Region hit by Sandy struggles to resume daily life

This photo provided by Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows people boarding a bus, as partial bus service was restored on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Mass transit, including buses, was suspended during Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Patrick Cashin)

This photo provided by Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows people boarding a bus, as partial bus service was restored on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Mass transit, including buses, was suspended during Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Patrick Cashin)

Marcus Konner, 22, boards his home in the aftermath of a storm surge from Hurricane Sandy, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, in Coney Island's Sea Gate community in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

People walk through the houses destroyed in the aftermath of yesterday's storm surge from superstorm Sandy, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, in Coney Island's Sea Gate community in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

A car is upended on a mailbox on Surf Avenue in Coney Island, N.Y., in the aftermath of Sandy on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Ralph Russo)

A shed is uprooted on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, along Route 14 in Canton Township, Pa., in the aftermath of Sandy. Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/The Daily Review, Eric Hrin)

NEW YORK (AP) ? People in the coastal corridor battered by superstorm Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim routines upended by the disaster, even as rescuers combed neighborhoods strewn with debris and scarred by floods and fire.

But while New York City buses returned to darkened streets eerily free of traffic and the New York Stock Exchange prepared to reopen its storied trading floor Wednesday, it became clear that restoring the region to its ordinarily frenetic pace could take days ? and that rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks that link them together could take considerably longer.

"We will get through the days ahead by doing what we always do in tough times ? by standing together, shoulder to shoulder, ready to help a neighbor, comfort a stranger and get the city we love back on its feet," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

By late Tuesday, the winds and flooding inflicted by the fast-weakening Sandy had subsided, leaving at least 55 people dead along the Atlantic Coast and splintering beachfront homes and boardwalks from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England.

The storm later moved across Pennsylvania on a predicted path toward New York State and Canada.

At the height of the disaster, more than 8.2 million lost electricity ? some as far away as Michigan. Nearly a quarter of those without power were in New York, where lower Manhattan's usually bright lights remained dark for a second night.

But, amid the despair, talk of recovery was already beginning.

"It's heartbreaking after being here 37 years," Barry Prezioso of Point Pleasant, N.J., said as he returned to his house in the beachfront community to survey the damage. "You see your home demolished like this, it's tough. But nobody got hurt and the upstairs is still livable, so we can still live upstairs and clean this out. I'm sure there's people that had worse. I feel kind of lucky."

Much of the initial recovery efforts focused on New York City, the region's economic heart. Bloomberg said it could take four or five days before the subway, which suffered the worst damage in its 108-year history, is running again. All 10 of the tunnels that carry commuters under the East River were flooded. But high water prevented inspectors from immediately assessing damage to key equipment, raising the possibility that the nation's largest city could endure an extended shutdown of the system that 5 million people count on to get to work and school each day. The chairman of the state agency that runs the subway, Joseph Lhota, said service might have to resume piecemeal, and experts said the cost of the repairs could be staggering.

Power company Consolidated Edison said it would be four days before the last of the 337,000 customers in Manhattan and Brooklyn who lost power have electricity again and it could take a week to restore outages in the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County. Floodwater led to explosions that disabled a power substation Monday night, contributing to the outages.

Surveying the widespread damage, it was clear much of the recovery and rebuilding will take far longer.

When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stopped in Belmar, N.J., during a tour of the devastation, one woman wept openly and 42-year-old Walter Patrickis told him, "Governor, I lost everything."

Christie, who called the shore damage "unthinkable," said a full recovery would take months, at least, and it would likely be a week or more before power is restored to everyone who lost it.

"Now we've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for," he said. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the state Wednesday to inspect the storm damage.

By sundown Tuesday, however, announcements from officials and scenes on the streets signaled that New York and nearby towns were edging toward a semblance of routine.

First came the reopening of highways in Connecticut and bridges across the Hudson and East rivers, although the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan, and the Holland Tunnel, between New York and New Jersey, remained closed.

A limited number of the white and blue buses that crisscross New York's grid returned Tuesday evening to Broadway and other thoroughfares on a reduced schedule ? but free of charge. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he hoped there would be full service by Wednesday. Still, school was canceled for a third straight day Wednesday in the city, where many students rely on buses and subways to reach classrooms.

In one bit of good news, officials announced that John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark International Airport in New Jersey would reopen at 7 a.m. Wednesday with limited service. New York's LaGuardia Airport remains closed.

The New York Stock Exchange was again silent Tuesday ? the first weather-related, two-day closure since the 19th century ? but trading was scheduled to resume Wednesday morning with Bloomberg ringing the opening bell.

Amtrak also laid out plans to resume some runs in the Northeast on Wednesday, with modified service between Newark, N.J., and points south. That includes restoring Virginia service to Lynchburg, Richmond and Newport News, Keystone trains in Pennsylvania, and Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, Maine.

But flooding continues to prevent service to and from New York's Penn Station. Amtrak said the amount of water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers is unprecedented. There will be no Northeast Regional service between New York and Boston and no Acela Express service for the entire length of the Northeast Corridor. No date has been set for when it might resume.

But even with the return of some transportation and plans to reopen schools and businesses, the damage and pain inflicted by Sandy continued to unfold, confirming the challenge posed by rebuilding.

In New Jersey, amusement rides that once crowned a pier in Seaside Heights were dumped into the ocean, some homes were smashed, and others were partially buried in sand.

Farther north in Hoboken, across the Hudson from Manhattan, New Jersey National Guard troops arrived Tuesday night with high-wheeled vehicles to reach thousands of flood victims stuck in their homes. They arrived to find a town with live wires dangling in the floodwaters that Mayor Dawn Zimmer said were rapidly mixing with sewage. At nightfall, the city turned almost completely dark.

About 2.1 million homes and businesses remained without power across the state late Tuesday. When Tropical Storm Irene struck last year, it took more than a week to restore power everywhere. The state's largest utility, PSE&G, said it was trying to dry out substations it had to shut down.

Outages in the state's two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City, left traffic signals dark, resulting in numerous fender-benders at intersections where police were not directing traffic. And in one Jersey City supermarket, there were long lines to get bread and a spot at an outlet to charge cellphones.

Trees and power lines were down in every corner of the state. Schools and state government offices were closed for a second day, and many called off classes for Wednesday, too. The governor said the PATH trains connecting northern New Jersey with Manhattan would be out of service for at least seven to 10 days because of flooding. All the New Jersey Transit rail lines were damaged, he said, and it was not clear when the rail lines would be able to open.

In Connecticut, some residents of Fairfield returned home in kayaks and canoes to inspect widespread damage left by retreating floodwaters that kept other homeowners at bay.

"The uncertainty is the worst," said Jessica Levitt, who was told it could be a week before she can enter her house. "Even if we had damage, you just want to be able to do something. We can't even get started."

The storm caused irreparable damage to homes in East Haven, Milford and other shore towns. Still, many were grateful the storm did not deliver a bigger blow, considering the havoc wrought in New York City and New Jersey.

"I feel like we are blessed," said Bertha Weismann, whose garage was flooded in Bridgeport. "It could have been worse."

And in New York, residents of the flooded beachfront neighborhood of Breezy Point in returned home to find fire had taken everything the water had not. A huge blaze destroyed perhaps 100 homes in the close-knit community where many had stayed behind despite being told to evacuate.

John Frawley, 57, acknowledged the mistake. Frawley, who lived about five houses from the fire's edge, said he spent the night terrified "not knowing if the fire was going to jump the boulevard and come up to my house."

"I stayed up all night," he said. "The screams. The fire. It was horrifying."

There were still only hints of the economic impact of the storm.

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted it will end up causing about $20 billion in damage and $10 billion to $30 billion in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15 billion ? big numbers probably offset by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to longer-term growth.

"The biggest problem is not the first few days but the coming months," said Alan Rubin, an expert in natural disaster recovery.

Some of those who lost homes and businesses to Sandy were promising to return and rebuild, but many sounded chastened by their encounter with nature's fury. They included Tom Shalvey of Warwick, R.I., whose 500-square-foot cottage on the beach in South Kingstown was washed away by raging surf, leaving a utility pipe as the only marker of where it once sat.

"We love the beach. We had many great times here," Shalvey said. "We will be back. But it will not be on the front row."

