climatedepot--2020-03-20--Will The Costs Of A Great Depression Outweigh The Risks Of Coronavirus?

It seems a fool ’ s errand to pre-emptively and indefinitely risk everyone ’ s livelihoods without hard information about what is happening and a risk assessment that includes the serious dangers of killing the U.S. economy , not what computers project will happen with lots of missing , unreliable , and rapidly changing information .
Joy Pullmann : We ’ re acting as if coronavirus is for sure going to amount to the worst-case scenario without knowing that is true .
If we all do shelter in place for the next year and a half while politicians pass the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy 12 years ago , the “ experts ” will insist the nation ’ s long-term ability to provide for itself was required to save millions of lives .
There will be no way to prove them wrong , even if they are .
Federal and state governments are making a massive gamble about a little-understood new virus .
They may not only be betting our entire economy , but our nation ’ s future .
Thus it ’ s imperative that they not make foolish choices .
We shouldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be driven by a Democrat like Steve Mnuchin , whose overwhelming priority is reassuring Wall Street above all else .
Voters don ’ t vote for Donald Trump to get Obama-Bush bailouts of Wall Street and welfare expansions .
The current gamble seems to be to shut down the nation indefinitely to suppress a virus that is especially deadly to some demographics and experts agree can not be contained , only slowed .
The New York Times claims the basis of many U.S. officials ’ decisions so far is a report from Imperial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spit out similar results .
It says to contain the virus it will be necessary to quarantine Americans for two- to three-month stretches repeatedly over the next 18 months .
The alternative , says the report , is 4 million Americans dead , half who would otherwise have lived but instead die for lack of medical capacity such as ventilators .
If we merely quarantine sick people and those at risk , a “ mitigation ” strategy , it projects the U.S. death toll at about 2 million , again half from lack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is why state governors are shutting down restaurants , schools , entertainment venues , government offices , parks , historical sites , churches , and travel .
Most Americans and businesses likely can sustain a suspension of their lives for two weeks , the usual annual vacation time .
But start extending these bans to one and two months , and then to four and six months , and people are going to revolt as they sit chained to their houses , watching their jobs , businesses , and retirement accounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from yet-unborn generations and no end in sight .
Numerous people are already skeptical and fed up with the lockdowns , and we ’ re not a week in .
Computer Estimates Can ’ t Weigh All of the Real Risks Plus , these are just estimates , not a crystal ball .
We can ’ t know the future , and different countries have already shown highly different disease spreads based on different population characteristics , health care capacity , and government response .
Just one competing projection , from the Hoover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cases world-wide will peak out at well under 1 million , with the total number of deaths at under 50,000″ ( emphasis added ) .
This is near the annual death rate due to flu in the United States alone .
We don ’ t know if that estimate is accurate either , but that ’ s the point .
Here ’ s another hysteria skeptic with impeccable medical and statistical knowledge , John P.A .
Ioannidis , a professor of medicine , epidemiology , and statistics at Stanford University and co-director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We ’ re acting as if coronavirus is for sure going to amount to the worst-case scenario without knowing that is true .
If we all do shelter in place for the next year and a half while politicians pass the equivalent of the Obama-Bush stimulus that suffocated the economy 12 years ago , the “ experts ” will insist the nation ’ s long-term ability to provide for itself was required to save millions of lives .
There will be no way to prove them wrong , even if they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ errand to pre-emptively and indefinitely risk everyone ’ s livelihoods without hard information about what happening and a risk assessment that includes the serious dangers of killing the U.S. economy , not what computers will happen with lots of missing , unreliable , and rapidly changing information .
Some Things We Do Know Indicate Cautious Optimism The current numbers we have not only show that different countries are managing the disease better and worse , but that not one of the countries further along in the spread of the virus is anywhere close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States , at least in the next two to three months .
Here is a chart my husband made using WHO , CDC , and other public data about deaths per day of outbreak .
It shows the U.S. death rate due to Wuhan flu is much lower at the same stage of the outbreak than most of the other high-spread countries .
Anywhere from 80 percent of infections in adults to 95 percent of infections in children appear to be mild to moderate cases overcome in about two weeks with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cases look like CBS News Correspondent Seth Doane ’ s .
He can even be on TV while infected , for pete ’ s sake .
Sharyl Attkisson has gone through the U.S. deaths to March 17 , and as in other countries they are overwhelmingly among the very elderly and people with pre-existing conditions .
The entire population is not at severe risk from coronavirus — although we are at severe risk from a wrecked economy and welfare expansions beyond Franklin Delano Roosevelt ’ s wildest dreams .
If we continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ we ’ ll be spending a lot more than we ’ ve ever been willing to spend before to avoid flu deaths .
Eighty-three percent of our economy will be suppressed to relieve pressure on the 17 % represented by health care .
This will have to last months , not weeks , to modulate the rate at which a critical mass of 330 million get infected and acquire natural immunity , ” writes Holman Jenkins at The Wall Street Journal .
Is it right for the nation to require our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep alive less than 1 percent of our population until the next flu season ?
Could we not attempt to keep them safe by less disastrous means ?
Most Working- and School-Age Americans Are at Low Risk Every year , 40,000 Americans die in car wrecks .
I don ’ t see any critical mass of politicians calling for banning cars , and if they did , they would lose their next election .
That ’ s because we as Americans have decided that the benefits of modern transportation outweigh the lives of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few years ago included my own young brother .
Do I still drive a car ?
Daily .
My point here is not that I like people dying .
It ’ s that very often our society chooses to allow deaths because the alternative is worse .
I ’ m suggesting the severe social and economic tradeoffs of unlimited quarantine are an important consideration that is not being taken seriously enough .
That ’ s especially true because the majority of people now being kept home are not at severe risk .
Here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age and comorbidity ( pre-existing health problems ) , from WHO and Chinese data : Would it be more prudent to severely shelter those at risk while the rest of us keep the country going ?
We can take steps like this while not choosing to crush small businesses and employees who can not telework for one or two months , let alone 18 .
These Doomsday Models Have Serious Flaws In introducing his competing model , Richard Epstein at the Hoover Institution writes of serious flaws in predictions of 1 million or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ points out that South Korean data , which is more complete than most other countries ’ data , shows huge disparities in risks between old and unhealthy and young and healthy .
“ Clearly , the impact on elderly and immunocompromised individuals is severe , with nearly 90 % of total deaths coming from individuals 60 and over .
But these data do not call for shutting down all public and private facilities given the extraordinarily low rates of death in the population under 50 , ” Epstein writes .
“ Of course @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those deaths stemming from the coronavirus are not more tragic than others , so that the same social calculus applies here that should apply in other cases , ” he says .
The costs Americans are being forced to bear may be more than is rational to impose .
Already one-fifth of working Americans are being laid off and having work hours cut due to not even one week of suspensions .
