committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-22--Biden’s spoon-ready “Green” jobs plan

Biden’s spoon-ready “Green” jobs plan

Joe Biden announced plans to make America prosper through the magic of taxing , spending and regulating .
Biden ’ s plan for economic recovery includes inserting America back into the UN Paris Climate Agreement and spending two trillion dollars on climate change , with 40 % of the cash going to “ climate justice.
” This is as foolish as it is dangerous .
“ When Donald Trump thinks about climate change , the only word he can muster is ‘ hoax , ’ ” Biden said , “ When I think about climate change , the word I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden would create those jobs by mandating and subsidizing inefficiency .
Do you remember the story about the economist who saw workers digging out a canal ?
He was shocked to see that , instead of modern tractors and earth movers , the workers had shovels .
“ You don ’ t understand , ” the bureaucrats explained , “ this is a jobs program.
” “ I thought you were trying to build a canal , ” the economist replied , “ If it ’ s jobs you want , then you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shovels.
” No one seems able to agree on whom was speaking , or when and whether this happened , but we all should agree that the lesson is valid .
Productivity counts .
Inefficiency places a drag on the economy to the detriment of all .
Replacing the energy producers who have given us American energy independence ( at last ! )
with a legion of wind and solar installers is just that sort of inefficiency .
They may as well be wielding spoons .
Biden pledged emissions-free electricity generation by 2035 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Can you imagine the economic upheaval in store if we shut down oil , gas and coal energy in just 15 years and try to replace them by converting our remaining natural spaces into wind farms and solar deserts ?
Brace for major upheaval .
Kiss automobiles , appliances , housing and jobs as you know and prefer them goodbye if this misbegotten thinking rules the day .
Larry Bell reminds us in a post at CFACT.org that Biden has ceded his climate plans to the radicals .
His climate committee is co-chaired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even the phrase “ build back better ” comes right out of the UN .
“ Approximately three months earlier , ” Bell writes , “ on April 22 , the U.N. announced , ‘ as the world begins planning for a post-pandemic recovery , the United Nations is calling on Governments to seize the opportunity to build back better by creating more sustainable , resilient and inclusive societies.
” Peter Murphy warns at CFACT.org that Biden “ has become a Trojan horse for climate true believers.
” Don ’ t forget Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” which is nothing more than code for redistribution of wealth .
Joe Biden ’ s economic and climate plans rest on false premises , are ruinously expensive , would cripple the economy , and would harm , rather then help the environment .
Biden and the Left have no idea how to build .
We should leave the building up to a free people exercising free choice if we really want to build back better .

Joe Biden announced plans to make America prosper through the magic of taxing, spending and regulating.
Biden’s plan for economic recovery includes inserting America back into the UN Paris Climate Agreement and spending two trillion dollars on climate change, with 40% of the cash going to “climate justice.”
This is as foolish as it is dangerous.
“When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is ‘hoax,’” Biden said, “When I think about climate change, the word I think of is ‘jobs.’”
Biden would create those jobs by mandating and subsidizing inefficiency.
Do you remember the story about the economist who saw workers digging out a canal? He was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, the workers had shovels. “You don’t understand,” the bureaucrats explained, “this is a jobs program.” “I thought you were trying to build a canal,” the economist replied, “If it’s jobs you want, then you should give the workers spoons, not shovels.”
No one seems able to agree on who was speaking, or when and whether this happened, but we all should agree that the lesson is valid. Productivity counts. Inefficiency places a drag on the economy to the detriment of all.
Replacing the energy producers who have given us American energy independence (at last!) with a legion of wind and solar installers is just that sort of inefficiency. They may as well be wielding spoons.
Biden pledged emissions-free electricity generation by 2035 and overall net-zero emissions by 2050.
Can you imagine the economic upheaval in store if we shut down oil, gas and coal energy in just 15 years and try to replace them by converting our remaining natural spaces into wind farms and solar deserts?
Brace for major upheaval. Kiss automobiles, appliances, housing and jobs as you know and prefer them goodbye if this misbegotten thinking rules the day.
Larry Bell reminds us in a post at CFACT.org that Biden has ceded his climate plans to the radicals. His climate committee is co-chaired by John Kerry and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Even the phrase “build back better” comes right out of the UN. “Approximately three months earlier,” Bell writes, “on April 22, the U.N. announced, ‘as the world begins planning for a post-pandemic recovery, the United Nations is calling on Governments to seize the opportunity to build back better by creating more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.”
Peter Murphy warns at CFACT.org that Biden “has become a Trojan horse for climate true believers.”
Don’t forget Biden’s call for “climate justice,” which is nothing more than code for redistribution of wealth.
Joe Biden’s economic and climate plans rest on false premises, are ruinously expensive, would cripple the economy, and would harm, rather then help the environment.
Biden and the Left have no idea how to build. We should leave the building up to a free people exercising free choice if we really want to build back better.


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-23--Aha!  “Renewable energy” is only (kind of) renewable ELECTRICITY

The rage these days from the Green New Deal , the Paris Accord , and the recent Democrats Clean Energy Climate Policy are all focused on renewable energy to replace our demands from fossil fuels .
But wait – renewable energy from wind and solar is only renewable ELECTRICITY !
At best , that renewable electricity is intermittent as it depends on wind and sunshine to produce any electricity .
Before 1900 the world had no medications , electronics , cosmetics , plastics , fertilizers , and transportation infrastructures .
Looking back just a few short centuries , we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pioneer days .
Also , before 1900 , the world had very little commerce and without transportation there is no commerce .
The two prime movers that have done more for the cause of globalization than any other : the diesel engine and the jet turbine , both get their fuels from oil .
Road and air travel now dominate most people ’ s lives .
The current passion to implement a world with only intermittent electricity is oblivious to the unintended consequences of a world without fossil fuels .
The signatories to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how life was without that industry that did not exist before 1900 when we had , NO medications and medical equipment , NO vaccines , NO water filtration systems , NO sanitation systems , NO fertilizers to help feed billions , NO pesticides to control locusts and other pests , NO communications systems , including cell phones , computers , and I Pads , NO vehicles , NO airlines that now move 4 billion people around the world , NO cruise ships that now move 25 million passengers around the world , NO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of dollars of products monthly throughout the world , NO tires for vehicles , and NO asphalt for roads , and NO space program .
In case you don ’ t remember , we also had virtually no military aircraft carriers , destroyers , submarines , planes , and tanks around the world before 1900 .
Both WW I and II were won by the Allies , as they had more oil , petroleum , and coal than the Axis Powers of Germany , Italy , and Japan to operate their military equipment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the world .
Post 1900 , we now have medications , electronics , cosmetics , plastics , fertilizers , transportation infrastructures and more than 6,000 products that come from the derivatives of crude oil , including every part in solar panels and wind turbines as well as the various fuels to the world to operate planes , trucks , construction equipment , merchant ships , cruise ships , and automobiles .
Today , almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $ 2.50 a day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on less than $ 10 a day .
More than 80 percent of the world ’ s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening .
Incredibly , global poverty affects the poorest 40 percent of the world ’ s population and they account for 5 percent of global income .
The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income .
Water problems affect half of humanity .
Obviously , with limited income and poverty status , China , and India with 2.7 billion people , continue to pursue the energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and affordable – coal .
Those two countries are home to more than half ( 5,884 ) of the world ’ s coal power plants ( 10,210 ) .
Together they are in the process of building 634 new ones .
They are putting their money and backs into their most abundant source of energy – coal .
Countries where fossil fuels are in widespread use are generally wealthier and healthier , and prosperous countries are more resilient in the face of natural disasters than poorer countries lacking access to fossil fuels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ train , those renewables have a very dark side of environmental atrocities and a non-existing transparency of human rights abuses associated with mining for the exotic metals and minerals that make the wind , solar , and EV batteries .
The key minerals used in today ’ s batteries are cobalt , of which 60 % is sourced from one country , the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) , and lithium , of which more than 50 % is sourced from the Lithium Triangle in South America , which covers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Today 20 % of cobalt is mined by hand .
Amnesty International has documented children and adults mining cobalt in narrow man-made tunnels , at risk of fatal accidents and serious lung disease .
Those underdeveloped locations in the world , mostly from oil and gas starved countries , are experiencing 11 million child deaths every year , mainly from preventable causes of diarrhea , malaria , neonatal infection , pneumonia , preterm delivery , or lack of oxygen at birth .
Seems that politicians supporting the demise of the oil and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accountability for supporting the elimination of the industry that did not exist before 1900 that could reverse the annual worldwide fatality atrocities occurring in those poor countries , that are a few hundred years behind us and yet to even join the industrial revolution .
Energy is more than electricity .
We ’ ve had almost 200 years to develop clones or generics to replace the products we get from crude oil such as : medications , electronics , communications , tires , asphalt , fertilizers , military , and transportation equipment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are most likely going to remain for continuous , uninterruptable , and reliable electricity from coal or natural gas generation backup , and for all those chemicals that get manufactured out of crude oil , that makes everything else that ’ s part of our daily lifestyles .
The recently released book Just GREEN Electricity–Helping Citizens Understand a World without Fossil Fuel explains that no one has the answer at this time as to how we can continue to make products and move things without fossil fuels and the derivatives from petroleum , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aha moment ” has arrived – electricity alone from wind and solar can not replace the fuels and products that are manufactured from petroleum .

