Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on January 18, 2006, to create a state designation of “green school” for schools that apply and demonstrate that they do the following things: The school recycles paper; has “adopted” an endangered species animal and posted its picture in a main traffic area; has an energy savings program that involves students dusting coils on cafeteria refrigerators, placing film on windows, checking bus tire pressure, etc.; hosts an ecological or Sierra Club spokesperson; has a birdhouse habitat project and a natural Michigan garden project; has solar power presentations; has classes do energy audits of their classrooms; has printer cartridge, cell pone and battery recycling programs; observes “Earth Day,” including art class “ecology concern” poster contest and displays; has science projects in which students do home energy improvements; has an “ecology club”; has classes visit “save rainforest habitat” Web sites; sets a goal of 5 percent less energy use; and more. The bill does not specify any consequences for a school that does or does not apply for and receive the designation. Counties or Intermediate School Districts (ISDs) would be required to accept and assess applications for the designation

The vote was 100 in favor, 6 opposed and 1 not voting

(House Roll Call 289 at House Journal 31)

Click here to view bill details.

The sponsor of this bill knows that the measures it proposes for schools include many that promote an evil anti-human agenda, and others that are either pure propaganda or meaningless pabulum. Were this introduced by Chris Kolb or some naively misguided liberal it might be exused, and simply provide fodder for joke writers. However Joe Hune knows better - that's what makes this supremely cynical. The two cosponsors, John Stewart and Leslie Mortimer, are just "useful idiots" along for Hune's demagogic self-serving ride.

Sounds absurd! Cleaning coils? Another good reason to do away with term limits. We need an educational system that will teach the three Rs (plus technology), not how to clean coils.

When the BBC and other news outlets now are quoting the world's leading scientists that global warming is a serious reality, it is time for people to practice ecological principles. House Bill 5554 both promotes education of those principles and boosts measures to limit greenhouse gases through energy conservation. Michigan would be joining eight states with similar laws that are stepping up to the plate.

"When the BBC and other news outlets now are quoting the world's leading scientists that global warming is a serious reality ..." You will never get objective reporting from the BBC. Over 17,000 scientists have signed a petion stating that the models are extremely flawed and cannot even predict yesterdays weather if given the last 100 years worth of data to work with. The same guy that started the global warming myth wrote a book in the 70's warning of the coming ice age and that north america would be uninhabitable by 2000. Most of the global warming legislation is intended to control and take money from the citizens.

What is your source?

All news deserved to be analyzed for its accuracy. Many respected news outlets validate the reality of global warming. What is your source of the 17,000 scientists? That is quite a number.

Ask any physics teacher at a University or C.C. What do you need to make OZONE? One element is Sunlight. No Sunlight no ozone. It dawned on me one day that over the poles of the Earth for about 5 months its total darkness. Thats why the ozone hole grows. No Sunlight. What about the 10,000 active volcanoes belching out cubic miles of sulpher and other noxious gases? What about the plume of smoke that hangs over China because of its unregulated industry concerning pollution? How come the news media and textbooks editors edit out these variables? Its because some entity pays them off! Study Geology and physics and you will become skeptical like me.

"How come the news media and textbooks editors edit out these variables?" Because the UN, Euro weenies and tree huggers would love to crush the U.S. Leftist Stephen Schneider, 13 years after endorsing the book The Cooling (which warned of global cooling), said: "[W]e have to offer up scary scenarios [about global warming and destruction of the environment], make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts one might have . . . . Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." "I would freely admit that on [global warming] we have crossed the boundary from news reporting to advocacy." -- Time science editor Charles Alexander, in comments at a Smithsonian Institute conference. What we've got to do in energy conservation is try to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, to have approached global warming as if it is real means energy conservation, so we will be doing the right thing anyway in terms of economic policy and environmental policy. -- Timothy Wirth, former U.S. Senator (D-Colorado) Leftist Judi Bari said: "I think if we don't overthrow capitalism, we don't have a chance of saving the world ecologically. I think it is possible to have an ecologically sound society under socialism. I don't think it's possible under capitalism." The socialist Council of the Club of Rome said: "In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. . . . All these dangers are caused by human intervention. . . . The real enemy, then, is humanity itself." "Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state." -- Adolph Hitler "[State-run] education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed." --Joseph Stalin I suspect that eradicating small pox was wrong. It played an important part in balancing ecosystems. -- John Davis, editor of Earth First! Journal Human beings, as a species, have no more value than slugs. -- John Davis, editor of Earth First! Journal Cannibalism is a "radical but realistic solution to the problem of overpopulation." -- Lyall Watson, The Financial Times, 15 July 1995

