To Fight Climate Change, California Says 'We're Launching Our Own Damn Satellite' (latimes.com)

An anonymous reader quotes the Los Angeles Times: Jerry Brown closed his climate summit in San Francisco on Friday with a dramatic announcement: California will launch its own satellite into orbit to track and monitor the formation of pollutants that cause climate change. "With science still under attack and the climate threat growing, we're launching our own damn satellite," Brown said in prepared remarks. "This groundbreaking initiative will help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint -- and stop -- destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that's never been done before...."

The state will develop the satellite with the San Francisco-based Earth-imaging firm Planet Labs, a company founded by former NASA scientists in 2010. The state may ultimately launch multiple satellites into space, according to the governor's office.... Robbie Schingler, co-founder of Planet Labs, said the project will inform "how advanced satellite technology can enhance our ability to measure, monitor, and ultimately, mitigate the impacts of climate change..." Brown's announcement came in quickly delivered remarks at the close of the three-day gathering and received a standing ovation from many in the audience.
Governors from 17 states (and from both political parties) also pledged to spend $1.4 billion to lower auto emissions, using money from Volkwagen's legal settlement over falsifying clean-air performance data. New York City also announced that its pension fund would invest $4 billion in companies offering climate change solution over the next three years.

And 26 states, cities and businesses said they'd procure non-polluting vehicle fleets by 2030, while ChargePoint and EV Box pledged to build 3.5 million new charging stations around the world.

Comments

APK Hosts File Engine for MacOS... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

It's here! APK Hosts File Engine 1.0++ 64-bit for MacOS h t t p : / / a p k . i t - m a t e . c o . u k / A P K H o s t s F i l e E n g i n e F o r M a c O S . z i p

Yields more security/speed/reliability/anonymity vs. any 1 solution (99% of threats use hostnames vs. IP address most firewalls use) more efficiently/FASTER + NATIVELY 4 less!

Vs. "Bolt on 'MoAr' illogic-logic" slowing you hosts speed u up 2 ways: Adblocks + Hardcode fav. sites u spend most time @ vs. competition loaded w/ security bugs (DNS/AntiVir) + overheads slowing u (messagepass 'souled-out' to advertisers easily detected & blocked addons + firewall filtering drivers) & their complexity leads to exploitation!

* ONLY 1 of its kind in GUI 4 MacOS!

(Better vs. Windows model in speed/efficiency/merge)

APK

P.S.=> Protects against Spectre & Meltdown + redirect poisoned or downed DNS/botnets/malware downloads/malcript/email malicious payloads... apk

Re: APK Hosts File Engine for MacOS... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

When do we get the iOS port, buddy? Love your work!

Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

What is needed is multiple like OCO2/OCO3. Then monitor around the world. Seriously, a number of nations cheat. With the sats, it will be possible to find out which ones. Ideally, CA will tax consumed goods/.services based on which nation/state the worst sub-part/service comes from. In doing that, it will reward nations/states that have cleaned up, while punishing those that have not. And with CA being the 5 largest economy in the world, They have the ability to enforce this.
Even better would be America doing this since we are the #1 importer.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

CA will tax consumed goods/.services based on which nation/state

That is probably unconstitutional.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

Why would it be unconstitutional? It is a tax that is being applied equally to all locally consumed goods/services based solely on worst part/service emissions. Nothing illegal about that.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

CA will tax consumed goods/.services based on which nation/state

That is probably unconstitutional.

*Citation required*

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

US Constitution Article 1, Section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,
...
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

US Constitution Article 1, Section 10:

...
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

From the language:

This groundbreaking initiative will help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint -- and stop -- destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that's never been done before...."
project will inform "how advanced satellite technology can enhance our ability to measure, monitor, and ultimately, mitigate the impacts of climate change...

I'm not familiar with requirements for methane detection from the orbit, but the first quote sounds like they would try to do it. Information for water and fire management, remote mapping in general and detection of under risk areas might be goals as well. I doesn't sound as a simple cube-sat job.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

Yeah. This is not a duty. The reason is that it is applied to ALL GOODS/SERVICES IN THE SAME FASHION. This is no different than a sales tax, EXCEPT that it can be lowered if you state where the parts/services come from, and you happen to have them coming from better areas. That would include all goods produced in CA.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Call it a 'Carbon Production Tax'.

A Tax on X produced with an excess of Y.

Then it's not targeting a foreign country or State.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Gravis Zero]

That is probably unconstitutional.

Yeah, SCOTUS felt the same way about most everything in the New Deal.

"In the preceding decades, the Court had struck down a laundry list of Progressive legislation – minimum-wage laws, child labor laws, agricultural relief laws, and virtually every element of the New Deal legislation that had come before it."

It seems awfully familiar to me as progressive legislation is often forced to drag our nation (kicking and screaming) into a better future that the easily-fooled insist is wrong and evil.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

A good lawyer could argue that any incentives or penalties based on origin is effectively a duty.

The bigger question is why CA is accepting any Federal money if they've got cash to burn on shit like this.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[bugs2squash]

I'm sure CA would be happy to stop accepting federal money completely, provided that the federal gov. stopped accepting any money from CA.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

Then you cannot discriminate based upon the origin of the product - which is exactly what the original post in this thread wanted to do:

deally, CA will tax consumed goods/.services based on which nation/state the worst sub-part/service comes from. In doing that, it will reward nations/states that have cleaned up, while punishing those that have not.

You cannot have a State or Country-specific taxation in California, per the US Constitution.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Crashmarik]

That is probably unconstitutional.

Yeah, SCOTUS felt the same way about most everything in the New Deal.

"In the preceding decades, the Court had struck down a laundry list of Progressive legislation – minimum-wage laws, child labor laws, agricultural relief laws, and virtually every element of the New Deal legislation that had come before it."

It seems awfully familiar to me as progressive legislation is often forced to drag our nation (kicking and screaming) into a better future that the easily-fooled insist is wrong and evil.

The new deal impeded the recovery by 7 years and that's likely an under estimate as it comes from UCLA

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/relea...

Without WWII god knows when it would of ended, we might well have become a Venezuella a country ruled by a clique continuously promising freebies to a population while they abused the system for personal profit.

So when you say progressive policies dragged us, you mean like an anchor.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, Americans are one of the biggest producers of CO2. But that still isn't enough, they import more than everyone else too and use up other countries CO2.
Sound like a bunch of entitled assholes don't they Windbag.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

No we will take what ever the fuck we want from CA.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[negRo_slim]

I was torn but your liberal usage of CAPS LOCK really won me over in the end.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

You cannot have a State or Country-specific taxation in California, per the US Constitution

You can. Remember, the exact phrasing matters.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope. It was protectionist tariff regimes that followed a decade of lax regulation and overweening corruption under Republican misrule.

They even managed to sucker folks with a lack of properly apportionment for the House, which still haunts us today.

Don't worry though, this time the right-wing will finally succeed in their plan to take over government.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup! They are happy to pass laws that decrease the amount of income tax paid into our nation by their constituents... by the amount they are collecting for state tax. But at the first sulfer-smelling whiff of a wildfire they will instantly call out a state of emergency and ask for federal funds. Can we at least throttle that by the amount of federal funds they state's taxpayers contribute? This is easy math... you can only expect what you paid for.

I'm pretty sure the first time it goes to hell in a hand-basket... and Jerry tries to write a check against the nation.... and it is adjusted by their contribution the words "NSF" will pop up in the corner of his eye.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

Consent of Congress. Inspection laws? You mean laws that would be selectively enforced per Country of origin?

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet the tax base of that state... is currently first reaped by the state coffers and then their citizens are allowed to adjust their national contributions based on how much they paid to the state. This by definition decreases the contribution to the nation's tax base. So by the same definition... if your state doesn't directly tax your income you wind up paying the full amount of national taxes. Thus you should either receive better treatment than the state-taxed residents... or a refund against the difference.

Peace out.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Crashmarik]

You should learn to read

Economists today, however, hold a different view of the effects of Smoot-Hawley. While economic historians generally believe the tariff was misguided and may have aggravated the economic crisis, the consensus appears to relegate it to a minor status relative to other forces.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[careysub]

Ah the Cole and Ohanian paper again, but with an extra heaping of customized unhinged exaggeration ("and that's likely an under estimate as it comes from UCLA"). Since the legislation was signed in June 1933, three months after FDR entered office (March 4 in those days), and the Great Depression did in fact end no later than June 1940 when the US per capita GDP had recovered to its pre-depression level (the NBER, who is the semi-official self-designated shot-caller for recessions places it much earlier, but there are good reasons to disregard their definition). I guess since the paper is from UCLA economists he believes FDR actually signed the legislation before he took office perhaps.

As Ohanian himself sighed 12 years after the paper was published:

“People on the right would say, ‘Hey, look — these guys from UCLA — which is not perceived as some traditionally conservative place — said Roosevelt was to blame for the Depression continuing,’” Ohanian said. “Then people on the left would say, ‘Oh, these guys are conservative, paid mouthpieces for the Koch Foundation,’ which, of course, we were not. But neither side really understands what we did. “

Now this complaint by Ohanian admittedly does nothing to clarify the matter of "what he did" and no explanation at all is found in the entire press release I linked to. You might however want to read this discussion of Ohanian and Cole's claims.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, no, inspection laws are protected from Congress, as a right of the state.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

Problem is - you have to treat all products equally. So you cannot have different inspection fees by origin. Want to hammer China for their high CO2 emissions? You have to also add that "inspection tax" to all products of the same category from all sources - foreign or domestic.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Z34107]

What is needed is multiple like OCO2/OCO3. Then monitor around the world. Seriously, a number of nations cheat. With the sats, it will be possible to find out which ones. Ideally, CA will tax consumed goods/.services based on which nation/state the worst sub-part/service comes from

There are many reasons to go into space: To gain new knowledge, to help our ships at sea steer a safer course, to explore and learn new techniques of mapping and observation, to discover new tools of science and medicine, to expand the furthest outposts on the new frontier, for the growth of science and education.

Some may go to space not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one they are willing to accept, one they are unwilling to postpone, and one which they intend to win.

But only California would go to space to raise taxes.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[ShanghaiBill]

Why would it be unconstitutional?

1. Import-Export Clause of The US Constitution
2. Tax and Spending Clause of the US Constitution

States can't collect tariffs, can't tax based on origin, and can't have their own foreign policies.

Nothing illegal about that.

Bullcrap.

Before you continue arguing for tossing out these constitutional clauses, because, hey, Jerry Brown is a great guy, you should consider that they could then be abused by your opponents as well. If California can have their own foreign policy, then why not Texas and Oklahoma?