The rage these days from the Green New Deal, the Paris Accord, and the recent Democrats Clean Energy Climate Policy are all focused on renewable energy to replace our demands from fossil fuels. But wait – renewable energy from wind and solar is only renewable ELECTRICITY! At best, that renewable electricity is intermittent as it depends on wind and sunshine to produce any electricity.
Before 1900 the world had no medications, electronics, cosmetics, plastics, fertilizers, and transportation infrastructures. Looking back just a few short centuries, we’ve come a long way since the pioneer days.
Also, before 1900, the world had very little commerce and without transportation there is no commerce. The two prime movers that have done more for the cause of globalization than any other: the diesel engine and the jet turbine, both get their fuels from oil. Road and air travel now dominate most people’s lives.
The current passion to implement a world with only intermittent electricity is oblivious to the unintended consequences of a world without fossil fuels. The signatories to the green movement have failed to imagine how life was without that industry that did not exist before 1900 when we had, NO medications and medical equipment, NO vaccines, NO water filtration systems, NO sanitation systems, NO fertilizers to help feed billions, NO pesticides to control locusts and other pests, NO communications systems, including cell phones, computers, and I Pads, NO vehicles, NO airlines that now move 4 billion people around the world, NO cruise ships that now move 25 million passengers around the world, NO merchant ships that are now moving billions of dollars of products monthly throughout the world, NO tires for vehicles, and NO asphalt for roads, and NO space program.
In case you don’t remember, we also had virtually no military aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, planes, and tanks around the world before 1900. Both WW I and II were won by the Allies, as they had more oil, petroleum, and coal than the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan to operate their military equipment, move troop convoys, and supplies around the world.
Post 1900, we now have medications, electronics, cosmetics, plastics, fertilizers, transportation infrastructures and more than 6,000 products that come from the derivatives of crude oil, including every part in solar panels and wind turbines as well as the various fuels to the world to operate planes, trucks, construction equipment, merchant ships, cruise ships, and automobiles.
Today, almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.
Incredibly, global poverty affects the poorest 40 percent of the world’s population and they account for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income. Water problems affect half of humanity.
Obviously, with limited income and poverty status, China, and India with 2.7 billion people, continue to pursue the energy source that’s abundant, reliable, and affordable – coal. Those two countries are home to more than half (5,884) of the world’s coal power plants (10,210). Together they are in the process of building 634 new ones. They are putting their money and backs into their most abundant source of energy – coal.
Countries where fossil fuels are in widespread use are generally wealthier and healthier, and prosperous countries are more resilient in the face of natural disasters than poorer countries lacking access to fossil fuels.
Before you jump onto the renewable train, those renewables have a very dark side of environmental atrocities and a non-existing transparency of human rights abuses associated with mining for the exotic metals and minerals that make the wind, solar, and EV batteries.
The key minerals used in today’s batteries are cobalt, of which 60% is sourced from one country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and lithium, of which more than 50% is sourced from the Lithium Triangle in South America, which covers parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Today 20% of cobalt is mined by hand. Amnesty International has documented children and adults mining cobalt in narrow man-made tunnels, at risk of fatal accidents and serious lung disease.
Those underdeveloped locations in the world, mostly from oil and gas starved countries, are experiencing 11 million child deaths every year, mainly from preventable causes of diarrhea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.
Seems that politicians supporting the demise of the oil and gas industry should speak up and take accountability for supporting the elimination of the industry that did not exist before 1900 that could reverse the annual worldwide fatality atrocities occurring in those poor countries, that are a few hundred years behind us and yet to even join the industrial revolution.
Energy is more than electricity. We’ve had almost 200 years to develop clones or generics to replace the products we get from crude oil such as: medications, electronics, communications, tires, asphalt, fertilizers, military, and transportation equipment. The social needs of our materialistic societies are most likely going to remain for continuous, uninterruptable, and reliable electricity from coal or natural gas generation backup, and for all those chemicals that get manufactured out of crude oil, that makes everything else that’s part of our daily lifestyles.
The recently released book Just GREEN Electricity–Helping Citizens Understand a World without Fossil Fuel explains that no one has the answer at this time as to how we can continue to make products and move things without fossil fuels and the derivatives from petroleum, but most of all, the “aha moment” has arrived – electricity alone from wind and solar cannot replace the fuels and products that are manufactured from petroleum.


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-23--COVID-19 shows the need to deregulate work-styles

The travails of COVID-19 are many , but there are also lessons that can be learned from the pandemic , many of them involving the idea of building societal and individual resilience both physically and economically .
One of the most obvious of these lessons is how many people are ( or could be ) working from home , who previously did not .
An article by Gil Press in Forbes discusses some of the implications of this dramatic shift , reporting that : In two surveys of American workers conducted in early April and early May , Erik Brynjolfsson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pre-COVID-19 , about half are now working from home .
They also found that states with more people in management , professional and related occupations were more likely to see large shifts toward working from home and had fewer people laid off or furloughed.
” Press goes on to observe that : During the early stages of the outbreak ’ s economic fallout , 90 % of the decrease in employment – or 2.6 million of the total loss of 2.9 million between February and March – arose from positions that could not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal government data .
He further notes that “ of a representative sample of American workers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS ) found that 43.6 % were able to telework.
” There is , of course , much speculation about whether this is likely to be an ongoing change in how Americans work , or whether it will be just a blip .
But history ( and current political shenanigans ) suggest that governments will do everything they can to prevent telework and worker-autonomy from being the new normal .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ be ( unsurprisingly ) taxation and regulation of employment .
First , on taxes .
Currently , the United States is a crazy quilt of tax liability for people who telework both internally and externally .
Teleworkers ( and employers of teleworkers ) have to comply with a bewildering level of complexity to avoid running afoul of state and federal tax laws .
In some cases , people working from home in one state may have to file specific state tax returns in other states where they earn income .
California and New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this author ’ s experience ( with California ) the cost of preparing a California tax return ( and ensuring that is congruent with other state and federal tax returns ) can easily exceed the value of doing free-lance work for employers in California , essentially shutting freelancers out of the market .
This has been a problem with regard to telework since long before COVID-19 , as I wrote in this brief analysis for the American Enterprise Institute in 2010 .
Now to regulation .
The newest threats to telework are flowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same states that seem to think they own you if you derive any income from inside their borders .
A toxic coalition of labor unions , labor regulators , and left-leaning politicians are going full-bore with efforts to strangle the baby of potential workstyle autonomy in the cradle .
It started in California with Assembly Bill 5 , originally an attempt by unions , taxi-cartels , and liberal governments uniting to stomp out competition from “ gig-workers ” such as Uber and Lyft drivers .
But AB5 cast a rather broad net @ @ @ @ @ @ @ musicians , to writers , truck drivers , doctors , lawyers , accountants , etc .
It was basically a law intended to force everyone to work for a defined corporate entity under the control of state legislatures for everything from compensation and benefits to labor conditions .
The idea quickly spread to New York and other states .
Politicians are busy trying to carve out exemptions for politically-valuable professionals ( whose professional associations have lobbying clout ) , but there is still a desire to wipe out the gig-economy .
As AB5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these were never real jobs.
” COVID-19 has shown that not only can far more people work from home , and as independent contractors than did pre-pandemic , but polls suggest that many want to continue that way .
Working from home is both resilient in the face of many disasters and disruptions , but has innumerable other benefits such as enabling a better work-life balance , less wasted money ( and spewed pollution ) when commuting , and less costs for clothing that are not actually necessary for the discharge of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” that double as status-indicators in private-sector businesses .
But people ’ s desires may be stifled by the old-style politics of taxation and regulation , regardless of worker choice .
People need to resist the reactionary spread of state/jurisdictional controls over employment conditions if we are to retain the greater benefits of a society where you ’ re free to be your own boss , set your own hours , work from where you want to , and negotiate the price for your labor that you think is fair .