http://zwr.oism.org/pproject/ http://www.sepp.org/NewSEPP/KyotoAssessment.htm http://canadafreepress.com/2005/cover050705.htm http://www.junkscience.com/news2/woices.htm

From Associated Press March 24 "Giant glaciers, lubricated by melting water have begun causing earthquakes in Greenland as they lurch toward the ocean." This issue of Science magazine (widely respected) publication "At the current warming rate the Earth's temperature by 2100 will probably be at least 4 degrees warmer than now, with the Arctic as warm as it was 130,000 years ago. This melting will raise sea levels by three feet over the next one hundred years."

How about making their deisels fill up with E-85. They are already e-85 if I am not mistaken. Think how that would help the lungs of all those children! Not tomention the rest of us.

I would just like to say, as one of the students who testified to the committee, that Green Schools is a great program. It is a wonderful opportunity to get everyone involved in helping our environment and saving money. Not everyone can say that they were provided that opportunity in high school. I'm extremely excited to see how far this goes in the world and I hope you are too!

with e-85 it will blow up. This would help the kids in a lot of ways. They will lose weight walking to school. They will not have to breath exhaust since the engines will be destroyed. They will have less time to be indoctrinated by tree hugging libs. Sounds good to me. Fill-er-up

be extremely excited to see kids that are learning how to read, write coherent sentences and do basic math in school. If you want a green school, lobby the city to paint it for you.

Lobby the city to paint the school green? Why are you encouraging such bad habits? If the spoiled little idiots want it painted green they can darn well do it themselves. Preferably in time for St. Patrick's Day.

How could you even say thisbill is cynical. it has nothin but positive outcomes for not only the schools but also for students. if you at all aware of students knowledge of environmental awareness, you would fully support this bill. stop bashing the liberals and just think for a moment outside of the box. this bill shouldnt revolve around far right or far left politics, but concentrate more on education.

Just go ask any scientist if CO2 levels are rising rapidly. If they reply with a "no" they are ignoring the truth. If it is such a "Myth" then why are so many educational institutes and scientists around the world working to solve global warming? instead of listening to news outlets and the media, go do some research of your own. here is a good place to start . . . its called the "fatal flower effect", look it up!

i cant beleive some of the content on this website. many of you are talking right out of you butts. paint the school green? spoiled little idiots? I take you were the ones who were left out of the dodgeball game when you were younger. Read over the damn bill, it requires no money, is totally voluntary, and has the possibility to save the schools money. stop bitching about libs and far leftness, and think about the future. its not that tough of a decision.

I don't know whose idea it was originally, but this is proactive and really shows someone is planning for the future not just using resources. Wow! Nice job legislators! Very wise. Good job you!

Planning for Michigan's future as well as solving problems of today! Finally! Fantastic!

How do you make THIS into something bad? Anti-human agenda? Alrighty then! Come off the internet and step into the real world for a sec. Come back to us. Thank you for sharing your opinion, though.

Someday they will be making the decisions. An excellent model for a better future.

Someday they will be making the decisions. An excellent model for a better future.

Get a clue, folks! This is a good bill. If I was a member of Congress, I wouldn't want to go down in history as the people who could have done something but didn't. This is the proper course of action. GO FOR IT!

Whatever happened to the cooling that would kill us all by 2000???????????????