___

Contributors to this report included Associated Press writers Angela Delli Santi in Belmar, N.J.; Geoff Mulvihill and Larry Rosenthal in Trenton, N.J.; Katie Zezima in Atlantic City, N.J.; Samantha Henry in Jersey City, N.J.; Pat Eaton-Robb and Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn.; Susan Haigh in New London, Conn.; John Christoffersen in Bridgeport, Conn.; Alicia Caldwell and Martin Crutsinger in Washington; David Klepper in South Kingstown, R.I.; David B. Caruso, Colleen Long, Jennifer Peltz, Tom Hays, Larry Neumeister, Ralph Russo and Scott Mayerowitz in New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-31-Superstorm%20Sandy/id-d6832daabbd6405bb09e6fc3f636084c

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Weekly Climate and Energy News Roundup | Watts Up With That?

Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project

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Quote of the Week: ?It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn?t get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man.? Richard Feynman [H/t Roger Cohen]

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Number of the Week: 70%

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THIS WEEK:

By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

APS: In 2007 the American Physical Society (APS) issued an absolutist statement on Climate Change that greatly disturbed a number of its senior fellows. In 2009, about 300 physicists petitioned the APS petitioned to modify the statement. The statement was not modified, but augmented with a lengthy addition. The turmoil continues. Roger Cohen, a Fellow of the Society has posted on the web site of Anthony Watts his expression of dissatisfaction with the APS. This has led to an exchange with Warren S. Warren. The exchange is an excellent read on what is wrong when a few in a science society take an absolutist position concerning a subject that requires open investigation and debate. Please see links under APS Frontline.

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PBS Frontline: The Public Broadcasting System aired a special on its ?Frontline? series titled ?Climate of Doubt.? The first part consisted of interviews and clips of those who express skepticism to the view that human emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), are causing unprecedented and dangerous global warming. This was followed by interviews with alarmists who were presented as the mainstream scientists. Certainly the alarmists are mainstream in that they are the ones who receive extensive government support. Later, in private comments, Fred Singer thought his interview was well presented, especially when compared with presentations in the past. The views of others varied. Roy Spencer was disturbed because part of his head and comments were used in the trailer, but he was not interviewed for the program.

Perhaps more revealing of the entire episode was a Live Chat on Thursday afternoon with those who organized the program. They were the film?s producer, Catherine Upin, the correspondent, John Hockenberry, and the ?resident expert?, Elizabeth Kolbert, of the New Yorker. Prior to the chat, SEPP submitted three questions on topics covered. One was the frequently cited 97 to 98% percent of climate scientists ?consensus? claims, which are based on extensively manipulated of opinion polls, making the results trivial. The second was on the recent statement from HadCRU that there has been no appreciable increase in temperatures for 16 years, a period in which the models project an increase of about 0.3 deg C (over 0.5 deg F). What would it take for journalists to realize there are major problems with the climate models and the 90 to 99% certainty is based on opinion not rigorous science? The third question focused on the constant, largely unsubstantiated claims that oil companies are funding skeptics and the failure of journalists to report the extent of government funding of the alarmists.

During the Live Chat, SEPP submitted four comments. One on the burden of proof ? climate alarmists have not performed adequate testing of a hypothesis on CO2 caused global warming. A second challenging a statement that the poll appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science was peer reviewed, but it is trivial nonetheless. The third comment challenged the ?resident expert? Elizabeth Kolbert who stated: ?A very interesting look at the connections between the tobacco industry and the climate ?skeptic? industry can be found in the book Merchants of Doubt.? The response challenged Ms. Kolbert to read and comment on Fred Singer?s rebuttal to this book?s ad hominem attacks.

But most revealing was a comment by correspondent John Hockenberry:

?The saddest thing about this story is that we heard mostly absolute certainty and dismissive confidence among our skeptic friends while it was our scientist friends were quick to say that doubt is how science is conducted, people questioning each other?s work all the time. The doubt of the scientists was always real but was always about how much we know about the planet and need to know not about the trend of global warming.

Their search for truth and quest to challenge each other?s findings was exploited as ?debate? and ?uncertainty? by people in the political world. In some ways the scientists didn?t have a chance in this battle? but that is my personal opinion and some of our scientists would not have agreed with me.?

To which SEPP inquired: did you ever ask the climate establishment scientists why the IPCC declared a 90 to 99% certainty in the models and their findings? The 90 to 99% certainty was in the EPA endangerment finding and was accepted by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Given the slow pace, and the long pauses in the program, it was obvious tough questions of these global warming / climate change expert journalists would not be aired. Also, it was apparent the opinion polls weigh heavily on these expert journalists.

The saddest thing about this story is the blatant irresponsibility of PBS to understand the story. Please see links under PBS Frontline.

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ADDENDUM: Months ago Patrick Michaels announced he and a few collogues are preparing a point by point rebuttal to the report by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP): Global Climate Change Impacts in the US (2009). Along with the 2007 report be the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a report by National Research Council, the USGCRP report provide the foundation for the EPA questionable finding that GHG, particularly CO2, emissions endanger human life and welfare. Now alarmists are outraged that the advance copies of the new report, ADDENDUM: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States looks like the previous report. The CATO imprint on the back cover is apparently overlooked by the alarmists. Please see link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.

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US Overtaking Saudi Arabia in Oil? Some analysts are projecting that the US will overtake Saudi Arabia in oil production in the near future ? around 2020. Others object to these statements stating they are based on statistical sleights of hand. Whether or not the US (or North America) overtakes Saudi Arabia is not that important. What is important is that thanks to modern hydraulic fracturing of dense shale and offshore drilling (whenever permitted), oil production in the US is expanding greatly. Since production costs in the US remain high, there is doubt if the era of ?cheap oil? will return in the near future. Oil is traded on the global market, and US production influences that market but does not determine it. The lower cost producers that have significant capability of expanding are more influential determinants, such as Saudi Arabia.

Some economists are questioning the belief that affordable energy is vital for economic growth. Certainly, affordable energy is not a sufficient condition for economic growth. That is, other conditions, or components, are needed. For example, oil is heavily subsidized in Egypt and Iran, but they are not experiencing significant growth. But under proper conditions, affordable energy can promote growth. For example, affordable energy is vital to modern agriculture. Modern fertilizers need oil or natural gas feedstock. Areas of the US where natural gas is low cost and appears to be affordable for a long term are experiencing significant growth, which the country as a whole is not.

External costs are other complications added by economists to the issue. Sometimes these are real, such as in cities in the US in the 20s. But, economic growth allowed the country to devote significant resources to clean up these external costs. Now, in the US external costs are largely exaggerated, such as by the EPA. Please see links Energy Issues ? US and Articles # 2 and # 3.

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EPA on the Verge: A number of commentators, including Fred Singer, are expressing concern about the plans of EPA immediately after the election on November 6. It is clear that EPA has held back proposed regulations that are highly controversial. Please see Article #1, #3 and #5, and links under EPA and other Regulators on the March

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Oh? Mann: Michael Mann has sued the National Review Online and the Competitive Enterprise Institute for defamation and ?intentional infliction of emotional distress.? (from the Washington Post.). The complaint states that: ?? Mr. Man and his colleagues were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.? and ?? personal defamation of a Nobel prize recipient.?

The award was given to the IPCC, not personally to Mr. Mann, who was a participant in the IPCC. Some may consider the distinction to be just a technicality, just as some consider the body of research on climate history that was buried Mr. Mann?s hockey-stick as just a technicality. Mr. Mann may find that he will face questions that are a bit more strident than asked by the Penn State officials who he claims exonerated his research. Please see links under Oh Mann!

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Storm?s A?coming: According to forecasts, the Mid-Atlantic States are about to be hit by a large storm with low category 1 hurricane winds. (Category 1 wind speed 75?95 mph (65?82 kts, 33?42 m/s), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson_Hurricane_Scale). The moon is almost full, so tidal areas may experience a strong storm surge on top of spring (flood) tides which could result in significant coastal erosion and flooding. Already some alarmists are associating the storm with global warming / climate change. Please see links under Changing Weather and Below the Bottoms Line.

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Amplifications and Corrections: Tom Sheahen correctly stated that the conversion for PgC/yr to Billions of tonnes of CO2 per year is by multiplying by 3.67. TWTW left out the Billions.

Clyde Spencer correctly suggested that TWTW should not use the term ocean acidity unless the pH is actually below 7. This will be followed to the extent possible.

Norman Kalmanovitch pointed out that the period of no warming in the HadCRU data, as stated in the article by David Rose, started in the year the Kyoto Protocol became effective, 1997. The goal of the Protocol was to stop global warming and it did! If one jumps to causal relationships, one could state the Kyoto Protocol was the most effective international agreement ever.

