- From the “You asked for it” file, the US Environmental Protection Agency did an online #ClimateWeek Quiz on X asking “True or False: Humans are the dominant cause of climate change” and the result was 9.9% “True” and 90.1% “False”. How dare they?
- Blah blah blah blah blah: Canada’s jet-setting Prime Minister Xes out that “At #UNGA79, PM Trudeau met with the President of the @EU_Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. They exchanged views on pressing geopolitical issues and discussed fighting climate change through industrial decarbonization and the clean energy transition.” Let us guess: they’re for it.
- It’s chronic: the Manhattan Contrarian complains that during “Climate Week” in New York, as well as the 79th meeting of the UN General Assembly, “New York Governor Kathy Hochul showed up to deliver what she probably thought was a significant policy speech” in which “the Gov went on and on about how in New York the energy transition is really happening and is going to create zillions of ‘green jobs’: ‘We’re not talking about some transition happening in the future, we’re talking about it unfolding right now, and that’s what we’re so excited about. And we’re opening the doors to underrepresented communities. And I go to these job sites all the time and I want to see more women and people of color and the unions recognize this.’” Alas, he adds, “The Wall Street Journal has a front-page article today, with headline and sub-headline ‘America’s Ambitious Climate Plan Is Faltering. Global emissions are at records, while shift away from fossil fuels slows amid high costs, surging power demand.’” But keep on with the verbiage and selfies. There must be a pony here somewhere.
- Or not, since Axios semi-coincidentally starts a piece “The mood at Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly blends excitement about low-carbon energy growth with stress about geopolitical headwinds” and tries to pretend it matters that Al Gore “said the solar surge is among his reasons for optimism. But he also called for big changes in the rules at UN climate talks, reflecting wider concerns that COP summits have too many choke points.” Yeah. Like nobody actually being willing to commit energy suicide? Oh, that.
- Another non-scary non-record: “After 13 consecutive September days with maximum temperature ≥21°C in #Ottawa, the maximum temperature was only 18.2°C yesterday. We made it to 6th place, only 4 days behind the record.” With fifth being in 1931, during the blazing hot 1930s, 3rd a tie between 1947 and 1999, 2nd being 1889 and first being 2017. Spot the trend? Right. That there’s no trend.
- From the “limitations-of-computer-modeling” as well as “green-transition-costly” files, The Australian “Business Review” notes that “A record reduction in electricity prices as millions more households received $75 energy bill rebates drove inflation in August to its lowest level in three years, but the temporary decline is set to be ignored by the Reserve Bank.” Seriously. Economists are prone to mistake abstractions for reality, but thinking that because the government is taxing productive activity to shield people from the disastrous impacts of its energy policy for political reasons is represents progress on actual inflation is demented.
- From the “we don’t need no stinking data” file, an Ottawa Citizen story starts “A tornado. A derecho. Floods, both of the spring-thaw variety and the heavy rainfall type. A pall of smoke from fires half a continent away. Heat waves. An ice storm or two. Ottawa has seen its fair share of weather-related threats in recent years, as a warming climate has increased the number of serious events to have struck the capital.” Compared to what? Is rainfall increasing? Is one derecho a trend? Who cares? The point is to have a sanctimonious conference, “a three-day Canada-wide convention on emergency preparedness and climate adaptation” that will bring 3,000 people to an exhibition to be concerned and cool.
- Here’s how much they care: the Hollywood Reporter sneers “Hollywood Can’t Ditch Its Teslas Fast Enough: ‘They’re Destroying Their Leases and Walking Away’”. And why? Because, duh, “As Musk has continued his trajectory into the MAGA-verse – pledging allegiance to right-wing conspiracies, amplifying racist and antisemitic messages, disparaging trans people, including his own daughter, and endorsing Donald Trump – his stock in Hollywood, and that of his brand, has plummeted.” So the cars were about increasing emissions of virtue signals, not decreasing those of CO2? Dahling.
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Tidbits
02 Oct 2024 | News Roundup
First of all "industrial decarbonization" = de-industrialization-in western countries.And it's only western leaders that want to commit economic suicide,because they and their elite friends will still be jet-setting and being ferried about in limos,they couldn't give a crap about the peons below them.
Gotta laff about the Hollywood Hypocrites apparently ditching their Teslas,now that they no longer like Musk and his political views.
Could there be a more trivial, meaningless meeting than one between Trudeau and von der Leyen? Not exactly a meeting of the powerful and mighty at any time, and it’s dumb and dumber today…