wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--City and County of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP et al.

Politicians in Hawaii were threatening to sue Big Energy companies last November for damages from the effects of man-caused global warming .
As seen in their press release last week , March 9th , they finally delivered on it .
Poor timing for those City/County officials , since the Coronavirus news is overrunning all other news now , but far more important is their poor judgement and lack of due diligence regarding their politically suicidal decision to jump on the bandwagon of the nine other boilerplate global warming lawsuits , which are being handled by the Sher Edling law firm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this blog post , Sher Edling is not yet showing this lawsuit as # 10 on their pile of boilerplate filings at their Court Documents Complaints links page , for some unknown reason .
This latest big news lawsuit doesn ’ t even appear yet on their press release page , like the prior ones did .
They at least indirectly referred to it on March 9 at their Twitter page in three different tweets , where only one of their linked-to pieces offers a passing mention of their name two paragraphs from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one more odd looking problem in this overall situation , you ’ d think they ’ d announce this outright in some unmistakable way .
But nobody can miss their name right at the top of the actual court filing itself .
Why is this latest effort by Hawaiian officials political suicide ?
Because …… .
Sher Edling .
I ’ ll explain using screencaptures straight out of this latest filing and from my prior dissections of what ’ s fatally wrong with their cases .
Call it a ‘ Summary for Policymakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defendant law firms if they choose to drive a stake through the heart of these cases instead of trying to prevail via legal technicalities that only lawyers love .
First , from the San Mateo CA County July 2017 filing to this latest Honolulu one , all of these boilerplate filings claim , How do you prove that , though ?
Identical to all the other Sher Edling lawsuits , such as the State of Rhode Island one , this Honolulu one offers this set of ‘ leaked memos evidence , ’ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaked memos was never part of the ICE PR campaign , the set was an unsolicited , rejected , and never used proposal for campaign names and targeting / strategy suggestions that were — let me emphasize — never used , and never even seen by the main administrator/decision maker for the campaign .
You don ’ t need a law degree to arrive at this common sense conclusion : If a proposal for any particular action ends up in the trash can where nobody of any consequence sees it , it therefore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guiding force for such efforts , or that such actions exist at all .
Adding to the trouble here just like all the other lawsuits , such as the County of Santa Cruz CA one , the source for the “ Reposition global warming ” memo set in the Honolulu filing is , The fatal problem with that is how the UCS is not the original source for the memo set , as proven deep within their overall collection of so-called ‘ dossiers ’ notes , where their disclosure says it sources from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem with that is how Greenpeace isn ’ t the original source , either .
The place where the memo set got its first major continuing media traction was via the old Ozone Action group , headed by John Passacantando and Kert Davies , where they only said they and Ross Gelbspan ‘ obtained ’ the memo set without saying who they obtained it from .
( hold that thought about Kert Davies for a few moments ) Problematic as that situation is , these lawsuits don ’ t simply offer the worthless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to prove sinister fossil fuel industry-led disinformation conspiracy efforts exist .
They also offer the American Petroleum Institute ( API ) “ Victory will be achieved … ” leaked memos .
Just like all the other lawsuits , such as the Baltimore one , the Honolulu filing says , Same fatal problem as the “ Reposition global warming ” memo set .
The API memos were unsolicited and never implemented .
Again , worthless as evidence proving sinister fossil fuel industry-led disinformation conspiracy efforts exist .
Piling on now : just like what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen ’ s Associations lawsuit , the source for the API memos in this Honolulu filing is an innocuous-looking website address with the root “ documentcloud.
” Click on the lawsuits ’ version of the link reproduced below , and it takes you to a PDF file devoid of any identifying source .
But change the two ends of the url address while leaving its number and name intact …… .
…… .
and you ’ ll be taken to a regular webpage with a name clearly attached to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked at Greenpeace .
The same Kert Davies who is the current proprietor of the Climate Investigations Center ( CIC ) , whose Twitter account features the API memo in its header photo .
The same Kert Davies who is also the proprietor of the Climate Files website which the Sher Edling law firm cites as a source for one of the newspaper ads that came out of the ICE campaign .
That particular newspaper ad citation is among myriad other credibility problems within these Sher Edling lawsuits , which I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filings .
Meanwhile , since it was the people who got merged into Greenpeace that were the most prominent holders of the “ reposition global warming ” memo set , and since Greenpeace said outright that the API memos were leaked to them , then Sher Edling should declare , ‘ Coal and Oil executives ran disinformation campaigns , and all the evidence for that is at Greenpeace !
’ Or is that something they might want to avoid drawing attention to at all costs ?
Larger questions arise these boilerplate lawsuit filings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this situation may have been dazzled by presentations put on by Sher Edling staff about the ‘ evidence ’ these lawsuits are built on , who dazzled the Sher Edling people with these otherwise worthless memos ?
Or was it not necessary to dazzle them at all ?
Considering the way …….. • John Passacantando and Kert Davies are apparently swimming in ‘ dark money ’ lately , and how both were caught in an effort to destroy the credibility of Exxon , along with the lawyer behind the Kivalina v Exxon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ … • … who participated in a workshop exploring how coal and oil companies could be sued that was also attended by Desmogblog founder James Hoggan and Union of Concerned Scientists president Peter Frumhoff … • … and how both Pawa and Hoggan have been apparently swimming in the same dark money as Passacantando ’ s “ Our Next Economy LLC ” … …….. and how law firms don ’ t usually file mega-lawsuits for free purely out of the goodness of their hearts , is it fair to ask if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opening into the world of how the overall accusation against skeptic climate scientists operates ?
————————————————————————