The travails of COVID-19 are many, but there are also lessons that can be learned from the pandemic, many of them involving the idea of building societal and individual resilience both physically and economically.
One of the most obvious of these lessons is how many people are (or could be) working from home, who previously did not. An article by Gil Press in Forbes discusses some of the implications of this dramatic shift, reporting that:
In two surveys of American workers conducted in early April and early May, Erik Brynjolfsson and colleagues found that of those employed pre-COVID-19, about half are now working from home. They also found that states with more people in management, professional and related occupations were more likely to see large shifts toward working from home and had fewer people laid off or furloughed.”
Press goes on to observe that:
During the early stages of the outbreak’s economic fallout, 90% of the decrease in employment – or 2.6 million of the total loss of 2.9 million between February and March – arose from positions that could not be teleworked, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of federal government data.
He further notes that “ A 2017-2018 survey of a representative sample of American workers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that 43.6% were able to telework.”
There is, of course, much speculation about whether this is likely to be an ongoing change in how Americans work, or whether it will be just a blip. But history (and current political shenanigans) suggest that governments will do everything they can to prevent telework and worker-autonomy from being the new normal.
The two big roadblocks are going to be (unsurprisingly) taxation and regulation of employment.
First, on taxes. Currently, the United States is a crazy quilt of tax liability for people who telework both internally and externally. Teleworkers (and employers of teleworkers) have to comply with a bewildering level of complexity to avoid running afoul of state and federal tax laws. In some cases, people working from home in one state may have to file specific state tax returns in other states where they earn income. California and New York are two such states. In this author’s experience (with California) the cost of preparing a California tax return (and ensuring that is congruent with other state and federal tax returns) can easily exceed the value of doing free-lance work for employers in California, essentially shutting freelancers out of the market. This has been a problem with regard to telework since long before COVID-19, as I wrote in this brief analysis for the American Enterprise Institute in 2010.
Now to regulation. The newest threats to telework are flowing, not surprisingly, from many of the same states that seem to think they own you if you derive any income from inside their borders. A toxic coalition of labor unions, labor regulators, and left-leaning politicians are going full-bore with efforts to strangle the baby of potential workstyle autonomy in the cradle. It started in California with Assembly Bill 5, originally an attempt by unions, taxi-cartels, and liberal governments uniting to stomp out competition from “gig-workers” such as Uber and Lyft drivers. But AB5 cast a rather broad net that wound up capturing everyone from independent musicians, to writers, truck drivers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. It was basically a law intended to force everyone to work for a defined corporate entity under the control of state legislatures for everything from compensation and benefits to labor conditions. The idea quickly spread to New York and other states. Politicians are busy trying to carve out exemptions for politically-valuable professionals (whose professional associations have lobbying clout), but there is still a desire to wipe out the gig-economy. As AB5 sponsor Lorena Gonzales put it, “these were never real jobs.”
COVID-19 has shown that not only can far more people work from home, and as independent contractors than did pre-pandemic, but polls suggest that many want to continue that way. Working from home is both resilient in the face of many disasters and disruptions, but has innumerable other benefits such as enabling a better work-life balance, less wasted money (and spewed pollution) when commuting, and less costs for clothing that are not actually necessary for the discharge of a particular job, but are “customs” that double as status-indicators in private-sector businesses.
But people’s desires may be stifled by the old-style politics of taxation and regulation, regardless of worker choice. People need to resist the reactionary spread of state/jurisdictional controls over employment conditions if we are to retain the greater benefits of a society where you’re free to be your own boss, set your own hours, work from where you want to, and negotiate the price for your labor that you think is fair.


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-24--Empty Socialist platforms leave no scaffolds for progress

New “ Build Back Better ” policies duplicated by the United Nations and Democratic Party political platforms propose not only to transform capitalism , but to expansively replace it with a “ more equitable ” Socialist model .
The U.N. ’ s “ Great Reset ” plan announced in April calls upon all governments to seize upon pandemic coronavirus chaos to “ build back better ” by creating more sustainable , resilient and inclusive societies.
” Its policies expansively duplicate many set forth in presidential candidate Joe Biden ’ s recent “ Build Back Better ” Green New Deal-proposal championed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I-Vt. , and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y. As articulated by World Economic Forum ( WEF ) Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab , “ Every country , from the United States to China , must participate , and every industry , from oil and gas to tech , must be transformed .
.
.
In short , we need a ‘ Great Reset ’ of capitalism.
” Biden and Sanders convened a “ Unity Task Force , ” co-chaired by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Former U.S .
Senator and Secretary of State John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Great Reset to craft terms of a mutually agreeable Democrat platform .
The document declares , “ The Unity Task Force urges that we treat climate change like the emergency that it is and answer the crisis with an ambitious , unprecedented , economy-wide mobilization to decarbonize the economy and build a resilient , stronger foundation for the American people.
” Make no mistake , both plans aim to dismantle the West ’ s greatest gift to the world , a successful recipe for progress that has raised vast populations of humanity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centuries .
According to Our World Data , the number of people globally living in extreme poverty fell by more than 1.9 billion in 1990 to 0.73 billion in 2015 , and on average that number has declined by 47 million every year since then .
On any average day , that number has declined by 130,000 people .
In many parts of the world where extreme poverty conditions prevail , it is not because capitalism has failed , but rather because access to benefits of capitalism don ’ t exist .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corruption , war and internal conflict , and political instability prevent the operation of economic markets and capital inflows for investment .
As Canada ’ s Queen ’ s University law professor Bruce Pardy warns in the Financial Post , the greatest threat we face is not climate change , or war , but something more insidious .
He writes , “ New academic doctrines are moving the world , or at least the West , from this triumph to decline .
They dismiss science — real science — in favor of political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Or as Karl Marx instructed his modern-day acolytes , “ The philosophers have only interpreted the world , in various ways .
The point , however , is to change it.
” Prof. Pardy explains that Marx ’ s tight focus on economic oppression of the working class has since been broadened by the far-left through an even more dangerous doctrine known as “ Critical Theory ” which is premised on ideas that Western institutions must be collapsed and reconstituted altogether .
Pardy writes , “ Critical Theory opposes everything that makes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inquiry , which seeks to explain and understand with logic , analysis and the scientific method , these doctrines are less theories than programs .
Their purpose is to condemn cultural norms , tear down existing orders and transform society.
” As with Marxists , the term “ Social Justice ” as applied through modern Critical Theory addresses identity groups rather than individual cases .
Therefore , power , privilege and oppression define relationships between groups , which are viewed either as victims or perpetrators .
Pardy notes that as political tools , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brilliant .
“ Any challenge to their legitimacy can be interpreted as a demonstration of their thesis : the assertion of reason , logic and evidence to justify oppression is a manifestation of privilege and power.
” Therefore , any challenge to their claims of injustice risks the stigma of being an oppressor .
If you deny that you are a witch , then you are a witch .
And if you do not deny it , then you are a witch for sure .
Socialist Critical Theory tactics attempt to conquer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weaknesses : fear , guilt and resentment , then inflaming those emotions to pit the society ’ s people against themselves .
Cloaked in educational garb , young people are being insidiously indoctrinated to carry the guilt and resentment of living in a society that they are taught is fundamentally unjust .
That same toxic ideology of foreboding crisis , visceral self-loathing , and identity warfare has marched unimpeded through universities , influencing disparate social disciplines ; has infiltrated professional schools such as teachers ’ colleges and law schools ; and is rapidly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and medical faculties .
I ’ ll add that fear , which abides in cultivated doom , breeds futile despair .
Unwarranted guilt undermines confidence needed to inspire and motivate worthwhile achievements .
Resentment thrives in the envy of those who demonstrate that successes are accessible to everyone willing to earn them .
Rotten socialist planks will provide no structures capable of supporting great dreams , inspirational innovations , rewarding incentives for achievement , nor real solutions to environmental and societal life quality challenges .
Socialism offers no sturdy platform to build anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroys .
Socialism is exploitive , oppressive and evil .
It hurts everyone .

New “Build Back Better” policies duplicated by the United Nations and Democratic Party political platforms propose not only to transform capitalism, but to expansively replace it with a “more equitable” Socialist model.
The U.N.’s “Great Reset” plan announced in April calls upon all governments to seize upon pandemic coronavirus chaos to “build back better” by creating more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.” Its policies expansively duplicate many set forth in presidential candidate Joe Biden’s recent “Build Back Better” Green New Deal-proposal championed by socialists U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
As articulated by World Economic Forum (WEF) Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab, “Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. . . In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”
Biden and Sanders convened a “Unity Task Force,” co-chaired by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry who has strongly endorsed WEF’s Great Reset to craft terms of a mutually agreeable Democrat platform. The document declares, “The Unity Task Force urges that we treat climate change like the emergency that it is and answer the crisis with an ambitious, unprecedented, economy-wide mobilization to decarbonize the economy and build a resilient, stronger foundation for the American people.”
Make no mistake, both plans aim to dismantle the West’s greatest gift to the world, a successful recipe for progress that has raised vast populations of humanity out of poverty over the past two centuries.
According to Our World Data, the number of people globally living in extreme poverty fell by more than 1.9 billion in 1990 to 0.73 billion in 2015, and on average that number has declined by 47 million every year since then.
On any average day, that number has declined by 130,000 people.
In many parts of the world where extreme poverty conditions prevail, it is not because capitalism has failed, but rather because access to benefits of capitalism don’t exist.
It is in places where socialist totalitarianism, corruption, war and internal conflict, and political instability prevent the operation of economic markets and capital inflows for investment.
As Canada’s Queen’s University law professor Bruce Pardy warns in the Financial Post, the greatest threat we face is not climate change, or war, but something more insidious.
He writes, “New academic doctrines are moving the world, or at least the West, from this triumph to decline. They dismiss science — real science — in favor of political agendas, in which theory trumps facts.”
Or as Karl Marx instructed his modern-day acolytes, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
Prof. Pardy explains that Marx’s tight focus on economic oppression of the working class has since been broadened by the far-left through an even more dangerous doctrine known as “Critical Theory” which is premised on ideas that Western institutions must be collapsed and reconstituted altogether.
Pardy writes, “Critical Theory opposes everything that makes the West work. Unlike traditional academic inquiry, which seeks to explain and understand with logic, analysis and the scientific method, these doctrines are less theories than programs. Their purpose is to condemn cultural norms, tear down existing orders and transform society.”
As with Marxists, the term “Social Justice” as applied through modern Critical Theory addresses identity groups rather than individual cases. Therefore, power, privilege and oppression define relationships between groups, which are viewed either as victims or perpetrators.
Pardy notes that as political tools, Critical Theory and its socialist variations are brilliant. “Any challenge to their legitimacy can be interpreted as a demonstration of their thesis: the assertion of reason, logic and evidence to justify oppression is a manifestation of privilege and power.” Therefore, any challenge to their claims of injustice risks the stigma of being an oppressor. If you deny that you are a witch, then you are a witch. And if you do not deny it, then you are a witch for sure.
Socialist Critical Theory tactics attempt to conquer and exploit civilizations by targeting and harnessing human weaknesses: fear, guilt and resentment, then inflaming those emotions to pit the society’s people against themselves.
Cloaked in educational garb, young people are being insidiously indoctrinated to carry the guilt and resentment of living in a society that they are taught is fundamentally unjust.
That same toxic ideology of foreboding crisis, visceral self-loathing, and identity warfare has marched unimpeded through universities, influencing disparate social disciplines; has infiltrated professional schools such as teachers’ colleges and law schools; and is rapidly advancing inside science, technology, engineering and medical faculties.
I’ll add that fear, which abides in cultivated doom, breeds futile despair. Unwarranted guilt undermines confidence needed to inspire and motivate worthwhile achievements. Resentment thrives in the envy of those who demonstrate that successes are accessible to everyone willing to earn them.
Rotten socialist planks will provide no structures capable of supporting great dreams, inspirational innovations, rewarding incentives for achievement, nor real solutions to environmental and societal life quality challenges.
Socialism offers no sturdy platform to build anything back and better on that it first destroys.
Socialism is exploitive, oppressive and evil. It hurts everyone.
This article originally appeared at NewsMax