“ [ T ] he massive curtailments of the U.S. economy can have as many health consequences as the virus itself—if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depressed in self-isolation , increase smoking , and drug and alcohol use , and postpone out of fear necessary buying and visits to doctors and hospitals for chronic and serious medical conditions unrelated to the virus , ” writes Victor Davis Hanson .
What if the real scenario is one of these : 1 ) We plunge the nation into a depression that kills many businesses and addicts millions to welfare , in a nation that has already pledged more welfare than it can afford for at least the next three generations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ die due to poverty , lack of medical care , and despair .
Millions more transform from workers to takers , causing a faster implosion of our already mathematically impossible welfare state .
2 ) The nation quarantines only at-risk populations and those with symptoms , like South Korea has , and ensures targeted and temporary taxpayer support to those groups , goes nuts cranking out ventilators and other crisis equipment such as temporary hospitals using emergency response crews , while the rest of us keep calm , wash our hands , take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and carry on .
Why would the entire nation grind to a halt when the entire nation is not at a severe risk ?
I would rather have a flu I am 99.8 percent likely to survive than the nation plunged into chaos indefinitely because we pulled the plug on our economy during a stampede .
At the very least , Congress should wait a week or two , while half the nation or more is home , to see how the infection rates look as millions of test kits go out .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions on may not be the one we ’ re facing .
Prudence suggests a measured , wait and see approach to policy until we have better information , not chucking trillions of my kids ’ dollars out the window “ just in case .
”


climatedepot--2020-03-20--Josef Joffe: On Coronavirus, ‘Beware the Totalitarian Temptation’

Josef Joffe : On Coronavirus , Beware the Totalitarian Temptation The American Interest , 18 March 2020 State control of information is a bridge to oppression democracies must never cross .
Freedom of expression is among the holiest of holies in a liberal polity .
Totalitarianism is Stalin and Hitler , the NKVD and the Gestapo , the Gulag and the death camp .
Correct , but take another look .
It is also an eternal temptation that has infected Western minds great and small—from Martin “ Sieg Heil !
” Heidegger to Jean-Paul Sartre , who pitched for Communism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Revolution .
Among the lesser minds , Charles Lindbergh cozied up to Hitler , and Joseph Davies , the U.S .
Ambassador to the USSR , penned a ringing apologia for Stalin ’ s Great Terror in Mission to Moscow .
The book was turned into an even more awful movie .
Add a herd of Western devotees and camp followers who cheered Mussolini , Mao , Castro , Che , and , lately , Hugo Chávez—this Stalinist caudillo attracted effusive praise from the actor Sean Penn .
Which takes us to China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up-to-date example of cheerleading for the almighty state .
While in Beijing , the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom extolled China as a model in the war against SARS-CoV-2 , better known as “ coronavirus.
” According to China ’ s state media , he gushed that “ China ’ s speed .
.
.
and efficiency .
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is the advantage of China ’ s system.
” The country deserved “ praise ” and “ admiration ” for its methods in routing the silent enemy that has spread the COVID-19 epidemic from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Auckland .
Such an éloge needs to be tempered .
First of all , the world owes the most recent iteration of the coronavirus to China , more precisely to Wuhan and its “ wet markets ” whence it sprang forth from bats , a delicacy of the local cuisine .
That calamity may be ascribed to Chinese culture .
But what followed was owed to the very system cheered by the WHO boss .
By the end of December , health workers warned that something was afoot .
Yet totalitarians hate bad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DNA .
Suppressing the reports , they blamed the messengers and detained them .
There was “ speed , ” but the wrong kind .
Instead of locking up the doctors , the regime might have closed down Wuhan Airport , which serves 32 cities around the world , including Paris , London , Rome , Seoul , Tokyo , and Sidney .
With flights operating into February , the virus forged ahead while precious time was lost .
In mid-March , the regime tried fake news , a classic agitprop tool , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ U.S .
army had brought the epidemic to Wuhan.
” So , why would the WHO director ( and plenty of others ) applaud the Communist emperor Xi ?
Because of political expediency , for one .
You don ’ t bite the hand you need to feed in order to contain the Wuhan Virus .
But China seems to be making up for its sins .
Apparently , new cases have plummeted from 2,400 during the last week in February to single digits in mid-March .
So , three cheers for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But South Korea is the world ’ s number one when it comes to testing , which is critical for controlling the virus .
Taiwan has slowed its spread .
In Iran , though , a harsh theocracy whose tentacles reach deeply into society , new infections are on a steep rise .
So totalitarian systems aren ’ t necessarily super-efficient , while supposedly chaotic democracies are hardly doomed.The price of what Xi calls a “ people ’ s war ” is horrendous .
To boot , Beijing ’ s strategy can be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but not by a democracy .
Essentially , the state has locked up half a billion people , most harshly in and around Wuhan .
It dispatched armies of enforcers to guard the access to residential compounds and to restrict movement within .
The regime deployed digital surveillance systems no liberal polity would or could countenance , and rightly so .
The government tapped into data from state-run mobile companies as well as from payment apps that record “ who , when , and where , ” so that fugitives can be traced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what is known in the West as “ my home is my castle ” to record body temperatures , presumably hauling suspects off to detention facilities—for their own good , of course .
Tech companies have developed apps with a kind of traffic light .
“ Green ” is good , “ yellow ” is a warning , “ red ” is bad .
Guards use the color coding to block movement at railroad stations and traffic nodes .
The darkest side of the “ people ’ s war ” is sheer repression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tycoon , had been blasting Xi for extinguishing free speech .
Too bad for him that he now ran afoul of an all-out Party campaign to quash criticism about the government ’ s fake- or no-news strategy .
Ren accused the state of having accelerated the epidemic that had claimed innumerable lives .
He might as well have committed treason .
So , Ren has suddenly disappeared , which is a swift way to silence “ enemies of the people.
” State control of information is a bridge to oppression democracies must never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the holiest of holies in a liberal polity .
An indispensable check on arbitrary power , free media also happen to be eminently useful in national emergencies , exposing error , mismanagement , and falsehood .
It was the absence of free media in China that enabled the regime to muzzle the whistleblowers of Wuhan at such a murderous price .
How are those bungling democracies doing ?
Italy has virtually copycatted China ’ s anti-virus warfare , practically locking down the entire country .
Spain has followed , as has France—though with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Other EU members will surely go the same route .
They are successively dismantling “ Schengenland , ” the EU ’ s borderless realm , reasserting national control .
Yet such constraints are being imposed without the totalitarian tools of the Chinese .
In deploying the powers of the state , Western governments have illuminated a peculiar advantage of democracies .
To combat crises , they need not resort to police-state tactics .
If governments communicate truthfully with the people , the ruled do what needs to be done voluntarily .
Look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at home and stay away from large crowds .