From Gelbspan Files
Politicians in Hawaii were threatening to sue Big Energy companies last November for damages from the effects of man-caused global warming. As seen in their press release last week, March 9th, they finally delivered on it. Poor timing for those City/County officials, since the Coronavirus news is overrunning all other news now, but far more important is their poor judgement and lack of due diligence regarding their politically suicidal decision to jump on the bandwagon of the nine other boilerplate global warming lawsuits, which are being handled by the Sher Edling law firm.
As of the publication time of this blog post, Sher Edling is not yet showing this lawsuit as #10 on their pile of boilerplate filings at their Court Documents Complaints links page, for some unknown reason. This latest big news lawsuit doesn’t even appear yet on their press release page, like the prior ones did. They at least indirectly referred to it on March 9 at their Twitter page in three different tweets, where only one of their linked-to pieces offers a passing mention of their name two paragraphs from the end. That’s just one more odd looking problem in this overall situation, you’d think they’d announce this outright in some unmistakable way. But nobody can miss their name right at the top of the actual court filing itself.
Why is this latest effort by Hawaiian officials political suicide? Because ……. Sher Edling. I’ll explain using screencaptures straight out of this latest filing and from my prior dissections of what’s fatally wrong with their cases. Call it a ‘Summary for Policymakers,’ or a summary for the defendant law firms if they choose to drive a stake through the heart of these cases instead of trying to prevail via legal technicalities that only lawyers love.
First, from the San Mateo CA County July 2017 filing to this latest Honolulu one, all of these boilerplate filings claim,
Defendants, major corporate members of the fossil fuel industry, have known for nearly half a century that unrestricted production and use of their fossil fuel products create greenhouse gas pollution that warms the planet and changes our climate … They have nevertheless engaged in a coordinated, multi-front effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge of those threats … and persistently create doubt in the minds of customers, consumers, regulators, the media, journalists, teachers, and the public about the reality and consequences of the impacts of their fossil fuel pollution.
How do you prove that, though?
Identical to all the other Sher Edling lawsuits, such as the State of Rhode Island one, this Honolulu one offers this set of ‘leaked memos evidence,’
In 1991, for example, the Information Council for the Environment (ICE), whose members included affiliates, predecessors and/or subsidiaries of Defendants, launched a national climate change science denial campaign … Included among the campaign strategies was to “reposition global warming as theory (not fact).” Its target audience included older, less-educated males …
The fatal problem is how this set of leaked memos was never part of the ICE PR campaign, the set was an unsolicited, rejected, and never used proposal for campaign names and targeting / strategy suggestions that were — let me emphasize — never used, and never even seen by the main administrator/decision maker for the campaign.
You don’t need a law degree to arrive at this common sense conclusion: If a proposal for any particular action ends up in the trash can where nobody of any consequence sees it, it therefore is not evidence proving it was the guiding force for such efforts, or that such actions exist at all.
Adding to the trouble here just like all the other lawsuits, such as the County of Santa Cruz CA one, the source for the “Reposition global warming” memo set in the Honolulu filing is,
Union of Concerned Scientists, Deception Dossier #5: Coal’s “Information Council on the Environment” Sham (1991) …
The fatal problem with that is how the UCS is not the original source for the memo set, as proven deep within their overall collection of so-called ‘dossiers’ notes, where their disclosure says it sources from Greenpeace archives …. but the fatal problem with that is how Greenpeace isn’t the original source, either. The place where the memo set got its first major continuing media traction was via the old Ozone Action group, headed by John Passacantando and Kert Davies, where they only said they and Ross Gelbspan ‘obtained’ the memo set without saying who they obtained it from. (hold that thought about Kert Davies for a few moments)
Problematic as that situation is, these lawsuits don’t simply offer the worthless “Reposition global warming” memo set to prove sinister fossil fuel industry-led disinformation conspiracy efforts exist. They also offer the American Petroleum Institute (API) “Victory will be achieved …” leaked memos.
Just like all the other lawsuits, such as the Baltimore one, the Honolulu filing says,
In 1998, API, on behalf of its members, developed a Global Climate Science Communications Plan … API proclaimed that “[v]ictory will be achieved when . . . average citizens ‘understand’ (recognize) uncertainties in climate science …
Same fatal problem as the “Reposition global warming” memo set. The API memos were unsolicited and never implemented. Again, worthless as evidence proving sinister fossil fuel industry-led disinformation conspiracy efforts exist.
Piling on now: just like what’s seen in the Baltimore and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations lawsuit, the source for the API memos in this Honolulu filing is an innocuous-looking website address with the root “documentcloud.” Click on the lawsuits’ version of the link reproduced below, and it takes you to a PDF file devoid of any identifying source. But change the two ends of the url address while leaving its number and name intact …….
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/784572/api-global-climate-science-communications-plan.pdf
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/784572-api-global-climate-science-communications-plan.html
……. and you’ll be taken to a regular webpage with a name clearly attached to it. Kert Davies, when he worked at Greenpeace. The same Kert Davies who is the current proprietor of the Climate Investigations Center (CIC), whose Twitter account features the API memo in its header photo. The same Kert Davies who is also the proprietor of the Climate Files website which the Sher Edling law firm cites as a source for one of the newspaper ads that came out of the ICE campaign.
That particular newspaper ad citation is among myriad other credibility problems within these Sher Edling lawsuits, which I’ve covered in my prior dissections of these filings.
Meanwhile, since it was the people who got merged into Greenpeace that were the most prominent holders of the “reposition global warming” memo set, and since Greenpeace said outright that the API memos were leaked to them, then Sher Edling should declare,
‘Coal and Oil executives ran disinformation campaigns, and all the evidence for that is at Greenpeace!’
Or is that something they might want to avoid drawing attention to at all costs?
Larger questions arise these boilerplate lawsuit filings, however. While the Hawaiian officials in this situation may have been dazzled by presentations put on by Sher Edling staff about the ‘evidence’ these lawsuits are built on, who dazzled the Sher Edling people with these otherwise worthless memos? Or was it not necessary to dazzle them at all? Considering the way ……..
…….. and how law firms don’t usually file mega-lawsuits for free purely out of the goodness of their hearts, is it fair to ask if the Kert Davies / Sher Edling connection is an opening into the world of how the overall accusation against skeptic climate scientists operates?
————————————————————————
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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--NY Times: “The response to Biden on climate change ranges from suspicion to resignation”