We'd be some of the first places to go, so plan ahead.

http://www.tsaugust.org/17000%20Scientists%20Paper.htm MONDAY, February 6, 2006. If you think environmentalism is all about saving the earth, protecting the whales, stopping pollution, and the like, I here's some news. It's not! Listen to what environmental advocates themselves have to say: "I think if we don't overthrow capitalism, we don't have a chance of saving the world ecologically. I think it is possible to have an ecologically sound society under socialism. I don't think it's possible under capitalism." [Environmentalism equals replacing capitalism with socialism.] -- Judi Bari, Earth First! member. "The environmentalist's dream is an egalitarian society based on: rejection of economic growth, a smaller population, eating lower on the food chain, consuming a lot less, and sharing a much lower level of resources much more equally." -- Aaron Wildavsky, political scientist and professor. [Environmentalism equals making everybody equal; that is, it's communism.] "No matter if the science is all phony, there are collateral environmental benefits. . , [C]limate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world." [Environmentalism equals changing the world.] -- Christine Stewart, Canadian Environment Minister. "We must make this an insecure and inhospitable place for capitalists and their projects. . . . We must reclaim the roads and plowed land, halt dam construction, tear down existing dams, free shackled rivers and return to wilderness millions of tens of millions of acres of presently settled land." [Environmentalism equals a return to primitive living.] -- David Foreman, Earth First! member. "We've got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy." [Environmentalism equals changing policy by claiming -- even without substantiation -- it's necessary to save the world's environment.] -- Timothy Wirth, Clinton Administration U.S. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, and one of a number of politicians (including Barbara Boxer, Barney Frank, Al Gore, John Kerry, Christopher Shays, and others) who were designated as "Green Leadership for the '90s." "[W]e have to offer up scary scenarios [about global warming and destruction of the environment}, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts one might have. . . . Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." [Environmentalism equals lies "if necessary".] -- Stephen Schneider, Stanford University environmentalist. "We routinely wrote scare stories about the hazards of chemicals, employing words like 'cancer,' and 'birth defects' to splash a little cold water in reporters' faces. . . . Our press reports were more or less true. . . . Few handouts, however, can be completely honest, and ours were no exception . . . . We were out to whip the public into a frenzy about the environment." [Environmentalism equals government-sponsored deception.] -- Jim Sibbison, former EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) press officer. "Not only do journalists not have a responsibility to report what skeptical scientists have to say about global warming. They have a responsibility not to report what these scientists say." [Environmentalism equals silencing debate and stifling contrary opinions.] -- Ross Gelbspan, former editor of the Boston Globe. "I would freely admit that on [global warming] we have crossed the boundary from news reporting to advocacy." [Environmentalism equals indoctrination.] -- Charles Alexander, "Time" magazine science editor. Writer John Meredith summarizes: "The radical environmental movement is destroying America. It is turning our society, once based on individual freedom and responsibility, into little more than mindless followers of regulations established at the whim of unelected special-interest groups." Walter Williams has the last word: "While the Soviet Union has collapsed, communism is not dead. It has [been] repackaged under a new name: environmentalism. Communism is about extensive government regulation and control by elites, and so is environmentalism."

Good things to teach!

South pole is getting more ice. Greenland was named Greenland because it used to be Green...not ice covered. It goes in cycles. Get over it. You can't control the climate. One good volcano spews more so called "greenhouse gasses" than mankind can make in 50 years. It's all about control, they want us to all drive little bitty cars and eat tofu. Never Live Free Or Die

They are the ones trying to shove this warming thing down our thoats. Also look up global cooling. This was the first plan that didn't scare enough people.

This is green indoctrination of kids. Nothing more nothing less. Teach them to read and write, that is the only job of the school.

...was named Greenland by her discoverer for the same reason that Iceland was named Iceland. Propaganda and protection. The folks that discovered Iceland wanted to portray her as an icy wasteland so that rival settlers did not want to go there. They called Greenland by that particular name because they wanted rival settlers to invest resources going there instead. Greenland has never been a lush green paradise (maybe once when it was part of the megacontinent).

Vikings

hello! embrace science!

I know it was the Vikings that discovered Greenland and Iceland. I was just having an LD moment and couldn't remember the word I wanted.