They accept curbs on their freedom such as closed bars , restaurants , theaters , and stores except those establishments that sustain life in deadly times : food , drug , and pet stores ( animals have to eat , too ) .
They keep social distance and walk alone rather than in pairs .
[ … ] It could happen here , too—which is all the more reason to resist the authoritarian temptation .
What are the antidotes ?
All emergency measures must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the freedom of the press at all costs .
Set new dates for postponed elections now .
Keep holding officials accountable .
Secure the separation of powers .
The rule is to persuade , not to impose .
Defy the pied papers who stoke panic and hysteria in order to deconstruct the liberal state .

Thank you for being patient. We are doing some work on the site and will be back shortly.


climatedepot--2020-03-20--WSJ: Rethinking The Coronavirus Shutdown – ‘A tsunami of economic destruction’ – ‘No society can saf

WSJ: Rethinking The Coronavirus Shutdown – ‘A tsunami of economic destruction’ – ‘No society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its economic health’

No society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its economic health .
Financial markets paused their slide Thursday , but no one should think this rolling economic calamity is over .
If this government-ordered shutdown continues for much more than another week or two , the human cost of job losses and bankruptcies will exceed what most Americans imagine .
This won ’ t be popular to read in some quarters , but federal and state officials need to start adjusting their anti-virus strategy now to avoid an economic recession that will dwarf the harm from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last 10 days or so has been necessary and has done much good .
Warnings about large gatherings of more than 10 people and limiting access to nursing homes will save lives .
The public has received a crucial education in hygiene and disease prevention , and even young people may get the message .
With any luck , this behavior change will reduce the coronavirus spread enough that our hospitals won ’ t be overwhelmed with patients .
Anthony Fauci , Scott Gottlieb and other disease experts are buying crucial time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources against the virus .
Yet the costs of this national shutdown are growing by the hour , and we don ’ t mean federal spending .
We mean a tsunami of economic destruction that will cause tens of millions to lose their jobs as commerce and production simply cease .
Many large companies can withstand a few weeks without revenue but that isn ’ t true of millions of small and mid-sized firms .
Even cash-rich businesses operate on a thin margin and can bleed through reserves in a month .
First @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of necessity they will shut down .
Another month like this week and the layoffs will be measured in millions of people .
The deadweight loss in production will be profound and take years to rebuild .
In a normal recession the U.S. loses about 5 % of national output over the course of a year or so .
In this case we may lose that much , or twice as much , in a month .
Our friend Ed Hyman , the Wall Street economist , on Thursday adjusted his estimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rate loss in GDP of minus-20 % .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ’ s assertion on Fox Business Thursday that the economy will power through all this is happy talk if this continues for much longer .
If GDP seems abstract , consider the human cost .
Think about the entrepreneur who has invested his life in his Memphis ribs joint only to see his customers vanish in a week .
Or the retail chain of 30 stores that employs hundreds but sees no sales and must shut its doors .
Or the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debt—taken on with the encouragement of politicians—who finds herself laid off from her first job .
Perhaps she can return home and live with her parents , but what if they ’ re laid off too ?
How do you measure the human cost of these crushed dreams , lives upended , or mental-health damage that result from the orders of federal and state governments ?
Some in the media who don ’ t understand American business say that China managed a comparable shock to its economy and is now beginning to emerge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t the U.S. do it too ?
This ignores that the Chinese state owns an enormous stake in that economy and chose to absorb the losses .
In the U.S. those losses will be borne by private owners and workers who rely on a functioning private economy .
They have no state balance sheet to fall back on .
The politicians in Washington are telling Americans , as they always do , that they are riding to the rescue by writing checks to individuals and offering loans to business .
But there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make up for losses of the magnitude we are facing if this extends for several more weeks .
After the first $ 1 trillion this month , will we have to spend another $ 1 trillion in April , and another in June ?
By the time Treasury ’ s small-business lending program runs through the bureaucratic hoops—complete with ordering owners that they can ’ t lay off anyone as a price for getting the loan—millions of businesses will be bankrupt and tens of millions will be jobless .


climatedepot--2020-03-20--The Risks of Contracting Mass Hysteria: Why Panicky Pandemic Measures Can Lead To ‘Behavioral Fatigu

The Risks of Contracting Mass Hysteria: Why Panicky Pandemic Measures Can Lead To ‘Behavioral Fatigue’ & Societal Disaster

It ’ s too easy to just blame the media for hyping something that turns out not to be as fearful as people thought .
But the reason why the media reports things that way is they pick up those messages from health professionals , from scientists , themselves .
And often [ that ’ s ] because there are these gaps in our knowledge and there is often a level of uncertainty .
It always comes back to this idea of how much we know and how much more there is to know .
— Mark Honigsbaum , author @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Years of Panic , Hysteria , and Hubris .
1 ) Do We Suffer ‘ Behavioural Fatigue ’ For Pandemic Prevention Measures ?
Mind Hacks , 20 March 2020 3 ) A Fiasco In The Making ?
As The Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold , We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data John P.A .
Ioannidis , Stat News , 17 March 2020 4 ) Josef Joffe : On Coronavirus , Beware the Totalitarian Temptation The American Interest , 18 March 2020 5 ) Matt Ridley : We Are About To Find Out How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 2020 6 ) Terence Corcoran : The Soaring Costs Of COVID-19 Pandenomics Financial Post , 20 March 2020 7 ) WSJ : Rethinking The Coronavirus Shutdown The Wall Street Journal , 20 March 2020 1 ) Do We Suffer ‘ Behavioural Fatigue ’ For Pandemic Prevention Measures ?
Mind Hacks , 20 March 2020 The Guardian recently published an article saying “ People won ’ t get ‘ tired ’ of social distancing – and it ’ s unscientific to suggest otherwise ” .
“ Behavioural fatigue ” the piece said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
‘ Behavioural fatigue ’ became a hot topic because it was part of the UK Government ’ s justification for delaying the introduction of stricter public health measures .
They quickly reversed this position and we ’ re now in the “ empty streets ” stage of infection control .
But it ’ s an important topic and is relevant to all of us as we try to maintain important behavioural changes that benefit others .
For me , one key point is that , actually , there are many relevant scientific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to say , I ’ m a little disappointed that there were some public pronouncements that ‘ there is no evidence ’ in the mainstream media without anyone making the effort to seek it out .
The reaction to epidemics has actually been quite well studied although it ’ s not clear that ‘ fatigue ’ is the right way of understanding any potential decline in people ’ s compliance with prevention measures .
This phrase doesn ’ t seem to be used in the medical literature in this context and it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , albeit confusing , metaphor for ‘ decline ’ used in interviews .
In fact , most studies of changes in compliance focus on the effect of changing risk perception , and it turns out that this often poorly tracks the actual risk .
Below is a graph from a recent paper illustrating a widely used model of how risk perception tracks epidemics .