Biden has a hill to climb , to convince green Democrat activists that he is worth getting excited about .
@ @ @ @ @ From Biden WASHINGTON — Ardent climate change voters thought Campaign 2020 was going to be @ @ @ @ @ some climate-focused voters said they are struggling with their feelings as former Vice President Joseph @ @ @ @ @ to become the Democratic nominee .
In interviews with two dozen activists and voters who @ @ @ @ @ warming their top issue , almost all said they worried that Mr. Biden has not @ @ @ @ @ priority or been specific enough about his plans .
“ The response to Biden on @ @ @ @ @ to resignation , ” said Megan Mullin , an associate professor of environmental politics at @ @ @ @ @ School of the Environment .
“ He doesn ’ t talk about it very much @ @ @ @ @ t talk about it very convincingly , ” she said .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Biden has a hill to climb, to convince green Democrat activists that he is worth getting excited about.
Climate Voters Still Want More From Biden
By Lisa Friedman
March 19, 2020
WASHINGTON — Ardent climate change voters thought Campaign 2020 was going to be their election.
…
Now, some climate-focused voters said they are struggling with their feelings as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appears certain to become the Democratic nominee. In interviews with two dozen activists and voters who consider the planet’s warming their top issue, almost all said they worried that Mr. Biden has not made the issue a sufficient priority or been specific enough about his plans.
“The response to Biden on climate change ranges from suspicion to resignation,” said Megan Mullin, an associate professor of environmental politics at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.
“He doesn’t talk about it very much, and he doesn’t talk about it very convincingly,” she said.
…


wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--Trapped at home? Watch the Northen Lights via live stream

Proving again the Internet is quite possibly the best ( and worst ) thing ever invented .
Located at the @ @ @ @ @ Churchill , Manitoba , this live cam is located directly underneath the aurora oval–one of @ @ @ @ @ to watch the aurora borealis , the spectacular atmospheric phenomenon better known as the Northern @ @ @ @ @ early spring are the best times for the aurora , so be sure to stop @ @ @ @ @ February and March !

