The Insect Apocalypse That Never Was

For the past four years, journalists and environmental bloggers have been churning out alarming stories that insects are vanishing, in the United States and globally. Limited available evidence lends credence to reasonable concerns, not least because insects are crucial components of many ecosystems. But the issue has often been framed in catastrophic terms, with predictions of a near-inevitable and imminent ecological collapse that would break ecosystems, destroy harvests, and trigger widespread starvation. Most of the proposed solutions would require a dramatic retooling of many aspects of modern life, from urbanization to agriculture.

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Jack M. Mintz: We’re getting too far ahead on our climate policies that kill oil and gas jobs

Is Canada moving too quickly with climate-change policies to kill oil and gas jobs? After all, while we are pushing up the carbon price to $170 per tonne by 2030, the U.S. doesn’t even have a pricing policy yet. And on top of our aggressive carbon pricing, we are also adopting important — and burdensome — new measures such as clean fuel standards, electric-vehicle substitution and building retrofits. The federal government has also declared plastics toxic and introduced aggressive environmental regulations to stop fossil-fuel development.

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Three Americans create enough carbon emissions to kill one person says study … more if you’re Al Gore or John Kerry

Number of operational coal power plants worldwide as of 2021, by country

The lifestyles of around three average Americans will create enough planet-heating emissions to kill one person, and the emissions from a single coal-fired power plant is likely to result in more than 900 deaths, according to the first analysis to calculate the mortal cost of carbon emissions.

The new research builds upon what is known as the “social cost of carbon”, a monetary figure placed upon the damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions, by assigning an expected death toll from the emissions that cause the climate crisis.

The analysis draws upon several public health studies to conclude that for every 4,434 metric tons of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere beyond the 2020 rate of emissions, one person globally will die prematurely from the increased temperature. This additional CO2 is equivalent to the current lifetime emissions of 3.5 Americans.

How come these studies never mention China and it’s coal plants?

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Shifting to a low-carbon economy will profoundly change the everyday lives of Canadians. Do the Liberals understand that?

When the federal Liberals rolled out with fanfare last week their plan to deal with the human cost of cutting greenhouse gases, their timing was dubious.

It’s been two years, after all, since the Liberals committed to legislating a “just transition” for people working in fossil fuels who lose their jobs as Canada moves toward an economy that produces net-zero emissions.

Work had started on that front in 2017, with then-environment minister Catherine McKenna moving to set up a task force to help workers and communities impacted by government decisions to put an end to coal-fired electricity.

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Opinion: Global warming target of 1.5°C based on shaky scientific analysis

The Trudeau government’s decision to ban gasoline-powered cars by 2035 in the drive to “net zero” emissions is part of a global policy agenda kickstarted by a 2018 “Special Report” issued by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report, titled Global Warming of 1.5°C, was commissioned to study the potential benefits of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius rather than the 2.0°C target stated in the Paris Agreement.

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Can we trust the climate scientists?

The reaction to Steven Koonin’s book highlights just how toxic this debate has become

There’s a problem with writing about science — any science — which is that scientists are human like the rest of us. They are not perfect disembodied truth-seeking agents but ordinary, flawed humans navigating social, professional and economic incentive structures.

Most notably, scientists, like people, are social. If they exist in a social or professional circle that believes X, it is hard to say not-X; if they have professed to believe Y, they won’t want to look silly and admit not-Y. It might even be hard to get research funded or published if it isn’t in line with what the wider group believes.

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Climate scientists prepare to clamp down on the world’s freedoms

We’re still battling the coronavirus tyrants. Now come the climate authoritarians.

More than 200 climate scientists — and that’s “scientists” with an eyeball roll — have gathered to put the final touches on an agreement that will take the lessons learning from the coronavirus, meaning the idea that fear sells and sells well, and apply them to the field of environmental regulation.

The headlines have already started the buzz.

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Philip Cross: The Liberals’ slippery climate goals

Liberals pulled imaginary emissions levels out of the air and then made exaggerated claims about a new policy when in fact nothing changed

The federal budget in April reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to a 36 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. But the prime minister and his government have noisily trumpeted that Canada will reduce emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030. Which target is Canada really committed to? As is usually the case with this government, there is less here than meets the eye.

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Don’t blame global warming on men

Using environmental metrics to pursue progressive social agendas is a bad idea

It’s not called man-made climate change for nothing. According to new research from Sweden — covered in yesterday’s Guardian — single men are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than single women. 

Despite spending similar amounts of money, the male carbon footprint was 16% bigger than that left behind by the average female. 

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GOLDSTEIN: UN to hold annual ‘private jets for climate change’ gabfest

 

 

In a breathtaking act of arrogance, hubris and tone-deafness, the United Nations is insisting on going live with its annual global warming gabfest from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 this year.

That means up to 30,000 people from 200 countries will pour into Glasgow, Scotland this fall, including more than 100 heads of state and thousands of government and UN bureaucrats there on the public’s dime.

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Here’s what environmental groups say the anti-Alberta energy inquiry knows about their foreign funding

Here’s what environmental groups say the anti-Alberta energy inquiry knows about their foreign funding

A controversial two-year long inquiry into allegations that foreign actors attempted to unfairly sully the international reputation of Alberta oil and gas is scheduled to be completed by July 30.

On that day, commissioner and forensic accountant Steve Allan’s report will be due to Energy Minister Sonya Savage. She is compelled to publicly release his findings within 90 days of receiving them.

In 2019, Allan was initially tapped to report back by July 2, 2020. He had a budget of $2.5 million to investigate any funding furnished by sinister actors to environmental groups, and whether any organization receiving that money to smack-talk oil also receives government grants or holds charitable status in Canada.

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Don’t blame climate change for Germany’s flooding

Green policies will do nothing to protect us from natural disasters.

Over 130 dead, hundreds injured and numerous houses, roads and bridges destroyed – that is the terrible result of last week’s flooding in parts of western Germany.

Even before the dead have been properly counted and their bodies recovered, activists, journalists and politicians have seized on the flooding for political ends. ‘The issues at stake could hardly be greater: the climate crisis – and the question of how humanity can keep the planet habitable – demands answers’, writes a group of journalists in Der Spiegel. The day of the disaster, they hope, could be a turning point in September’s federal elections – a day in which ‘nature rendered any kind of campaign planning worthless’. But there are many reasons to question this simplistic narrative.


From Jo Nova

A world protected by windmills? In 1717 Christmas Floods in Germany killed 14,000

With great sympathy for all our European friends. It’s like European history doesn’t exist.

In 1717 on Christmas Eve a flood started that killed 14,000 people and spread across the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. It was followed by savage frosts, and more floods in February of 1718.

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