I agree w/ "Media?" and "Wrong Again." I do remember the fear mongers promoting the idea of a "coming ice age." Of course, the new ice age was due to the activity of mankind, particularly activities that occurred in developed nations, more particularly, the West...and specifically, in the United States. Remember the "population bomb?" I remember having to do silly little experiments in school to first encourage, then kill fruit flies in jars to bring home the point that the evil that was humankind was destroying the planet by over-procreating and using up the precious and oh-so-limited resources. The spreading ozone hole? That was a biggie, too. The Democrats, lefties and commie-libs ruined aerosol sprays and changed forever the kind of refrigerants that could be used. Systems became less efficient and more expensive. And all based on what is now widely recognized to be a lie. If the acreage that is supposed to be destroyed in South America on a daily basis was actually being destroyed, the forestation of the continent would be long gone. Obviously, it's not. About 15 years ago Ted Dansen was filmed walking along a beach and authoritatively asserting that we'd all be dead in...what was it...less than ten years or something...if people continued to treat the ocean as it had been. Another crisis averted, I guess. Thank goodness for Ted's early warning, huh? What a bunch of crap. Now it's global warming. This one's actually getting long-term traction because there is some evidence that it's actually happening. Thing is, man's activity is no more a cause than the Man in the Moon. And you don't have too look too far to see this, either. Ice ages. Remember learning about those? Why did glacial ice migrate toward the equator? Why did it recede? Why did it happen a few times? Must have been someone's rotten campfire. The earth's climate is dynamic. Volcanic activity, plant growth, solar activity...these are some of the factors behind climate change. It's not someone's chimney. Greenland and Iceland were mentioned in this thread. Ever heard of Vineland. It was so named by Nordic explorers about 1500 years ago because grape vines were found growing wild in the warm, mild climate. Well...turns out that "Vineland" was recently determined to be on the Atlantic coast of what is now Canada. Canada, for crying out loud. How many wild grapes are still growing in that "mild" climate do you guess? None. In a matter of just several generations, Vineland became too cold for the settlers and was abandoned. So vote in your green schools and everybody can have a feel-good party as young kids stick film on windows and celebrate the farce that is Earth Day while it is drilled into their little heads just how God-awful Western...well...everything Western...really is.

limited population for a reason, not very nice about it,though

God forbid we should teach them what elements are necessary for human survival. Read and writing a left-brained skill, by the way. We need of balance of thinking to make good decisions.