The Constitution was well thought out and well written. We water it down at our peril.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Crashmarik]

Ah the Cole and Ohanian paper again, but with an extra heaping of customized unhinged exaggeration ("and that's likely an under estimate as it comes from UCLA"). Since the legislation was signed in June 1933, three months after FDR entered office (March 4 in those days), and the Great Depression did in fact end no later than June 1940 when the US per capita GDP had recovered to its pre-depression level (the NBER, who is the semi-official self-designated shot-caller for recessions places it much earlier, but there are good reasons to disregard their definition). I guess since the paper is from UCLA economists he believes FDR actually signed the legislation before he took office perhaps.

Gee how might that happen ?

Hoover did not stand idly by after the depression began. To fight the rapidly worsening depression, Hoover extended the size and scope of the federal government in six major areas: (1) federal spending, (2) agriculture, (3) wage policy, (4) immigration, (5) international trade, and (6) tax policy.

https://www.econlib.org/librar...

What do you know they had virtually the same policies.

You'd hit a lot harder if you actually knew your history, points for trying to slip that by though

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Listen to this retarded faggot who doesn't understand that they are eating food today as a result of California having their punk ass. Hang this bitch and let their family starve as a warning to the other AM radio faggots.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

Right. This is NOT a tariff. It has NOTHING to do with location other than the CO2 that emits from there. Since it treats every location the same, be it a state, including CA itself, or a nation, then it is NOT a tariff. In POF, it is applied the same to EVERYTHING, and then if somebody wants to get it lowered, or out of it, they simply submit where are the parts come from, or where the services are done.
From this POV, it is NO DIFFERENT than having a VAT, but allowing the VAT to be lowered based on meeting conditions. Nations do it ALL THE TIME. Hell, if Tesla will put production in CHina, in certain places with certain partners, they will drop their VAT.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

These are not based on origins. It is based on emissions. Big difference.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

That is already the case. More federal money flows to Red states, while Blue states are constantly milked by the GOP.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Bitch no one's starving without fucking wine and avacados.

Luckily though Commiefornians won't have to worry about lack of food if they get cut off from the rest of the country, because the lack of imported fresh water means they'll die of thirst before they have a chance to die of starvation.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

I have a better IDEA. How about the feds pay each state what is collected in their state? CA would LOVE it. In fact, all of the blue/purple states would love it. We are the ones supporting the feds while the red states suck on the tits and waste money such as the SLS/Orion crap, the M1A2 which is in dire need of major upgrade, or decent fighters that are not produce in texas with such piss-poor quality and outrageous prices. What L-Mart charges America and our allies for the F-35 is nothing less than treason. The list goes on and on.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

Since it is applied to all goods/serivce in CA, including CA's, it is NOT location specific. It is charged and then if businesses want to lower it/remove it, they can simply list all the parts/services and the CO2 emitted from that area. They do not have to list location.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

No, it's point of origin. For example, let's say CA wants to "punish" China for its high CO2 output via "import examination taxes" on all electronics products. They have to have the same levy/tax on products from Japan, Germany, and even Texas or Washington. So the net effect is ZERO "punishment" for a specific player (in this example, China) but for all players in a given industry.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[ShanghaiBill]

It has NOTHING to do with location other than the CO2 that emits from there.

This is a direct violation of the WTO membership treaty signed by the US. Tariffs can't discriminate on "process and production methods".

Nations do it ALL THE TIME.

California is not a nation.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

exactly right. That is why you tax at a single level (that slowly rises), but allow businesses to list where the worst part/service comes from, and then adjust accordingly. BUT, it has to be applied to ALL. IOW, CA has to either tax its locally produced for local consumption as either from America, or from CA. Either would work.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

Don't think it works that way. States cannot apply discriminatory regulations and taxes on products from different sources.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[K. S. Kyosuke]

But isn't that the whole point? A Pigouvian tax on carbon *should* be universal.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

It has to be on value, is my understanding of how tariffs are applied. Doing a sliding tariff based upon believed transgressions of one sort or another are not allowable. Consider the CARB requirements - they are a flat rate, on all vehicles, and do not scale with "too gas-guzzling" and such. It's an either/or and for all items in a given category.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

M1A2 which is in dire need of major upgrade

What? The best tank in the world is in need of a major upgrade? Tanks are pointless anyway, who are you fighting with tanks?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Like the one that crashed into the ocean. What an environmental disaster OCO1

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[c6gunner]

If you think that the M1 and the F35 are state-level projects, you're horribly confused.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

allowing the VAT to be lowered based on meeting conditions

You dumbfuck hypocrite. This is exactly what you complain about China and Europe doing. But not you claim it's OK and want to do it as well?

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[vtcodger]

It's certainly possible for California to design a satellite and pay someone for launch and ground station support services. But I don't see any definition of what they actually expect the satellite to do that couldn't be done cheaper, more easily, and more flexibly with sensor packages mounted on scheduled airliners flying between the state's numerous major airports or black boxes mounted in CHP vehicles.

Frankly, I can't see a lot of evidence that the folks in California have the slightest idea what they are doing with regard to climate and pollution issues once they move beyond the impressive, but decades old efforts, to reduce control/smog in the coastal basins. As Don Henley might have it, they haven't had that spirit there since 1969.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[PopeRatzo]

Before you continue arguing for tossing out these constitutional clauses

Neither of those clauses has anything to do with a states ability to levy taxes. The 1976 Michigan Tire case gave states a loophole big enough to drive a satellite through.

You guys still don't get that California laws are more likely to get adopted in the lesser 49 states than federal laws are to be enforced here. Y'all need us a lot more than we need you. You want our freedom? Come and take it.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[CaffeinatedBacon]

Even pretending it wasn't completely illegal to do. How would you possibly measure it? The CO2 emitted for that product?

The total emissions of the country regardless of what the product is? That's just blatantly discriminating against larger countries (obviously you're targeting China). You will tax Americans more than Australians and Canadians? You will tax America at the second highest level in the world behind China?
And you think anyone will vote for your plan?

Based on per capita, then you're just shooting yourself in the foot again considering America is twice China. You want to tax Americans twice what you tax Chinese companies.
And you think anyone will vote for your plan?

Complete and utter garbage plan with no thought at all of the consequences.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

You think you know tax havens now. Wait until little islands pop up (or states/cities) exporting billions of dollars of products after greenwashing them under your 'plan'.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

YEAH! LAUNCH A SATELLITE (at what CO2 cost?) to prove what we already know.

THAT"LL SHOW CLIMATE CHANGE. MORE STUDY.

Fucking morons.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't have to list location, just a number?

What's the bet everyone 'chooses' zero?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

People in the USA need to stop fighting amongst themselves. While you left and blue states are going on about who produces more, China is outproducing all the states combined. While the left and right are beating themselves up, Mexican nationalist are invading and taking over the USA. Here is a news flash for you. Mexicans dont like whinney white liberals any more than they like conservative white Republicans. Mexicans like mexicans, Russians like Russians, Chinese support Chinese. Americans need to start liking themselves or we will all be selling out daughters to work in Mexican or Chinese brothels because we a 3rd world has ben power.

Your enemy is not the liberal or conservative. Your enemy is those that want to divide you over bullshit. Divide and conquer worked well to defeat the earth loving first nations, and it is working today. Games the same, names are different.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, it is not entirely wrong.
Most military projects are more about subsidizing local industries than creating a defense force.
All those missions in the middle east haven't been about defending the nation. It's more about showing that you "needed" all those toys you bought.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't really matter. Current congress is using the constitution to wipe their ass with.
The constitution means jack shit if it isn't enforced.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Where are you going to find a good late lawyer in this adminstration?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

What about Texas?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Given how poorly it handled RPG attacks in Iraq compared with the British Challenger 2 tanks, I think you're sorely mistaken.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

China has a multiple of the USA's population. If they find their people modern productive jobs they pretty much ought to outproduce the USA. Has nothing in particular to do with the USA being divided.

And the USA is divided over important moral and policy questions for decades now, not mainly over foreign countries.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

That statistic is of course deliberately deceptive. When you include personal and corporate income exemptions, the numbers flip. If you remove military salaries, it flips. Clearly, California running off military installations is a red state welfare.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[guruevi]

Most likely the satellite will be hovering over CA taking pictures for "citizen watch projects".

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[drinkypoo]

But only California would go to space to raise taxes.

We have to raise the money to pay for the welfare programs in the red states somehow. The alternative is secession, but Californians don't seem to have the heart for it. Shame, because this nation is a farce.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[drinkypoo]

Want to hammer China for their high CO2 emissions?

You keep describing it that way, but in fact, no. We don't want to do that. What we want is to hammer high CO2 emissions, not China. If we tax CO2 emissions, not China, then it's legal. If the manufacturers fail to provide a reasonable measurement of CO2 emissions, then a number will have to be invented. The only reasonable basis for the invention of that number is country of origin, but what will be taxed is the CO2, not the country of origin. The taxes will be levied against the consumer. They should be spent on fixing CO2, but they will probably have to be spent on welfare programs in red states, since they can't pay their way and we have to do it. Goddamn welfare queens... are whole states.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[drinkypoo]

What about Texas?

Texas is one of the very few red states which "pays its own way", except it doesn't. It only manages that because of the oil industry, which is a massive polluter at every level. Also, it would probably be a blue state by now if not for gerrymandering.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[DNS-and-BIND]

So? California is putting its money where its mouth is. Those who have more should give to those who have less. Californians constantly preach this, and it is wonderful to see them put their ideas into action.

Bitching about "undeserving" people getting "your" money is something that conservatives do. Luckily Californians are all in favor of wealth redistribution from the rich to the poor.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem is - you have to treat all products equally.

Nope. You can treat lumber differently from produce or animal products, or SUBs differently from Trucks.

Don't believe me? Go read some customs laws.

And remember, what the Constitution specifically says matters. And in fact, Congress has already consented, such as with automobiles.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, there were other forces, like I mentioned, the decade of lax regulation and corruption. Remember, the problem was in the finance markets, not the reality.

Food literally rotted in warehouses.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, there were other forces, like I mentioned, the decade of lax regulation and corruption. Remember, the problem was in the finance markets, not the reality.

Food literally rotted in warehouses.

Yawn

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Noone, because our tanks are so fucking good moron.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Those figures are after the exemptions. California sends a hundred billion more to the federal government than it receives. Texas is the only red state that doesn't take more than it pays, arguably due to dirty oil based revenues.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

It really takes a special kind of person to consider an old document as being better at handling new problems than us today. This is how religions start.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

We need California more than California needs the others states? Pure, unprocessed Bullcrap!

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Any state can easily impose a million percent sales tax, with electronic instant rebate for natively produced goods.

Same as the credit card/not a cash discount 3% surcharges and vice versa.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[jedidiah]

> It really takes a special kind of person to consider an old document

No. You are just an arrogant moron with no sense of history and a high opinion of himself just because of the year you were born in.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[jedidiah]

America is reducing it's CO2 faster than anyone else despite your hate-on for the country.

