It Melted…It Froze…It Melted…It Froze… , An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings

Scientists have long known there were periods of warmer weather in the region but the artifacts allowed them to identify the exact years, when the site would have been passable on foot.

Dirty Harry’s Place… » Movie Director David Zucker On Palin and We Right-Wing Evangelicals

As for Palin, Zucker says he agrees with 90% of her views. “I’m still pro-choice and I know there’s some kind of climate change going on, though we may not know why. But it’s a matter of priorities. The Democrats think the biggest threat to the world is global warming. It doesn’t bother me that Sarah doesn’t believe that. There are more important things to believe in, starting with the war on terror.” …

Breakdowns spark National Grid crisis in power supply - Times Online

The crumbling state of Britain’s electricity network was exposed yesterday when power station breakdowns caused the first energy shortage of the autumn.

National Grid was forced to call for more power from electricity generators after a series of unexpected breakdowns left the company with an insufficient safety cushion.

The company, which operates the electricity lines across Britain, requires a safety cushion of between 2,000 and 4,000 megawatts above peak demand. When it fell short yesterday, power suppliers were asked to bring all their available generating capacity online, including expensive oil-fired units.

The move came as Gordon Brown vowed to end the “dictatorship of oil” with a billion-pound plan to boost renewable energy supplies and make Britain more energy-efficient.

In a speech to the Scottish CBI, the Prime Minister renewed his call for greater energy independence, saying that the fluctuating cost of oil — which hit $147 a barrel in July — is harming the economy. “Today I set a new ambition, to free Britain from the dictatorship of oil,” he declared, announcing a new wind farm off Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and a pilot scheme for electric cars.

His statement echoed a pledge last week by Barack Obama, the American Democratic presidential candidate, who said that he wanted to end America’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil within ten years.

Mr Brown said: “A low-carbon society will not emerge from business as usual. It will require new thinking and new technologies, new forms of economic activity and social organisation, new forms of consumer behaviour and lifestyles and your creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship to unlock the talents and skills of UK companies.”

The statement came as the Government confirmed that it had been forced to abandon plans for families to receive a £50-£100 payment to help them with fuel bills this winter.

The Times revealed yesterday that plans to fund the £500 million scheme — to raise money from the energy companies by auctioning more carbon permits — had been scuppered by the European Union.