- The New York Times “Climate Forward” (at least the email teaser was from them; the main piece just seems to have been the Times) frames a slightly surprising assessment of the U.S. presidential debate with the usual string of clichés: “At the tail end of the hottest summer in recorded history, as wildfires tear through California and a hurricane heads toward Louisiana, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump failed to say how they would fight climate change during their debate Tuesday night.” Perhaps because everyone knows by now that nothing either one says would have any connection to the aforementioned weather hazards.
- From the “weird weather in the past” file, Modris Eksteins’ 1989 Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Era says (p. 102) “In December [1915] the rain, which had been intermittent since early September, became interminable in Flanders, Artois, and Picardy. More fell there that month than in any December since 1876 – over six inches. The beautiful days of August had become the stuff of dreams. Rifle barrels clogged with mud and would not fire. In the wake of a British attack on December 18-19, the Germans reported that most of their wounds were caused by bayonets, because their opponents’ rifles were jammed.” If it happened today, you know what they’d blame.
- From the “and you knew they would” file, when hurricane numbers are up alarmists blame climate change. But when they’re down, alarmists say climate change caused it. This spring the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was going to be worse than the worst thing ever and of course it was climate change. When it was “eerily” quiet instead, yup, CNN pivots to “the Atlantic Ocean is enveloped in a rare and strange calm that has flummoxed forecasters and reset their expectations. And the whole thing could be a glimpse at what’s to come as the planet gets hotter.” See “Despite ideal conditions that fueled pre-season predictions of upwards of 20 named storms, the immediate prospects for one are low, and none have formed in the Atlantic since Ernesto in mid-August – a streak unmatched in 56 years…. The strange season has been influenced by extreme atmospheric conditions that are a byproduct of climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution, experts said. And it could also be a ‘lens’ into the more volatile storm behavior of the future”. Of course should activity pick up in late September and/or October, well, we don’t have to tell you, do we?
- Green is the new red: Reuters “Sustainable Switch” newsletter on all things climate-related tells us: “Today’s newsletter covers the war in Gaza as dozens of Palestinian families were killed or wounded in a designated safe zone on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials. This came as the United Nations human rights chief urged action to end the nearly year-long war in Gaza, condemning Israel’s ‘blatant disregard’ for international law in Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Education Ministry reported that 52,000 Gazan children could not start first grade this week as schools remain closed, with 90% destroyed or damaged due to Israel’s 11-month assault and the lack of a ceasefire.” Which has what exactly to do with climate change?
- Same file, different country: Canada’s Green Party calls for nationalizing the main railways. Because nothing says organic like central planning. And a Swiss Green politician “has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media.” She explained of the post that “I deleted it immediately when I realized its religious content.” As one might have at once with, oh, say, Mohammed. But this Jesus person? Who knew?
- From the “man with a hammer” file, The Atlantic “Weekly Planet” warns that a wildfire is approaching L.A. and adds that “In recent years, fires have begun spilling into places dominated by people. Americans who live on the edges of major cities have long been much safer from the threat of fire than those who live in the middle of a forest. But wildfires in the West are growing so big, and so quickly, that cities are becoming vulnerable too.” Then it adds “Cities used to burn all the time.” But of course there are far more urban areas nowadays, including far bigger suburbs, as a population once predominantly rural moved to the city from the late 19th century through the late 20th. So clearly it’s all climate change, all the time.
- Maria Gallucci of Canary Media emails “Hello again – it’s Maria Gallucci. I don’t know about you, but when I toss an empty can of seltzer into my recycling bin, my first thought isn’t that I’m helping tackle climate change.” Wow. Us too, Maria. Nor any subsequent thought. Then she insists that “in a tiny way, I am” and we’re sorry to burst her fizzy bubble but no she’s not. If man-made climate change is this gigantic gigatonne planet-incinerating high-speed disaster people like her say, it’s absurd to think recycling a can of seltzer can stop it. And if that sort of empty virtue-signalling is sufficient to drag us back from António Guterres’ “gates of hell” it means we were never anywhere near them anyway except in hysterical rhetoric.
- Our climate hypocrite of the week is Sharon Kimathi of Reuters “Sustainable Switch”, also a pet peeve of ours for putting out a daily email newsletter that does not get posted online, because “Today’s Climate Focus attempts to answer a question I have had in the back of my mind while writing the last few newsletters which have highlighted severe heat and extreme summer sun – where do I go on holiday?” Well um given that you think massive carbon emissions cause such disasters, and much more besides, isn’t the answer a staycation or, as they say in Quebec, a week in Balconville? Heck no. Not for the likes of us. Since “it’s far too hot for me to go to the usual European affordable holiday spots like Spain, Greece, France, Italy or the Balkans… a team of Reuters correspondents set out to figure out where people are going on holiday instead of those usual destinations. Our Reuters journos found that the wildfires and heat waves this summer have pushed more travelers to take ‘coolcations,’ as the industry has started calling them, to northern Europe and Alaska to beat the heat.” And you get there how? Well see “cruise operators, hotel companies and airlines are adding trips and accommodations to meet rising demand for temperate destinations. The numbers of plane tickets issued as of June for international arrivals in Norway, Ireland and Sweden this summer are up by 19%, 13% and 11% respectively year-over-year, according to flight-ticketing data firm ForwardKeys.” And here’s a selfie of me spewing carbon and sanctimony.
- You go CAPP. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which in our view has too often tried to rally round the white flag on Net Zero and related policies, has spoken out with regard to the federal government’s aggressive Bill C-59 attempting to ban “greenwashing” by forcing companies to prove any claim of environmental virtue is true, reversing the presumption of innocence in ways that forced groups like the oilsands Pathways Alliance to pull their self-flagellating propaganda offline lest they be massively fined. CAPP says the law should be repealed but also, a sentiment many of our viewers had also expressed, arguing that if it’s not “The Competition Bureau should make it clear that parties, such as climate advocacy groups … are subject to the same standards in respect of their own communications and representations.” A representative with Environmental Defence huffed that “CAPP’s attempt to point the finger at environmental organizations is an old-school distraction tactic, but it doesn’t hold up,” and added “Our work is backed by evidence and climate science, unlike oil and gas corporations, who are obviously afraid of anti-greenwashing rules.” Yeah? Well, then how about we’ll see you in court, and you prove your recommendations would really work? Oh. Wait.
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Tidbits
18 Sep 2024 | News Roundup
“In recent years, fires have begun spilling into places dominated by people. Americans who live on the edges of major cities have long been much safer from the threat of fire than those who live in the middle of a forest.”
Only in recent years? The City of Ottawa was nearly destroyed by a fire that started 50 km away – in 1870.