This is despite the mindless hysterics over leaving the Paris agreement.

Now if we are "importing more CO2" then it hardly makes any sense to let China off the hook. Now does it?

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[pete6677]

I can't wait to see how badly California botches this. They'll treat it less as a science project and more as a taxpayer welfare giveaway to the connected, just like they do every major government project. It will end up just like their "high-speed" rail boondoggle: billions spent, with no usable results.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

That's actually a flat out lie.

Up until 2019 you could write off your state taxes from your fed bills.

On paper they paid more. In reality no.

Watch and see them shit a brick next year when they realize they have to pay their own bills in ca.

And it's going to come out they don't even kick in enough taxes to the fed to pay the 50% of all welfare that ca uses.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[PopeRatzo]

billions spent, with no usable results.

You have just described the entire United States Defense budget since 1950, which probably adds up to over $50 trillion squandered, and nothing but misery around the world to show for it. And some very wealthy defense contractors, of course.

At least when California does a public works project, people get some jobs and there isn't a body count in the 100s of thousands.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Says man not living under threat of nuclear death from Cuban-based missile launchers.

You fucking imbecile.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

This. California can go ahead and leave the nation as far as most of us are concerned.

They like to talk about science denial there, and yet they suppress and attack science that says that men and women aren't exactly identical, that IQ (general intelligence) is important in determining success in life and that it differs among populations in ways that cannot be explained except by genetics, and of course well documented studies proving that diversity has at best a neutral impact on organizational performance (that it is not, in fact, a strength). Those don't fit the narrative and yet they're all pretty established and repeatable science.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

California doesn't import water, fresh or otherwise. Unless you count Perrier.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

The various emission standards actually apply based on fleet metrics.

California, you'll note, is allowed to set its standards and Congress consented.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[LynnwoodRooster]

Sure, but that's not the question. California cannot say "South Korea, because your emissions are higher, you have to pay this tariff on each vehicle, and Germany, you have to have this standard for emissions". It's equal across all - which means, punishing individual countries or companies via tariffs is essentially impossible. It's the industry as a whole or nothing.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

So, drinkypoo, why are you ignoring the $80 billion in state and local tax credits given to California when you claim they give money to other states?

Why are you moving the goalposts by now adding 'pollution' as a magical negative to Texas?
Why are you talking about gerrymandering?

It's almost as if your argument is bullshit, and you know it, so you are trying to change the topic to anything else...

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

California could not afford this. Most of their revenue is subsidized by federal copyright laws, enforced on all the states by the U.S. government.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

c6gunner you're horribly confused thinking you're apk in your impersonating apk https://linux.slashdot.org/com... along with altering slashdotter's words after apk challenged you to show you do better work and you couldn't after you tried to mock him first https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[drinkypoo]

So, drinkypoo, why are you ignoring the $80 billion in state and local tax credits given to California when you claim they give money to other states?

I'm not. Even with that, California is still one of the states that gives the most out and gets the least back. It's about the net, stupid.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

Why did you respond to me? Weird since your posting looks like you actually meant it for the GP. However, I have an issue with your last sentence.

Luckily Californians are all in favor of wealth redistribution from the rich to the poor.

What???? Nothing lucky or ideal about 'wealth redistribution'. It is entirely one thing to have a progressive tax system, but another to have a 'wealth redistribution'. Likewise, it is one thing to have spending on say a single pay medical system, BUT, even then, it should be limited to contagious diseases (which helps all of society), perhaps accidents, peds, general surgs (appendix, etc), pregnancy, OB, etc. IOW, it should take care of basics and esp anything that can be spread through society. What it should NOT include are things like Cancer, Diabetes, old age, plastic surgery, etc. For that, let ppl get their own insurance.

All in all, the gov should not be dealing with such things. It should in general be limited to the point where it helps society, not takes over society.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

If you think that these were not fuck-up by CONgress who ARE STATE-LEVEL, you're horribly confused.

The DOD wanted the M1 shutdown during 2008 onwards until 2014. They wanted to enhance the daylights out of it, in particular, to automate more so that it only requires 2-3. In addition, they wanted to change from a pure turbine drive, to a turbine/gen-electric drive so that electric weapons could be added down the road (esp. railguns, which we need).

As to the F-35, that is a PURE cluster-fuck that should have died. L-mart pushed their CONgress critters (including mine, who is Coffman). to keep it going. And the idea of it now replacing the warthog is a joke. That is truly turning our pilots into cannon fodder.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[WindBourne]

2'nd paragraph said it all:

For example, it is lawful for Michigan to require food labels that specifically identify certain animal parts, if they are present in the product, because the state law applies to food produced in Michigan as well as food imported from other states and foreign countries; the state law would violate the Commerce Clause if it applied only to imported food or if it was otherwise found to favor domestic over imported products. Likewise, California law requires milk sold to contain a certain percentage of milk solids that federal law does not require, which is allowed under the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine because California's stricter requirements apply equally to California-produced milk and imported milk and so does not discriminate against or inappropriately burden interstate commerce.[2]

Just as I have said. If the tax is applied against ALL CONSUMED GOODS/SERVICES, then it is fine. The only ones that it is not applied to, is anything made/services in CA, and exported, would not be subject to that tax, which makes perfect sense.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you insane? They are not taxes, they are requirements for labeling.
Are you just going to label the CO2? Are you going to tax everything at the same rate regardless of the CO2 content? No dumb fuck you want to discriminate.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[ShanghaiBill]

It really takes a special kind of person to consider an old document as being better at handling new problems than us today.

Perhaps. But I trust Jefferson and Madison a lot more than I trust Trump and Clinton.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

In which countries has healthcare 'taken over society'?

Why do you feel the need to constantly make stuff up?

Progressive tax system IS wealth redistribution.

Why the constant need to show you lack of understanding on every topic?

Single payer healthcare shouldn't cover cancer or diabetes? Are you a fucking idiot?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[CaffeinatedBacon]

2'nd paragraph said it all:

For example, it is lawful for Michigan to require food labels that specifically identify certain animal parts, if they are present in the product, because the state law applies to food produced in Michigan as well as food imported from other states and foreign countries; the state law would violate the Commerce Clause if it applied only to imported food or if it was otherwise found to favor domestic over imported products. Likewise, California law requires milk sold to contain a certain percentage of milk solids that federal law does not require, which is allowed under the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine because California's stricter requirements apply equally to California-produced milk and imported milk and so does not discriminate against or inappropriately burden interstate commerce.[2]

Just as I have said. If the tax is applied against ALL CONSUMED GOODS/SERVICES, then it is fine. The only ones that it is not applied to, is anything made/services in CA, and exported, would not be subject to that tax, which makes perfect sense.

So you want to label where the product comes from. OK. So what? How will that change the CO2?
Or do you want to tax everything the same? Again so what? How will that change anything but make EVERYTHING more expensive regardless of origin?
Likely you want to charge different rates based on some magical criteria you just haven't thought up yet (just to punish China). Guess what stupid, that's the illegal part that makes your whole plan idiotic. And specifically why it doesn't match the examples you are trying to use.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Take your America hating ass back to mexico then.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[drinkypoo]

Take your America hating ass back to mexico then.

Odds are good that my family has been here longer than yours, since my Mexican ancestors crossed into Texas from Mexico in the 1850s. Unless, of course, you're descended from puritans, who would be very disappointed in you.

Re:Finally, but they need multiple

[kaatochacha]

"Someone else does something I think is stupid, so if we do something stupid, but slightly less so, then it's OK".

REALLY?

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[kaatochacha]

it's not "California's Money", anymore than the money you may pay on taxes is "Trump's money".

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but when you make that statement, the Whiney liberals declare you racist.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[slashdotwannabe]

We also believe that ACs are full of shit. So there's that too.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple

[slashdotwannabe]

What a fabulous argument! Cogent points! Well articulated! Excellent citations, and that BRILLIANT insult at the end! My goodness your mommy must be proud of her little basement dweller! You should ask for extra cookies.

Slashdot users LOVE the Win64 model... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Your software is just fine - well written, functional... I'm going to continue using the Host File Engine by mmell February 17, 2017

Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid - by JazzLad April 20, 2016

his hosts program is actually pretty good by xenotransplant August 10 2015

his hosts tool is actually useful for those cases in which one does indeed want to locally block stuff outright while consuming minimum system resources by alexgieg September 25 2015

I like your host file system by Karmashock September 09 2015

that APK guy, I use his host file by rogoshen1 Tuesday March 03, 2015

I personally use a HOSTS file blocker produced from a genius called APK by 110010001000 October 27 2017

* Provides full protection against Spectre & Meltdown flaws

APK

P.S.=> Ignore c6gunner's LIES and impersonation of me. The MacOS version is here & protects from Spectre & Meltdown. Linux version is also available!... apk

Climate Change Is Fake News!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just except that the climate runs in cycles, sheeple. If its good enough for Trump, itâ(TM)s good enough for me. Trump 2020

Re:Climate Change Is Fake News!

[Anonymous Coward]

Trump will hang from his faggot neck in 2022, Treason.

Re:Climate Change Is Fake News!

[robsku]

That's the most stupid two non-arguments ever on that subject.

satellite

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess they can use all that money that could be used on the homeless to launch the satellite..

Re: satellite

[Anonymous Coward]

The state has the highest poverty level.

Re:satellite

[negRo_slim]

Don't you get it? Homeless are some of the lowest per capita emitters of C02. The more homeless California has the greater their impact on climate change!

Re: satellite

[Anonymous Coward]

You can blame Reagan for that.

Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

How much pollution did the rocket you used to get that thing into orbit create? Besides, as a Californian satellite it'll just spend all its time lecturing the other satellites about the #MeToo movement, vegan "cuisine," five minute showers once a week to conserve water in an ocean-bordered state, the merits of socialism, and to check their privilege.

Re:Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

How much pollution did the rocket you used to get that thing into orbit create? Besides, as a Californian satellite it'll just spend all its time lecturing the other satellites about the #MeToo movement, vegan "cuisine," five minute showers once a week to conserve water in an ocean-bordered state, the merits of socialism, and to check their privilege.

Don't forget leaving its blinker on the entire time but never changing orbit.

Re:Good Job

[Rei]

Fuel consumption on a Falcon 9 (surely their launch vehicle of choice) is equivalent to ~70 typical diesel cars (8l/100km) driving a typical 20k km/year for 1 year.

E.g., not a tiny amount of emissions, but not some vast amount either.

Re:Good Job

[jpaine619]

If it's burning liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen, it's not creating any pollution, genius.. The byproduct would be WATER.

(this is not an endorsement of this project that we cannot afford)

Re:Good Job

[Brett Buck]

Water vapor is a very effective greenhouse gas, far more effective than CO2.

Re:Good Job

[ChrisMaple]

Wikipedia says the Falcon 9 uses liquid oxygen and kerosene.

