New Zealand:  National rejects "expert" advice?

Yesterday I was informed that a number of officials have been dumped from the New Zealand Government delegation to the climate change talks in Poznan, Poland.

Apparently, a number of senior officials from the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry for the Environment who were all set to attend to advice our Ministers during the negotiations, were told at the last minute to unpack their bags and stay at home.

The Reference Frame: La Niña may be returning

If La Niña returns, expect more global cooling to be more likely than global warming. Plan for more snow in Colorado and many other things. The cool phase of the PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation) could bring more frequent La Niñas in the next 20-30 years and less frequent El Niños and take the global temperature down.

Cattlemen group opposes livestock tax proposed by EPA - Grand Island, NE

A proposed Environmental Protection Agency tax on livestock operations would be devastating to Nebraska's billion dollar livestock industry, according to Dave Wright, president of the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska.

According to Wright, the EPA proposal would establish a greenhouse gas "tax" of $87.50 on each head of beef cattle produced and $175 per head on each dairy animal and $20 for each hog.

The proposal is essentially a tax on livestock operations, Wright said.

"Most livestock and dairy farmers would not be able to pass along this tax," Wright said. "The proposal would put producers out of business and would certainly result in much higher consumer costs for beef, milk, pork, and milk products."