- From the “but you said it was a good deal” file, “How the rooftop solar industry is adapting to California’s new rulebook/ The state’s once-thriving industry faces an uneasy future now that California has slashed financial incentives for people to put solar panels on their roofs.”
- Also, spring still stinks due to climate change: “Hay fever hell fuelled by climate change as warming affects pollen production” according to Britain’s Express. And it’s nothing to sneeze at.
- Meanwhile, Trade War III rages on: John Ivison in the National Post writes “These are somber times for free traders…. The $8 to $13 billion subsidy package… to lure a massive Volkswagen battery plant to St. Thomas, Ont., is Canada’s attempt to play with the big boys…. But you could almost buy a car company for that amount. Can such lavish subsidies be justified?” Conventional pundits say yes, our subsidy mix is brilliant and just needs tweaking. But maybe chucking would be better.
- Also we bring you an “all climate news is bad” and “everywhere’s warming faster than average” one-two punch: a Dutch reader shares an article out of the Netherlands complaining that reducing air pollution means more sunlight hitting the Earth and warming it faster, especially their own country which is warming (drum roll please) “bijna twee keer zo veel als het wereldgemiddelde” (“almost twice as much as the global average”).
- Finally, if the Montreal protocol on CFCs is proof that if governments collaborate they can save us from ourselves and should again on GHGs, why are the levels of the former gases rising? (Oh, and news that Canada’s emissions of the latter were still rising despite cranking up our carbon tax prompted our Environment Minister to prate that “Our progress on climate change and lowering emissions is still ramping up.” Can it be ramping up while going down? Block that metaphor, as the New Yorker used to chant.)
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Tidbits
03 May 2023 | News Roundup
The federal government claims that their "investment" of $13.2 billion in the VW battery plant will be repaid in only 5 years, from the income taxes from the 3,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs created by the plant. The job creation numbers are sheer fabrication. They do not take into account the jobs lost by taxing people to pay for the "investment;" and since this is all borrowed money, there would be job-killing interest payments on that principal as well. Actually, no jobs at all will be created, since the labour force is already fully employed - the premise behind high immigration levels. The "investment" will merely take workers away from other jobs. Still, $13.2 billion divided by 33,000 workers divided by 5 years comes to $80,000 in taxes per employee per year. To generate that much federal tax, the average income of these 33,000 workers would have to be $400,000 or more. Who can afford the batteries at that price? Finally, why do these magical 33,000 workers get an effective tax holiday for 5 years minimum (but in fact forever, since the "investment" will never be repaid from taxes generated). Why is that fair? If 100% of their federal income taxes is going to repay the $13.2 billion "investment," then they are not contributing to the health care, education, national defense, social transfers, indigenous boondoggles, and a billion other federal spending priorities the rest of us pay income taxes to support. These workers will be getting a free ride on making contributions to society beyond buying their own jobs. We will be lucky if this $13.2 billion "investment" doesn't end up costing the Canadian taxpayer $50 billion in principal, interest, and lost alternative economic activity before the project dies. The economic damage caused by the freedom convoy pales to insignificance in comparison. The economic illiteracy of our politicians, and the voters who elect them, is frightening.
Every plot of land is in fact warming twice as fast as the global average, for the simple reason that land warms faster than water, and 70% of the Earth's surface is ocean.
CFC levels are rising because China does not respect the ban. Plumes of CFCs have been detected coming out of China's industrial heartland, fully approved by sinophile and Canadian man-of-all-talents, David Johnston.
Thanks for spelling that out the unintended consequences.
Indeed, thanks for your thoughtful comment. As for China ignoring global guidance on CFC use and all reasonable environmental guidance somehow is not surprising after seeing a photo or two of what was reported as being enormous “acidic tailing ponds” resulting from their processing of battery and permanent magnet elements.