TWTW incorrectly quoted Angeline Purdy of the Department of Justice as stating: ?The models have been validated.? The quote came from imperfect personal notes. A subsequent check of the transcript (which is not available on the web) failed to reveal such a direct statement. Ms. Purdy argued that the models have been validated, at length, but did not make such as simple statement. TWTW will endeavor not to make such a mistake in the future.

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Number of the Week: 70%. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, in the US the cost of natural gas is about 70% of the cost of manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer. As the cost of this component comes down, its percentage share will come down as well.

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ARTICLES:

For the numbered articles below please see this week?s TWTW at: www.sepp.org. The articles are at the end of the pdf.

1. Obama?s EPA Plans for 2013

By S. Fred Singer, American Thinker, Oct 25, 2012

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/obamas_epa_plans_for_2013.html

2. Cheap Natural Gas Gives New Hope to the Rust Belt

By Ben Casselman and Russell Gold, WSJ, Oct 24, 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444549204578020602281237088.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0

3. The Real Stimulus: Low-Cost Natural Gas

The impact of the U.S. energy revolution is only beginning. It is already providing a foundation for a domestic renaissance in manufacturing.

By Daniel Yergin, WSJ, Oct 22, 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444734804578062331199029850.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

4. The Obama Storm Tax

The EPA turns its unsubtle charms on cities. Get ready to pay.

Editorial, WSJ, Oct 22, 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578052673425236066.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop

5.EPA, Water and Value for Tax Money

By Grant Weaver, Letter, WSJ, Oct 24, 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204425904578074911131525782.html?mod=ITP_opinion_1

[SEPP Comment: All too often, in its edicts, EPA has no concept of cost.]

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NEWS YOU CAN USE:

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Science: Is the Sun Rising?

NASA Study Using Cluster Reveals New Insights Into Solar Wind

By Karen C. Fox for Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2012

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Study_Using_Cluster_Reveals_New_Insights_Into_Solar_Wind_999.html

Climategate Continued

Hiding the Decline

By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Oct 26, 2012]

http://www.bishop-hill.net/hiding-the-decline/

[SEPP Comment: Announcing Montford?s new book on the Climategate affair.]

Challenging the Orthodoxy

Review of Cato?s ADDENDUM: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 26, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/26/review-of-catos-addendum-global-climate-change-impacts-in-the-united-states/

No Underlying Global Warming in Recent Years

By David Whitehouse, GWPF, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.thegwpf.org/no-underlying-global-warming-in-recent-years/

Defending the Orthodoxy

EU on track for Kyoto and 2020 emissions targets

By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), Oct 24, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/EU_on_track_for_Kyoto_and_2020_emissions_targets_999.html

[SEPP Comment: Longer recessions result in fewer emissions.]

From Discovery, To Solution, To Evolution: Observing Earth?s Ozone Layer

By Laura Betz for Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD (SPX), Oct 26, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/From_Discovery_To_Solution_To_Evolution_Observing_Earths_Ozone_Layer_999.html

Questioning the Orthodoxy

Polar Bear Propaganda in Context: A Useful Tool for the Promotion of Environmental Hysteria and Politicized Science

By Tim Ball, A Different Perspective, Oct 26, 2012

http://drtimball.com/2012/it-occurred-to-me-global-warming-is-another-undelivered-government-promise-polar-bear-propaganda-in-context-a-useful-tool-for-the-promotion-of-environmental-hysteria-and-politicized-science/

?It occurred to me ?.. ? Global warming is another undelivered government promise.

[SEPP Comment: Exposing some of the fears instilled by the global warming alarmists.]

A scientist?s open mind snaps shut

By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Oct 22, 2012

http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/a-scientist-s-open-mind-snaps-shut

Climate and State High Temperature Records?Where?s the Beef?

By Steve Goreham, Weissman Report, Oct 24, 2012

http://weissmanreport.com/2011-08-04-18-06-26/item/2321-climate-and-state-high-temperature-records%E2%80%94where%E2%80%99s-the-beef?

IPCC Author Becomes Green Party Apparatchik

A lead author of the IPCC?s ?hard science? section is a Green Party candidate and deputy leader.

By Donna Laframboise, NFC, Oct 26, 2012

http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2012/10/26/ipcc-author-becomes-green-party-apparatchik/

Overrated: Nicholas Stern

By Myron Ebell, Standpoint, Nov 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]

http://standpointmag.co.uk/overrated-november-12-nicholas-stern-myron-ebell-stern-review-climate-change

[SEPP Comment: A poor economic analysis continues to distort the current economic picture ? a classic example of what is wrong with the logical fallacy of the appeal to authority.]

Questioning European Green

Lies, Damn Lies And Green Statistics

By Daniel Wetzel, Die Welt, Oct 25, 2012 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.thegwpf.org/lies-damn-lies-and-green-statistics/

Almost all predictions about the expansion and cost of German wind turbines and solar panels have turned out to be wrong ? at least by a factor of two, sometimes by a factor of five.

What Germany can learn from the Nordic Energiewende

By Paul Hockenos, European Energy Review, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.europeanenergyreview.eu/site/pagina.php?email=ken@haapala.com&id_mailing=320&toegang=320722549d1751cf3f247855f937b982&id=3910

[SEPP Comment: The integration of the electricity production and transmission is not easy and requires flexibility.]

Another cost of shale gas denial

By Nick Grealy, No Hot Air, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.nohotair.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2667:the-other-cost-of-shale-gas-denial&catid=172&Itemid=170

Cost of CO2 rules risk more UK energy price hikes

UK carbon costs could top 2 bln pounds in 2013

* Environmental costs to make up bigger portion of bills

By Susanna Twidale, Reuters, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/britian-power-carbon-idUSL5E8LQANM20121026

Questioning Green Elsewhere

Time to embrace climate heresy?

By Des Moore, Quadrant, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/time-to-embrace-climate-heresy

?Sustainability?: Politics Above Both Science and Economics

By Marita Noon, Energy Tribune, Oct 26, 2012

http://www.energytribune.com/64049/sustainability-politics-above-both-science-and-economics

Expanding the Orthodoxy

Climate change threatens marine environment in the Baltic Sea

By Staff Writers, Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX), Oct 23, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_change_threatens_marine_environment_in_the_Baltic_Sea_999.html

[SEPP Comment: More research needed.]

Helping North America?s marine protected areas adapt to a changing climate

By Staff Writers, Tampa FL (SPX), Oct 26, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Helping_North_Americas_marine_protected_areas_adapt_to_a_changing_climate_999.html

[SEPP Comment: They have been adapting to changing climate for millions of years.]

Problems in the Orthodoxy

EU fails to agree Kyoto negotiating position

By Dave Keating, European Voice, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2012/october/eu-fails-to-agree-kyoto-negotiating-position/75527.aspx

Seeking a Common Ground

What is Wrong with Embellishing Science?

By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 26, 2012

http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-is-wrong-with-embellishing-science.html

[SEPP Comment: It is becoming more obvious that constant exaggeration is not working.]

Italian seismologists: guilty(?)

By Judith Curry, Climate Etc, Oct 23, 2012

http://judithcurry.com/2012/10/23/italian-seismologists-guilty/#more-10268

Italian scientists sentenced to jail in quake trial

By Staff Writers, L?Aquila, Italy (AFP), Oct 22, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Italy_scientists_sentenced_to_jail_in_quake_trial_999.html

APS Frontline

More turmoil at the American Physical Society over their statement on the global warming issues

By Roger Cohen, posted by Anthony Watts, Oct 22, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/22/more-turmoil-at-the-american-physical-society-over-global-warming-issue/

The APS Topical Group on the Physics of Climate: reply to Roger Cohen

By Warren S. Warren, WUWT, Oct 24, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/24/the-aps-topical-group-on-the-physics-of-climate-reply-to-roger-cohen/

Reply to Warren Warren

By Roger Cohen, WUWT, Oct 25, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/25/reply-to-warren-warren/

PBS Frontline

Climate of Doubt about PBS?s Objectivity

By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/10/climate-of-doubt-about-pbss-objectivity/

Heartland comments on FRONTLINE ?Climate of Doubt?