Re:Good Job

[jpaine619]

So? It's not pollution. The amount of water vapor in the air due to evaporation from the ocean, lakes, rivers... far outstrips anything a rocket could create.

Secondly, water vapor condenses and removes itself from the atmosphere.. I don't see how you think it's a greenhouse gas..

Re:Good Job

[thegarbz]

Whaa, your diesel's consume 8L/100km? I know people who had petrol cars more efficient than that who switched to diesel due to petrol's inefficiency.

Re:Good Job

[DamnOregonian]

Yes, but the air's ability to hold water is based upon its temperature. Throw as much water into the air as you like, it'll condense out until it hits thermal equilibrium.
So while you're correct, that ball was still foul as fuck.

Re:Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you need to produce the hydrogen and oxygen, which uses energy. On the other hand, I read somewhere that a typical satellite launch is comparable to 100 cars driving for a year, so almost nothing taken into account the frequency of launches...

Re:Good Job

[drainbramage]

Maybe he was using Volkswagen diesel mileage?

Re:Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah sure let's just stay in our little nest here on Earth until we extinct ourselves great plan you fucking genius.

Re:Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

they burn kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Re:Good Job

[robsku]

I don't see how he thinks water vapor is a gas of any kind :)

Re:Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

You do know that "gas" is just a state of matter?

Re:Good Job

[jpaine619]

Uh.. it is a gas... Fog is not water vapor.. Clouds are not water vapor.. Water vapor is the gaseous form of water that you cannot see.

Re: Good Job

[Anonymous Coward]

Mist of the pickups trucks driven as cars are older models. My friend just replaced his old one with a 23mpg one. The old one was an 8mpg pig. That's about 15km/4.4liters 3.5km/l about 100km/30 liters.

Re:Good Job

[mlyle]

I come up with something more like 90 cars:

> 474600 kilograms / (840 kilograms/m^3) / (8 liters/100 kilometers) / 22000 kilometers / 3.56 = 90.17

(F9 1.1, more but I don't know how much for F9FT...)

But... When we're talking about impact, we're going to just focus on the direct amount of non-oxidizer fuel used in the first stage, but not the massive logistics chains involved, the cryogenics, etc? I agree the impacts aren't *too bad* but I think you're low by an order of magnitude and maybe two. The cost and environmental impact of rocket launches is not in the kerosene used.

Re:Good Job

[robsku]

Yes, I figured out my dumb mistake there almost right after posting my comment, then wondered if there was any way to re-edit or delete that post, but didn't find one, so now I'm embarrassed.

Re:Good Job

[robsku]

Yes, I made a stupid mistake posting that comment.

Hey politicians

[Anonymous Coward]

Get real jobs. Want to help poverty and improve health of society? Become doctors or serve the poor. Talk is cheap, government funding is usually used wastefully, pointing guns at people telling them to follow these new regulations will only send them running... to another state.

Re: Hey politicians

[hey!]

Remote sensing does a lot for everyone, including poor people. At last count 10 people were dead from tropical storm Florence. But we've known for days exactly where it was going to hit and when. Imagine what it would be like if the first indication was hours instead of days in advance.

That's what it was like when I was a kid, Nobody had maps showing that a tropical depression over by the Azores was going to hit North Carolina five days from now as a major hurricane,

So it turns out knowledge is actually valuable in practical ways to ordinary people. It's not some kind of luxury just for namby-pamby smart people.

Re: Hey politicians

[guruevi]

We had weather bouys and observation stations before we had satellites. We've been able to predict and warn about hurricanes days in advance for a really long time (mid-1800s) so unless you're Dorian Grey you should have known about hurricanes and even tropical storms days in advance all your life.

What has changed is people's attitude and fear of these events. I remember playing in the living room and seeing a neighbors' gutter flying by when my parents brought us up to the second floor. I remember flooding and sandbags but no mandated mass evacuations.

Re: Hey politicians

[Anonymous Coward]

We've been able to predict and warn about hurricanes days in advance for a really long time (mid-1800s) so unless you're Dorian Grey you should have known about hurricanes and even tropical storms days in advance all your life.

Bullpoop. The Galveston Hurricane struck without warning in 1900 and killed 6000 to 12,000 people.

Re: Hey politicians

[Anonymous Coward]

God damn you are retarded, go to hell you lying piece of shit! Doppler radar detecting moisture in the air has only been in use for public weather notices for less than 30 years.

Re: Hey politicians

[hey!]

And they didn't work very well by modern standards. It's simply not possible to get a comprehensive view of an ocean area that's tens of millions of square miles in extent with buoys. You can't really piece together an accurate picture of a storm's track unless you have an extensive network of densely located stations.

The reason we don't do it that way is that satellites are cheaper.

Re:Hey politicians

[Rick Schumann]

You know, myopic pieces of shit like you, who are both incapable and unwilling to even try looking towards the future, would keep our entire species in an endless loop of status quo that would, ironically, prove fatal to all of us. You think like a dumb animal instead of the sentient being you're capable of being; knock that shit off already. You can't just keep putting a band-aid on big problems and expect everything to work out, and 'fixing' things 'good enough' to last out your insignificant little lifetime just isn't going to cut it. Do we need to address the homelessness problem in this country? Hell yes we do, but guess what? Just throwing public money at it alone has never 'solved' it in the past and it won't 'solve' it in the future, either, the real problem is the atittude that says "it's not MY problem, why should I care?" that causes the problem to exist in the first place! It's the same attitude that causes Myanmar to treat the Rohinga like they're some invasive species of insects, and that causes human traffickers to kidnap women and young girls and sell them into sexual slavery, and that causes groups like neo-nazis and white supremacists to exist, and that causes sexual harassment and sexual abuse: a general disregard for fellow human beings, treating them more like objects than fellow sentient beings. We have to do better as a species.

Re: Hey politicians

[guruevi]

There was plenty of warning but politics got in the way and even though the weather stations put out a hurricane warning and some evacuated, the calm weather worried few residents.

Re: Hey politicians

[guruevi]

You don't need doppler to SEE a hurricane in the ocean dipshit.

Re: Hey politicians

[guruevi]

Nothing worked well by modern standards. Weather prediction is still a dark art, I'm sure that within 100 years someone will have the same comment about quantum computing in the 2000's.

We still "do it that way" partially but satellites augment the data much more.

Re: Hey politicians

[Anonymous Coward]

go fuck Putin you shitty Russian troll

Re: Hey politicians

[omfglearntoplay]

Off topic I'm sure, but it's interesting when your employer basically says you have to stay and work through the hurricane. Mandatory evac? Well, Bob, that doesn't apply to us because we have business going on and sometimes because of the hurricane. No, sorry if you think you're in danger... because you know, your job would be in danger if you just up and left for days at a time during this event.

Fight?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fight implies California is in a rockem sockem beat down with climate. Personification of a one on one match.

California : a case study in how NOT to do it.

[Anonymous Coward]

So Jerry Brown launches a satellite.

What does he think that will accomplish ?

Does he think California somehow has the power to tell other states or countries what to do ? Good luck with that !

What a waste of tax money. I like visiting certain parts of California, but there's no way I'd ever live there, because the government is WAY too irrational.

Fuck Californians and their tendency to want to tell the rest of us how to live.

Re:California : a case study in how NOT to do it.

[robsku]

I like visiting certain parts of California, but there's no way I'd ever live there, because the government is WAY too irrational.

And yet you live in the USA.

send jerry

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they can put jerry in the satellite. At least it will serve some purpose.

There goes the pension fund.

[Fly Swatter]

New York City also announced that its pension fund would invest $4 billion in companies offering climate change solution over the next three years.

What could possibly go wrong?

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[pots]

Unanticipated flooding, droughts, erosion of the coastline... I can think of a lot of things which could go wrong.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[WindBourne]

Like O's investments, it could make more money than went out.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

One hopes there was an immediate lawsuit by the pensioners for mismanagement of funds. A pension fund invests for maximum returns, not to satisfy the political views of the managers.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[psycho12345]

Not true. A pension fund manages according to the directives it is given, which usually include maximize return, but can include other factors. This is how CalPERS and CalSTER justified removing investment from South Africa, so that they would no longer support the apartheid regime.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

Right those things never happened before global warming.

I'm certain the NY state and federal governments will do a bang up job stopping nature.

Re: There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh lort oh lort dey dindu nuffin.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

Did they hold a vote for the people whose money is being managed?

In any event, investing in another probably equal choice is very different from investing in a blue sky climate change reversal project with no foreseeable returns.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[ShanghaiBill]

I recently read that the biggest contributor to the growth in CO2 emissions is ... air conditioners.

Most new ACs are being installed in India and China, where most electricity comes from coal. They are cheap and terribly inefficient.

ACs could, in theory, use a third the electricity that they do, for the same cooling capacity.

A good, reliable, efficient, and inexpensive AC could do more to cut CO2 emissions than LED lights and VSDC motors combined.

That is were we should be investing more money.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, but instead we make air conditioners increasingly inefficient by banning refrigerants that are easy to compress and ending up with ridiculous crap like CO2 based refrigerants (2000 psi) or refrigerants that melt glass (r1234yf, 300 psi). You know, instead of R12 (200 psi).

Can't have it both ways unless you want to use refrigerants that explode (propane/butane mix). Though those aren't actually as dangerous as people make them out to be. You probably have a fridge running that right now.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[CaffeinatedBacon]

No, newer air conditioners are more efficient than the old ones in use now.
Average Chinese air conditioners are better than average American air conditioners for example. That will only get better as more newer ones are installed.

Re: There goes the pension fund.

[CBob]

Could be worse, they could allow Nj near the pension fund.

Re: There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

On average, they didn't happen with the same frequency and severity.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[thegarbz]

What could possibly go wrong?

What could go wrong is political wrangling introduces a mayor with a different view and instead decides to invest the pension fund in coal companies.

I just hope they don't invest in American companies offering climate change. The last thing you need is the New York City pension fund being destroyed by the Orangutan sitting in Washington.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

R12 was replaced for a reason. Supercritical CO2 is actually an excellent working fluid. It is easily compressible and very dense, which makes for smaller and more efficient systems. Just because it operates at high pressure, and isn't a drop-in replacement, doesn't make it "ridiculous".

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

People lived better under the apartheid.
South Africa is now a hellhole and soon to be zimbabwe vol 2.

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

Disclaimer: I am from India.

Everyone agrees that China and India are the world's greatest consumers of energy per capita. Which, in turn, leads to their greatest contributors to factors like global warming, methane emissions, consumption of azo-dye-based products (like clothing), etc. In fact, people in China and India have rows and rows of clothes in their basement lined with garments with the tags intact ! I don't even want to talk about methane emissions which comes from the reckless production and consumption of beef in these two countries, or their super-sized autos carrying one passenger and monster-square-foot homes which house just 2-3 occupants !
Gee... such a horrible waste of resources !

