed that convention organizers would not accept corporate money. "We will make this the first convention in history that does not accept any funds from lobbyists, corporations, or political action committees," she said. Yet even before the Duke loan became a straight-up donation, various convention committees revealed that they had accepted corporate money. One committee took in at least $5 million in corporate money to rent Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena and a million more in in-kind contributions from AT&T, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Costco.
Asked about this hypocrisy, Democratic officials have responded by noting that their anti-corporate-cash pledge was self-imposed. Legally, they could use corporate money to fund their convention. Which, in the end, is precisely what they did.

Democracy Now explored the connection Between Obama and Duke Energy

Published on Sep 4, 2012

DemocracyNow.org - Duke Energy, the nation's largest utility, has played a major role in bringing the Democratic National Convention to Charlotte, North Carolina. Duke has a lot riding on future policies governing coal, nuclear energy and climate change, regardless of who wins November's election. The company has partly been successful in fighting off federal regulations thanks to its ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, reportedly sponsoring ALEC's meetings and bankrolled its attacks on clean energy legislation. We discuss Duke Energy's growing political influence with Monica Embrey, the North Carolina organizer for Greenpeace USA; and Beth Henry, a local activist in Charlotte raising awareness about Duke Energy and its ties to the Democratic National Convention.

  There is a lot more to the story in this right to work state:

Nuclear ALEC Member DUKE ENERGY Funds DNC 2012

Climate Change: Democrat Hypocrisy and the DNC 2012

  The following headline caught my attention today. Charlotte seems like a great location and  makes sense for the Republicans to hold a convention , but the DNC 2012 in Charlotte was a much better story. The DNC 2012 host Duke Energy and the location in a right-to-work state seemed to be overlooked and glossed over by the left. The hypocrisy of the LEFT knows NO Bounds. 

Will Charlotte host GOP convention in 2016?

Jim Morrell | Charlotte Observer  - 

• Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/23/180807/will-charlotte-host-gop-convention.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news#storylink=cpy

It worked for Democrats. Could it work for Republicans?
With national Republican Party officials gathering in Charlotte this week, it’s a natural question: Will the party return for its 2016 convention?
“It’s a little premature,” GOP spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. “I think there’s a little bit of a desire to … make those decisions a little bit later.”

The GOP, like the Democratic Party, hasn’t even begun its process for choosing its convention site. Both parties began a process of picking their 2012 sites in 2010. Republicans chose Tampa that year while Democrats picked Charlotte in 2011.
More than 160 members of the GOP executive committee are scheduled to arrive Wednesday for the three-day gathering. They’ll gather at the NASCAR Hall of Fame for an evening reception hosted by Gov. Pat McCrory.
There they’ll watch a video of the city produced by the Charlotte Chamber. But neither the city, the Chamber nor the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority are expected to make a formal pitch for the convention.

Chamber President Bob Morgan said they’re waiting for the CRVA’s economic impact study from the Democratic convention. That report is expected this month.
“We need to see that and have a conversation,” Morgan said.
Organizers estimated an economic impact of around $150 million. But the cost of putting on the event were large as well.
The host committee for the Democratic convention struggled to raise money for the event. As of October, it had fallen $12.5 million short of its $36.6 million goal.
New reports are due this month.

Even More Interesting, Why Did the Democrats Choose Charlotte? While the Democrats and Obama PRETEND to Champion Climate Change - Their ACTIONS SPEAK MUCH LOUDER Than Words

Video From Democracy Now

Published on Sep 4, 2012 by democracynow
DemocracyNow.org - Duke Energy, the nation's largest utility, has played a major role in bringing the Democratic National Convention to Charlotte, North Carolina. Duke has a lot riding on future policies governing coal, nuclear energy and climate change, regardless of who wins November's election. The company has partly been successful in fighting off federal regulations thanks to its ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, reportedly sponsoring ALEC's meetings and bankrolled its attacks on clean energy legislation. We discuss Duke Energy's growing political influence with Monica Embrey, the North Carolina organizer for Greenpeace USA; and Beth Henry, a local activist in Charlotte raising awareness about Duke Energy and its ties to the Democratic National Convention

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 Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Companies including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. have contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democratic National Convention, helping fund an event that Democrats initially said wouldn’t accept corporate money, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Organizers of this year’s convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, turned to corporations after the city’s host committee struggled to reach its $36.7 million fundraising goal, according to the people, who requested anonymity.

Energy Policy

Last year, the Charlotte host committee set up a separate entity called New American City Inc., to take corporate cash and to which Bank of America and Wells Fargo contributed, according to the people. The two banks were on a list of corporate donors released Sept. 1 by the host committee that also named AT&T Inc., US Airways Group Inc., Duke Energy Corp. and the law-and- lobbying firm McGuireWoods LLP.
After saying in February 2011 they wouldn’t take corporate money, Democratic Party leaders and convention organizers have grappled with how to cover the estimated $52 million cost of the event, which will culminate Sept. 6 in President Barack Obama’s renomination acceptance speech.
 Duke Energy Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers, co-chairman of the host committee, “has said that he secured $10 million to $11 million from local corporations from Charlotte,” said Tom Williams, a spokesman for Duke. “He has been working hard to build on those numbers to bring in money” for the convention, Williams said

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 Duke Energy Corp. is on the hook for $7.9 million after Charlotte fundraisers were unable to raise enough money for September’s Democratic National Convention.  Oct 17, 2012


Climate Change is really social justice

Fight Intensifies Over U.S. Coal Exports

 Just keep repeating the Obama administration's talking point there is no war on coal. 