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-22--The Shellenberger Chronicles part two: Protecting the planet intelligently

If you read Part One of this series of articles still appearing at cfact.org on the shocking reversal of one of the nation ’ s leading global warming and environmental alarmists you know that his new book Apocalypse Never released this June is receiving immense well warranted attention .
Michael Shellenberger spent a quarter century scaring people with the gloom and doom stories you know so well .
Somewhere along the way , in recent years , he must have learned of the scientific method of evaluating data , to learn what was really going on .
He also learned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups .
While I fault him for his earlier mistakes , I welcome him into the realm of reality , teaching science and its impact on mankind .
He set about seeing the real problems of the world up close and personal traveling from place to place .
He learned that the apocalypse promotion of the left was a political movement not an effort to solve the Earth ’ s problems or the unfortunate plight of those mired in poverty .
We know many years ago Patrick Moore , co-founder of Greenpeace recognized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left and became a great warrior for real environmental protection .
We know that recently leftist Michael Moore did us a great favor with his movie Planet For The Humans exposing the fraud of the idea that the world could run on wind and solar power .
It is possible that Mr. Shellenberger ’ s conversion to the right side of science and his widely quoted “ mea culpa ” for past sins for promoting misinformation , will be an even more important contribution to our nation and those abroad .
I will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of environmentalists everywhere , I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years .
Climate change is happening .
It ’ s just not the end of the world .
It ’ s not even our most serious environmental problem ” , said Shellenberger .
It would have been even better had he revealed that Mankind has nothing to do with the planet ’ s thermostat .
He is not there yet , along with the many Luke warmers who , though they can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the world ’ s temperature , they refuse to default to the most relevant number which is zero .
Further Shellenberger says “ Once you realize just how badly misinformed we have been , often by people with plainly unsavory or unhealthy motivations , it is hard not to feel duped.
” Among the best worded explanations for what the world has experienced in these past three decades of environmental fraud is expressed in a paragraph early in his 6th chapter .
“ The story of a small band of committed nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It is the story we learn from TV and movie documentaries , books , and news reports .
It is an exciting drama with obvious heroes and villains .
On the one side there are greedy , cowardly people destroying nature for profit , and on the other side there are idealistic , brave youths .
It is a story that has inspired millions to take action .
The only problem with it as a guide for protecting the environment is that nearly everything about it is wrong.
” In Apocalypse Never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretenders , exposing their ignorance and lies , while being kinder to them than many of us would be .
Shellenberger , with unknown financing , decided to see the environment up close and personal in 2015 .
First he traveled to Congo , Rwanda and Uganda before going to Indonesia .
There he met a 24 year old Indonesian journalist who went by the name of Ipeh .
She set up interviews with factory workers who told a very different story about the difficult working conditions screamed about in opposition to Nike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very important roles in lifting the economy and standard of living in Indonesia .
History tells us that most developing economies transformed themselves through manufacturing .
Poor nations can become as efficient as rich nations in making things .
Goods made in factories are easy to sell .
Factories are labor intensive which allow them to absorb large numbers of unskilled workers .
It all ties back to energy Shellenberger tells us with interesting statistics .
The average Congolese consumes the energy equivalent of 1.1 kilograms of oil per day ( 1.1kg/day ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2.5 kg/day .
In the US we consume 19 kg/day .
Contrary to what many believe Shellenberger learned that the positive impacts of manufacturing outweigh the negatives .
He says we should thus feel pride not guilt when buying products made in these countries .
Shellenberger got very comfortable exposing misinformation if not out and out frauds .
These include the movie Gasland that tried to show hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas to be hazardous , entirely through lies .
More gently he admitted to having been a vegetarian for environmental reasons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to environmental welfare and having less energy in the bargain .
Better yet was his exposure of the vegans who dwell on poor treatment of animals and erroneously claim negative impacts of eating meat .
The authors research on this issue is meticulous .
How many readers would ever have known that McDonalds hired the world renowned animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to advise them on how to treat animals in a manner that makes them most relaxed and happy , because happy animals also grow healthier .
One of the few areas Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activist ’ s career was his opposition to nuclear energy .
In a brilliant 30 page chapter of his book he summarizes where the world has been on the issue , where it is now and where it should be .
He opens the chapter with the March 11 , 2011 Fukushima disaster .
Hours later I was called to a CNN TV studio to explain what really happened and what would happen .
I had just edited The Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy introduced that month by publisher John Wiley & Sons .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ currents and the amount of escaping radiation no one should be sickened or die from the radiation , I was paired with an anti-nuke person on 23 network TV shows in the next 3 weeks .
I got hate mail and death threats for the next 3 years .
I am sure my readers remember the fear spewed out over it for years .
You may not know that no one got radiation sickness or died .
However as a result of moving elderly sick people miles away from their homes near Fukishima @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did occur .
Shellenberger now has an understanding of the wonders of nuclear power clear and accurate .
The exception he , like most , still believes eventually fusion of atoms will become a source of commercial energy .
Einstein , who I knew at Princeton , thought it was 50 years away in 1954 .
It is still 50 years away and unlikely ever to be achieved .
In the final part of this chronical of Shellenberger work in recent years , you will learn of the truly evil web woven by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