By Joe Bast, WUWT, Oct 24, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/24/heartland-comments-on-frontline-climate-of-doubt/

The ?Media Academic Complex? on display at PBS tonight

By Christopher Horner, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/the-media-academic-complex-on-display-at-pbs-tonight/

PBS Frontline: Climate of Doubt

By Lubos Motl, Reference Frame, Oct 25, 2012

http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/10/pbs-frontline-climate-of-doubt.html#more

Climate of Doubt

Live Chat, Oct 25, 2012,

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/climate-of-doubt/live-chat-2-p-m-et-thursday-inside-the-climate-wars/

Why did PBS FRONTLINE electronically alter the signature of one of the world?s most distinguished Physicists in their report ?Climate of Doubt??

By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 25, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/25/why-did-pbs-frontline-electronically-alter-the-signature-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-distinguished-physicists-in-their-report-climate-of-doubt/

Communicating Better to the Public ? Exaggerate, or be Vague?

Scientists Denounce Dubious Climate Study by Insurer

By Axel Bojanowski, Spiegel, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t ICECAP]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/scientists-denounce-dubious-climate-study-by-insurer-munich-re-a-862857.html

Americans use more efficient and renewable energy technologies

Anne M Stark for LLNL News, Livermore CA (SPX), Oct 26, 2012

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Americans_use_more_efficient_and_renewable_energy_technologies_999.html

[SEPP Comment: Higher gasoline prices and the prolonged recession also contribute to less energy use. Compared to that, the increase in renewable use is almost insignificant.]

Communicating Better to the Public ? Make things up.

Oysters? future imperiled as oceans turn more acidic

?Going to be winners and losers ? We?ll have to adapt what we?re eating?

By Katharine Gammon, MSNBC, Oct 11, 2012 [H/t Gordon Fulks]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49378149/ns/us_news-environment/t/oysters-future-imperiled-oceans-turn-more-acidic/#.UIm3YcU1_cg

[SEPP Comment: The upwelling mentioned in the article is a natural process. The oceans are not turning acidic.]

Climate linked to conflict in East Africa, study finds

By Jon Bardin, LA Times, Oct 22, 2012

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-linked-to-conflict-in-east-africa-20121022,0,1078149.story?track=rss

Contrary To What You Hear, Global Warming Has Been Good To Africa

By James Taylor, Forbes, Oct 25, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2012/10/25/contrary-to-what-you-hear-global-warming-has-been-good-to-africa/

[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above. It was during a period of cooling that the Sahara began expanding about 8000 to 5000 years ago.]

Changing Weather

Frankenstorm Sandy Approaches

By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Oct 26, 2012

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/10/frankenstorm-sandy-approaches/

Hurricane Sandy (Atlantic Ocean)

NASA Sees Hurricane Sandy as the ?Bride of Frankenstorm? Approaching U.S. East Coast

By Rob Gutro, Hal Pierce, & Marshall Shepherd, Press Release, NASA, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t WUWT]

http://www1.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html

Monster Halloween Storm in the cards ? second year in a row

By Joseph D?Aleo, ICECAP, Oct 25, 2012

http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/monster_halloween_storm_in_the_cards_second_year_in_a_row1/

Where did that El Nino go? Wiped out by unprecedented cool shift?

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 25, 2012

http://joannenova.com.au/2012/10/where-did-that-el-nino-go-wiped-out-by-unprecedented-cool-shift/#more-24435

UK experiences ?weirdest? weather

By Roger Harrabin, BBC, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Rob Sheldon]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19995084

[SEPP Comment: Could it be that new schemes for flood defenses generate more demands for these defenses?]

Heatwave kills thousands of birds ? this was climate change in 1932

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 23, 2012

http://joannenova.com.au/2012/10/heatwave-kills-thousands-of-birds-this-was-climate-change-in-1932/#more-24413

Changing Sea Ice

Opposite Behaviors? Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks, Antarctic Grows

By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t Anne Debeil]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121023172212.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_environment+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News+?+Top+Environment%29

[SEPP Comment: Lack of uniformity is not a sufficient reason to dismiss global warming. But the lack of uniformity was one reason the IPCC dismissed the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age.]

Antarctic weight loss seems to be in the eye of the beholder

By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 22, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/22/antarctica-weight-loss-program-seems-to-be-slowing/

New understanding of Antarctic?s weight-loss

By Staff Writers, Newcastle UK (SPX), Oct 23, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/New_understanding_of_Antarctics_weight_loss_999.html

Changing Earth

2012 Antarctic Ozone Hole Second Smallest in 20 Years

By Staff Writers, Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/2012_Antarctic_Ozone_Hole_Second_Smallest_in_20_Years_999.html

Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine

Rice agriculture accelerates global warming

By Staff Writers, Davis CA (SPX), Oct 25, 2012

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Rice_agriculture_accelerates_global_warming_999.html

Overall, the rice paddy experiments revealed that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere boosted rice yields by 24.5 percent and methane emissions by 42.2 percent, increasing the amount of methane emitted per kilo of rice.

Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC

For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org

How Earth?s Coral Reefs Respond to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment

Reference: Hughes, T.P., Baird, A.H., Dinsdale, E.A., Moltschaniwskyj, N.A., Pratchett, M.S., Tanner, J.E. and Willis, B.L. 2012. Assembly rules of reef corals are flexible along a steep climatic gradient. Current Biology 22: 736-741.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/23oct2012a2.html

[SEPP Comment: Life is flexible, not fixed.]

2000 Years of Extra-Tropical Northern Hemispheric Temperatures

Reference: Christiansen, B. and Ljungqvist, F.C. 2012. The extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere temperature in the last two millennia: reconstructions of low-frequency variability. Climate of the Past 8: 765-786.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/23oct2012a3.html

Environmental Change and Potential Trophic Mismatches

Reference: Appelhans, Y.S., Thomsen, J., Pansch, C., Melzner, F. and Wahl, M. 2012. Sour times: seawater acidification effects on growth, feeding behavior and acid-base status of Asterias rubens and Carcinus maenas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 459: 85-97.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/24oct2012a1.html

The Impact of Atmospheric Aerosols on North Atlantic Climate

Reference: Booth, B.B.B., Dunstone, N.J., Halloran, P.R., Andrews, T. and Bellouin, N. 2012. Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability. Nature 484: 228-232.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/24oct2012a2.html

[SEPP Comment: Questioning the certainty of IPPC?s 90 to 99 % certainty.]

The Political Games Continue

US presidential debates? great unmentionable: climate change

No mention of global warming for the first time since Congress was briefed on the threat in 1988

By Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, UK, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/23/us-president-debates-climate-change

Presidential candidates right to ignore climate change

By Tom Harris, Canada Free Press, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50497

Obama energy team circulates memo to greens on climate

By Ben Geman, The Hill, Oct 23, 2012

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/263339-memo-to-activists-were-talking-about-climate-

Will The Election Continue To Give Our Fossil Energy Industries A Big Bird?

By Larry Bell, Forbes, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/10/23/will-the-election-continue-to-give-our-fossil-energy-industries-a-big-bird/

Litigation Issues

Legal Liability for Bad Scientific Forecasts in the United States

By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 24, 2012

http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/legal-liability-for-bad-scientific.html

Mischaracterizations of the L?Aquila Lawsuit Verdict

By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 22, 2012

http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/mischaracterizations-of-laquila-lawsuit.html

Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes

Pollution tax stokes Australian inflation

By Staff Writers, Sydney (AFP), Oct 24, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Pollution_tax_stokes_Australian_inflation_999.html

Carbon Tax: Will Tweedle Dum Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?

By Marlo Lewis, Forbes, Oct 25, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/10/25/carbon-tax-will-tweedle-dum-snatch-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory/

EPA and other Regulators on the March

The EPA Is Moving The Goalposts, Even After The Game Has Started

By Merrill Matthews, Forbes, Oct 18, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/10/18/the-epa-is-moving-the-goalposts-even-after-the-game-has-started/

Political, legal problems for next president piling up at the EPA

By Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner, Oct 25, 2012, [H/t Cooler Heads]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/political-legal-problems-for-next-president-piling-up-at-the-epa/article/2511714?utm_source=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest%20-%2010/26/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest#.UI

Levin Legal Group Sues EPA For Records Of Controversial Regs Delayed Until After Election

By David James, CNS News, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t Timothy Wise]

http://cnsnews.com/blog/david-james/levin-legal-group-sues-epa-records-controversial-regs-delayed-until-after-election

?