Notably , this model was first published in the 1990s based on data available even then .
It suggests that increases in risk tend to make us over-estimate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but then as the risk objectively increases we start to get used to living in the ‘ new normal ’ and our perception of risk decreases , sometimes unhelpfully so .
What this doesn ’ t tell us is whether people ’ s behaviour changes over time .
However , lots of studies have been done since then , including on the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic – where a lot of this research was conducted .
To cut a long story short , many , but not all , of these studies find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of at least some preventative measures ( like hand washing , social distancing ) as the epidemic increases , and this has been looked at in various ways .
When asking people to report their own behaviours , several studies found evidence for a reduction in at least some preventative measures ( usually alongside evidence for good compliance with others ) .
2 ) Green Deal Facing Delays Due To Coronavirus , EU Admits EurActiv , 19 March 2020The European Commission is having to re-order its priorities in the face of the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the biodiversity strategy and the farm-to-fork strategy likely to be delayed by several weeks , EURACTIV understands .
Officially , the show must go on .
But in private , officials admit that Brussels is having to review its priorities in order to throw all its weight behind the ongoing fight against the coronavirus crisis .
“ At this point in time , we do not have any comment to make on any knock-on effect that this could have on legislative work in general , ” said Eric Mamer , chief spokesperson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regular press briefing on Tuesday ( 17 March ) .
However , he also suggested that a reshuffling of priorities was underway at the EU executive , also because of constraints posed by teleworking .
“ For legislative activity to work , we need to have the institutions able to operate , ” Mamer admitted , saying Commission services and other EU institutions “ will definitely have to prioritise their work in order to cater for the current needs.
” As a result , “ non-essential ” initiatives like the biodiversity strategy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delayed by a few weeks , EURACTIV understands .
According to the Commission ’ s work programme , those were supposed to be adopted before the end of March .
Other Green Deal-related initiatives likely to be delayed include the raw materials strategy .
“ If we adopt those strategies in two or three weeks , that won ’ t make such a big difference , ” one official told EURACTIV on condition of anonymity .
“ We have to concentrate on the corona crisis , ” the official explained .
But that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forget about the Green Deal ” to focus on the coronavirus , as suggested by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Monday .
Nor will the Commission put its carbon trading scheme on hold , like Poland requested through the voice of its Deputy Minister for State Assets , Janusz Kowalski , officials said .
3 ) A Fiasco In The Making ?
As The Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold , We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data John P.A .
Ioannidis , Stat News , 17 March 2020 The current coronavirus disease , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco .
At a time when everyone needs better information , from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just social distancing , we lack reliable evidence on how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or who continue to become infected .
Better information is needed to guide decisions and actions of monumental significance and to monitor their impact .
Draconian countermeasures have been adopted in many countries .
If the pandemic dissipates — either on its own or because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and lockdowns may be bearable .
How long , though , should measures like these be continued if the pandemic churns across the globe unabated ?
How can policymakers tell if they are doing more good than harm ?
Vaccines or affordable treatments take many months ( or even years ) to develop and test properly .
Given such timelines , the consequences of long-term lockdowns are entirely unknown .
The data collected so far on how many people are infected and how the epidemic is evolving are utterly unreliable .
Given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and probably the vast majority of infections due to SARS-CoV-2 are being missed .
We don ’ t know if we are failing to capture infections by a factor of three or 300 .
Three months after the outbreak emerged , most countries , including the U.S. , lack the ability to test a large number of people and no countries have reliable data on the prevalence of the virus in a representative random sample of the general population .
This evidence fiasco creates tremendous uncertainty about the risk of dying from Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the official 3.4 % rate from the World Health Organization , cause horror — and are meaningless .
Patients who have been tested for SARS-CoV-2 are disproportionately those with severe symptoms and bad outcomes .
As most health systems have limited testing capacity , selection bias may even worsen in the near future .
The one situation where an entire , closed population was tested was the Diamond Princess cruise ship and its quarantine passengers .
The case fatality rate there was 1.0 % , but this was a largely elderly population , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is much higher .
Projecting the Diamond Princess mortality rate onto the age structure of the U.S. population , the death rate among people infected with Covid-19 would be 0.125 % .
But since this estimate is based on extremely thin data — there were just seven deaths among the 700 infected passengers and crew — the real death rate could stretch from five times lower ( 0.025 % ) to five times higher ( 0.625 % ) .
It is also possible that some of the passengers who were infected might die @ @ @ @ @ @ @ different frequencies of chronic diseases — a risk factor for worse outcomes with SARS-CoV-2 infection — than the general population .
Adding these extra sources of uncertainty , reasonable estimates for the case fatality ratio in the general U.S. population vary from 0.05 % to 1 % .
That huge range markedly affects how severe the pandemic is and what should be done .
A population-wide case fatality rate of 0.05 % is lower than seasonal influenza .
If that is the true rate , locking down the world with potentially tremendous social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s like an elephant being attacked by a house cat .
Frustrated and trying to avoid the cat , the elephant accidentally jumps off a cliff and dies .
Could the Covid-19 case fatality rate be that low ?
No , some say , pointing to the high rate in elderly people .
However , even some so-called mild or common-cold-type coronaviruses that have been known for decades can have case fatality rates as high as 8 % when they infect elderly people in nursing homes .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of millions of people every year , and account for 3 % to 11 % of those hospitalized in the U.S. with lower respiratory infections each winter .
These “ mild ” coronaviruses may be implicated in several thousands of deaths every year worldwide , though the vast majority of them are not documented with precise testing .
Instead , they are lost as noise among 60 million deaths from various causes every year .
Although successful surveillance systems have long existed for influenza , the disease is confirmed by a laboratory in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. , for example , so far this season 1,073,976 specimens have been tested and 222,552 ( 20.7 % ) have tested positive for influenza .
In the same period , the estimated number of influenza-like illnesses is between 36,000,000 and 51,000,000 , with an estimated 22,000 to 55,000 flu deaths .
Note the uncertainty about influenza-like illness deaths : a 2.5-fold range , corresponding to tens of thousands of deaths .
Every year , some of these deaths are due to influenza and some to other viruses , like common-cold coronaviruses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for respiratory viruses in specimens from 57 elderly persons who died during the 2016 to 2017 influenza season , influenza viruses were detected in 18 % of the specimens , while any kind of respiratory virus was found in 47 % .
In some people who die from viral respiratory pathogens , more than one virus is found upon autopsy and bacteria are often superimposed .
A positive test for coronavirus does not mean necessarily that this virus is always primarily responsible for a patient ’ s demise .
4 ) Josef Joffe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Temptation The American Interest , 18 March 2020 State control of information is a bridge to oppression democracies must never cross .
Freedom of expression is among the holiest of holies in a liberal polity .