Proving again the Internet is quite possibly the best (and worst) thing ever invented.
Located at the Churchill Northern Studies Center in Churchill, Manitoba, this live cam is located directly underneath the aurora oval–one of the best places on earth to watch the aurora borealis, the spectacular atmospheric phenomenon better known as the Northern Lights. Late winter and early spring are the best times for the aurora, so be sure to stop in during the months of February and March!
Watch here: https://explore.org/livecams/aurora-borealis-northern-lights/northern-lights-cam
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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--Steve Milloy wins against Exxon with SEC

Steve Milloy is the publisher of junkscience.com and trained as a lawyer and biostatistician .
He was “ lauded ” as one of the top ten “ climate deniers ” by George Monbiot at the Guardian .
Milloy has filed a shareholder proposal with Exxon-Mobil insisting that they account for their “ greenwashing ” activities that are not required by law .
He defines greenwashing as expenditures that are supposed to be environment-related but are actually undertaken to improve the company ’ s public image .
These insincere green activities waste shareholder money , deceive shareholders and the public .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ SEC to exclude Milloy ’ s proposal from the shareholder meeting , scheduled for May 27 , 2020 .
The SEC ruled in Milloy ’ s favor as you can see in Figure 1 .
Figure 1 .
SEC summary of their decision , they turned down Exxon Mobil ’ s request to exclude Milloy ’ s proposal .
Source : SEC .
Exxon-Mobil management has long been divided on the risks of climate change , as I have written here .
But , the risks of human-caused climate change have been investigated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since 1979 and they have uncovered nothing significant .
The only solid impacts of human-caused global warming or climate change uncovered are positive , as seen here .
Greenwashing by Exxon-Mobil , sends the wrong signal to the public and the environmentalists .
They use it as a club to beat the fossil fuel industry , saying “ See climate denier , even the largest private fossil-fuel producer agrees with us !
” As a long-time Exxon-Mobil shareholder and a past Exxon employee , I will vote with Milloy and against Exxon-Mobil in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself and what is right .

By Andy May
h/t Willie Soon
Steve Milloy is the publisher of junkscience.com and trained as a lawyer and biostatistician. He was “lauded” as one of the top ten “climate deniers” by George Monbiot at the Guardian. Milloy has filed a shareholder proposal with Exxon-Mobil insisting that they account for their “greenwashing” activities that are not required by law. He defines greenwashing as expenditures that are supposed to be environment-related but are actually undertaken to improve the company’s public image. These insincere green activities waste shareholder money, deceive shareholders and the public.
Exxon Mobil submitted a request to the SEC to exclude Milloy’s proposal from the shareholder meeting, scheduled for May 27, 2020. The SEC ruled in Milloy’s favor as you can see in Figure 1.
Figure 1. SEC summary of their decision, they turned down Exxon Mobil’s request to exclude Milloy’s proposal. Source: SEC.
Exxon-Mobil management has long been divided on the risks of climate change, as I have written here. But, the risks of human-caused climate change have been investigated by thousands of researchers, worldwide, since 1979 and they have uncovered nothing significant. The only solid impacts of human-caused global warming or climate change uncovered are positive, as seen here.
Greenwashing by Exxon-Mobil, sends the wrong signal to the public and the environmentalists. They use it as a club to beat the fossil fuel industry, saying “See climate denier, even the largest private fossil-fuel producer agrees with us!” As a long-time Exxon-Mobil shareholder and a past Exxon employee, I will vote with Milloy and against Exxon-Mobil in May. Exxon-Mobil should stand up for itself and what is right.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--IEEE: “It’s Too Late to Undo Climate Change”

Green technologists exploring the possibility the world won ’ t end in 2030 .
It ’ s Too Late to Undo Climate Change .
We Need Tech in Order to Adapt A raft of companies are developing tech to help us live in a warmer world On the CES floor in Las Vegas this past January , I saw dozens of companies showing off products designed to help us adapt to climate change .
It was an unsettling reminder that we ’ ve tipped the balance on global warming and that hotter temperatures , wildfires , and floods are the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carbon dioxide emissions , we can expect warming of up to 1.5 °C by 2033 .
Even if we stopped spewing carbon today , temperatures would continue to rise for a time , and weather would grow still more erratic .
The companies at CES recognize that it ’ s too late to stop climate change .
Faced with that realization , this group of entrepreneurs is focusing on climate adaptation .
For them , the goal is to make sure that people and the global economy will still survive across as much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entrepreneurs ’ companies are developing practicalities , such as garments that adapt to the weather or new building materials with higher melting points so that roads won ’ t crack in extreme temperatures .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Green technologists exploring the possibility the world won’t end in 2030.
It’s Too Late to Undo Climate Change. We Need Tech in Order to Adapt
A raft of companies are developing tech to help us live in a warmer world
By Stacey Higginbotham
On the CES floor in Las Vegas this past January, I saw dozens of companies showing off products designed to help us adapt to climate change. It was an unsettling reminder that we’ve tipped the balance on global warming and that hotter temperatures, wildfires, and floods are the new reality.
Based on our current carbon dioxide emissions, we can expect warming of up to 1.5 °C by 2033. Even if we stopped spewing carbon today, temperatures would continue to rise for a time, and weather would grow still more erratic.
The companies at CES recognize that it’s too late to stop climate change. Faced with that realization, this group of entrepreneurs is focusing on climate adaptation. For them, the goal is to make sure that people and the global economy will still survive across as much of the world as possible. These entrepreneurs’ companies are developing practicalities, such as garments that adapt to the weather or new building materials with higher melting points so that roads won’t crack in extreme temperatures.
…


wattsupwiththat--2020-03-22--Watch: Michael Shellenberger on how climate change alarmists see hope in coronavirus

