From the other side of the pond (that’s the enlightened description of Europe, the “pond” being the Atlantic Ocean) comes this newsflash: “Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea.”

Two Google searches equals one teacup’s worth of energy, and Americans conducted 8.03 billion Google searches in November alone, according to comScore. Add to that the number of videos watched on Google’s YouTube subsidiary and that can mean only one thing: Google is to blame for global warming.

I jest. But don’t be surprised if some busybody bureaucrat makes that argument for real someday. If the Environmental Protection Agency will blame global warming on cow flatulence to the point that the agency proposes a toot tax, then technology giants like Google that foster serious energy consumption can’t be far down the list of attack targets.

(Hat tip to Don Surber)