If you read Part One of this series of articles still appearing at cfact.org on the shocking reversal of one of the nation’s leading global warming and environmental alarmists you know that his new book Apocalypse Never released this June is receiving immense well warranted attention. Michael Shellenberger spent a quarter century scaring people with the gloom and doom stories you know so well. Somewhere along the way, in recent years, he must have learned of the scientific method of evaluating data, to learn what was really going on. He also learned of the intentional duplicity of most green groups.
While I fault him for his earlier mistakes, I welcome him into the realm of reality, teaching science and its impact on mankind. He set about seeing the real problems of the world up close and personal traveling from place to place. He learned that the apocalypse promotion of the left was a political movement not an effort to solve the Earth’s problems or the unfortunate plight of those mired in poverty.
We know many years ago Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace recognized his organization had been hi-jacked by the left and became a great warrior for real environmental protection. We know that recently leftist Michael Moore did us a great favor with his movie Planet For The Humans exposing the fraud of the idea that the world could run on wind and solar power. It is possible that Mr. Shellenberger’s conversion to the right side of science and his widely quoted “mea culpa” for past sins for promoting misinformation, will be an even more important contribution to our nation and those abroad.
I will quote it again here “On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem”, said Shellenberger.
It would have been even better had he revealed that Mankind has nothing to do with the planet’s thermostat. He is not there yet, along with the many Luke warmers who, though they can not pin down any real impact we have on the world’s temperature, they refuse to default to the most relevant number which is zero.
Further Shellenberger says “Once you realize just how badly misinformed we have been, often by people with plainly unsavory or unhealthy motivations, it is hard not to feel duped.” Among the best worded explanations for what the world has experienced in these past three decades of environmental fraud is expressed in a paragraph early in his 6th chapter.
“The story of a small band of committed nature lovers saving the environment appeals to us. It is the story we learn from TV and movie documentaries, books, and news reports. It is an exciting drama with obvious heroes and villains. On the one side there are greedy, cowardly people destroying nature for profit, and on the other side there are idealistic, brave youths. It is a story that has inspired millions to take action. The only problem with it as a guide for protecting the environment is that nearly everything about it is wrong.”
In Apocalypse Never, he spares none of the do-gooder pretenders, exposing their ignorance and lies, while being kinder to them than many of us would be.
Shellenberger, with unknown financing, decided to see the environment up close and personal in 2015. First he traveled to Congo, Rwanda and Uganda before going to Indonesia. There he met a 24 year old Indonesian journalist who went by the name of Ipeh. She set up interviews with factory workers who told a very different story about the difficult working conditions screamed about in opposition to Nike in the US. These factories played very important roles in lifting the economy and standard of living in Indonesia. History tells us that most developing economies transformed themselves through manufacturing.
Poor nations can become as efficient as rich nations in making things. Goods made in factories are easy to sell. Factories are labor intensive which allow them to absorb large numbers of unskilled workers.
It all ties back to energy Shellenberger tells us with interesting statistics. The average Congolese consumes the energy equivalent of 1.1 kilograms of oil per day (1.1kg/day), while the average Indonesian now consumes 2.5 kg/day. In the US we consume 19 kg/day.
Contrary to what many believe Shellenberger learned that the positive impacts of manufacturing outweigh the negatives. He says we should thus feel pride not guilt when buying products made in these countries.
Shellenberger got very comfortable exposing misinformation if not out and out frauds. These include the movie Gasland that tried to show hydraulic fracturing to capture natural gas to be hazardous, entirely through lies. More gently he admitted to having been a vegetarian for environmental reasons till he learned he was contributing nothing to environmental welfare and having less energy in the bargain. Better yet was his exposure of the vegans who dwell on poor treatment of animals and erroneously claim negative impacts of eating meat. The authors research on this issue is meticulous.
How many readers would ever have known that McDonalds hired the world renowned animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to advise them on how to treat animals in a manner that makes them most relaxed and happy, because happy animals also grow healthier.
One of the few areas Mr. Shellenberger capitulated on early in his environmental activist’s career was his opposition to nuclear energy. In a brilliant 30 page chapter of his book he summarizes where the world has been on the issue, where it is now and where it should be. He opens the chapter with the March 11, 2011 Fukushima disaster. Hours later I was called to a CNN TV studio to explain what really happened and what would happen. I had just edited The Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy introduced that month by publisher John Wiley &Sons.
When I explained that due to wind currents and the amount of escaping radiation no one should be sickened or die from the radiation, I was paired with an anti-nuke person on 23 network TV shows in the next 3 weeks. I got hate mail and death threats for the next 3 years. I am sure my readers remember the fear spewed out over it for years. You may not know that no one got radiation sickness or died. However as a result of moving elderly sick people miles away from their homes near Fukishima it is estimated that 1600 premature deaths did occur.
Shellenberger now has an understanding of the wonders of nuclear power clear and accurate. The exception he, like most, still believes eventually fusion of atoms will become a source of commercial energy. Einstein, who I knew at Princeton, thought it was 50 years away in 1954. It is still 50 years away and unlikely ever to be achieved.
In the final part of this chronical of Shellenberger work in recent years, you will learn of the truly evil web woven by the most prominent environmental non profit groups.


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-27--Alaska’s Pebble Mine no threat to salmon

The nearly two-decades-old controversy surrounding a proposed gold and copper mine in Southwest Alaska entered a new phase July 24 , when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( Corps ) , reversing an Obama-era finding , and concluded that the project “ would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers ” in the Bristol Bay watershed , which supports the world ’ s largest sockeye salmon fishery .
Bristol bay is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea , which lies between Alaska and Russia .
In its environmental assessment , the Corps found that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acres ( less than four square miles ) of wetlands and up to 105.8 miles of streams but that there would be “ no measurable change in the number of returning salmon.
” The fight over Pebble Mine , which would be the largest mine in North America , pits supporters of the sockeye salmon fishery , including local Native Alaskan tribes and national environmental groups , against proponents of using the area ’ s vast mineral reserves – estimated to be worth as much as $ 500 billion — to combat growing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Like all major infrastructure projects , Pebble has had to navigate the arduous permitting process at the state and federal ( National Environmental Policy Act , NEPA ) level , cope with the shifting political sands of different administrations , and deal with the ever-present threat of litigation .
The project appeared doomed in 2014 , when the Obama EPA , in an unprecedented move , preemptively vetoed the mine on the grounds that it would do irreparable harm to the sockeye fishery .
EPA undertook its action even before the project ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement .
The project ’ s developer , Canada ’ s Pebble Limited Partnership , filed for a federal permit with the Corps in late 2017 , and in 2019 the Trump EPA reversed the Obama EPA ’ s veto of the project , paving the way for the Corps ’ revised environmental assessment of the mine ’ s effect on the sockeye fishery .
Over the years , the size of the proposed mine has been scaled back .
According to the Pebble website , the project will cover more than 13 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plant .
It will be served by a natural gas pipeline and an 82-mile two-lane road .
The site would have extensive storage facilities and will require the dredging of a new port at Iliamna Bay .
Trucks would make several round trips a day transporting the extracted minerals to a processing plant through which they would be fed at a rate of 180,000 tons per day .
The latest twist in the Pebble saga did not go down well with the project ’ s opponents .
Taryn Kiekow Heimer , who heads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( NRDC ) campaign to stop the mine , was delighted to play the race card .
“ It ’ s especially embarrassing for the government and appalling given the current social context we are in , ” she told The Washington Post ( July 25 ) , referring to the Trump administration ’ s accelerated approval process .
“ It ’ s just another example of the entrenched and systemic racism that this government is showing people of color and indigenous people in particular.
” Pebble ’ s future depends in no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nov. 3 election .
If presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins , his administration would almost certainly try to kill the mine by reversing the Trump policies , which reversed the Obama policies .
If Trump is re-elected , the approval process will move forward , but the mine ’ s opponents will sue , tying the project up for another two to three years .

The nearly two-decades-old controversy surrounding a proposed gold and copper mine in Southwest Alaska entered a new phase July 24, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), reversing an Obama-era finding, and concluded that the project “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers” in the Bristol Bay watershed, which supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Bristol bay is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea, which lies between Alaska and Russia.
In its environmental assessment, the Corps found that the mine would affect up to 2,261 acres (less than four square miles) of wetlands and up to 105.8 miles of streams but that there would be “no measurable change in the number of returning salmon.”
The fight over Pebble Mine, which would be the largest mine in North America, pits supporters of the sockeye salmon fishery, including local Native Alaskan tribes and national environmental groups, against proponents of using the area’s vast mineral reserves – estimated to be worth as much as $500 billion — to combat growing Chinese dominance of global mineral resources.
Shifting Political Sands of Different Administrations
Like all major infrastructure projects, Pebble has had to navigate the arduous permitting process at the state and federal (National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA) level, cope with the shifting political sands of different administrations, and deal with the ever-present threat of litigation. The project appeared doomed in 2014, when the Obama EPA, in an unprecedented move, preemptively vetoed the mine on the grounds that it would do irreparable harm to the sockeye fishery. EPA undertook its action even before the project’s developer had submitted its environmental impact statement.
The project’s developer, Canada’s Pebble Limited Partnership, filed for a federal permit with the Corps in late 2017, and in 2019 the Trump EPA reversed the Obama EPA’s veto of the project, paving the way for the Corps’ revised environmental assessment of the mine’s effect on the sockeye fishery.
Over the years, the size of the proposed mine has been scaled back. According to the Pebble website, the project will cover more than 13 miles and include a 270 mega-watt power plant. It will be served by a natural gas pipeline and an 82-mile two-lane road. The site would have extensive storage facilities and will require the dredging of a new port at Iliamna Bay. Trucks would make several round trips a day transporting the extracted minerals to a processing plant through which they would be fed at a rate of 180,000 tons per day.
NRDC Plays the Race Card
The latest twist in the Pebble saga did not go down well with the project’s opponents. Taryn Kiekow Heimer, who heads the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) campaign to stop the mine, was delighted to play the race card.
“It’s especially embarrassing for the government and appalling given the current social context we are in,” she told The Washington Post (July 25), referring to the Trump administration’s accelerated approval process. “It’s just another example of the entrenched and systemic racism that this government is showing people of color and indigenous people in particular.”
Long Road Ahead
Pebble’s future depends in no small way on the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. If presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins, his administration would almost certainly try to kill the mine by reversing the Trump policies, which reversed the Obama policies. If Trump is re-elected, the approval process will move forward, but the mine’s opponents will sue, tying the project up for another two to three years.