Seeing the shut down of the capitalist system is a dream come true for the climate Marxists .
They are @ @ @ @ @ to be one of them decades ago , I know exactly how they are feeling @ @ @ @ @ control , reduced prosperity , people looking to government for help , calls for single @ @ @ @ @ income programs .
These are all reasons to rejoice .
However once this mass hysteria @ @ @ @ @ back like it always does .

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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-22--The real reasons Africa has another locust plague

The UN , environmentalist pressure groups and their financial backers have a lot to answer for The ChiCom coronavirus and COVID-19 outbreaks , deaths and responses continue to dominate US , European and Asian news .
Meanwhile , a very different infestation is devastating East African crops and leaving tens of millions at risk of starvation and death .
If COVID hits these weakened populations , amid their malaria and other systemic diseases , it would bring tragedy on unimaginable scales .
“ Across Somalia , desert locusts in a swarm the size of Manhattan have destroyed a swath of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Wall Street Journal ’ s Nicholas Bariyo reports .
“ In Kenya , billions-strong clouds of the insects have eaten through 800 square miles of crops and survived a weeks-long spraying campaign .
They have “ swept across more than 10 nations on two continents.
” In parts of East Africa they “ are destroying some 1.8 million metric tons of vegetation every day , enough food to feed 81 million people.
” East Africa has a Desert Locust Control Organization .
But it , the region and the individual countries were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hordes were coming , irresponsibly underfunded , with almost no pesticides or aircraft to spray them .
By the time they acted , it was too little , too late .
The massive swarms are hardly unprecedented .
Locusts “ covered the face of the whole earth , so that the land was darkened ; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left .
So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Exodus 10:15 ] Locusts pillaged long before that , and have returned hundreds of times since .
The 1986-87 plague was calamitous .
As the late entomologist Dr. J. Gordon Edwards noted in 1988 , four major locust species hatched simultaneously in 15 countries , and the crops were so totally devastated that the UN Food and Agricultural Organization predicted 50 million Africans and Asians might starve to death .
Malnourished survivors would suffer reduced mental capacity and have greater susceptibility to diseases .
Other near-biblical infestations have ravaged Africa with predictable regularity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , essential question is this : In this era of amazing modern agriculture , aviation and pest control technologies , how could Africa have reached this frightening precipice yet again ?
These 2019-2020 swarms originated in the vast deserts of Oman , Somalia and Yemen , parts of which are lawless and war-torn .
That made it difficult and dangerous to monitor them for the emergence of billions of “ hoppers , ” following tumultuous downpours two years ago – or to spray them with insecticides when they were most vulnerable , before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of miles .
But it also means East African countries needed to work together , despite these obstacles , to prevent such plagues .
These are horrifically poor countries , where bureaucrats live relatively well largely on outside donor funds , often corrupt top-gun politicians live very well on the same money , and some 90 % of the people exist on a few dollars a day , on the edge of starvation and debilitating disease , tilling tiny patches of land .
Too often their governments ’ ability to plan for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their priorities are skewed to whatever the donors want , and funding for insect control is minimal at best .
Eritrea , Somalia , Sudan and Uganda didn ’ t even pay their Locust Control membership dues for years , or decades – much less acquire the aircraft and pesticides they would need for the inevitable next locust plague .
Their focus was on elections ( getting reelected ) , essential or just showy infrastructure projects , and climate change .
Indeed , it seems nothing will be allowed to get in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environmentalist obsession with climate change as the single greatest threat facing humanity and planet .
But climate cataclysms exist in models and headlines , are decades away , are hardly unprecedented for East Africa , and can hardly be worse than these recurring locust cataclysms .
But UN , EU , World Bank and eco-centered foundation money drives the agenda and pays Africa ’ s leaders and bureaucrats .
So recurring real-world crises get short shrift .
When it comes to insect control , the driving force is aid money totally skewed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food sovereignty , ” and “ traditional subsistence farming ” with wood plows and oxen , “ in harmony with nature , ” free from Western seeds , fertilizers , tractors and , above all , pesticides .
The new moniker is clever , but the ideology and donor-driven attitudes are nothing new .
Dr. Edwards documented them in his 1988 article .
The FAO , USAID , USEPA , World Bank , Environmental Defense Fund and other organizations were pushing “ all-natural , biological , integrated pest management ” practices back then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the use of dieldrin and other insecticides that actually work .
They keep families , communities , clinics and hospitals dependent on minimalist wind and solar electricity .
Just as today , their focus back then was on alleged , possible side effects from modern insecticides , which used properly by trained applicators are safe for people , livestock , wildlife and most non-target insects .
The key is having the necessary staff , equipment and chemicals ahead of time .
Under pressure by all these external forces , East Africa failed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is reaping the proverbial whirlwind .
The donor agencies and pressure groups ’ attitude is akin to demanding that chemotherapy for cancer be banned , because the chemicals impair patient ’ s immune systems and cause hair to fall out .
Saving their lives is inarguably far more important than these side effects – just as saving millions from starvation and associated diseases , and preventing total crop and habitat annihilation , is inarguably far more important than the temporary loss of some insects or even slight risks to cattle , wildlife or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1987 , Dr. Edwards noted , Senegal requested and received the loan of four American DC-7 transport aircraft that could hold 18,400 pounds of cargo ( 8.4 metric tons ) .
They sprayed two million acres and killed 95 % of that country ’ s immature locusts .
But elsewhere FAO anti-pesticide ideologies prevailed , and billions of locusts matured , flew off , mated and produced tens of billions of locusts the following year .
They destroyed croplands , wildlife habitats , communities and lives in a dozen other African countries .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ too little , far too late .
Kenya has eight small crop-spraying aircraft operating around the clock ; the Locust Control consortium has four antiquated little planes .
They ’ re apparently spraying fenitrothion ( an effective locust killer ) , pyrethroids ( somewhat effective ) and malathion ( also somewhat effective though it breaks down within a few hours under Africa ’ s hot , humid conditions ) .
But they didn ’ t get the hoppers .
They waited until swarms the size of Manhattan were upon them .
Against those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment is useless .
A dozen small crop dusters makes almost no difference .
And traditional methods like banging on pots are a sick joke .
However , there could still be hope .
A single Lockheed KC-130 Hercules tanker plane equipped with Modular Aerial Spray Systems can cover up to 150,000 acres a day .
Each plane can carry 2,000 gallons of the most appropriate pesticide-water mixture .
The benefits would be immediate and tremendous .
President Trump could order the Air Force to provide a KC-130 or two and enough fenitrothion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few weeks of locust-eradication spraying .
He could save millions of lives – and help change attitudes , policies and practices across Africa and the world .
The President could also order his US Agency for International Development ( USAID ) , State Department and other agencies to end their funding of climate and agro-ecology programs , and start making the East Africa Desert Locust Control Organization the forward-thinking , effective operation it was meant to be .
He could have blunt discussions with the heads of EU nations about their agro-ecology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practices and import restrictions toward Africa – which are an undeniable crime against humanity .
Finally , he could direct the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service to review ( and terminate ) the tax-exempt status of organizations and foundations engaged in lethal , eco-imperialistic lies and pressure campaigns in Africa , Asia and South America .
The locust plagues , starvation and deaths from readily preventable diseases like malaria must end – now .
The poorest people in these impoverished countries should not be the ones paying the price , too often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the very few politicians who could make these changes happen .
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and author of Eco-Imperialism : Green power-black death , and articles on environmental and human rights issues .