Totalitarianism is Stalin and Hitler , the NKVD and the Gestapo , the Gulag and the death camp .
Correct , but take another look .
It is also an eternal temptation that has infected Western minds great and small—from Martin “ Sieg Heil !
” Heidegger to Jean-Paul Sartre , who pitched for Communism until the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Among the lesser minds , Charles Lindbergh cozied up to Hitler , and Joseph Davies , the U.S .
Ambassador to the USSR , penned a ringing apologia for Stalin ’ s Great Terror in Mission to Moscow .
The book was turned into an even more awful movie .
Add a herd of Western devotees and camp followers who cheered Mussolini , Mao , Castro , Che , and , lately , Hugo Chávez—this Stalinist caudillo attracted effusive praise from the actor Sean Penn .
Which takes us to China ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of cheerleading for the almighty state .
While in Beijing , the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom extolled China as a model in the war against SARS-CoV-2 , better known as “ coronavirus.
” According to China ’ s state media , he gushed that “ China ’ s speed .
.
.
and efficiency .
.
.
is the advantage of China ’ s system.
” The country deserved “ praise ” and “ admiration ” for its methods in routing the silent enemy that has spread the COVID-19 epidemic from Wuhan to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Such an éloge needs to be tempered .
First of all , the world owes the most recent iteration of the coronavirus to China , more precisely to Wuhan and its “ wet markets ” whence it sprang forth from bats , a delicacy of the local cuisine .
That calamity may be ascribed to Chinese culture .
But what followed was owed to the very system cheered by the WHO boss .
By the end of December , health workers warned that something was afoot .
Yet totalitarians hate bad news , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Suppressing the reports , they blamed the messengers and detained them .
There was “ speed , ” but the wrong kind .
Instead of locking up the doctors , the regime might have closed down Wuhan Airport , which serves 32 cities around the world , including Paris , London , Rome , Seoul , Tokyo , and Sidney .
With flights operating into February , the virus forged ahead while precious time was lost .
In mid-March , the regime tried fake news , a classic agitprop tool , with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
army had brought the epidemic to Wuhan.
” So , why would the WHO director ( and plenty of others ) applaud the Communist emperor Xi ?
Because of political expediency , for one .
You don ’ t bite the hand you need to feed in order to contain the Wuhan Virus .
But China seems to be making up for its sins .
Apparently , new cases have plummeted from 2,400 during the last week in February to single digits in mid-March .
So , three cheers for the superiority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Korea is the world ’ s number one when it comes to testing , which is critical for controlling the virus .
Taiwan has slowed its spread .
In Iran , though , a harsh theocracy whose tentacles reach deeply into society , new infections are on a steep rise .
So totalitarian systems aren ’ t necessarily super-efficient , while supposedly chaotic democracies are hardly doomed.The price of what Xi calls a “ people ’ s war ” is horrendous .
To boot , Beijing ’ s strategy can be pursued only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a democracy .
Essentially , the state has locked up half a billion people , most harshly in and around Wuhan .
It dispatched armies of enforcers to guard the access to residential compounds and to restrict movement within .
The regime deployed digital surveillance systems no liberal polity would or could countenance , and rightly so .
The government tapped into data from state-run mobile companies as well as from payment apps that record “ who , when , and where , ” so that fugitives can be traced and collared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known in the West as “ my home is my castle ” to record body temperatures , presumably hauling suspects off to detention facilities—for their own good , of course .
Tech companies have developed apps with a kind of traffic light .
“ Green ” is good , “ yellow ” is a warning , “ red ” is bad .
Guards use the color coding to block movement at railroad stations and traffic nodes .
The darkest side of the “ people ’ s war ” is sheer repression .
Ren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been blasting Xi for extinguishing free speech .
Too bad for him that he now ran afoul of an all-out Party campaign to quash criticism about the government ’ s fake- or no-news strategy .
Ren accused the state of having accelerated the epidemic that had claimed innumerable lives .
He might as well have committed treason .
So , Ren has suddenly disappeared , which is a swift way to silence “ enemies of the people.
” State control of information is a bridge to oppression democracies must never cross .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of holies in a liberal polity .
An indispensable check on arbitrary power , free media also happen to be eminently useful in national emergencies , exposing error , mismanagement , and falsehood .
It was the absence of free media in China that enabled the regime to muzzle the whistleblowers of Wuhan at such a murderous price .
How are those bungling democracies doing ?
Italy has virtually copycatted China ’ s anti-virus warfare , practically locking down the entire country .
Spain has followed , as has France—though with a 15-day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU members will surely go the same route .
They are successively dismantling “ Schengenland , ” the EU ’ s borderless realm , reasserting national control .
Yet such constraints are being imposed without the totalitarian tools of the Chinese .
In deploying the powers of the state , Western governments have illuminated a peculiar advantage of democracies .
To combat crises , they need not resort to police-state tactics .
If governments communicate truthfully with the people , the ruled do what needs to be done voluntarily .
Look around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and stay away from large crowds .
They accept curbs on their freedom such as closed bars , restaurants , theaters , and stores except those establishments that sustain life in deadly times : food , drug , and pet stores ( animals have to eat , too ) .
They keep social distance and walk alone rather than in pairs .
[ … ] It could happen here , too—which is all the more reason to resist the authoritarian temptation .
What are the antidotes ?
All emergency measures must come with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the press at all costs .
Set new dates for postponed elections now .
Keep holding officials accountable .
Secure the separation of powers .
The rule is to persuade , not to impose .
Defy the pied papers who stoke panic and hysteria in order to deconstruct the liberal state .
5 ) Matt Ridley : We Are About To Find Out How Robust Civilisation Is The Spectator , 20 March 2020 There are no good outcomes from here .
The hardships ahead are like nothing we ’ ve known .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ will get through this .
On Sunday , lonely as a cloud , I wandered across a windswept moor in County Durham and passed a solitary sandstone rock with a small , round hollow in the top , an old penny glued to the base of the hollow .
It is called the Butter Stone and it ’ s where , during the plague in 1665 , coins were left in a pool of vinegar by the inhabitants of nearby towns and villages , to be exchanged with farmers for food .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customer approached the rock only when the other was at a safe distance .
Four modern coins were on the rock , anonymous offerings to the spirits of the moor .
Never once in my six decades did I expect to be back in a 17th-century world of social and physical distancing as a matter of life and death .
There are no good outcomes from here .
Many people will die prematurely .
Many will lose their jobs .
Many businesses will go under .
Many people will suffer bereavement , loneliness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus .
The only question is how many in each case .
We are about to find out how robust civilisation is .
The hardships ahead are like nothing we ’ ve known .
The British government has been unusual in ramping up its social distancing measures , rather than rushing them all at once .
This resulted in a good deal of bafflement and criticism , some of it justified .