Green propaganda

Radical environmentalism sees truth as a threat to its objectives .
Propaganda ( whether outright lies , exaggerations , or distortions ) in pursuit of green goals is justified .
Perhaps the most famous example of green propaganda has been the persistent claim that 97 % of climate scientists agree that man-made climate change endangers the planet .
Studies sporting the 97 % figure were debunked in 2014 .
In one such study , four independent reviewers found that only 0.3 percent of 11,994 abstracts cited actually stated that human activity is the primary cause of global warming .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In November 2019 , the green propaganda machine upped the ante .
Now , they claimed , there is 100 % scientific consensus that humans are the main drivers of climate change .
100 percent ?
!
?
What about the “ 350 [ peer-reviewed ] papers published since 2017 [ that ] subvert the claim that post-1850s warming has been unusual ” and dozens of additional articles in 2019 found “ that there ’ s nothing alarming or catastrophic about our climate ” ?
Another commonplace tactic of green propaganda has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Environmentalist and computer model expert Tony Heller has documented many of those shenanigans in a series of eye-opening videos .
( Here is another link .
And another . )
Interestingly , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the official keeper of temperature records for the United States was , according to The Wall Street Journal , explicitly exempted from the Data Quality Act – the federal law that requires sound science in policymaking .
Another fertile field for green propaganda shenanigans is the “ peer review ” process .
First , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process itself is broken .
Some describe it as “ a form of censorship ” – a gate-keeper to keep out dissenters .
Others assert , “ peer review is known to engender bias , incompetence…ineffectiveness , and corruption.
” Dr. John Ioannidis , who has been so on-target with his critiques of data gathering and modeling in connection with Covid-19 , maintains that the “ hotter ” a field of scientific research is ( “ hotter ” meaning more popular and active ) “ the less likely the research findings are to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientific research has been hotter than climate change for the last 30 year ?
Second , as we have learned from climategate emails and other sources , peer review in climate science has been highly incestuous , with key figures in the alarmist camp arranging to review each other ’ s work while shielding their work from review by other scientists .
Third , the late IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri haughtily asserted that IPCC uses only peer-reviewed science .
Not so .
The IPCC ’ s much-ballyhooed “ climate bible ” ( the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prize for IPCC ) cited 5,587 non-peer-reviewed sources such as “ press releases , newspaper and magazine clippings , working papers , student theses , discussion papers , and literature published by green advocacy groups.
” A common propaganda technique is to tell only one side of the story .
Thus , green propaganda hyped the record-warm temperature of 64.94 degrees F. ( 18.3 C. ) in Antarctica in February this year .
While hyping a record summertime high in the southern hemisphere , the green propagandists turned a blind eye to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that had happened a month earlier – specifically , a temperature reading of minus 86.8 degrees F. ( -66C ) in Greenland .
Similarly , when the mercury in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk touched 100 degrees F. on June 20 , the green propaganda machine went into overdrive .
( That temperature was less than one degree above the previous record high set in 1988 . )
They failed to mention that such heat north of the Arctic Circle was not unprecedented .
The temperature reached 100 degrees F. in Fort Yukon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 1915 .
Oh , by the way , I didn ’ t see any green reports that the people of Verkhoyansk woke up to snow on the ground on July 5 .
Wild temperature gyrations are a fact of life there due to peculiar topography and other natural factors .
Did you catch the BBC report about the Antarctic glacier Thwaites melting rapidly ?
That ’ s true , but the report failed to mention that active volcanoes beneath the glacier are causing the melting .
Banning SUVs will not keep Thwaites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ news organizations around the world openly proclaimed a coordinated campaign to convince their readers and viewers of the urgent need for political action to address catastrophic climate change at the UN ’ s climate summit that month .
Any pretense of journalistic impartiality was explicitly disavowed .
The media outlets openly and proudly announced themselves as advocates ( propagandists ) for their favored viewpoint .
Variety magazine even featured an article entitled , “ Is Hollywood Doing Enough to Fight the Climate Crisis , ” as if the entertainment industry should be in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , some green zealots are insisting that the green propaganda aimed at children here and abroad over the last few decades needs to be ramped up .
One British greenie wrote , “ Teachers…will have to help young people critique and rethink…deeply ingrained assumptions , attitudes and expectations that run throughout history , and now endanger much of life on Earth.
” I ’ ll leave you with a question : Do you really know the truth about climate change , or have you heard green propaganda so many times that you just @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Radical environmentalism sees truth as a threat to its objectives. Propaganda (whether outright lies, exaggerations, or distortions) in pursuit of green goals is justified.
Perhaps the most famous example of green propaganda has been the persistent claim that 97% of climate scientists agree that man-made climate change endangers the planet. Studies sporting the 97% figure were debunked in 2014. In one such study, four independent reviewers found that only 0.3 percent of 11,994 abstracts cited actually stated that human activity is the primary cause of global warming.
But forget about a measly 97%! In November 2019, the green propaganda machine upped the ante. Now, they claimed, there is 100% scientific consensus that humans are the main drivers of climate change. 100 percent?!? What about the “350 [peer-reviewed] papers published since 2017 [that] subvert the claim that post-1850s warming has been unusual” and dozens of additional articles in 2019 found “that there’s nothing alarming or catastrophic about our climate”?
Another commonplace tactic of green propaganda has been simply to fudge actual temperature records. Environmentalist and computer model expert Tony Heller has documented many of those shenanigans in a series of eye-opening videos. (Here is another link. And another.) Interestingly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the official keeper of temperature records for the United States was, according to The Wall Street Journal, explicitly exempted from the Data Quality Act – the federal law that requires sound science in policymaking.
Another fertile field for green propaganda shenanigans is the “peer review” process. First , many scientists believe that the peer review process itself is broken. Some describe it as “a form of censorship” – a gate-keeper to keep out dissenters. Others assert, “peer review is known to engender bias, incompetence…ineffectiveness, and corruption.” Dr. John Ioannidis, who has been so on-target with his critiques of data gathering and modeling in connection with Covid-19, maintains that the “hotter” a field of scientific research is (“hotter” meaning more popular and active) “the less likely the research findings are to be true.” And what field of scientific research has been hotter than climate change for the last 30 year?
Second, as we have learned from climategate emails and other sources, peer review in climate science has been highly incestuous, with key figures in the alarmist camp arranging to review each other’s work while shielding their work from review by other scientists.
Third, the late IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri haughtily asserted that IPCC uses only peer-reviewed science. Not so. The IPCC’s much-ballyhooed “climate bible” (the 2007 report that garnered a Nobel Peace Prize for IPCC) cited 5,587 non-peer-reviewed sources such as “press releases, newspaper and magazine clippings, working papers, student theses, discussion papers, and literature published by green advocacy groups.”
A common propaganda technique is to tell only one side of the story. Thus, green propaganda hyped the record-warm temperature of 64.94 degrees F. (18.3 C.) in Antarctica in February this year. While hyping a record summertime high in the southern hemisphere, the green propagandists turned a blind eye to a record wintertime low in the northern hemisphere that had happened a month earlier – specifically, a temperature reading of minus 86.8 degrees F. (-66C) in Greenland.
Similarly, when the mercury in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk touched 100 degrees F. on June 20, the green propaganda machine went into overdrive. (That temperature was less than one degree above the previous record high set in 1988.) They failed to mention that such heat north of the Arctic Circle was not unprecedented. The temperature reached 100 degrees F. in Fort Yukon, Alaska way back on June 27, 1915. Oh, by the way, I didn’t see any green reports that the people of Verkhoyansk woke up to snow on the ground on July 5. Wild temperature gyrations are a fact of life there due to peculiar topography and other natural factors.
Did you catch the BBC report about the Antarctic glacier Thwaites melting rapidly? That’s true, but the report failed to mention that active volcanoes beneath the glacier are causing the melting. Banning SUVs will not keep Thwaites from melting.
Last September, 250 news organizations around the world openly proclaimed a coordinated campaign to convince their readers and viewers of the urgent need for political action to address catastrophic climate change at the UN’s climate summit that month. Any pretense of journalistic impartiality was explicitly disavowed. The media outlets openly and proudly announced themselves as advocates (propagandists) for their favored viewpoint. Variety magazine even featured an article entitled, “Is Hollywood Doing Enough to Fight the Climate Crisis,” as if the entertainment industry should be in the vanguard of public brainwashing.
Meanwhile, some green zealots are insisting that the green propaganda aimed at children here and abroad over the last few decades needs to be ramped up. One British greenie wrote, “Teachers…will have to help young people critique and rethink…deeply ingrained assumptions, attitudes and expectations that run throughout history, and now endanger much of life on Earth.”
I’ll leave you with a question: Do you really know the truth about climate change, or have you heard green propaganda so many times that you just assume what they say is true?


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-25--The Shellenberger Chronicles part three: Do radical  environmentalists mean well? Get serious!