Global Warming: In Brief: Fact Sheet Consequences of Global Warming Unless we act now, our children will inherit a hotter world, dirtier air and water, more severe floods and droughts, and more wildfires [En Español] (See more Google Earth maps.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALASKA HEATS UP Warming temperatures are already having an impact on the people, wildlife and landscape of Alaska. Click on the numbers on this map to see what's happening on the front lines of global warming. 1. Barrow 2. Shismaref 3. Yukon River 4. Wasilla 5. Kenai Peninsula 6. McCall Glacier 7. Fairbanks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest scientific data confirm that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. Global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the course of the last century, and will likely rise even more rapidly in coming decades. The cause? A thickening layer of carbon dioxide pollution, mostly from power plants and automobiles, that traps heat in the atmosphere. Scientists say that unless global warming emissions are reduced, average U.S. temperatures could rise another 3 to 9 degrees by the end of the century -- with far-reaching effects. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will expand their range. And species will be pushed to extinction. As this page shows, many of these changes have already begun. CLIMATE PATTERN CHANGES Consequence: warmer temperatures Average temperatures will rise, as will the frequency of heat waves. Warning signs today Most of the United States has already warmed, in some areas by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, no state in the lower 48 states experienced below average temperatures in 2002. The last three five-year periods are the three warmest on record. Many places in North America had their hottest seasons or days on record in the late 1990s. Since 1980, the earth has experienced 19 of its 20 hottest years on record, with 2005 and 1998 tied for the hottest and 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third. Consequence: drought and wildfire Warmer temperatures could also increase the probability of drought. Greater evaporation, particularly during summer and fall, could exacerbate drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires. Warning signs today Greater evaporation as a result of global warming could increase the risk of wildfires. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 1999-2002 national drought was one of the three most extensive droughts in the last 40 years. In 2002, the Western United States experienced its second worst wildfire season in the last 50 years; more than 7 million acres burned. Colorado, Arizona, and Oregon had their worst seasons. The period from April through June of 1998 was the driest three-month period in 104 years in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. Dry conditions produced the worst wildfires in 50 years in Florida in 1998. April through July of 1999 was the driest four-month stretch in 105 years of record-keeping in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island. Montana, Colorado, and Kansas experienced severe dust storms in 2002, a product of dry conditions. September 2001 to February 2002 was the second driest six-month period on record for the Northeast. Consequence: more intense rainstorms Warmer temperatures increase the energy of the climatic system and lead to more intense rainfall at some times and in some areas. Warning signs today National annual precipitation has increased between 5 and 10 percent since the early 20th century, largely the result of heavy downpours in some areas. Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts each got more than double their normal monthly rainfall in June 1998. Severe flooding in the Texas, Montana, and North Dakota during the summer of 2002 caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. HEALTH EFFECTS More frequent and more intensive heat waves could result in more heat-related deaths. Photo: Gary Braasch, Chicago, July 1995. See the World View of Global Warming website for more Gary Braasch photos illustrating the consequences of the changing climate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consequence: deadly heat waves and the spread of disease More frequent and more intensive heat waves could result in more heat-related deaths. These conditions could also aggravate local air quality problems, already afflicting more than 80 million Americans. Global warming is expected to increase the potential geographic range and virulence of tropical diseases as well. Warning signs today In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1500 deaths in India. More than 250 people died as a result of an intense heat wave that gripped most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States in 1999. Disease-carrying mosquitoes are spreading as climate shifts allow them to survive in formerly inhospitable areas. Mosquitoes that can carry dengue fever viruses were previously limited to elevations of 3,300 feet but recently appeared at 7,200 feet in the Andes Mountains of Colombia. Malaria has been detected in new higher-elevation areas in Indonesia. WARMING WATER Consequence: more powerful and dangerous hurricanes Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them more intense and potentially more destructive. Warning signs today The number of category 4 and 5 storms has greatly increased over the past 35 years, along with ocean temperature. Consequence: melting glaciers, early ice thaw Rising global temperatures will speed the melting of glaciers and ice caps, and cause early ice thaw on rivers and lakes. Warning signs today At the current rate of retreat, all of the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone by 2070. After existing for many millennia, the northern section of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica -- a section larger than the state of Rhode Island -- collapsed between January and March 2002, disintegrating at a rate that astonished scientists. Since 1995 the ice shelf's area has shrunk by 40 percent. According to NASA, the polar ice cap is now melting at the alarming rate of nine percent per decade. Arctic ice thickness has decreased 40 percent since the 1960s. In 82 years of record-keeping, four of the five earliest thaws on Alaska's Tanana River were in the 1990s. The satellite photo at far left shows the Larson B ice shelf on Jan. 31, 2002. Ice appears as solid white. Moving to the right, in photos taken Feb. 17 and Feb. 23, the ice begins to disintegrate. In the photos at far right, taken Mar. 5 and Mar 7, note water (blue) where solid ice had been, and that a portion of the shelf is drifting away. Photos: National Aeronautics and Space Administration -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consequence: sea-level rise Current rates of sea-level rise are expected to increase as a result both of thermal expansion of the oceans and of partial melting of mountain glaciers and the Antarctic and Greenland ice caps. Consequences include loss of coastal wetlands and barrier islands, and a greater risk of flooding in coastal communities. Low-lying areas, such as the coastal region along the Gulf of Mexico and estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay, are especially vulnerable. Warning signs today The current pace of sea-level rise is three times the historical rate and appears to be accelerating. Global sea level has already risen by four to eight inches in the past century. Scientists' best estimate is that sea level will rise by an additional 19 inches by 2100, and perhaps by as much as 37 inches.