The EPA?s Planned Destruction of the U.S. Economy

By Alan Caruba, Warning Signs, Oct 23, 2012

http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-epas-planned-destruction-of-us.html

EPA grapples with climate effects of palm oil in fuel

By Ben Geman, The Hill, Oct 24, 2012

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/263867-epa-grapples-with-climate-effects-of-palm-oil

[SEPP Comment: To meet US greenhouse standards, EPA will determine permitted palm oil standards!]

EPA anti-energy regulations killing jobs

Bogus green schemes harm Americans

By Paul Driessen, Washington Times, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/23/epa-anti-energy-regulations-killing-jobs/

Energy Issues ? Non-US

Alberta to monitor oil sands

By Staff Writers, Edmonton, Alberta, (UPI) Oct 19, 2012

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Alberta_to_monitor_oil_sands_999.html

The Green Pipeline: U.S. donors pump hundreds of millions into Canadian groups opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline

By Brian Seasholes, Capital Research, Oct, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]

http://www.capitalresearch.org/2012/09/the-green-pipeline-u-s-donors-pump-hundreds-of-millions-into-canadian-groups-opposed-to-the-keystone-xl-pipeline/

Perverse environmentalist oil sands ethics

By Paul Driessen, Canada Free Press, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50548

China rare earths giant halts output for a month

By Staff Writers, Shanghai (AFP), Oct 24, 2012

http://www.spacemart.com/reports/China_rare_earths_giant_halts_output_for_a_month_999.html

Energy Is Everywhere

By Kenneth P. Green, The American, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/october/energy-is-everywhere

Energy Issues ? US

US may soon become world?s top oil producer

By Jonathan Fahey, AP, Oct 23, 2012

http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-23-US%20Oil%20Boom/id-15afe4569b714cb680b0f3fe2be4fbeb

US to Overtake Saudi Arabia? Skewing the Oil Stats

By Jen Alic, Oil Pirce, Oct 25, 2012

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-to-Overtake-Saudi-Arabia-Skewing-the-Oil-Stats.html

[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]

America at Energy Crossroads, Part 2

By Donn Dears, Power for USA, Oct 26, 2012

http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/america-at-energy-crossroads-part-2/

IHS report: Unconventional oil & gas to be economic driver

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Fuel Fix, Oct 23, 2012

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/10/23/ihs-report-unconventional-oil-gas-to-be-economic-driver/

[SEPP Comment: IHS is a global consulting firm.]

The Myth of Affordable Energy ? Interview with Ed Dolan

By James Stafford, Oil Price, Oct 16, 2012

http://oilprice.com/Interviews/The-Myth-of-Affordable-Energy-Interview-with-Ed-Dolan.html

Return of King Coal?

Powering Buildings ? A Tale of Two Paradigms

By Mark Mills, Energy Facts Weekly, Oct 22, 2012

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=29bc7d5d85828d574f86c157a&id=254db64c81&e=

[SEPP Comment: Trying to save energy consumption in a data center is vastly different than trying to save energy in a commercial office building.]

Oil Spills, Gas Leaks & Consequences

Microbes and Nature

American Academy of Microbiology, 2011 [H/t Dennis Ambler]

FAQ: Microbes and Oil Spills, 2011

[SEPP Comment: Is it not time to develop this natural resource to be available for any future oil spills?]

Nuclear Energy and Fears

Radiation and risk

By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, Oct 26, 2012

http://www.scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/radiation-and-risk

[SEPP Comment: To many, the actual deaths from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami are insignificant compared with the suggested deaths from radiation from the nuclear power plants.]

China to resume nuclear power construction

By Staff Writers, Beijing (UPI), Oct 25, 2012

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/China_to_resume_nuclear_power_construction_999.html

[SEPP Comment: Construction of plants, already started, never stopped. Now new construction will begin.]

Fuel loading at Ningde 1

The first core of nuclear fuel is being loaded at China?s newest power reactor, Ningde 1 in Fujian province. Construction on the unit began less than four years ago.

By Staff Writers, WNN, Oct 19, 2012

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Fuel_loading_at_Ningde_1_1910121.html

[SEPP Comment: From start of construction to operation in less that four years is quite an achievement.]

Queensland lifts uranium mining ban

Uranium mining will be allowed in the Australian state of Queensland after the state government overturned 23 years of prohibition. The state has not produced uranium since 1982.

By Staff Writers, WNN, Oct 22, 2012

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Queensland_lifts_uranium_mining_ban-2210127.html

Virginia can mine uranium safely, responsibly

By Jack Spencer and Katie Tubb, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Oct 15, 2012 [H/t Randy Randol]

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/oped/2012/oct/15/tdopin02-spencer-and-tubb-virginia-can-mine-uraniu-ar-2282660/

Alternative, Green (?Clean?) Solar and Wind

After Federal Jolt, Clean Energy Seeks New Spark

By John Border, NYT, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/energy-environment/future-of-american-aid-to-clean-energy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[SEPP Comment: $90 Billion over 3 years is not enough?]

U.S. Wind Industry Continues to Expand

By Staff, Department of Energy, Oct 23, 2012

http://energy.gov/articles/us-wind-industry-continues-expand

[SEPP Comment: A government agency shamelessly promoting an industry using information from the industry?s lobbying group.]

Study: Wind Generates Electricity When We Need It Least

By Jack Thorlin, Institute for Energy Research, Oct 24, 2012 [H/t Randy Randol]

http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2012/10/24/study-wind-subsidies-disproportionately-produce-electricity-when-we-need-it-least/

[SEPP Comment: The weaknesses of wind power uncovered in Europe and elsewhere applies to the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley as well.]

NRG Gets DOI Lease for Wind Farm Offshore Delaware Coast

By Sonal Patel, Power News, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/5080.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2548950&hq_l=5&hq_v=5e660500d0

[SEPP Comment: Would they deliver the goods in the current forecast of a Frankenstorm?]

Layoffs, failures test Colorado?s ?new energy economy?

By Steve Raabe, Denver Post, Oct 22, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_21825181/layoffs-failures-test-colorados-new-energy-economy

Twenty Bad Things About Wind Energy, and Three Reasons Why

By John Droz, Jr, Master Resource, Oct 24, 2012

http://www.masterresource.org/2012/10/20-bad-things-wind-3-reasons-why/

[SEPP Comment: An update on the slogans used to sell wind power. Some of the language is imaginative if not accurate, such as ?component liberation? as a term for a blade flying off.]

?

Solar Industry Meltdown ? Intersolar China 2012 Tradeshow CANCELLED Due To ?Difficult Market Conditions?!

By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Oct 24, 2012

http://notrickszone.com/2012/10/24/solar-industry-meltdown-intersolar-china-2012-tradeshow-cancelled-due-to-difficult-market-conditions/

[SEPP Comment: Oops!]

Solar power said viable in snowy regions

By Staff Writers, Houghton, Mich, (UPI) Oct 25, 2012

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Solar_power_said_viable_in_snowy_regions_999.html

[SEPP Comment: Technically viable is significantly different than economically viable.]

Alternative, Green (?Clean?) Energy ? Other

Biodiesel back from the dead as EU drops ILUC factors

By Sonja van Renssen, European Energy Review, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Anne Debeil]

http://www.europeanenergyreview.eu/site/pagina.php?email=lars.myren@skynet.be&id_mailing=320&toegang=320722549d1751cf3f247855f937b982&id=3908

Commissioners Hedegaard and Oettinger admitted the proposals were ?not perfect? but emphasised the 5% cap on food-based biofuels that did make it into the final proposal. This is supposed to cap conventional biofuel production at current levels. The problem is that this cap is not really a cap, at least not on the production of these biofuels. It is a reporting cap under the EU?s renewable energy directive: member states will only be able to use (and subsidise) food-based biofuels to meet half of a 10% target for renewable energy in transport by 2020.

[SEPP Comment: The clarity of bureaucracy.]

Large-scale production of biofuels made from algae poses sustainability concerns

By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX), Oct 25, 2012

http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Large_scale_production_of_biofuels_made_from_algae_poses_sustainability_concerns_999.html

Health and Science

Bad ?science? from Harvard

By Staff Writer, ACSH, Oct 25, 2012

http://www.acsh.org/bad-science-from-harvard/

[SEPP Comment: Admirable courage to pull back the study immediately before the press conference.]