The driving motive was concern that a resurgence of the virus after its initial suppression would be a disastrous outcome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be curfewed twice , so the timing had to be right .
But the vicious experience of Italy has changed everything .
So when the darned models revealed that a single ‘ managed ’ peak here leading to eventual herd immunity might kill 260,000 people and overwhelm the National Health Service , the strategy shifted from ‘ delay ’ to ‘ suppress ’ .
The government is now effectively admitting that even if drastic curfews lead to successive waves of the disease , that may be the least worst outcome .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waves mean successive curfews and successive body blows to the economy .
If we clamp down hard now and the infection rate drops , then we might be able slowly and cautiously to restart the economy in the summer but have to clamp down again when the virus resurges .
Each time we do this , it will be more painful , but at least the health service will be that much better prepared , with more intensive-care beds , more isolation facilities , more ventilators , more and newer testing kits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drugs .
Moreover , each time the virus re-emerges , there will be more immune people to help look after the sick .
Once you ’ ve had the disease , and assuming the immunity you acquire is long-lasting ( not yet certain ) , then you are in a special category of person who can be employed — or volunteer — for what would otherwise be risky work , and for looking after older people .
Each wave of the disease can then be less awful .
One side-effect of the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people have got ahead of the authorities .
Lots of people have been volunteering to give up gatherings , work from home if they can or travel less before being asked to .
The chorus of complaint last week on social media that the government was not doing enough is a sign that people are now telling the government what to do — which is how it should be in a democracy .
A prime minister is being criticised for not ordering us to do things , but ‘ advising ’ us .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ As the libertarian thinker Douglas Carswell put it on Monday : ‘ Treat people as responsible adults and they will behave more responsibly.
’ Until this year I thought this kind of infectious pandemic could not happen today .
The defeat of infectious diseases as a cause of death has been so complete as to seem invincible : plague , smallpox , cholera , typhoid , measles , polio , whooping cough and many more eradicated or nearly so .
The failure of terrifying new animal-derived viruses like Hanta , Marburg , Sars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , bird flu and zika to cause more than a local or temporary interruption of the march of progress left us complacent .
( Only HIV went global . )
The advance of science allowing the rapid reading of the genome of the new coronavirus gave us false confidence : we would know how to beat it by the time it got out of China .
It seemed that only the most innocuous of common colds , and milder forms of flu , seemed capable of remaining ubiquitous .
And coronaviruses are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so ( despite Sars ) they seemed like pussy cats , not tigers .
It turns out that I and many others were badly wrong .
The human race has been playing epidemiological Russian roulette all along .
It has taken Mother Nature a long time to put a bullet in the right chamber , combining high contagion with asymptomatic carriers and a significant death rate , but she has done it .
We now know that we should have been building far more preparedness for such an event .
The World Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Wellcome Trust did well to establish a Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation in 2017 in partnership with the Gates Foundation along with the Indian and Norwegian governments , but it should have been started much earlier .
Against many risks , excess precaution is a mistake , doing more harm than good by preventing innovation — but not in the case of threats that can explode exponentially from small beginnings .
Apart from Singapore , which built a special hospital after Sars , and South Korea , which geared up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge scale , the world had done far too little to get ready for this possibility .
Everything now is catch-up .
And we are trying to catch the fastest runner of them all : an exponential curve .
Full post 6 ) Terence Corcoran : The Soaring Costs Of COVID-19 Pandenomics Financial Post , 20 March 2020Serious precautions and preventive measures are necessary to fight COVID-19 , but the costs could prove to be massively out of scale with the risks The global economic experiment in pandemic control continues to expand , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic sector , worker by worker .
Governments are getting the headlines : In Japan there is talk of US $ 260 billion in government action .
The U.S. is said to be aiming for US $ 1 trillion in new spending .
Canada announced $ 82 billion in direct and indirect spending .
France $ 550 billion .
Spain $ 150 billion .
And so it goes around the globe , and where it will end , nobody knows .
At his news conference Thursday , Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threw more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ massive ” losses in the value of the pension assets of Canadians .
He promised Ottawa “ will be taking measures.
” Once the mandated global economic lockdown is ended , likely months from now , more massive national stimulus will be called for to allegedly stimulate the growth needed to pay down mounting government debt .
I will leave it to professional economists at one of the banks to run up a tabulation of the trillions of dollars that governments have and will be committing to the cause of fighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to create .
Whatever the total government spending number , it will be dwarfed by the dollar value of the damage done to the world economy by the collective actions of the world ’ s political leaders as they orchestrate the greatest deliberate peacetime attack on economic activity .
The U.S. economic slowdown — if slowdown is the right word for the precipitous declines in activity — is already underway .
China ’ s growth rate is cratering , Europe is right behind .
The stated objective of the economic shutdowns is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could kill hundreds of thousands of people .
But hundreds of thousands die every year from other causes that do not prompt a mandatory economic shutdown .
The World Health Organization , one of the orchestrators of COVID-19 pandenomic programs , estimates that 1.35 million die annually from traffic accidents around the world , including nearly 40,000 a year in the United States and more than 2,000 in Canada .
Annual flu season kills between 365,000 and 650,000 globally a year , according to the WHO .
The 2018 U.S. death toll from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Canada up to 3,500 can die from flu .
The point here is not to diminish the threat posed by COVID-19 , but to highlight that the world is an unsafe place for millions of people who die every year from existential events without triggering a global economic shutdown .
The Manhattan Institute ’ s Heather Mac Donald recently noted the obvious .
“ We did not shut down public events and institutions to try to slow the spread of the flu .
Yet we have already destroyed $ 5 trillion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks in the growing coronavirus panic.
” Serious precautions and preventive measures are necessary to fight COVID-19 , but the costs of the new pandenomics could prove to be massively out of scale with the risks .
Excessive economic costs have been linked to viruses in the past .
A 2008 World Bank paper cited by U.S. medical columnist Darren Schulte examined the economic costs of fighting previous viral outbreaks , including the SARS coronavirus event in 2003 .
The paper estimated the GDP loss from fighting SARS in Hong Kong , Singapore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2003 dollars , a large number considering there were only 7,000 cases and 700 associated deaths .
The cause of the GDP losses were associated , first , with the voluntary adjustments made by individuals and businesses who altered their behaviour to avoid the SARS risks .
But there was a second cause .
“ The distinctive feature of these episodes is that although they ultimately result in relatively little illness and death , they entail large economic costs which are primarily the result of excessive preventive behaviour by individuals and ( on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bans and other measures that interfered with trade and other activity , governments added to the costs that exceeded the costs of dealing with the disease itself .
In the current exercise in pandenomics , the economic costs of fighting COVID-19 will be staggering .
Once the COVID-19 economic shutdown has ended and recovery is underway , the measurable final GDP costs of fighting it will run to many trillions of dollars and will be accompanied by incalculable burdens borne by individuals and companies .