The UN, environmentalist pressure groups and their financial backers have a lot to answer for
Paul Driessen
The ChiCom coronavirus and COVID-19 outbreaks, deaths and responses continue to dominate US, European and Asian news. Meanwhile, a very different infestation is devastating East African crops and leaving tens of millions at risk of starvation and death. If COVID hits these weakened populations, amid their malaria and other systemic diseases, it would bring tragedy on unimaginable scales.
“Across Somalia, desert locusts in a swarm the size of Manhattan have destroyed a swath of farmland as big as Oklahoma,” the Wall Street Journal’s Nicholas Bariyo reports. “In Kenya, billions-strong clouds of the insects have eaten through 800 square miles of crops and survived a weeks-long spraying campaign. They have “swept across more than 10 nations on two continents.” In parts of East Africa they “are destroying some 1.8 million metric tons of vegetation every day, enough food to feed 81 million people.”
East Africa has a Desert Locust Control Organization. But it, the region and the individual countries were totally unprepared for the onslaught, unaware the hordes were coming, irresponsibly underfunded, with almost no pesticides or aircraft to spray them. By the time they acted, it was too little, too late.
The massive swarms are hardly unprecedented. Locusts “covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.” [Exodus 10:15] Locusts pillaged long before that, and have returned hundreds of times since.
The 1986-87 plague was calamitous. As the late entomologist Dr. J. Gordon Edwards noted in 1988, four major locust species hatched simultaneously in 15 countries, and the crops were so totally devastated that the UN Food and Agricultural Organization predicted 50 million Africans and Asians might starve to death. Malnourished survivors would suffer reduced mental capacity and have greater susceptibility to diseases. Other near-biblical infestations have ravaged Africa with predictable regularity and results.
The obvious, burning, essential question is this: In this era of amazing modern agriculture, aviation and pest control technologies, how could Africa have reached this frightening precipice yet again?
These 2019-2020 swarms originated in the vast deserts of Oman, Somalia and Yemen, parts of which are lawless and war-torn. That made it difficult and dangerous to monitor them for the emergence of billions of “hoppers,” following tumultuous downpours two years ago – or to spray them with insecticides when they were most vulnerable, before their wings matured and they could fly thousands of miles. But it also means East African countries needed to work together, despite these obstacles, to prevent such plagues.
These are horrifically poor countries, where bureaucrats live relatively well largely on outside donor funds, often corrupt top-gun politicians live very well on the same money, and some 90% of the people exist on a few dollars a day, on the edge of starvation and debilitating disease, tilling tiny patches of land.
Too often their governments’ ability to plan for recurring crises like this are minimal, their priorities are skewed to whatever the donors want, and funding for insect control is minimal at best. Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda didn’t even pay their Locust Control membership dues for years, or decades – much less acquire the aircraft and pesticides they would need for the inevitable next locust plague. Their focus was on elections (getting reelected), essential or just showy infrastructure projects, and climate change.
Indeed, it seems nothing will be allowed to get in the way of the UN, EU and environmentalist obsession with climate change as the single greatest threat facing humanity and planet. But climate cataclysms exist in models and headlines, are decades away, are hardly unprecedented for East Africa, and can hardly be worse than these recurring locust cataclysms. But UN, EU, World Bank and eco-centered foundation money drives the agenda and pays Africa’s leaders and bureaucrats. So recurring real-world crises get short shrift.
When it comes to insect control, the driving force is aid money totally skewed to agro-ecology and its perverse focus on “food sovereignty,” and “traditional subsistence farming” with wood plows and oxen, “in harmony with nature,” free from Western seeds, fertilizers, tractors and, above all, pesticides.
The new moniker is clever, but the ideology and donor-driven attitudes are nothing new. Dr. Edwards documented them in his 1988 article. The FAO, USAID, USEPA, World Bank, Environmental Defense Fund and other organizations were pushing “all-natural, biological, integrated pest management” practices back then, too. They were totally opposed to the use of dieldrin and other insecticides that actually work. They keep families, communities, clinics and hospitals dependent on minimalist wind and solar electricity.
Just as today, their focus back then was on alleged, possible side effects from modern insecticides, which used properly by trained applicators are safe for people, livestock, wildlife and most non-target insects. The key is having the necessary staff, equipment and chemicals ahead of time. Under pressure by all these external forces, East Africa failed to do that – and now it is reaping the proverbial whirlwind.
The donor agencies and pressure groups’ attitude is akin to demanding that chemotherapy for cancer be banned, because the chemicals impair patient’s immune systems and cause hair to fall out. Saving their lives is inarguably far more important than these side effects – just as saving millions from starvation and associated diseases, and preventing total crop and habitat annihilation, is inarguably far more important than the temporary loss of some insects or even slight risks to cattle, wildlife or people from the sprays.
(An upcoming article will document who is behind the eco-manslaughter today, and who is funding them: from US, EU and UN organizations to their Swiss, Swedish, pseudo-African and other counterparts.)
Back in 1987, Dr. Edwards noted, Senegal requested and received the loan of four American DC-7 transport aircraft that could hold 18,400 pounds of cargo (8.4 metric tons). They sprayed two million acres and killed 95% of that country’s immature locusts. But elsewhere FAO anti-pesticide ideologies prevailed, and billions of locusts matured, flew off, mated and produced tens of billions of locusts the following year. They destroyed croplands, wildlife habitats, communities and lives in a dozen other African countries.
This year’s efforts are far too little, far too late. Kenya has eight small crop-spraying aircraft operating around the clock; the Locust Control consortium has four antiquated little planes. They’re apparently spraying fenitrothion (an effective locust killer), pyrethroids (somewhat effective) and malathion (also somewhat effective though it breaks down within a few hours under Africa’s hot, humid conditions).
But they didn’t get the hoppers. They waited until swarms the size of Manhattan were upon them. Against those countless billions of voracious locusts, ground-based equipment is useless. A dozen small crop dusters makes almost no difference. And traditional methods like banging on pots are a sick joke.
However, there could still be hope. A single Lockheed KC-130 Hercules tanker plane equipped with Modular Aerial Spray Systems can cover up to 150,000 acres a day. Each plane can carry 2,000 gallons of the most appropriate pesticide-water mixture. The benefits would be immediate and tremendous.
President Trump could order the Air Force to provide a KC-130 or two and enough fenitrothion, Lorsban or other effective insecticide for a few weeks of locust-eradication spraying. He could save millions of lives – and help change attitudes, policies and practices across Africa and the world.
The President could also order his US Agency for International Development (USAID), State Department and other agencies to end their funding of climate and agro-ecology programs, and start making the East Africa Desert Locust Control Organization the forward-thinking, effective operation it was meant to be.
He could have blunt discussions with the heads of EU nations about their agro-ecology, anti-pesticide and anti-biotechnology policies, funding practices and import restrictions toward Africa – which are an undeniable crime against humanity. Finally, he could direct the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service to review (and terminate) the tax-exempt status of organizations and foundations engaged in lethal, eco-imperialistic lies and pressure campaigns in Africa, Asia and South America.
The locust plagues, starvation and deaths from readily preventable diseases like malaria must end – now. The poorest people in these impoverished countries should not be the ones paying the price, too often with their lives. This president is one of the very few politicians who could make these changes happen.
Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power-black death, and articles on environmental and human rights issues.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-22--Temperature Forecasts, Cherry Blossoms and Covid-19