Replication, Replication, Replication

By Staff Writers, ACSH, Oct 25, 2012

http://www.acsh.org/replication-replication-replication/

Malaria study challenges warmer world predictions

By Shaoni Bhattacharya, New Scientist, Oct 24, 2012 [H/t Climate Change Weekly]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22419-malaria-study-challenges-warmer-world-predictions.html

Oh Mann!

Penn State climate professor sues think tank, National Review

By Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/penn-state-climate-professor-sues-think-tank-national-review/2012/10/23/27b92a86-1d4f-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html

Professor Mann claims to win Nobel Prize; Nobel Committee says he has not

By Thomas Richard, Washington Examiner, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]

http://www.examiner.com/article/professor-mann-claims-to-win-nobel-prize-nobel-committee-says-he-has-not

Breaking: Mann has filed suit against NRO (now the laughing begins)

By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/breaking-mann-has-filed-suit-against-nro/

Michael Mann ? never fully investigated, thus never exonerated

By Christopher Horner, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/michael-mann-never-fully-investigated-thus-never-exonerated/

Environmental Industry

Ocean-fertilization project off Canada sparks furore

Bid to boost salmon stocks relied on hotly debated science and dubious carbon credits.

By Jeff Tollefson, Nature, Oct 23, 2012

http://www.nature.com/news/ocean-fertilization-project-off-canada-sparks-furore-1.11631

A Rogue Climate Experiment Outrages Scientists

By Henry Fountain, NYT, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Timothy Wise]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/science/earth/iron-dumping-experiment-in-pacific-alarms-marine-experts.html?ref=science&_r=0

Other News that May Be of Interest

Water extraction helped trigger deadly quake in Spain: scientists

By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), Oct 21, 2012

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Water_extraction_helped_trigger_deadly_quake_in_Spain_scientists_999.html

###################################################

BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:

Media bozos buy ?cancer bra? hype

By Staff Writers, ACSH, Oct 22, 2012

http://www.acsh.org/media-bozos-buy-cancer-bra-hype/

Speed limits on cargo ships could reduce their pollutants by more than half

By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX) Oct 26, 2012

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Speed_limits_on_cargo_ships_could_reduce_their_pollutants_by_more_than_half_999.html

[SEPP Comment: Sailing ships could pollute less.]

Frankenstorm: God?s Latest Warning?

By Ted Glick, Grist, Oct 26, 2012

http://grist.org/article/frankenstorm-gods-latest-warning/

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Source: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/29/weekly-climate-and-energy-news-roundup-68/

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Which Version Of Windows 8 Should I Buy? - Business Insider

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Microsoft is set to release four different versions of its Windows 8 operating system before the month is out.

A lot of smart people predict the release is going to be an awful, confusing mess.

Microsoft is also releasing its Surface tablet and Windows Phone 8 platform right around the same time.

Pocket Lint?went through all the versions, but that approach assumes you're familiar with the different varieties out there.

Here's a different way to think about it: How do you use your computer, and what are you getting it for?

If?you do a lot with your computer, including watching TV shows and movies, you should go with Windows 8 Pro. This will include the flashy user interface, previously called "Metro," that you've seen all those sexy screenshots of. It also supports Windows Media Center, Microsoft's TiVo-like system that lets you pause and record live TV. There are some high-end, geeky extras as well, like the ability to boot from a virtual hard drive. This is a good choice for a do-everything laptop that you also use in the living room.

If?you're looking for a basic, up-to-date computer primarily for Web, email, and Microsoft Office, you should go with Windows 8. Also boasting the new interface, Windows 8 is almost identical to Windows 8 Pro except that it doesn't support Windows Media Center and can't boot from a virtual hard drive. Pick this for a desktop machine in a multi-computer household.

If you like the simplicity of tablets, you should go with Windows RT. The difference between RT and other versions is analogous to the difference between the operating system on Apple's iPads, iOS, and the operating system powering its laptops, OS X. RT won't run older Windows programs. Instead, it runs apps downloaded via the Windows Store. Machines that run RT can't run Windows 8, so make up your mind beforehand.

If your company is buying your laptop,?you'll probably end up with Windows 8 Enterprise. It boasts Remote Desktop capacities, letting you see and control other computers (and letting them control yours in turn) for giving demonstrations or remotely troubleshooting a problem. Businesses needing to encrypt data will want to take advantage of AppLocker, the included encryption tool. But this is only available to businesses which sign big, multi-computer deals with Microsoft, not consumers.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/windows-8-which-version-to-buy-2012-10

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Video: Judge OKs Texas cheerleaders? bible verse banners

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49487025/

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Bank of Canada not seen tightening until fourth-quarter 2013

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada will postpone interest rate hikes until the fourth quarter of next year and will likely water down rather than eliminate its hawkish language when it announces its next rate decision on October 23, a Reuters poll of market forecasters showed on Thursday.

In defiance of the global trend of easier monetary policy, Canada's central bank has signaled since April that it is looking at raising borrowing costs. But market expectations on the timing of such a move have been pushed back repeatedly by the sputtering global economy.

The Reuters poll of the 42 forecasters showed none expect a change on Tuesday in the central bank's main policy rate, now at 1 percent. The median prediction is for a first quarter-point rate increase in the fourth quarter of 2013, two quarters later than was forecast in an August 28 poll.

"There's a feeling that there's not a lot of flexibility here," said Mark Hopkins, senior economist at Moody's Analytics.

"The fourth quarter for rate hikes is splitting the difference between when they would probably want to start raising rates given economic conditions and the constraint that they can't get too far ahead of the Fed," he said.

Canada's 12 primary dealers, the banks that deal directly with the central bank as it carries out monetary policy, also forecast a fourth-quarter 2013 hike, the poll showed.

Central bank Governor Mark Carney is in a difficult spot. Rate hikes would go a long way to solving the headache of soaring household debt and a hot housing market.

But if he moves too far in advance of the U.S. Federal Reserve, he risks driving up an already strong Canadian dollar, which would hurt the export-reliant economy.

Despite their closely interwoven economies, there is a dramatic disconnect between Canadian and U.S. housing markets.

Canadian property prices lagged U.S. gains heading into the financial crisis, then soared to dizzying heights in cities like Toronto and Vancouver as buyers took advantage of the record low borrowing costs that followed the recession.

Now, as the battered U.S. housing sector is finally showing signs of a recovery, Canadian sales are dropping and some fear a U.S.-style collapse.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday he may have to downgrade his outlook for the economy in a fiscal update due this Fall. Ottawa bases its fiscal projections on the average growth forecasts of a group of private sector economists.

EYE ON HAWKISH LANGUAGE

The Reuters poll was taken after a speech by Carney on Monday divided and confused many central bank watchers.

On the one hand, some analysts declared him more dovish because he said the bank's revised economic outlook would factor in the impact of heightened global uncertainty.

He also dropped a reference, made just two weeks earlier by his deputy Tiff Macklem, that gradual rate hikes "may become appropriate," language the bank has repeated since the spring.

Carney said instead the bank would take "whatever action is appropriate" to meet its inflation target.

But some analysts thought the central bank was simply opting to exclude specific language on policy because it was so close to the rate announcement.

Only one third of the poll respondents thought the bank would abandon its tightening bias completely next week.

But a majority - 21 of the 36 who answered this question - expect it to soften its hawkish language, while still tilting towards eventual tightening.

"The bias will be modified to more clearly reflect its long-term nature," said Benjamin Reitzes, economist at BMO Capital Markets.

A group of economists at the C.D. Howe Institute, a think tank, recommended on Thursday the central bank hold rates through April 2013 but said it now urges slower and more moderate increases in the rate than they had in August.

FED-LIKE TRANSPARENCY

Carney could deal with his conundrum by getting innovative in the Monetary Policy Report on Wednesday. Instead of providing the usual "base case" projections, he may lay out several scenarios for growth and inflation, depending on what happens in Europe, the United States and Asia.

He may have hinted at this in his speech when he said: "... we can be transparent about what we expect and how we would react to different scenarios."

Sebastien Lavoie, an economist with Laurentian Bank, is betting Carney will take this route.

"What the markets will realize is that most of these scenarios implicitly include interest rate hikes down the road," Lavoie said. "I think the main motivation of the bank, perhaps, is that they don't want market participants to price in rate cuts, these mythical rate cuts," he said.

Markets have been pricing in a small chance of rate cuts this year instead of hikes, according to yields on overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the policy rate. Bets on rate cuts have typically spiked when fears about Europe's debt crisis have been at their worst.

