- Classic climate “one rule for thee, another for me”: After some Just Stop Oil activists were given prison sentences for blocking public roads, causing people to miss vital medical appointments, two writers in the Guardian say “Let’s stop locking up our truth tellers. The people who are shouting ‘fire’ because there’s a fire…. These people might be annoying…. But in a democratic society, they do not belong in prison.” Yet one of the writers, Dale Vince, “has multiple times called for the incarceration of ‘climate deniers.’” Ugly.
- Inquiring minds at the New York Times want to know: “Can Harris finish Biden’s climate agenda?” No. Next question.
- Oh dear. It’s “WHAT IS ‘VAMPIRE SUMMER’?” from National Geographic. And the answer is that “Researchers say the rising summer heat is keeping us indoors more days”. Actually it was a lot hotter in the U.S. in the 1930s and almost nobody had air conditioning… which is what’s actually keeping people indoors, not to mention giant-screen TVs and hypnotic video games. But go ahead. Blame “climate change”. OK. “As climate change brings hotter summers to greater swaths of the United States, people need to alter their longstanding routines to keep themselves healthy”. What, the routines they developed during the winter of couch- and screen-surfing?
- From the “maybe focus on your day job” file, Hydro Ottawa in addition to telling us 110 km/h winds were coming that never came also burbles that “The Renfrew County District School Board is making strides in creating healthier environments for students and staff while cutting carbon emissions.” Meanwhile our power system is a mess and our bills are outrageous. But never mind. By partnering with some affiliate of Hydro Ottawa they’re “reducing carbon emissions by 70 per cent with advanced heat pump technology and heat recovery wheels.”
- Speaking of which, something called “Clean Energy Canada”, one of these odd outfits predictably located on “unceded traditional territories” and paid by government to nag government, just said “Today’s launch of the federal government’s Canada Green Buildings Strategy shows a clear understanding of the key priorities needed to help affordability-constrained Canadians and our changing climate. In some areas, however, it also lacks an implementation plan to meet the moment.” Gosh. An implementation plan. Do you need those?
- A writer in The Atlantic “Weekly Planet” covers an issue vital to most of us: “Last month, at the start of hurricane season, I invited my inner circle to a hurricane-preparation dinner. Over a supreme pizza and a bottle of wine, my girlfriend, our roommate, my best friend, and I discussed how we would evacuate together from New Orleans with our three dogs and three chickens.” Perhaps by car? But alas “as our world warms, storms are intensifying more rapidly, making it much harder for cities to plan their responses.” Luckily she found someone to suggest that “the dogs would need to be in a different car than the chickens.” Still, “How will those who have fewer resources or no support system manage?” Maybe put the dog up front and the chickens in the back. If they even have chickens.
- The Green New Deal delivers everywhere. For instance in Australia “Households yet again face the prospect of even higher electricity bills after the cost of power jumped more than 20 per cent in the last quarter on the back of a renewable energy shortage and coal-fired power station outages. The price surge threatens to undermine Labor’s promise to cut $275 from bills by 2025.” Send more turbines.
And don’t forget to put your frogs in a wheelbarrow too. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time after putting your chickens in the car and before the hurricane hits.
What would really help in New Orleans is for the relevant authorities to repair and upgrade the levees that keep the mighty Mississippi out of New Orleans. After all, much of New Orleans is below river level, and since many of the levees were in poor condition in 2005, hurricane Katrina had free rein to flood the place.
Anyone living in New Orleans and worried about climate change should evacuate immediately since the city is below the CURRENT sea level, let alone what ever it will rise to. Either that, or raise the money and build good quality levees yourself rather than relying on the Corps of Engineers (i.e. US tax payers). You can always ask the Dutch how to go about it, they seem to be able to keep theirs in good repair.