To start on a positive note , the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom on the UW Campus , with the visual effect enhanced by the beautiful , sunny weather .
( I should note that the UW is not encouraging folks to visit the blosssoms in person ) .
There is a lot of interest in the temperature/coronavirus relationship and what the weather forecasts suggest .
During the past several weeks there have been several papers submitted ( but not yet reviewed ) suggesting that coronavirus flourishes for daily mean temperatures roughly from 32F to 55F .
Warmer than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The temperature map for the past month suggests that the only area of the U.S. that has been at sufficiently warm ( 14C–57F or more ) to slow up the virus was the southeast U.S. ( see below ) .
Unfortunately , the latest forecasts do not offer warm-temperature virus relief for much of the country during the next week .
Let me show that by presenting the 11 AM PDT temperatures for the next few days .
Look for the blue , yellow , orange and red colors for virus-poor conditions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Not so good for the NW and NE .
Monday–same thing , but improved ( warm ) condition in most of Texas .
By Wednesday , warmer temperatures are over the SE , the central plains , and up into the Carolinas .
Fast forwarding to next Sunday ( March 29th ) , little improvement for the NW and NE .
The bottom line is that mother nature is not giving most of us the warm temperatures needed to suppress the virus But April is not far away .
And if you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testing at the University of Washington ( Med School ’ s Virology department ) is now finding a stabilization in the number of positive evaluations ( see graphic below ) .
Another good piece of news is that the overwhelming number of tests are negative ( folks are getting sick from the flu and other illnesses ) .
UW Virology have been extreme heroes during this event , providing COVID-19 testing when CDC was failing , as well as revving up to do thousands of tests per day .
Makes one proud to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ web site—and consider providing a donation for their excellent work .

