"When the governor and other politicians refer to “the science,” they rarely point to actual science. It is a bluff designed to imply that their chosen policy is based on more than guesswork and politics."
The Verge (5/26/20) reports: "The controversial film Planet of the Humans, produced by Michael Moore, was taken down from YouTube on Monday because of a copyright infringement claim. The complaint was filed by photographer Toby Smith, who was alarmed that his work was used in a film that he doesn’t support, The Guardian reports. 'I don’t agree with its message and I don’t like the misleading use of facts in its narrative,' Smith said to The Guardian. A few seconds of Smith’s video, Rare Earthenware, were used in Moore’s film, which criticizes renewable energy. In a statement to The Verge, director Jeff Gibbs denied any copyright violation in his film, which garnered more than 8 million views on YouTube. 'This attempt to take down our film and prevent the public from seeing it is a blatant act of censorship by political critics of Planet of the Humans,' Gibbs wrote. 'It is a misuse of copyright law to shutdown a film that has opened a serious conversation about how parts of the environmental movement have gotten into bed with Wall Street.'"
This is what happens to gas tax money instead of fixing the roads.
Los Angeles Times (5/27/20) reports: "When California voters approved bonds in 2008 to build a bullet train across much of the state, a ballot measure promised them that future passenger service would not require operating subsidies. State officials asserted over the next decade that their system would attract so many millions of riders that it would actually turn a profit. Now it is debatable whether those promises will be met. The state rail authority is moving ahead with a plan to issue a massive contract for tracks and an electrical system that would enable bullet train service in the Central Valley. But when the service starts in 2028, it would lose money that the state would absorb, according to consultants for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Opponents say the state plan is clearly violating promises made to the electorate. 'It defies the ballot measure approved by voters,' said Quentin Kopp, a former judge and state senator who was a key architect of the bullet train program and former chairman of the High-Speed Rail Board of Directors. 'Once you establish the concept, the sky is the limit. There will be a lawsuit, and I want to be the lead plaintiff.'"
Team Biden introduces their Red China stimulus plan.
E&E News (5/28/20) reports: "Joe Biden has been wooing progressives with a list of green initiatives. But even if Democrats take control of Congress, he might have to rely on executive actions to accomplish some of his goals. The presumptive Democratic nominee for president has a $1.7 trillion climate plan that includes myriad proposals — including new regulations on car fuel efficiency, massive increases in government spending, additional taxes on greenhouse gas emissions and rejoining the Paris Agreement. But experts and advocates say Biden would likely have to adjust some of his expectations if Congress can't help, and he may not be able to achieve, for example, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Still, should he win in November, the former vice president would have a wide range of tools at his disposal to make big changes to climate and environmental policy...Hartl's group has put together a whole website, dubbed #ClimatePresident, listing executive actions it wants Biden to endorse — from declaring climate change a national emergency to unlocking certain presidential powers with the aim of blocking fossil fuel exports and infrastructure like pipelines."