This is the third and final article in the series I call The Shellenberger Chronicles .
I hope you have had an opportunity to read parts one and two still appearing at CFACT.org .
More importantly however than reading my highlights of the book Apocalypse Never is for you to obtain the book and read it cover to cover .
I have published over 500 reviews of science books in my career , now spanning seven decades .
Most of them were good and well worth reading .
Many were excellent , but in today ’ s world where politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see and hear in the media , Apocalypse Never is the most important book you can read .
It is not a work of opinion but rather the unveiling of the facts and details of the nefarious goals of radical environmentalists across the world desiring to control your life .
I have been a bit harsh , at times , on Mr. Shellenberger for having spent two decades of his life helping those he is now committed to expose .
In his final chapter titled False Gods For Lost Souls he explains why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s book The Denial of Death that an exaggerated fear of death reveals a deep and often subconscious dissatisfaction with one ’ s life .
Where what one is really recognizing that he or she is not making enough out of their lives .
They feel stuck in bad relationships , unsupportive communities , or oppressive careers .
Then Shellenberger says : “ That was certainly the case for me .
I was drawn toward the apocalyptic view of climate change twenty years ago .
I can see now that my heightened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and unhappiness in my own life that had little to do with climate change or the state of the natural environment ” .
The final third of this amazing book is a complete denouement of who Shellenberger is today .
He proves to be not only an excellent writer but also a philosopher .
Not the kind that pulls thoughts out of thin air as Plato was known to do but thoughts based on a build up of concepts derived from the work of dozens of others described in his 1220 end notes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Becker mentioned above .
In Chapter Nine “ Destroying The Environment To Protect It ” , he follows in the footsteps of Michael Moore ’ s outstanding movie Planet For The Humans which illustrated the destruction done in creating the materials necessary to build wind turbines and solar arrays .
He goes further however in making a clear calculation that if the United States were to try and generate all the energy it uses with renewables , which is Mr. Biden ’ s plan , between 25 and 50 percent of all land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ By contrast we know that today ’ s energy system requires less than a single percent of our nation ’ s land .
Now consider this .
Just as the high power density of coal made the industrial revolution possible , the far lower power densities of solar and wind would make today ’ s high energy urbanized , and industrial civilization impossible .
In fact for many environmental alarmists that is their very goal .
These facts become more obvious when we learn from the author of the corruption of most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
While fighting tooth and nail against the fossil fuel industry they are taking donations from them with the promise of helping them defeat any further success of nuclear power in America .
Shellenberger specifically names the Sierra club , the Natural Resource Defense Council ( NRDC ) , the Environmental Defense Fund ( EDF ) and Bill McKibben ’ s 350.org in this cabal .
His research turned up through government reports shows that Climate activists such as those mentioned above , massively outspend climate skeptics , though they claim the opposite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total budget of $ 384 million while the two largest skeptic groups , the Competitive Enterprise Group and the Heartland Institute have combined budgets of $ 13 million .
During the many years these groups were denouncing fossil fuels and Exxon and the Koch brothers for funding their political opponents and demanding that universities stop investing in fossil fuels , all of the above mentioned groups were accepting large quantities of money from fossil fuel billionaires like Michal Bloomberg and Tom Steyer .
In the next to last chapter of Apocalypse Never Shellenberger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the poor by rich progressives and Non Government Organizations ( NGOs ) pretending to help them .
The United Nations and environmental NGOs describe their work as helping poor nations “ avoid the mistakes made in the industrialized world ” , in the words of the UN Development Program .
While we all know of Thomas Malthus , the late 18th century economist who predicted that the earth could not sustain its growing population , you will learn how truly evil he and his disciples have been .
Malthusians continue to this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adolph Hitler too was inspired by Malthus .
“ The productivity of the soil can only be increased within defined limits and up to a certain point ” he wrote in Mein Kampf .
What has given Malthus his popularity among the ruling classes is that he furnished a plausible reason for the assumption that some have a better right to existence than others .
Today ’ s Malthusians , Shellenberger tells us , have significantly modified Malthus preachings .
Where he warned that overpopulation would result in scarcity of food , today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in overpopulation , environmental destruction and societal collapse .
They say this while ignoring energy use among the rich and famous .
You may think that celebrities who moralize about climate change are tone deaf while jetting around the globe , but they are not .
They are flaunting their special status .
Hypocrisy , the author tells us , is the ultimate power move .
It is a way of demonstrating that one plays by a different set of rules from the ones adhered to by the common people .
By virtue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has quickly become a pariah to the left .
He has been attacked in newspapers , on twitter and of course by CNN .
The New York Post allowed him to publish a rebuttal to all the abuse and he did so with excellent clarity .
He still has not given up his belief that CO2 may effect temperature but no one ’ s perfect .
He does clearly explain the minimal negative impacts from climate change and points out that alarmists constantly say it makes disasters worse in order to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and California wildfires “ to make the issue more salient with voters ” .
In the end he says in his NY Post article “ climate alarmism gives them a purpose : to save the world from climate change .
It offers them a story that casts them as heroes .
And it provides a way for them to find meaning in their lives while retaining the illusion that they are people of science and reason not superstition and fantasy ” .
This is the theme of the final chapter of his book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trouble with the new environmental religion he tell us is that it has become increasingly apocalyptic , destructive , and self defeating .
It leads its adherents to demonize their opponents as we have seen with every so called denier .
A term which we know was lifted from the despicable “ holocaust deniers ” .
It drives them to to seek to restrict power and prosperity here and abroad .
Worst of all it spreads anxiety and depression among an unsuspecting populace .
If the climate apocalypse is a subconscious fantasy he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it might help explain why the people who are the most alarmist about environmental problems are also the most opposed to the technologies capable of addressing them .
The answer for many rational environmentalists like myself who are alarmed by the religious fanaticism of those claiming to be concerned with the environment is that we need to better maintain the divide between science and religion , just as scientists need to maintain the divide between their personal values and the facts they study .
As I reach the end of my chronicles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope I have not made you satisfied with understanding the great service he has done in committing himself to right the wrongs he now understands he committed .
You will benefit so much more by obtaining his book and giving it a slow and discerning read .

This is the third and final article in the series I call The Shellenberger Chronicles. I hope you have had an opportunity to read parts one and two still appearing at CFACT.org. More importantly however than reading my highlights of the book Apocalypse Never is for you to obtain the book and read it cover to cover. I have published over 500 reviews of science books in my career, now spanning seven decades. Most of them were good and well worth reading. Many were excellent, but in today’s world where politics has biased nearly everything we read, see and hear in the media, Apocalypse Never is the most important book you can read. It is not a work of opinion but rather the unveiling of the facts and details of the nefarious goals of radical environmentalists across the world desiring to control your life.
I have been a bit harsh, at times, on Mr. Shellenberger for having spent two decades of his life helping those he is now committed to expose. In his final chapter titled False Gods For Lost Souls he explains why. He first describes from Ernest Becker’s book The Denial of Death that an exaggerated fear of death reveals a deep and often subconscious dissatisfaction with one’s life. Where what one is really recognizing that he or she is not making enough out of their lives. They feel stuck in bad relationships, unsupportive communities, or oppressive careers. Then Shellenberger says:
“That was certainly the case for me. I was drawn toward the apocalyptic view of climate change twenty years ago. I can see now that my heightened anxiety about climate change reflected underlying anxiety and unhappiness in my own life that had little to do with climate change or the state of the natural environment”.
The final third of this amazing book is a complete denouement of who Shellenberger is today. He proves to be not only an excellent writer but also a philosopher. Not the kind that pulls thoughts out of thin air as Plato was known to do but thoughts based on a build up of concepts derived from the work of dozens of others described in his 1220 end notes, Just as he learned from Ernest Becker mentioned above.
In Chapter Nine “Destroying The Environment To Protect It”, he follows in the footsteps of Michael Moore’s outstanding movie Planet For The Humans which illustrated the destruction done in creating the materials necessary to build wind turbines and solar arrays. He goes further however in making a clear calculation that if the United States were to try and generate all the energy it uses with renewables, which is Mr. Biden’s plan, between 25 and 50 percent of all land in the US would be required. By contrast we know that today’s energy system requires less than a single percent of our nation’s land.
Now consider this. Just as the high power density of coal made the industrial revolution possible, the far lower power densities of solar and wind would make today’s high energy urbanized, and industrial civilization impossible. In fact for many environmental alarmists that is their very goal.
These facts become more obvious when we learn from the author of the corruption of most of the major environmental groups you can name. While fighting tooth and nail against the fossil fuel industry they are taking donations from them with the promise of helping them defeat any further success of nuclear power in America. Shellenberger specifically names the Sierra club, the Natural Resource Defense Council(NRDC), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Bill McKibben’s 350.org in this cabal.
His research turned up through government reports shows that Climate activists such as those mentioned above, massively outspend climate skeptics, though they claim the opposite. EDF and NRDC alone have a total budget of $384 million while the two largest skeptic groups, the Competitive Enterprise Group and the Heartland Institute have combined budgets of $13 million.
During the many years these groups were denouncing fossil fuels and Exxon and the Koch brothers for funding their political opponents and demanding that universities stop investing in fossil fuels, all of the above mentioned groups were accepting large quantities of money from fossil fuel billionaires like Michal Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
In the next to last chapter of Apocalypse Never Shellenberger zeros in on the true evil perpetrated on the poor by rich progressives and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) pretending to help them. The United Nations and environmental NGOs describe their work as helping poor nations “avoid the mistakes made in the industrialized world”, in the words of the UN Development Program.
While we all know of Thomas Malthus, the late 18th century economist who predicted that the earth could not sustain its growing population, you will learn how truly evil he and his disciples have been. Malthusians continue to this day to operate through radical environmentalism. Adolph Hitler too was inspired by Malthus. “The productivity of the soil can only be increased within defined limits and up to a certain point” he wrote in Mein Kampf. What has given Malthus his popularity among the ruling classes is that he furnished a plausible reason for the assumption that some have a better right to existence than others.
Today’s Malthusians, Shellenberger tells us, have significantly modified Malthus preachings. Where he warned that overpopulation would result in scarcity of food, today they warn that energy abundance will result in overpopulation, environmental destruction and societal collapse. They say this while ignoring energy use among the rich and famous.
You may think that celebrities who moralize about climate change are tone deaf while jetting around the globe, but they are not. They are flaunting their special status. Hypocrisy, the author tells us, is the ultimate power move. It is a way of demonstrating that one plays by a different set of rules from the ones adhered to by the common people.
By virtue of giving up his spot among them he has quickly become a pariah to the left. He has been attacked in newspapers, on twitter and of course by CNN. The New York Post allowed him to publish a rebuttal to all the abuse and he did so with excellent clarity. He still has not given up his belief that CO2 may effect temperature but no one’s perfect. He does clearly explain the minimal negative impacts from climate change and points out that alarmists constantly say it makes disasters worse in order to have visual and dramatic events like Hurricane Sandy and California wildfires “to make the issue more salient with voters”.
In the end he says in his NY Post article “climate alarmism gives them a purpose: to save the world from climate change. It offers them a story that casts them as heroes. And it provides a way for them to find meaning in their lives while retaining the illusion that they are people of science and reason not superstition and fantasy”.
This is the theme of the final chapter of his book False Gods For Lost Souls. The trouble with the new environmental religion he tell us is that it has become increasingly apocalyptic, destructive, and self defeating. It leads its adherents to demonize their opponents as we have seen with every so called denier. A term which we know was lifted from the despicable “holocaust deniers”. It drives them to to seek to restrict power and prosperity here and abroad. Worst of all it spreads anxiety and depression among an unsuspecting populace.
If the climate apocalypse is a subconscious fantasy he says, for people who dislike civilization, it might help explain why the people who are the most alarmist about environmental problems are also the most opposed to the technologies capable of addressing them.
The answer for many rational environmentalists like myself who are alarmed by the religious fanaticism of those claiming to be concerned with the environment is that we need to better maintain the divide between science and religion, just as scientists need to maintain the divide between their personal values and the facts they study.
As I reach the end of my chronicles of Shellenberger’s work, I hope I have not made you satisfied with understanding the great service he has done in committing himself to right the wrongs he now understands he committed. You will benefit so much more by obtaining his book and giving it a slow and discerning read.