Carney's interest in transparency could also lead him to go a step further and follow in the footsteps of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke by providing more transparent guidance on the future path of interest rates.

In Canada's case, this would likely mean making clear to markets that the bias is toward rate hikes in the medium term even if the timeline for doing so may shift back and forth due to events in the rest of the world.

(Polling and additional reporting by Shaloo Shrivastava and Ashrith Doddi in Bangalore; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-canada-not-seen-tightening-until-fourth-quarter-184641666--business.html

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Milton Mortgage Brokers ? Internet Marketing For Lead Generation ...

A little over a year ago, my friend Mat Fugere, a local?Milton mortgage broker?with Mortgage Edge asked me if I would partner with him to create a website for?reverse mortgages?which are basically a way for people 55 or older to create a retirement income from the equity in their home.

Mat is a also a pastor at our?Church in Milton, The Village Community Church. ?Cliche as it may seem, he is as honest as they come, which I?m sure is a common characteristic among mortgage brokers, not just the ones who moonlight as a pastor.

The point here being that reverse mortgages are not always the right option for everyone so Mat will guide the home owners in the direction that makes the most sense for their equity situation and their individual financial needs. ?Often times refinancing the mortgage makes sense and other times a line of credit is a better option.

So why am I writing about Milton mortgage brokers, and what does it have to do with Internet Marketing or lead generation? ?Mortgage professionals, especially the individual ones that don?t work for the large banks or companies with deep pockets are faced with a huge amount of competition in the online space when it comes to lead?generation. ?So what can one do?

Lead Generation for Mortgage Brokers in 3 Simple Steps

Step 1: Pay Per Click (PPC)

As I pointed out in my?recent blog post, there are over 1 billion searches conducted on Google each day and only 6% of those searches result in a click on a PPC ad! ?Clearly Pay Per Click doesn?t work! ?That means that on Google, paid search ads only get clicked on about 60 million times per day. ?How can they possibly turn a profit with that?

Seriously, that?s an insane number of clicks on PPC ads every day! ?This is where Google makes upwards of 90% of their gross revenue from. ?So even though it?s much more common for people to click on the free links, the?organic search results, there is a still quite a lot of attention going to the pay per click?ads.

Bidding for keywords like ?mortgages? or ?home financing? on Pay Per Click is a very expensive proposition. ?And on a limited budget it is likely not the best alternative. ?It does make sense to hire a professional company that provides pay per click management services. ?Sure you can try it on your own first if you want, but be prepared to spend more than you should ?on clicks and getting poor results. ?It?s kind of like the last time you tried to do a brake job on your car.

In our experience, with our?reverse mortgage?website we have had our most success with Pay Per Click and since I am personally financing the marketing side of our little side business I am not sharing this information with you only as the expert but also the one footing the bill. ?In our first year of operation we have closed 20 mortgage deals and only 8 of them were?actually?reverse mortgages. ?Not quite setting the world on fire yet but it is making decent progress.

Step 2: Local Search Optimization

Most mortgage brokers I know (yes there are quite a few) tend to do the majority of their mortgage business in their own home town. ?Such is the case with Mat as a?Mortgage Edge Broker. ?So the first thing you should do is register your local listing on all the local search engine directories.

Start with your Google+ Page (formerly Google Places) since this one will get you the most traffic. ?Make sure you complete all the information for the best results and do keyword research so that you optimize it for keywords that will actually help you get more leads and make more money and not ones that will just satisfy your ego.

Then register will all the other FREE local directories, ?Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, etc. ?I generally say not to pay for local directory listings! ?It is not worth the investment and won?t get you results. ?Again I?generally?say that. ?Use your?discretion?and if it?s a really good deal that seems too good to be true, it is. ?Just walk away. ?Yellow pages in my opinion is not a worthwhile investment for online advertising. ?Again, use your?discretion?and when in doubt, hire a professional to help you make wise?decisions?for online marketing.

Step 3: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Yes, I did?intentionally?separate SEO from Local Search Optimization. ?If you search on Google (.ca) for ?mortgage broker? you get over 40 billion listings. ?How easy is it to get on page 1 for that? ?But if you search ?mortgage broker milton? you have only just over 1 millon to compete with. ?Much easier to get to page 1! ?For more on that read my blog post?Simple SEO Advice from the Smartest Guy in Canada.

Notice that our little Reverse Mortgage project doesn?t come up on the first page! ?We have gotten the results we have so far using only PPC. ?Step 2 and 3 of this article are under way. ?I will have to blog again once we start getting some traction and let you know how it?s going. ?This very article you just read is our first piece heading in that direction.

If you got to this page hoping for help from a Mortgage Broker I invite you to?.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/milton-mortgage-brokers-internet-marketing-for-lead-generation-in-3-simple-steps-0306082

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New Music From Ashanti | Popyoularity

?THAT?S WHAT WE DO? FEATURING R. KELLY, WAS E-BLASTED TO RADIO LAST WEEK; HER FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM ?BRAVEHEART? WILL BE RELEASED IN EARLY 2013 BY HER LABEL WRITTEN ENTERTAINMENT AND DISTRIBUTED BY ENTERTAINMENT ONE MUSIC

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING MULTIPLATINUM RECORDING ARTIST ASHANTI IS AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND CO-ANCHOR OF ?FUSE NEWS,? A NEW MUSIC SHOW THAT WILL DEBUT THIS FALL

NEW YORK (October 15, 2012) ? New Music from GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist Ashanti ?That?s What We Do? featuring R. Kelly, was e-blasted to radio last week and is a new single from her forthcoming ?Braveheart? CD which is set to be released in early 2013 by her Written Entertainment label and distributed by Entertainment One Music. ?That?s What We Do? is quickly moving up the Apple iTunes charts and getting hundreds of fan comments like: ?Best song of the year! Keep it up Ashanti!? and ?Thanks for keeping R&B R&B!?

?This is a banger with the legendary R&B pioneer Kellz!? commented Ashanti.

Ashanti is an Executive Producer and co-anchor of ?Fuse News,? the national music television network of The Madison Square Garden Company. ?Fuse News? will be launched this fall and will offer a daily rundown of the latest music industry news in a fast-paced show from Fuse?s brand new state-of-the-art, street-front studio. Ashanti is also CEO of her own label, Written Entertainment, which, in conjunction with Fuse Studios, is producing Fuse News.

Recently, Ashanti the Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America along with Denzel Washington Spokesman and Michael Phelps, supported the Boys and Girls Club youth program which sponsors kids to continue their college education. She also recently sat down along with NY Knicks Assistant GM Allan Houston on the CNN morning show ?Starting Point? with anchor Soledad O?Brien to discuss their support of ?Garden Of Dreams.? ?Garden Of Dreams? is Madison Square Gardens? foundation to help dreams come true for underprivileged children. Ashanti is also theAmbassador for the Jumpstart program, and she participated in its ?Read For The Record? program on October 4 to celebrate literacy by getting millions of people across the country to break a world record for the most people reading simultaneously. She did an appearance on the ?Today Show? with Savannah Guthrie to promote this campaign.

Ashanti is a GRAMMY Award winning multiplatinum singer/songwriter, actor, author, and Guinness Book world record holder. In 2002, Ashanti burst onto the music scene with her smash hit debut album, self-titled ?Ashanti,? which sold over 500,000 units in its first week and landed her the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B album charts. In addition, her first three chart entries landed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, making Billboard history. Ashanti has won a GRAMMY Award, eight Billboard Awards, two American Music Awards, two MOBO Awards and the Soul Train Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year Award. She is currently recording her fifth studio album ?Braveheart? to be released in the early part of next year 2013. Over the last decade, Ashanti has appeared in a number of films and television shows, including ?Coach Carter,? ?John Tucker Must Die,? ?The Muppets? Wizard of Oz,? ?Resident Evil: Extinction,? ?Buffy the Vampire Slayer? and ?American Dreams.? She has also penned a book of poetry published by Hyperion Books and launched a self-titled fragrance line.

Source: http://popyoularity.com/blog/new-music-from-ashanti/

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Major Patent Case for Monsanto (MON) to Go Before the Supreme ...

Published Wed, Oct 10th, 2012 ? Matthew Weinschenk

The patent system isn?t quite broken. But it?s in need of some serious updating. And the next five years or so of patent litigation will indicate how our current legal system adapts (or doesn?t adapt) to new technology.

Several questions are currently unanswered when it comes to patent law.