The trillion-dollar figures will be defended on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were saved .
It could also be said , however , that these same lives could have been saved if Ottawa and the rest of the global political establishment had heeded earlier warnings of the risks of pandemic .
The online Blacklock ’ s Reporter this week referred to a 2006 Health Canada study that clearly described how the pandemic could sweep the country .
Did anybody read the study ?
Or were the bureaucrats too busy drafting climate-change preparedness plans ?
7 ) WSJ : Rethinking The Coronavirus Shutdown The Wall Street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its economic health .
Financial markets paused their slide Thursday , but no one should think this rolling economic calamity is over .
If this government-ordered shutdown continues for much more than another week or two , the human cost of job losses and bankruptcies will exceed what most Americans imagine .
This won ’ t be popular to read in some quarters , but federal and state officials need to start adjusting their anti-virus strategy now to avoid an economic recession that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The vast social-distancing project of the last 10 days or so has been necessary and has done much good .
Warnings about large gatherings of more than 10 people and limiting access to nursing homes will save lives .
The public has received a crucial education in hygiene and disease prevention , and even young people may get the message .
With any luck , this behavior change will reduce the coronavirus spread enough that our hospitals won ’ t be overwhelmed with patients .
Anthony Fauci , Scott Gottlieb and other disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and private industry to marshal resources against the virus .
Yet the costs of this national shutdown are growing by the hour , and we don ’ t mean federal spending .
We mean a tsunami of economic destruction that will cause tens of millions to lose their jobs as commerce and production simply cease .
Many large companies can withstand a few weeks without revenue but that isn ’ t true of millions of small and mid-sized firms .
Even cash-rich businesses operate on a thin margin and can bleed through reserves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lay off employees and then out of necessity they will shut down .
Another month like this week and the layoffs will be measured in millions of people .
The deadweight loss in production will be profound and take years to rebuild .
In a normal recession the U.S. loses about 5 % of national output over the course of a year or so .
In this case we may lose that much , or twice as much , in a month .
Our friend Ed Hyman , the Wall Street economist , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second quarter to an annual rate loss in GDP of minus-20 % .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ’ s assertion on Fox Business Thursday that the economy will power through all this is happy talk if this continues for much longer .
If GDP seems abstract , consider the human cost .
Think about the entrepreneur who has invested his life in his Memphis ribs joint only to see his customers vanish in a week .
Or the retail chain of 30 stores that employs hundreds but sees no sales and must shut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with $ 20,000 in student-loan debt—taken on with the encouragement of politicians—who finds herself laid off from her first job .
Perhaps she can return home and live with her parents , but what if they ’ re laid off too ?
How do you measure the human cost of these crushed dreams , lives upended , or mental-health damage that result from the orders of federal and state governments ?
Some in the media who don ’ t understand American business say that China managed a comparable shock to its economy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other side .
Why can ’ t the U.S. do it too ?
This ignores that the Chinese state owns an enormous stake in that economy and chose to absorb the losses .
In the U.S. those losses will be borne by private owners and workers who rely on a functioning private economy .
They have no state balance sheet to fall back on .
The politicians in Washington are telling Americans , as they always do , that they are riding to the rescue by writing checks to individuals and offering loans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amount of money that can make up for losses of the magnitude we are facing if this extends for several more weeks .
After the first $ 1 trillion this month , will we have to spend another $ 1 trillion in April , and another in June ?
By the time Treasury ’ s small-business lending program runs through the bureaucratic hoops—complete with ordering owners that they can ’ t lay off anyone as a price for getting the loan—millions of businesses will be bankrupt and tens of millions will be jobless @


climatedepot--2020-03-20--Democrats Want to Include ‘Climate Action’ in Coronavirus Aid

The Democratic proposals touch on two main areas .
Several Senate Democrats want airlines to reduce their carbon emissions in exchange for federal aid that could hit $ 50 billion or more .
House Democrats , meanwhile , are looking at clean-tech tax credits .
Those include incentives for electric vehicles , battery storage , offshore wind and solar energy that were left out of a December tax extenders package .
Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill are pushing to add climate change provisions to the third aid package for people and industries affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have the political leverage to make those ideas stick—at least not yet .
The Democratic proposals touch on two main areas .
Several Senate Democrats want airlines to reduce their carbon emissions in exchange for federal aid that could hit $ 50 billion or more .
House Democrats , meanwhile , are looking at clean-tech tax credits .
Those include incentives for electric vehicles , battery storage , offshore wind and solar energy that were left out of a December tax extenders package .
Their demands have precedent .
In 2009 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ auto industry to the tune of $ 80 billion , it conditioned aid on improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency .
For one thing , Democrats lack leverage with Republicans in control of the Senate and the White House .
For another , there ’ s broad consensus that Congress must act quickly to provide relief to affected Americans .
Democrats don ’ t want to be seen as slowing down emergency aid with climate demands .
These political realities mean that Congress would be hard pressed to tackle both coronavirus and climate change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one political economist said that climate hawks should press for concessions in any future long-term economic package .
“ What we ’ re seeing discussed right now is phase three .
That phase is still an immediate stopgap measure .
It ’ s not looking at a long-term fiscal stimulus to get the economy back on track once workers can return to their jobs , ” said Mark Paul , a senior fellow at Data for Progress .
“ I do think that we need to ensure that climate is front and center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think it appropriately belongs in the longer-term fiscal stimulus package.
” Dan Lashof , director of the World Resources Institute , was more blunt in his assessment .
“ I think in this immediate third package , climate ’ s not gon na be the central concern , ” he said .
“ But that doesn ’ t mean that it should be ignored.
” The airline industry has requested more than $ 50 billion in federal aid—more than three times the amount it received after the Sept. 11 , 2001 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to heed this request .
“ We ’ re going to back the airlines 100 % ; it ’ s not their fault , ” President Trump said at a White House press briefing earlier this week .
“ We ’ re going to be backstopping the airlines ; we ’ re going to be helping them very much.
” But several Senate Democrats yesterday demanded that any assistance for the airline and cruise ship industries come with strings attached , including requirements to reduce carbon emissions .
“ Given the poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industries , we believe that any such financial assistance should be paired with requirements that companies act in a more responsible fashion , ” they wrote in a letter to House and Senate leadership .
“ Given the large footprint of commercial aviation , requiring reductions in carbon emissions would represent a major step in curbing our nation ’ s greenhouse gas emissions , ” they added .
Signing the missive were Sens .
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island , Martin Heinrich of New Mexico , Tina Smith of Minnesota , Richard Blumenthal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Cory Booker of New Jersey , Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Jeff Merkley of Oregon .
Aviation currently accounts for around 2.5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions .
But that percentage is expected to triple by midcentury as tourism and travel expand .