Re:There goes the pension fund.

[Anonymous Coward]

The cult of climate change has already prophesied these issues into known fact, so why bother spending the money to measure what everyone already knows will happen and instead start getting ready for the doom?

He sounds just like Trump

[El Cubano]

"This groundbreaking initiative will help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint -- and stop -- destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that's never been done before...."

That sounds like exactly what Trump would say to sell one of his own initiatives. The words like "groundbreaking," "unprecedented," and "never been done before" sure have a very used car salesman sort of ring to them.

Re:He sounds just like Trump

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno, "unprecedented" has a whole lot of syllables.

Re:He sounds just like Trump

[Tablizer]

That sounds like exactly what Trump would say to sell one of his own initiatives.

No, more like:

"I will launch the best satellites ever to catch losers and cheaters in Jiiina and other shit-hole countries who fart our way without telling us. AND I'll make Canada and Mexico pay for it! I know rockets, believe me, know them really really well. They'll launch the best satellites; gold plated eagles and Jesuses; you'll be proud, proud as it orbits above your patriotic head as we all look up together as Americans to watch solar eclipses without those fake CNN glasses they claim you should use to protect your eyes from socialistic rays. Totally rigged business, and you look silly wearing them. I like people without wimpy eyes who don't go blind. Space Force will MASA!"

Oooh shiny object!

[LynnwoodRooster]

Gotta do something to distract from the $100 billion 100 MPH train from Bakersfield to Modesto!

Re:Oooh shiny object!

[HiThere]

Yes. Now THAT was a boondoggle.

OTOH, given how poorly AMTRAK serves the passengers, it might have been justifiable if they'd tried for quality and durability rather than speed. (They *aren't* going to compete with an airplane anyway.)

Re:Oooh shiny object!

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to agree here... whole-heartedly. That train project is the land-locked equivalent of a boat. It's a hole you pour money into.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/01/high-speed-rail-california-boondoggles/

Re:Oooh shiny object!

[drinkypoo]

Gotta do something to distract from the $100 billion 100 MPH train from Bakersfield to Modesto!

Rail makes sense. Caltrans has plans to improve and repair rail all over the state. Adding more highway lanes doesn't solve anything, all it does is move problems to other locations. Public transport is safer and yes, ultimately cheaper (if you count the cost of pollution) than everyone commuting in their own cars.

Re:Oooh shiny object!

[LynnwoodRooster]

Caltrans has plans for all kinds of things. Right now, we're seeing them focus on hundreds of billions of dollars for rail that goes, essentially, nowhere and there is zero plan or even an idea how to reach the biggest population in the State (where over half the people live). The Caltrans from Ventura to Los Angeles takes 2 hours, leaves really early in the morning only (4 departures, all before 7:45 AM), and has 3 afternoon return trips, again 2 hours, only one of which is after 5 PM (and doesn't get you to Ventura until 8:30 PM). That's over half a million people, just a 60-75 minute drive from LA, who are essentially unserved by trains.

Caltrans loves to spend 2.5 times the national average on roads - and let the road backlog continue to grow, even though it makes the most in gas tax revenues. It's not really about supporting transportation, but making work, keeping the big union funds for campaigns for those in Sacramento flowing, and feel-good measures - like 100 MPH "high speed" rail from Bakersfield to Modesto.

Re:Oooh shiny object!

[drinkypoo]

Caltrans has plans for all kinds of things. Right now, we're seeing them focus on hundreds of billions of dollars for rail that goes, essentially, nowhere and there is zero plan or even an idea how to reach the biggest population in the State

The biggest population in the State's big problem isn't getting to the rest of the state, but getting around their own home area. There are fully funded plans to address that situation, although I'm skeptical that they can make much of a difference. I think they're going to need elevated PRT, or for Elon to come dig 'em a bunch of tunnels if that's even feasible given the location, to really change the fact that people are stuck in traffic jams.

Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

Jerry Brown's Secret War on Clean Energy
Had They Bet On Nuclear, Not Renewables, Germany & California Would Already Have 100% Clean Power

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

CA doesn't have 100% clean nuclear power, so that's false. In fact no state does, because there isn't yet a safe long-term storage facility for waste. It's an ongoing problem that could become a massive widespread super-catastrophe.

Solve that, sure, you can have your nuclear utopian pipe dream. Solve it first before we write the big check though, nuclear cheerleaders. No more pom pom, build the long-term safe nuclear storage site and we'll talk seriously.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[LynnwoodRooster]

Well, we DID have a great place until the previous President yanked funding. Thankfully that's being addressed right now.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

CA doesn't have 100% clean renewables either, if you want to play that game. All energy sources produce waste, and the alternatives are much worse, even with wind and solar. Waste that isn't contained is called pollution, and only nuclear energy creates such a small waste volume that it is manageable to contain, and required by law.

Stop Letting Your Ridiculous Fears Of Nuclear Waste Kill The Planet

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

ACTUALLY, that was CONGRESS, not OBAMA, sorry you Republican Trumptards don't know or understand the difference between those things. Oh yeah, and you haven't done shit meanwhile. Why? Too busy golfing, or treason?

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/chairman-promises-house-vote-on-yucca-mountain-funding/

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[JabrTheHut]

Jerry Brown's Secret War on Clean Energy

Oh, dear. An organisation called "Environmental Progress" that just advocates for nuclear power plants and nothing else? Where were they when nuclear waste was dumped in the middle of a formerly pristine national park in the middle of Australia?

Maybe that's the progress part....

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[LynnwoodRooster]

Senator Harry Reid just shed a tear that you forgot the last time he was Senate Majority Leader - as a Democrat.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

I know Reid is a democrat who opposed it. I know that. I think he was wrong, but for the right reasons. I say that knowing Trump is a traitor. Do you understand this "bipartiansan" basic shit, or not?

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

CA doesn't have 100% clean nuclear power, so that's false. In fact no state does, because there isn't yet a safe long-term storage facility for waste. It's an ongoing problem that could become a massive widespread super-catastrophe.

Solve that, sure, you can have your nuclear utopian pipe dream. Solve it first before we write the big check though, nuclear cheerleaders. No more pom pom, build the long-term safe nuclear storage site and we'll talk seriously.

The federal government has been trying to solve this problem, well, half of the federal government. The Republicans picked a site in a mountain, a big hunk of rock, to hold the waste but the Democrats kept holding it up. We'd have had this problem solved 20 years ago if it wasn't for the Democrats holding it up. They are still holding it up in the US Senate with their filibuster option.

Here's another thing, as long as we are not building nuclear power we are building more natural gas power. Which would you rather have, the small problem of some nuclear waste or a much bigger problem of global warming? Huh? Which is it? Nuclear power or global warming? Seems to me those are our only options right now because all efforts to solve the CO2 problems with wind and sun have failed.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, dear. An organisation called "Environmental Progress" that just advocates for nuclear power plants and nothing else?

They don't "just" advocate nuclear, though it is often the best option. Unlike faux-environmental organizations, they support the rational use of all clean energy sources, which by the way, do not include burning of "renewable" trees.

The "progress" label could be applied for any number of reasons. For one: they actually value decarbonization and reducing environmental impact; causes that the more conventional "environmental" groups have abandoned. They are more appropriately called anti-nuclear groups, and successfully advocated the replacement of planned nuclear with coal, leaving us in our current mess.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[DamnOregonian]

Yucca mountain is a good point to rub peoples faces in. It was viable long term storage that was sunk due to political bullshit.
You however do yourself no favors by lying through your fucking teeth.
Grow the fuck up, man.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[drinkypoo]

Had They Bet On Nuclear, Not Renewables, Germany & California Would Already Have 100% Clean Power

Nuclear is "clean" like coal is "clean". It isn't. Mining the uranium produces massive strip mines which are never restored to their original condition, and the tailings always wind up contaminating ground water. We still don't have a solution for the waste — Yucca was never a good site over the time period involved, and breeder reactors are expensive and dangerous to operate. Unless these things change, Nuclear continues to be a boondoggle at best.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

.. only nuclear energy creates such a small waste volume that it is manageable to contain, and required by law.

There is a reason that only nuclear energy is required to contain its waste, and the reason is not that the volume is small. Rather, the reason is that the waste is potentially very dangerous, both as a poison and as a source of radiation. The fact that the harm of nuclear waste has until now been relatively small is a great tribute to the nuclear industry, but let's not pretend that that the waste is harmless, or that the care with which it is handled is exagerated.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[robsku]

It's interesting how nuclear advocates almost never talk about uranium mining...

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

ACKCHUELLY, the defunding of hte nuclear waste disposal was one of Obama's campaign promises and was not included in the budget proposal sent to Congress.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101689489
Obama Cuts Funds To Nuclear Waste Repository

President Obama's proposed budget is famous for the huge amounts of spending it includes. But also notable is what's missing: There's no funding to dispose of the waste from the nation's nuclear power plants.

In keeping with a campaign promise, the president has stopped the $8 billion project to prepare Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the nation's nuclear waste repository.

I trust that NPR is a sufficiently liberal-slanted news source acceptable to you leftards.

Re: Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm in favor of nuclear power.

I'm also in favor of solar and wind, and in a few area where it makes sense, hydro. Pumped hydro especially might be a good battery for the others and speaking power. Or gravel loaded freight trains on a hill for that matter.

But there is definitely a pattern of schools, some paid, some ignorant and bandwagoners that play what aboutism.

Solar panels and wind mills are bad because they take energy to make, and have to be mined and transported and can't be recycled and people fall and die working on them and panels and turbines need to be replaced every night when it is dark or the wind stops blowing type bullshit.

Meanwhile, in their mental model, Coal, and nuke plants, spontaneously self assemble in nature, have their fuel and waste automagically teleported in and out of the facility with zero risk.

Watch for coverups on Duke Energy ash pits after Florence. And hog farms for that matter. But you won't see it covered much on Fox. Check your local newspaper or their website.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Spent" fuels is harmless, because it is easily contained. Moreover, only about 3.6% of it is actual fission products; the rest is unused fuel. Of that 3.6%, 87% will decay to stable elements within 10 years. If you can do arithmetic, we are now down to 0.46% which poses a long term concern, and even that has uses. If we adopt technologies that completely fission the fuel, there is essentially no waste left.

The hysteria over nuclear "waste" is a result of ignorance, and the alternatives are much worse. Radiation is also not uniquely dangerous, and is harmless or even beneficial at low levels. Non-radioactive heavy metals last forever, and are spewed into our atmosphere and oceans by coal. Wind and solar are resource intensive technologies which demand much more mining and refining of rare earths, which itself are dirty. Broken panels can also also leach toxic substances into the environment, and panels and turbine blades are difficult to recycle, and not economical or required by law.

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nuclear is "clean" like coal is "clean". It isn't.