Like, what counts as a true innovation? And what sort of ideas can you actually ?own??

The answers will have big impacts on all of our lives. After all, a patent system that?s too rigid stifles innovation. But one that?s too loose can hurt profits, giving companies little incentive to create new ideas.

Finding a middle ground isn?t easy, either. As technology becomes more advanced, patent decisions are getting increasingly complex.

Here are two examples?

Patent Case #1: Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq: MYGN) developed a revolutionary test that can determine a woman?s genetic predisposition to breast cancer by checking for mutations in two specific genes.

Myriad has a patent on this test. But some argue that this particular gene is a natural feature of the human body, one Myriad shouldn?t be able to patent. Then there?s the fact that Myriad?s patents allow it to charge high prices for its test, blocking out low-cost competitors that could otherwise help more people.

Of course, like I mentioned above, if Myriad couldn?t profit from its patents, it might never have made the discoveries in the first place.

In August, Myriad received a court decision from the Federal Circuit that, for the most part, declared Myriad?s patents valid. The court?s main reason was that ?isolated? DNA molecules don?t occur in nature.

Patent Case #2: Monsanto

Monsanto (NYSE: MON) is an agricultural science company that makes seeds for different crops, including genetically modified strains. The products are enormously popular. For example, Monsanto?s soybeans ? which are modified to be especially tolerant to pesticides ? accounted for 94% of the U.S. crop last year.*

Of course, when you plant a seed, you end up with more seeds. And saving and planting those the following year is how farmers have operated since the days of the Fertile Crescent.

The problem is, when you buy a Monsanto seed, you can?t plant the next generation of seeds without paying Monsanto.

One farmer, Vernon Hugh Bowman, is challenging that notion ? arguing for the right to use second-generation seeds without buying them from the company.

Obviously, this isn?t an open-and-shut case. There are levels of murky legal interpretations to consider. And to complicate matters more, Bowman wasn?t just buying Monsanto seeds. He was buying from a centralized grain elevator that happened to contain Monsanto seeds, along with others.

On the flip side, while some people don?t like the idea of genetically modified foods, Monsanto?s technologies have boosted agricultural yields significantly. It?s helped the industry grow to $13.5 billion in annual sales.

But can you really patent a living plant, not to mention its offspring?

The Supreme Court?s ruling will have obvious implications for the agricultural industry. But the ruling could also set important precedents that will reverberate throughout our economy.

For instance, it could affect a concept called ?patent exhaustion.? This determines whether a patent holder can maintain its rights over a technology after it?s been sold, or if its rights were exhausted by the sale.

The smart money is on Monsanto winning this case. That was the decision of the appeals court. The Obama administration supports the decision. And the current, business-friendly Supreme Court will likely go the same way.

On such merits, keeping an eye on dips in Monsanto shares ahead of the decision could generate some profits. But the longer-term effects on your portfolio ? and your life ? could be even greater.

Ahead of the tape,

Matthew Weinschenk

*We understand many people see Monsanto as an evil, corporate overlord out to destroy food. We don?t get into that here. We?re talking about the future of patents. So please, spare us your comments on Monsanto.

Source: http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2012/10/10/major-patent-case-for-monsanto-to-go-before-the-supreme-court/

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AOL relaunches Games.com site for online games

NEW YORK (AP) ? AOL relaunched Games.com, a site with more than 5,000 free games, designed to attract a large online gaming audience online and on mobile and tablet devices.

AOL said Tuesday that the games are from developers and distributors such as Big Fish Games, Masque Publishing, Mochi Media and others. About 100 of the games are built on HTML5 technology, which means they are playable on the iPad and other devices that don't run Flash technology.

The company said it plans to add new features in the coming months. Games.com competes against sites such as addictinggames.com, bigfishgames.com and even Zynga.com.

Shares of AOL Inc. slid 9 cents to $36.64 in midday trading Tuesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-09-US-AOL-Gamescom/id-a4d8860673b440f5b1348c7b9373bc6e

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Five things to watch in the U.S. vice presidential debate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. vice presidential debates usually don't matter much, but the October 11 showdown between Democratic incumbent Joe Biden and Republican challenger Paul Ryan could be an exception.

Democrats are counting on Biden to blunt the momentum of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has gained ground after a strong debate performance against President Barack Obama last week.

Opinion polls show the race for the White House virtually tied with four weeks to go until the election.

Here are five things to watch for in Thursday's debate in Danville, Kentucky:

FIREWORKS

Biden and Ryan have shown a greater willingness to mix it up than their buttoned-down bosses, and both seem comfortable playing the traditional vice-presidential role of attack dog.

"I'd be surprised if there weren't far more fireworks in this debate than there were in the first presidential debate," said University of Maine political science professor Mark Brewer.

Biden, 69, is not known for his reserve, and his outspoken remarks on the campaign trail have sometimes made news for the wrong reasons. But as a veteran of two presidential campaigns and 36 years in the Senate, he's an experienced debater who can combine a down-to-earth demeanor with deep policy knowledge.

As one of the conservative movement's foremost thinkers, Ryan, 42, combines a polite demeanor with an unflinching willingness to outline steps that would dramatically scale back the role of the federal government.

He has not debated at this level before, but he has years of experience selling conservative ideas to voters who are not predisposed to liking them. His congressional district in southeastern Wisconsin is one of the most politically balanced in the country, but he has won re-election easily over the past 14 years even as he has called for scaling back popular entitlement programs.

LIAR, LIAR

Democrats feel that Obama let too many of Romney's assertions on taxes, health care and other topics go unchallenged during their first of three televised debates on Wednesday. Since then, the Obama campaign has rolled out a string of online videos that accuse Romney of lying about energy, health care, taxes and education.

Biden has said he won't let any questionable claims go unchallenged, and Democratic allies say it will be important to prevent Ryan from glossing over controversial policy details.

"You have to call these guys out if they're going to try to pretend to be people that they're not," said Jared Bernstein, a former economist for the Obama administration.

MEDICARE

Last week's presidential debate was all over the map on economic issues, but the vice presidential encounter could hinge on one topic: Medicare.

Ryan built his reputation on a proposal that would partially privatize the government-run medical plan for the elderly and handicapped in an effort to prevent health costs from swamping the federal budget. Democrats say the plan would force retirees to pay thousands of dollars more for medical treatment.

Romney adopted the idea as his own last year, though he has avoided explaining in detail its financial impact for participants and the country as a whole.

Expect Biden to come out swinging on that one - Democrats have won elections for decades by warning that Republicans would gut the program, and the issue seems to be working in their favor this year.

But Ryan has years of practice describing the plan to skeptical audiences. Thursday's debate could be the best chance yet for the Republican ticket to win over independent voters who worry that Obama hasn't done enough to rein in trillion-dollar budget deficits.

CAN RYAN HANDLE FOREIGN POLICY?

The Romney campaign has stepped up its critique of the Obama administration's foreign policy after last month's attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East, and Ryan doubtless will be well-briefed on the ins and outs of foreign affairs.

But in Biden, he'll be facing a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who handled the Obama administration's withdrawal from Iraq.

On paper, the mismatch is stark. But that doesn't necessarily mean Biden has an advantage.

"Sometimes you get so far down in the weeds that you know so much that you're ineffective," said Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson. "What Biden has to do is take everything that he knows and distill it into easy-to-digest sound bites for voters who are not experts. Ryan has to do the same thing, but he has to sound as if he knows enough to be credible."

FOUR YEARS DOWN THE ROAD

This is the only time these two candidates will meet in a debate this year, but it might not be the last. If Obama wins re-election on November 6, Ryan would be viewed as a leading contender for the 2016 Republican nomination. As sitting vice president, Biden could have a strong chance at winning his party's nomination in four years as well.

But if the debate is an early audition for the next presidential race, the risks are more on the down side as a poor performance can harm a candidate's chances down the road.

Republican nominee Sarah Palin's winking 2008 performance against Biden was lampooned by late-night television shows. Democrat John Edwards' reputation took a hit after his 2004 matchup with Republican Vice President Dick Cheney.

Dan Quayle may have been on the receiving end of the most famous barb in debating history in 1988 after the Republican likened himself to Democratic President John Kennedy. "Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy," Democrat Lloyd Bentsen replied.

Though Quayle and his boss, George H.W. Bush, went on to win the White House, the zinger helped cement Quayle's reputation as a political lightweight. He has not served in elected office since.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-things-watch-u-vice-presidential-debate-050317633.html

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