Reposted from The Cliff Mass Weather Blog
To start on a positive note, the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom on the UW Campus, with the visual effect enhanced by the beautiful, sunny weather. (I should note that the UW is not encouraging folks to visit the blosssoms in person).
There is a lot of interest in the temperature/coronavirus relationship and what the weather forecasts suggest.
During the past several weeks there have been several papers submitted (but not yet reviewed) suggesting that coronavirus flourishes for daily mean temperatures roughly from 32F to 55F. Warmer than that, the virus has problems.
The temperature map for the past month suggests that the only area of the U.S. that has been at sufficiently warm (14C–57F or more) to slow up the virus was the southeast U.S. (see below).
Unfortunately, the latest forecasts do not offer warm-temperature virus relief for much of the country during the next week. Let me show that by presenting the 11 AM PDT temperatures for the next few days. Look for the blue, yellow, orange and red colors for virus-poor conditions.
Saturday morning: SE U.S. is good. Not so good for the NW and NE.
Monday–same thing, but improved (warm) condition in most of Texas.
By Wednesday, warmer temperatures are over the SE, the central plains, and up into the Carolinas.
Fast forwarding to next Sunday (March 29th), little improvement for the NW and NE.
The bottom line is that mother nature is not giving most of us the warm temperatures needed to suppress the virus But April is not far away.
And if you want some good news, the coronavirus testing at the University of Washington (Med School’s Virology department) is now finding a stabilization in the number of positive evaluations (see graphic below). Another good piece of news is that the overwhelming number of tests are negative (folks are getting sick from the flu and other illnesses).
UW Virology have been extreme heroes during this event, providing COVID-19 testing when CDC was failing, as well as revving up to do thousands of tests per day. Makes one proud to be a husky. Check out their web site—and consider providing a donation for their excellent work.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-03-21--Trapped at home? Watch the Northern Lights via live stream