Not "like" coal. False equivalence and you know it. Not that you're known for your intellectual honesty.

Re: Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[robsku]

That was a good reply. At this moment I'm not sure where exactly I'm standing on nuclear power... If it wasn't for the urgent need to address the issue of climate change, I'd be against it. But as things are currently I'm not so sure... If nuclear power was used to drive down burning coal, that would leave us a cleaner environment right now and time to think about WTF we're going to do with the waste, but obviously there's still the matter of uranium mining...

Re:Jerry Brown, paragon of climate virtue...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you assume nuclear power requires large scale uranium mining? MSR's are the future. they are far safer and can burn a lot of the nuclear waste the GP is talking about. perhaps you should read up on modern technology rather than spouting ancient designs. A little investment would go a long way.

(Financially) Failed State

[Anonymous Coward]

So where is California going to get the money to build this satellite? Launch costs are only a small part of the bill.

Re: (Financially) Failed State

[Anonymous Coward]

From its massive tax base, including a huge GDP, and huge reserves of resources and high industrial productivity.

Turns out the state is valued in the trillions.

Re:(Financially) Failed State

[DamnOregonian]

Are you serious?
California is the 8th largest economy on this planet.
You think a couple hundred million dollars is going to dent a state with a domestic product measured in trillions?

Re:(Financially) Failed State

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, as long as the economy is large, why not waste money?

Re:(Financially) Failed State

[DamnOregonian]

They clearly don't consider it a waste of money, which is their prerogative.
The threat was to launch their own satellite(s) if Trump made good on his threat to stop collecting said information because why would we look for fake evidence of a Chinese hoax?

Seems quite reasonable to me.

Is this considered a search?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a reason the Us government doesn't launch and pinpoint emissions like this. its not because the corporations are paying them not to, its because they'd get tied up in court the first time they tried to force a company to lower its emissions based on satellite scans.

California will probably wind up in court long before this gets off the ground based on this alone.

Re:Is this considered a search?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this considered a search?

No.

Re: Is this considered a search?

[Anonymous Coward]

Meanwhile, in reality...

BigFossil: Their satellite evidence is wrong we want to cross examine it!. Bring it down!
Judge: AG for the people they do have a right...
AG: Of course they do your honor. But the satellite evidence isnt why the accused is here. The satellite said methane plant #34 was leaking, so we got a court order to search and on scene measurements showed they were leaking 34tons of methane a day. We have those records here (exhibit A), the statement of equipment calibration being current here (exhibit B) and the technician is ready to testify in accordance with the law.
Judge: Well then that is sorted. Defense?
BigFossil: We uh, ask for a continuance your honor....

carbon flood

[Anonymous Coward]

Any initiative that doesn't mention overpopulation is just rearranging the deck chairs on the suicide cult ark.

A Groundbreaking Bullshit Detector

[geekmux]

"This groundbreaking initiative will help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint -- and stop -- destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that's never been done before...."

I'm assuming you're building the worlds largest Bullshit Detector, because that's about the only thing that's going to keep one-sided politics from influencing and controlling whatever the fuck you plan on doing with satellites.

The problem isn't finding evidence that we humans are doing plenty to fuck up our atmosphere and environment. The problem is convincing enough of the greedy fucks in charge to give up their precious money in order to do something about it. For the worlds largest polluters, revenue is all that matters, side effects be damned.

Launch all the "damn" satellites you want. Until you fix the political problem, any results will continue to fall on deaf ears.

Re:A Groundbreaking Bullshit Detector

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem isn't finding evidence that we humans are doing plenty to fuck up our atmosphere and environment. The problem is convincing enough of the greedy fucks in charge to give up their precious money in order to do something about it. For the worlds largest polluters, revenue is all that matters, side effects be damned.

Launch all the "damn" satellites you want. Until you fix the political problem, any results will continue to fall on deaf ears.

It is a political problem, not a monetary problem. Governments are free to print money, and the value of currency is artificial. The actual limiting factor is resources, and as long as those in power are deploying our limited resources in ineffective ways, the problem will continue growing. We need policy based on science and facts, not political whim and fantasy. Policy that considers energy returned on energy invested, resource efficiency, land impact, grid requirements, the potentially to rapidly scale, and so forth. Nuclear is at the top of all the metrics that matter, and there is great potential for cost reduction and efficiency improvement with molten salt reactors.

Re:A Groundbreaking Bullshit Detector

[religionofpeas]

The worlds largest polluters is people.

Re:A Groundbreaking Bullshit Detector

[robsku]

Governments are free to print money, and the value of currency is artificial.

And that's exactly how Zimbabwe saved itself from poverty.

Re:A Groundbreaking Bullshit Detector

[Anonymous Coward]

help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint -- and stop -- destructive emissions with unprecedented precision

If it's essentially "photographic proof" in front of everyone's eyes that the pollutant is coming from a specific spot, that's all the political will you need to fix it. Look it what happened as soon as everyone could see, via FLIR, the methane leak in that neighborhood. Once there was undeniable video evidence everyone had to finally act. It was going on long before that.

So you've got jack shit on satellites there... yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like there's nothing in the Constitution about states having the power to launch their own satellites, sorry kid! Back to school with you!

Re:He sounds just like Trump - EXCEPT NOT RETARDED

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference is A: it's useful and B: we're actually going to do it, lol. He can hang out and suck Putin's cock and play with Kim Un's uniball all he likes to, praise Duterte like a moron, whatev! Fired in a month anyway lol.

California's ongoing attempt to hijack US policy

[Anonymous Coward]

Good for you, California! You do you.

And this is how things get FUBAR

[MikeRT]

New York City also announced that its pension fund would invest $4 billion in companies offering climate change solution over the next three years.

$4B worth of virtue-signaling. Political games are why most pensions are going bust. From over-promising via shameless lies to this sort of blatant virtue-signaling instead of seeking the best (in value and risk) return on investment to keep the pension solvent and able to meet obligations.

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[Anonymous Coward]

Satellites are subject to international agreements. Lasy I checked, that is a federal matter. Sounds like more Trump bashing for sport and posturing rather than something logical. Why not build some water reservoirs or something that might actually help their state?

LOL, Gov Moonbeam

[p51d007]

This moron has been around way too long. Only SMART thing he did was date Linda Ronstadt back in the 70's.

Re: LOL, Gov Moonbeam

[Anonymous Coward]

The "Big One" could strike any moment now, and he literally wants to shoot all the funding for disaster recover into orbit? He's a fucking imbecile, just like his voters!

Re:LOL, Gov Moonbeam

[ebvwfbw]

This moron has been around way too long. Only SMART thing he did was date Linda Ronstadt
back in the 70's.

Really? Maybe that's what she was talking about with the beat of another drum? She pegged him good?
Cali, source of so much lunacy.

If this doesn't wake up the sane people

[Anonymous Coward]

If this doesn't wake up the sane people to how farcical climate alarmism is, I don't know what would. You're going to expend and waste the resources to launch a craft into space, creating a very large carbon footprint in the process, to collect data. There's no justification for such a waste and huge footprint to provide redundant data.

The only scenario I can think of that makes sense is the ability to define and control the climate statistics used in california laws on climate change instead of relying on federal statistics.

Galactical level Virtue signaling detected

[Noishkel]

So let me get this right... The State of California is going to spend tends of millions of tax payer dollars to fabricate and lance a new weather satellite, expend mega tons of CO2 emissions to do so, placed even more space junk into an already crowding upper atmosphere, and lock the tax payers into a plan that will force them to spend millions of rollers to maintain and monitor that satellite... all to repeat the same data collection that NOAA is already doing now. Because Drumpf!!!

Is really the plan? Or am I missing something?

Re:Galactical level Virtue signaling detected

[Anonymous Coward]

No, that's really the plan. It's the People's Republic of Kalifornia doing what it does best.

Re:Galactical level Virtue signaling detected

[Anonymous Coward]

We had a chance to actually stop climate change in the 1970s. The people in power almost did, but chickened out. Now it's all about slowing climate change and dealing with the unavoidable fall-out. But now the same people in power finally try some grand-standing because they don't like their POTUS-du-jour.

So obviously Mr. Orange should've ran for office in the 1970s.

Re:Galactical level Virtue signaling detected

[Anonymous Coward]

Ayup - "all to repeat the same data collection that NOAA is already doing now" - Which they could also buy from other sources in Europe, Russia, China, Japan, India... but which will not provide pork barrel jobs in California.

Re:Galactical level Virtue signaling detected

[thegarbz]

Yeah you're missing a lot.

expend mega tons of CO2 emissions to do so

A megaton is 1,000,000,000kg. A typical launch for example on a Falcon 9 produces 200,000kg. You're off by a factor of 10,000x.

placed even more space junk

Space junk serves no purpose. Therefore this isn't space junk.

into an already crowding upper atmosphere

There's a lot of upper atmosphere to put things into. Especially satellites that are carefully tracked and eventually re-enter and burn like the ones we are talking about here.

and lock the tax payers into a plan that will force them to spend millions of rollers to maintain and monitor that satellite

Oh noes! We can't science with taxpayer money. How would a rich state that represents the 5th largest economy in the world afford to science!

all to repeat the same data collection that NOAA is already doing now

Oooh oooh oooh. Given that there's been precisely zero technical details given so far you must have some inside knowledge. Please share all the technical details with us. Slashdot loves technical details almost as much as it loves making completely stupid and baseless assumptions!

Hey lying fucker why are you still at it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not respond to all your lies Windbag?

Slashdot commenters are losers

[Anonymous Coward]

As usual, these comments are mean-spirited and lacking substance. Get me out of here.

Re:Slashdot commenters are losers

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL
They pointed out how stupid my belief is. I'm outta here!

Sure they will

[argStyopa]

...because that's a prudent use of the taxpayer's money: "Virtue signaling".

Oh yeah, and there's this: https://californiapolicycenter...

Re:Sure they will

[Anonymous Coward]

Please explain what this "virtue signaling" is for those of us not familiar with the latest internet catchphrases?

Re:Sure they will

[argStyopa]

I'm going to assume it's an honest question, and not just one of the ones being virtue-signaled believing it's clever to assert ignorance of the mechanics: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=virtue+si...

Re:Sure they will

[AmiMoJo]

Everything you don't like is virtue signalling. Your complaints about virtue signalling are virtue signalling. It's a completely meaningless statement.

Say why you don't think this will make any real difference.

Re:Sure they will

[Anonymous Coward]

You call if virtue signaling.

I call it one of the largest economies in the entire world getting ready to tell shitstain flyover states to fuck off. :)

How's that for a fucking signal?

Re:Sure they will

[argStyopa]

Are you asserting that there isn't a great deal of public posturing going on in American political culture today? Really?