committeeconstructivetomorrowcfactorg--2020-07-28--Covid-19 the way forward

Covid-19 the way forward

There is no stopping the coronavirus .
Like previous influenza pandemics , it is going to make its way through society until herd immunity arrives , or a vaccine .
America can either cower in the corner , or cope with it responsibly .
We should choose the latter approach .
Still , many of our overlords we elect to public office want us to curl up , cease our economic lives , and do what they tell us by continuing absurd restrictions and near economic lockdowns .
Such whimsical measures will not protect against coronavirus , but continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberties , as millions of Americans remain wards of the state .
Be warned : such massive government control and capricious policies for pandemics are strikingly similar to permanent impositions proposed to deal with “ climate change.
” In the five months of the Covid-19 pandemic , we have learned a great deal about the nature of the virus .
Would that more politicians acted on that knowledge .
For starters , economic shutdowns do not stop the coronavirus , and should not be reinstated .
Early on , in March and April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occurred when less was known , and out of fear of overwhelming the hospital system .
It came at a staggering cost in economic decline and skyrocketing unemployment .
Many businesses have been lost permanently .
Tens of thousands of Americans still died .
As the country since re-opened , the economy has surged and more people have returned to work .
While Covid cases have surged in places , this is no time to turn back .
The recent spike of coronavirus cases in Florida , Texas and other states is affecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ connected to the peaceful protests and not-so-peaceful rioting that so many politicians condoned .
Many more cases are the result of near ubiquitous testing that did not exist four months ago .
The key benchmarks are not Covid cases , but the much lower hospitalization and fatality rates .
This data shows conditions more manageable than levels from last April .
Texas and Florida , respectively , are the second and third most populous states , yet Covid death rates rank them 33rd and 23rd highest in the country .
Texas has 3.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , yet the City has five times the number of coronavirus deaths .
The elderly and those with underlying health concerns , such as diabetes , are especially vulnerable to coronavirus .
The latest data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control ( CDC ) shows 338 hospitalizations for every 100,000 persons age 65 and older .
Protecting them in nursing homes and elsewhere need not require everyone else be restricted .
By contrast , younger people , especially children , are not vulnerable from coronavirus , with only 4 hospitalizations—not deaths , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age children , ages 5 to 17 .
They are mostly asymptomatic , less susceptible to illness , and more likely to die from multiple other everyday causes , including being shot in lawless inner city neighborhoods .
That is why it is imperative that schools resume in the coming weeks .
Yet many school districts , including throughout the state of California , will remain closed .
This is enormously counterproductive and harmful to children .
As for teachers , they have a job to do : teach children .
Studies have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protective equipment .
Adjust schedules , spread out classrooms in the gymnasiums , and install plastic screens , among other steps .
Workers in postal , law enforcement , health care and dozens of other occupations deemed “ essential ” have never stopped working .
Teachers are essential , too .
We need them in every classroom .
Overwhelmingly , teachers are young and less vulnerable from coronavirus .
Accommodations should be made for those over 55 and others with health concerns .
The more schools remain closed , the longer it will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normalcy , including more people being able to return to work .
Sadly , that may be the objective of not a few in political and media circles , until the November election .
It ’ s not my purpose here to unravel such speculation ; still , you have to wonder about such malevolence .
The ongoing restrictive response by many politicians to the Covid pandemic is a microcosm of the larger effort to control society by imposing a deleterious climate change agenda , which looms a larger threat in the years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Green New Deal ” boil down to the same outcomes of societal control : reduced lifestyles , lost occupations , higher prices and less freedom .
Many Americans understandably remain fearful of Covid , but the genuine science and data provide more optimism today than several months ago .
That ’ s why we should look askance as those who demand continued sacrifice and curtailments on our constitutional freedoms and economic betterment .

There is no stopping the coronavirus. Like previous influenza pandemics, it is going to make its way through society until herd immunity arrives, or a vaccine. America can either cower in the corner, or cope with it responsibly.
We should choose the latter approach. Still, many of our overlords we elect to public office want us to curl up, cease our economic lives, and do what they tell us by continuing absurd restrictions and near economic lockdowns. Such whimsical measures will not protect against coronavirus, but continue to subjugate the private sector and our constitutional liberties, as millions of Americans remain wards of the state.
Be warned: such massive government control and capricious policies for pandemics are strikingly similar to permanent impositions proposed to deal with “climate change.”
In the five months of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have learned a great deal about the nature of the virus. Would that more politicians acted on that knowledge.
For starters, economic shutdowns do not stop the coronavirus, and should not be reinstated. Early on, in March and April, the shutdown by most states understandably occurred when less was known, and out of fear of overwhelming the hospital system. It came at a staggering cost in economic decline and skyrocketing unemployment. Many businesses have been lost permanently.
Tens of thousands of Americans still died.
As the country since re-opened, the economy has surged and more people have returned to work. While Covid cases have surged in places, this is no time to turn back.
The recent spike of coronavirus cases in Florida, Texas and other states is affecting mostly young people, with many surely connected to the peaceful protests and not-so-peaceful rioting that so many politicians condoned. Many more cases are the result of near ubiquitous testing that did not exist four months ago.
The key benchmarks are not Covid cases, but the much lower hospitalization and fatality rates. This data shows conditions more manageable than levels from last April.
Texas and Florida, respectively, are the second and third most populous states, yet Covid death rates rank them 33rd and 23rd highest in the country. Texas has 3.5 times the population of New York City, yet the City has five times the number of coronavirus deaths.
The elderly and those with underlying health concerns, such as diabetes, are especially vulnerable to coronavirus. The latest data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows 338 hospitalizations for every 100,000 persons age 65 and older. Protecting them in nursing homes and elsewhere need not require everyone else be restricted.
By contrast, younger people, especially children, are not vulnerable from coronavirus, with only 4 hospitalizations—not deaths, which are lower still—for every 100,000 school age children, ages 5 to 17. They are mostly asymptomatic, less susceptible to illness, and more likely to die from multiple other everyday causes, including being shot in lawless inner city neighborhoods.
That is why it is imperative that schools resume in the coming weeks. Yet many school districts, including throughout the state of California, will remain closed. This is enormously counterproductive and harmful to children.
As for teachers, they have a job to do: teach children. Studies have shown children rarely spread coronavirus. Wear protective equipment. Adjust schedules, spread out classrooms in the gymnasiums, and install plastic screens, among other steps.
Workers in postal, law enforcement, health care and dozens of other occupations deemed “essential” have never stopped working. Teachers are essential, too. We need them in every classroom. Overwhelmingly, teachers are young and less vulnerable from coronavirus. Accommodations should be made for those over 55 and others with health concerns.
The more schools remain closed, the longer it will take for the country to return to normalcy, including more people being able to return to work. Sadly, that may be the objective of not a few in political and media circles, until the November election. It’s not my purpose here to unravel such speculation; still, you have to wonder about such malevolence.
The ongoing restrictive response by many politicians to the Covid pandemic is a microcosm of the larger effort to control society by imposing a deleterious climate change agenda, which looms as a larger threat in the years ahead. The various details of the “Green New Deal” boil down to the same outcomes of societal control: reduced lifestyles, lost occupations, higher prices and less freedom.
Many Americans understandably remain fearful of Covid, but the genuine science and data provide more optimism today than several months ago. That’s why we should look askance as those who demand continued sacrifice and curtailments on our constitutional freedoms and economic betterment.