Fight Intensifies Over U.S. Coal Exports

The Associated Press

Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012 | 1:31 p.m.

The progressive college town of Bellingham, Wash., is known for its stunning scenery, access to the outdoors and eclectic mix of aging hippies, students and other residents. But lately it's turned into a battleground in the debate over whether the Pacific Northwest should become the hub for exporting U.S. coal to Asia.
Five ports proposed for Washington and Oregon could ship as much as 140 million tons of coal, mostly from the Rockies, where it could travel by rail through communities such as Spokane, Seattle and Eugene, Ore., before being loaded onto ships bound for Asia.
The Cherry Point marine terminal would be the largest coal-export port in the U.S., exporting up to 54 million tons of bulk commodities, mostly coal.

With so much at stake, critics and supporters have intensified their pitches in recent weeks, running TV and radio spots, doorbelling homes and turning to phone banks and social media to rally support for their side.
Hundreds packed a public hearing in Bellingham last week to tell regulators what should be analyzed during the environmental review process. Hearings in Seattle, Vancouver and Spokane are also expected to draw crowds.
"This flies in the face about what are we about as a region, as far as our leadership on building a clean economy and saying no to coal. We're seen as a region that leads with innovation," said Kimberly Larson, with the Power Past Coal campaign. "Are we going backward or forward?"
Environmentalists, some Northwest tribes and others want regulators to study the cumulative effects all five projects: increased train traffic, carbon emissions from burning coal overseas and other health and environmental concerns.
Project supporters say it's not practical to lump the projects together. Only some ports will be built, they say, and each has different circumstances.
"Most of the people who are proposing that just view it as an opportunity to grind everything to a halt," said Craig Cole, a spokesman for developer Seattle-based SSA Marine. "We are expecting a very full review of the impacts of this project."
Even as environmental reviews have started for three coal-export projects at Cherry Point, Port of Morrow, Ore., and Longview Wash., the Army Corps of Engineers hasn't decided whether it'll conduct a broader environmental review for all the projects.
"We haven't made that determination yet," said corps spokeswoman Michael Coffey. "We're not saying yes and we're not saying no either."
Two other projects are proposed in Oregon at Coos Bay and St. Helens. Another in Grays Harbor County, Wash., was shelved over the summer, after the developer decided to explore other terminal uses.
Meanwhile, a trade group that includes the three largest U.S. coal producers has been running TV and newspaper ads to tout jobs, tax revenues and other economic benefits.
"We feel that someone is going to supply the coal to the ports that need it. ... The question is: where is that coal going to come from?" said Lauri Hennessey, a spokeswoman for the Alliance for Northwest Jobs & Exports, which includes BNSF Railway and companies such as Peabody Coal, Arch Coal and Ambre Energy with stakes in the Northwest projects. "That coal can be sent through Washington and Oregon ports in a way that's environmentally responsible."
Several union leaders and some lawmakers say the region can't afford to turn down well-paying jobs. The company says the $665 million project will create 1,250 permanent direct and indirect jobs and generate $11 million in tax revenues; critics are skeptical.
"Some groups have demonized a natural resource and they think nobody on the planet should burn this material. I disagree. We need jobs," said Mike Elliott, chairman of the state's Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Trains already carry coal from the Rockies through the state for export through British Columbia. But Bellingham resident Lynn Berman and others fear the increase in coal shipments _ about nine mile-long trains a day _ could threaten fisheries, create health problems and foul the area's natural resources.
"It's such a bad idea," said Berman, who worked the phone bank one afternoon in the field office in downtown Bellingham set up by ReSources, a local group that has been organizing against the project. "I think it will impact everyone in this community."
Volunteers have made 32,000 phone calls and hope to make tens of thousands more to educate people about the project, said Matt Petryni, Power Past Coal Campaign organizer. The Sierra Club is also running TV ads in Eastern Washington to warn of risks. It has plans to run more ads statewide and in Oregon.
The Cherry Point area is noted for extensive herring spawning grounds. It's also known burial grounds for the Lummi Nation. The tribe recently came out against the project.
"We do not want any further disturbance," said Jewell James, who manages the tribe's sovereignty and treaty protection office. "It's also a treaty rights issue. This always has been a major fishing and harvesting site for our fishermen."
On a recent afternoon, SSA Marine's Cole pointed to the site, near marine terminals for two oil refineries and an aluminum smelter. "This site has been intended for this purpose," said Cole, a former Whatcom County Councilman. He said the company plans to follow the highest environmental standards.
"The hoops that the company has to jump through are very extraordinary. They're really high. You have to prove that you can avoid impacts, minimize them or mitigate them," Cole said.
But neighbors and others who gathered in Cindy Franklin's living room for a letter-writing workshop that same afternoon weren't so sure.
"I'm afraid that this new race to get all this coal out of the ground, sell it under the guise of energy independence ... is going to destroy our atmosphere," said Franklin, 59, retired business consultant and environmental activist. "It's about the burning of the coal being a major contributor to climate change. We need to do all we can to stop this."