Why was his virtue-signaling? It came as a capstone announcement to a climate change "summit" with maximum press in attendance.
"Brown's announcement came in quickly delivered remarks at the close of the three-day gathering and received a standing ovation from many in the audience."
If it was simply about actually getting something done, they'd have lined it into the budget (you know, the one where they're $1.3 trillion in debt already? - sorry, that was $1.3 trillion as of June 2015; some reports put it at $1.3 tn in pension liability alone, and $2.3 tn in total today) and executed it. Or at least have an actual program and progress to talk about.
But they didn't, they haven't actually done shit-all except announce it.
That would, dear AmiMoJo, be the essence of virtue-signaling - "look how much WE'RE going to do!"....just as soon as we can pay for it, or we're going to limp along pretending we're going to do it until people forget we said it....

RTFM: the story itself points to Gov Moonbean saying pretty much the same thing back in 1976. Never happened.

And if I were truly virtue-signaling, I *think* I could probably find better places to do it than an obscure techy messageboard.

The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode. We need to chop their thieving hands off.

Re: The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

You misspelled Democrat

Re: The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

No fag, you misspelled USA. Your GOP went full traitor and we're going to hang you.

Re: The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

Leave the fags out of it. The fags are actually on the side of left and against the GOP.
The GOP is fucking scary and destroying the USA. Donâ(TM)t put that shit on us!

Re: The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

No fag, you misspelled USA. Your GOP went full traitor and we're going to hang you.

.

No, what will happen is that we will tie you to a tree and gut you, and watch you while the forest creatures feast on you.

Re: The GOP is in full kleptocracy mode.

[Anonymous Coward]

How? Theyâ(TM)re mostly the ones with the guns.

So, spend more for nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

NASA and NOAA already do this.

Of course CA with its trillion dollar debt should fling another satellite or few up there. After all, itâ(TM)s not going to make a difference.

Um, what?

[cascadingstylesheet]

It's like he spun the random tech solution wheel ...

"We'll fix it with ... a satellite!"

It's like saying you'll fix everything with blockchain, only fifty years out of date.

Wow, no one has posted this yet? Okay then...

[DontBeAMoran]

To fight climate change, California says "We're launching our own damn satellite! With blackjack, and hookers!"

Re:Wow, no one has posted this yet? Okay then...

[Anonymous Coward]

In fact...forget the satellite.

Re:Wow, no one has posted this yet? Okay then...

[Anonymous Coward]

In fact, forget about the climate and the blackjack too.

Re:Wow, no one has posted this yet? Okay then...

[Opportunist]

I'm as shocked as you are. Damn Millennials, forgetting the classics so quickly.

Good

[tim620]

I'm glad somebody from a government body is actually listening to the scientists.

Re:He sounds just like Trump - EXCEPT NOT RETARDED

[Anonymous Coward]

The information they want is already gathered by NOAA.
In addition, the state of California lacks any facilities to fly any satellites of the size and mission duration they want. All existing facilities belong to, or are fully controlled by, the Federal government.

Mission is another point. Unless California is going to shell out for the huge, geosynchronous satellites, their vehicle will spent 90% or more of its time over not-California. But if they put a vehicle in a geosynch orbit, it won't have the ability to measure anything useful on Earth.
Also as part of the mission is duration. LEO satellites tend to have fairly short life spans. 5-10 years is normal. You think the state of California can afford to spend a billion dollars building, launching, and flying a satellite to show them a low resolution spectrometer image? When they can just drive out there and plant much more accurate sensors?

It's a boondoggle; an idiot nerd's techno non-solution to a problem that was already solved.

Jerry Brown

[eclectro]

America's "rocket man."

Why the F%$ cant we launch Jerry Brown?

[Anonymous Coward]

How did this turd get re-elected? wow, nobody understands the crap he slings. He wants to have this vision of his perfect world. Why can't we just launch him and be done with it.

It's war ...

[CaptainDork]

.. of the states vs the feds.

The current administration is taking advantage of a 1917 treaty and "because national security." to write executive orders that favour the wrong side of America.

States are countering with "states rights."

For reference, look at marijuana, vehicle emission/mpg limits, immigration, gun control, etc.

States can launch all the satellites they can afford and use tactics like that to circumvent a batshit cray cray executive and a non-performing congress.

In all three cases, whether state, executive or legislative, the People are speaking.

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Why not build some water reservoirs or something that might actually help their state?"

Because the hypocrites in CA want all that cool stuff (like water to drink and electricity for pretty much everything), but "Not In My Back Yard".
Reservoirs would mess up their pretty landscape, and electricity generation, well, just imagine! So, no - they won't have any of that.

you are delusional

[Anonymous Coward]

there is no possible way this could ever work.

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Satellites are subject to international agreements. Lasy I checked, that is a federal matter.

So what? That doesn't mean that the federal government is the only entity allowed to launch and operate satellites.

Re: Finally, but they need multiple products from

[Anonymous Coward]

It's here! APK Ass File Engine 1.0++ 64-bit for MacOS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RSDU2ZU

Yields more power/speed/penetration/anonymity vs. any 1 solution (99% of threats use hostnames vs. IP address most firewalls use) more efficiently/FASTER + NATIVELY 4 less!

Vs. "Bolt on 'MoAr' illogic-logic" slowing you hosts speed u up 2 ways: Assblocks + Hardcode fav. sites u spend most time @ vs. competition loaded w/ security bugs (DNS/AntiVir) + overheads slowing u (messagepass 'souled-out' to advertisers easily detected & blocked addons + firewall filtering drivers) & their complexity leads to exploitation!

* ONLY 1 of its kind in GUI 4 MacOS!

(Better vs. Windows model in speed/efficiency/merge)

APK

P.S.=> Protects against Spectre & Meltdown + HIV & gonorrhea redirect poisoned or downed DNS/botnets/malware downloads/malcript/email malicious payloads... apk

Re:He sounds just like Trump - EXCEPT NOT RETARDED

[Anonymous Coward]

"The information they want is already gathered by NOAA." -Under Trump the destroyer of useful information in favor of bullshit, CA did not have full complete control over that for its purposes. So it still makes sense as a second source.

And the methane violations big oil releases that it detects will pay for it many times over. Checkmate.

fucking Serious?

[Anonymous Coward]

this is a fucking click-bait hoax..
that's a governmental job. If not then why was it not backed by the gov't.
California is soooo fucked!!!!!
cities going bankrupt, wage to living ratio outta fucking control,

no wonder it was deemed Ungovernmental some time ago..

totally fucked up..
Way to go msmash once again on the cutting edge..

Sweet! A Magic Jellybean-Powered Rocket!

[CoolDiscoRex]

I mean, it has to be. They wouldn't pollute the environment with spent rocket fuel.

No, wait ...

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/1...

Oh. It's all a ruse. I guess it'll be rocket fuel after all.

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[ChrisMaple]

The feds regulate launches that take place in the US..

typical pretend science

[slashmydots]

Unless those clear vehicles are going to automatically run over and kill cows, they're ignoring the ACTUAL source of greenhouse gas emissions. Efficient vehicles are a lie. In fact I even heard a rumor that all the freighters carrying cargo on the ocean make like 10x more CO2 than all the cars in the US combined. Methane is several hundred times more damaging and it comes from cows, of which there are way the hell too many of. THAT is the problem. Make methane capture laws.

Re:typical pretend science

[vtcodger]

"Methane is several hundred times more damaging" Actually, it's not although it does "decay" into a CO2 molecule and two water molecules after a decade or so. The belief that it is some sort of a demon greenhouse gas seems to be be due to a misunderstanding. How can you check that? Take a look at the IR absorbtion spectra for H2O, CO2, CH3(Methane). The are available on the NIST web site and elsewhere.

Moonbeam part deux

[Anonymous Coward]

The guy was a flippin' moron when he was governor back in the 70s (he never had an honest job - Like Joe Biden he went straight from college to government). He's a trainwreck of higher taxes, more regulations, redistributed wealth, boondoggle projects, and crazy dishonest virtue signalling. As such, this satellite idea of his is just the icing on a rather rancid cake.

Jerry Brown is not on the ballot this November; he'll be gone in January. Just like all his recent environmental bills, he will not be in office to see it implemented. He will claim all the credit for the supposedly positive vision and planning, but some successor of his will be stuck with the bills and all the negative consequences. When there's even less money available for the pensions of teachers, cops, and firemen, some Jerry successor who will get no credit for the satellite or the train or the delta water project will have an even bigger budget hole to fill and will have to raise taxes.

If Jerry Brown had an ounce of integrity, he would have proposed and implemented these things (and paid the political and fiscal prices) WHILE IN OFFICE. He's only in office because Democrats imported millions of ignorant 3rd worlders over the past couple decades, effectively replacing a large portion of the traditional American middle class voters (of all skin colors, it's a cultural not a racial thing). These new voters are used to living in socialist hellholes and bananna republics and are easily swayed by the "free stuff" rhetoric of a clown like Brown. Thus passes freedom.

Catchy name

[Tablizer]

"California Space Force"

Because California isn't going broke...

[Chas]

Let's just pile on yet ANOTHER multi-zillion dollar boondoggle!

shoot yourself in the foot Windy.

[Anonymous Coward]

How would you possibly measure it? The CO2 emitted for that product? impossible.

The total emissions of the country regardless of what the product is? That's just blatantly discriminating against larger countries (obviously you're targeting China). You will tax Americans more than Australians and Canadians? You will tax America at the second highest level in the world behind China?
And you think anyone will vote for your plan?

Based on per capita, then you're just shooting yourself in the foot again considering America is twice China. You want to tax Americans twice what you tax Chinese companies.
And you think anyone will vote for your plan?

Complete and utter garbage plan with no thought at all of the consequences.

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[Anonymous Coward]

Which won't stop EU from parking a satellite over CA...

Nothing fight GW like burning tons of fuel!

[Anonymous Coward]

Its especially helpful if it is burnt in the upper atmosphere!

Sure, why not?

[nospam007]

I‘m from tiny Luxembourg and even we have >60 Satellites.

Re:Sure, why not?

[DamnOregonian]

Precisely. Anyone can launch a damn satellite.
I'm really scratching my head as to why people are scoffing at the idea of a state with the domestic product of 43 Luxembourgs coughing up the cash to launch a single satellite.

Re:Sure, why not?

[Contract Gypsy]

Well, perhaps, just like India should have, they should care for their homeless and destitute before launching satellites. But hey, that would make sense in a liberal country like California... but the won't do it!

Re:Sure, why not?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm scoffing at it because it's a waste of money, a waste that the state is far to ready to make.
I also have no doubt that, had trump said the US was launching a whole bunch of satellites, California would have immediately decried satellites as evil.
I mean, hell, the state could probably afford to give every resident a crate of peeps at Easter, but it's not a good idea either.

Re:Sure, why not?

[DamnOregonian]

The State of California considers Climate Change a big deal. This is pretty logical since they stand on the precipice of habitability for their population and industry as it is.
The State of California, having a domestic product of almost 3 trillion dollars, with a T, the 5th largest economy on the entire planet, can afford a few million dollars for a 6U cubesat.

And since one does anyone who uses the word "Liberal" as a pejorative give a fuck about "The destitute"? Spare me your false fucking concern.
Sounds to me like you have an ideological ax to grind, not an actual argument. Fuck off.

Re:Sure, why not?

[DamnOregonian]

*Since when

Re:Sure, why not?

[DamnOregonian]

The amount of money to launch a satellite is peas to a budget like California's.
Beyond that, who are you to say it's a waste? Why wouldn't California consider the possibility of loss of scientific data tracking polluters a problem of theirs?

I mean, hell, the state could probably afford to give every resident a crate of peeps at Easter, but it's not a good idea either.

Ahh, I see your logic. If your stupid idea is stupid, this other idea must be stupid as well, because, well, reasons.
Fuckwit.

I also have no doubt that, had trump said the US was launching a whole bunch of satellites, California would have immediately decried satellites as evil.

If you had left out that line, people could possibly have mistaken you as someone with an actual concern, not someone grasping for straws trying to take jabs at a political rival.

They aren't taxing on origin.

[Anonymous Coward]

They're taxing on pollution controls. YOUR reading would make all tarriffs illegal, inclyding the ones from the US Federal government.

Same way they measure everything

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't measure accidents or pollution or license violations at every place all the time. They just ASK first and then check up at random individual cases. Lying is a crime when you benefit monetarily from it. Its called "Fraud" but I do not expect you to know what that is.

Re:Same way they measure everything

[Anonymous Coward]

Lucky you don't get money for your lies then isn't it Windy? Or do you?
You think for 1 second China will extradite people to the US for falsifying some paperwork? Delusional.
You think places won't set up businesses just to get around your rules when they do for every other rule there is? Delusional.

Easy to explain

[Anonymous Coward]

What it means is "Someone is saying something that I cannot attack or ridicule because it is a good thing, so I will instead pretend that the REASON why this good thing is being said is because they want to be seen to say it, as this somehow makes saying good things automatically bad".

Methane is 1300x more effective

[Anonymous Coward]

And lasting 10 years means that it is "just" hundreds of times more effective than CO2. FFS you denier idiots pretend that H2O is a "bigger effect" than CO2 when it comes to denying having to do anything, yet here you are pretending that "bigger effect" is not a thing any more.

online JoB

[Anonymous Coward]

uptil i sAw the bAnk drAft which hAd sAid $4027, i didn't believe ...thAt...my sister wAs trully eArning money in their spAre time on their Apple lAptop.. there sisters roommAte hAd beAn doing this for only About A yeAr And by now pAid the mortgAge on there ApArtment And bought A new peugeot 205 gTi. reAd more At,,,,,,,www.99logic.com

You're delusional.

[Anonymous Coward]

How is it based on emissions? Your just handwaving. American emitions are the 2nd highest in the world. You think Trump will tax America the most and give all your 'trade partners' a free ride at taxpayer expense? You're delusional.

It is not a direct violation of WTO.

[Anonymous Coward]

For example, California is not a signatory. The USA is. Secondly the USA is inviolation of WTO anyway. Canadian softwood, internet gambling being two examples out of several that the USA is ignoring WTO on. Your outrage at the violation there doesn't pass the smell test.

So only one member of the democrat party???

[Anonymous Coward]

Or is your picking of Reid just cherry picking? CONGRESS did it, YOU claimed democrats did it. DINOs exist, just like RINOs do. But I guess that you don't WANT to know about it at this time, so ignore it.

Re:So only one member of the democrat party???

[LynnwoodRooster]

Democrat-led Senate. Democrat President. Republican GOP. Shutting down Yucca Mountain was a goal of President Obama and he worked with his own DOE to make it happen. President Obama submitted continuing resolutions that tied elimination of Yucca Mountain funding to military expenditures - so it was either shut down the military or shut down Yucca Mountain. The Senate (led by Harry Reid) loved that as well. Definitely a priority for the President and for half of Congress - such that they were willing to eliminate funding of Constitutional duties of Government before they let it keep running.

How? You have 40M obstinate polluters.

[Anonymous Coward]

You have 40M obstinate polluters who laugh at the idea of recycling, refuse to use a bicycle, drive a car anytime they need to go farther than half a mile, and who eat, drink, consume and produce more waste per capita than any other people on the planet, except possibly for other Americans.

How the hell will launching a satellite help with you and your population being pollution-creating gluttons?

Buying votes

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a very expensive way to get a certain company to contribute to a certain corrupt slimeball's re-election campaign. You know, moon beam, who was so corrupt her got recalled from office before the current generation of progressive idiots could read.

Re:Buying votes

[Undead Waffle]

He's termed out. Gavin Newsom will be elected in November. And if you think Brown is bad, wait til you see Newsom!

Re: So you've got jack shit on satellites there...

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Yes, and the DMV licenses you to drive vehicles. That doesn't mean people can't have their own cars.

pollutants that cause climate changebr

[NikeHerc]

Do you california nitwits realize you are generating pollutants that cause climate change by launching satellites into orbit?

Another great pharaoh

[Anonymous Coward]

The pharaohs built the pyramids; Jerry Brown will launch satellites. Let us long remember Jerry Brown. Hail Jerry! Hail Jerry!

"Volkwagen"

[Anonymous Coward]

... using money from Volkwagen's legal settlement ...

I guess there's been downsizing at that company: there's only one "Volk" left.

why you still lying?

[Anonymous Coward]

You need to spam a bit more and push your lies off your first page...

Unconstitutional?

[SSA-Ed]

Science conducted by those with an agenda is NOT science.

But what about the choo choo?

[Contract Gypsy]

They'll have to cancel the train project just to pay for a tiny portion of a satellite with launch. Either that, or they'll just keep taxing the middle class so they keep moving out. Nothing wrong with that logic right?

California = land of epic faggots

[Anonymous Coward]

More faggot shit coming out of the valley. Paid for by Daddy Rothschild.

Climate Change Hoax is a Death Sentence

[Anonymous Coward]

Climate Change is a hoax based on politically and financially motivated scientific models and data that is spun to serve the interests of the elite. Climate Change will not be satisfied until we are desolate and dying. Climate Change goals include reducing the population through abortion, disease-causing food, air, and water, prescription drugs, and vaccines.

Re:Climate Change Hoax is a Death Sentence

[Anonymous Coward]

Ooooo I like this idea. how crazy do you have to be to become a "progressive". If they're doing shit like this I want in.

There are three stages

[zkiwi34]

1. Post WW2 when veterans decided California was nicer than [insert where they came from here].
2. When a ton of people descended upon California during and after "the Summer of Love" aka hippie invasion.
3. The state and federal governments screwing up immigration epically.

Add in the "food pyramid" effect - basically the bottom of society is a lot larger than the top.

Newsflash

[zkiwi34]

CO2 isn't pollution either.

For pollution see all the stuff that is man-made that has been introduced into the atmosphere.

It's not science

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not science, just beliefs and opinions of so called experts.

Fighting climate change, is not green or good for our planet, there are many negative consequences, in fact, CO2 is greening the planet, CO2 is good and natural.

Great. Just great. More divisiveness.

[dave-man]

So now in addition to losing objective journalism where media was supposed to be objective and we are now all used to media outlets having inherent bias we'll have science with bias also - where the mission is to "prove this" instead of "find truth." *sigh*

no nukes = coal = ooooh shit

[Anonymous Coward]

Acidification of the oceans and greenhouse gases as a result of coal and petroleum derivatives are destructive.
Lame ass old light water reactors with low efficiency and very high cost to build makes them less attractive.
Enter Thorium reactors where more than 2% of the fuel is actually burned up, low pressure, high temp fluoride salt. Much lower cost than to build and run coal plants.
Time for Gen IV power plants.
Google it.

Re: no nukes = coal = ooooh shit

[Anonymous Coward]

Ocean acidification is an area of education that the climate change team is missing out on. We're well on our way to destroying a complex ecosystem that most of the world needs for survival.

Someone upstream said something about CO2 greening. About that, https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/food-nutrients-carbon-dioxide-000511

Not at that time, it wasn't.

[Anonymous Coward]

During that time they had a RWNJ opposition merely opposing EVERYTHING (see the blocking of a supreme court judge, how can they do that if the Republicans did not own the senate?), and they had enough that they could stop everything unless Obama just made an executive order.

You MAGA morons really don't care what reality says, do you?

Hell if your asinine claims were correct, you'd be able to post more than just Reid as the voter.

Re:Not at that time, it wasn't.

[LynnwoodRooster]

2011 was Yucca Mountain, about 5 years before any issue with a Supreme Court Judge. I know it's hard for low-information Democrats to keep basic facts and timelines straight, but do please try to use the Internet somewhat to learn what happened and when. In 2011 Harry Reid was the Senate Majority Leader, meaning the Senate was held by the Democrats. After the 2014 election, Mitch McConnell and the Republicans took over.

That CO2 is man made

[Anonymous Coward]

Kinda fucked your argument there.

Unbelievably Dumb

[Anonymous Coward]

somehow people keen voting for retards

Why didn't your lies get modded down?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems the mods are kind of working, all your complete crap about CO2 taxes was all modded down to zero. But why wasn't your big obvious lie also modded down?

I guess you got lucky this time. How long until the next one?
Theres a pool going, try and post one before the end of your day.

Crazy man, get a new keyboard you caps is broken.

[Anonymous Coward]

How does state level congress tell the fed's what tanks to make and where to make them?
Take your meds again and have a time out for a few days.

With blackjack and hookers!

[Anonymous Coward]

We'll launch our own satellite with blackjack and hookers!

Why not?

[Anonymous Coward]

233 Billion unfunded CalPERS pension liabilities.

1.3 Trillion bond debt that CA owes.

Sounds like a great idea Governor.

When do the _people_ take ownership?

[fygment]

At what point does the general population accept that it is part of the problem and step up and do something?

The average person _still_ buys that pool, that SUV, and that air conditioner. That person still doesn't recycle, demands maximum product packaging, and throws away otherwise good food because 'leftovers ... ick'. And those habits are passed on through the generations so that it is absolutely no surprise that when those offspring move in to industry they carry with them little of an eco-friendly mindset as they sip their bottled water and work at maximizing profits.

There doesn't need to be government involvement or the staggering tax burden of state-owned satellite to address the 'problem of climate change'. What is needed is for each individual to step up and commit to the efficient use of our resources, to be less wasteful, and teach our children to do the same. Angry that some company is profiting and the expense of the environment? Then stop buying their products!

If you are willing to defer to someone else to solve the problem or insist that someone else take care of it, say 'government', then you are part of the problem not the solution.