The letter does not specify how airlines should go about curbing their emissions—whether it ’ s through investments in alternative fuels , fuel efficiency or carbon offsets .
A Whitehouse spokeswoman declined to comment further .
But environmentalists are now echoing the senators ’ call , and they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efficiency and investments in alternative fuels .
“ In the past several years , several airlines have plowed a significant portion of their profits into stock buybacks rather than investments in a climate-friendly future of aviation , ” said Annie Petsonk , international counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund .
“ So if they ’ re going to get this kind of cash , it ’ s important to have some climate strings attached to it , ” she said .
“ They don ’ t just need to improve their fuel efficiency—although @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We also need strong economic incentives for them to reduce emissions and spur innovation.
” Brad Schallert , deputy director of international climate cooperation at the World Wildlife Fund , said U.S. airlines have lagged behind their European counterparts when it comes to investing in alternative fuels such as biofuels .
Democrats , he said , are in a position to help change that .
“ They could condition some of the aid that ’ s being received—the grants and the loans—based on some commitment to make investments in alternative fuels , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could get more cash if they decided to support the green industries of the future.
” Schallert acknowledged that Congress faces pressure to act quickly to help American workers affected by the pandemic , and Democrats ’ climate demands could slow down negotiations .
But he stressed that the two goals aren ’ t mutually exclusive .
“ Policymaking can achieve multiple goals at once—the environment doesn ’ t need to come at the cost of not supporting workers at the same time , ” he said .
“ There are ways to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Capitol Hill , House Democrats are eyeing an assortment of clean energy tax credits that were left out of a year-end tax extenders package following opposition from the White House ( E & E Daily , Dec. 19 , 2019 ) .


climatedepot--2020-03-20--Chris Horner: When ‘Climate’ Isn’t About the Climate At All

Opinion polls confirm that “ climate change ” is still valiantly holding on in its fight to remain dead as an issue of actionable public concern .
Some state attorneys general claim this is because of dark forces , and they will use their law enforcement powers to ensure the public hears only the one , sanctioned Truth .
Ominous threats aside , reasons for the rejection are sometimes humorous – polls also show that the public feels it ’ s doing its part by recycling and turning off the lights when leaving a room , so why lard big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ climate ” is where both parties ’ donor bases are .
It is an inescapable litmus test for the Democratic party ’ s increasingly left-wing base .
So candidates for the Democratic nomination for president shout about climate being the “ challenge of our time , ” and “ the greatest threat to our national security.
” Spoiler alert : It isn ’ t .
Hard truths include that the climate changes – it always has , it always will .
Of course , saying “ climate changes ” makes one a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thomas Jefferson , whose home I gaze upon from my desk , wrote about climate change – no , global warming– in his “ Notes on the State of Virginia 1781.
” He even ascribed a rate of warming , “ of 1 [ degree ] of Fahrenheit ’ s thermometer for every century , ” in his Monticello Weather Diary ( January 1 , 1810 to December 31 , 1816 ) .
Climates warm , climates cool .
Historically , warming periods were called “ optima.
” I think that means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ check .
Cooling was definitely bad .
Cold kills .
Crops fail , loosing disease and poverty stalk the land , killing many infants and the infirm .
Sometimes witches are burned to see if that fixes things .
It doesn ’ t .
Adaptation has always been the answer to the reality of climate always changing .
The wealthiest societies have adapted best .
Those that chose to burn witches fared less well .
In a complete departure from modern times , burning witches because , climate was accompanied by intellectual elites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem facing mankind .
Wealthier is healthier .
Wealthier is also cleaner , greener , and more resilient .
Pop quiz : when the same storm hits , do you want to be in Florida or Haiti ?
OK , why Florida ?
Is Haiti poor because it doesn ’ t have our Environmental Protection Agency – more laws create jobs !
– or does Haiti not have our hordes of regulators because it is poor ?
The key to a wealthy society eager to regulate itself is access to abundant , reliable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights and the rule of law , of course , which the climate agenda tosses out with the rest of the bathwater of democracy ) .
We are not , in fact , outside of natural variability in the prophesied parade of horribles that will befall us if we did not heed demands and rush headlong into the protective apron seemingly promised by the “ global governance ” class .
“ Seemingly , ” because there isn ’ t actually a promise on offer to end or even abate those plagues that supposedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ snow , ” rapidly rising seas ( seas rise between glaciations , at a fairly constant rate that has not accelerated ) , storms of increased frequency and intensity , decreased traffic at Bulgarian brothels and even the a scarcity of haggis .
Salvation is merely implied .
The dirty secret of “ climate ” is that no one claims that any demanded “ carbon ” tax , cap-and-trade ration coupon scheme or windmill mandate would have a measurable impact on climate ( or temperature ) .
This is in fact a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t about climate .
“ Climate ” alarmism is pretextual for what the people making demands want , but can ’ t get you to agree to .
The United Nations economist tasked with designing the “ green economy ” confessed , “ [ w ] e redistribute de facto the world ’ s wealth by climate policy… One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy .
This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.
” ( Just in case you wondered how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a jobs program early in the Obama administration . )
That wild turn struck one earnest academic , who hilariously asked in a Washington Post op-ed , “ When did ‘ climate change ’ become clean energy ?
” Bless his heart .
Now we are back to planetary salvation .
Twelve years , or the planet gets it !
, per AOC .
Which she then said was sarcasm that only a sea sponge would fall for .
Like WaPo ’ s Tom Toles .
Anyway , Greta then said it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Charles who , eleven years earlier , had also given us eight years .
It seems so long ago that the British prime minister , Gordon Brown , gave us fifty days .
Wait , that was the same year Charles set the figure at eight years .
The first time .
This should have been a tell .
All of which is to say , there may be a reason to do away with separation of powers , and to abandon our economic liberties .
There may be a reason to allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and for state AGs to investigate political opponents at the request of the plaintiff ’ s tort bar .
“ Climate , ” however , isn ’ t that reason .
We have vastly more to fear from climate policy than we do from climate change .
Among the two , only one is inevitable .
Of course , as a Chinese proverb goes , when there is food on the table there are many problems ; when there is no food on the table , there is but one .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tables , it does seem likely that some voters will become open once again to policies in the name of “ climate.
” While environmental concerns have increased overall , partisanship continues to be a major factor in attitudes about the environment and climate change .
Since 2017 , virtually all the increase in the share of Americans saying global climate change should be a top priority has come among Democrats .
Still , members of both parties are more likely to rate protecting the environment a top policy priority than did so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be a much higher priority for Democrats than Republicans .
The national survey by Pew Research Center , conducted Jan. 8-13 on cellphones and landlines among 1,504 adults , finds that defending the country against terrorism remains a top priority among the public overall , as has been the case since 2002 .
The demands are already here .
Campaign season is about to go full-on nuts .
Orgiastic media coverage awaits when Earth Day turns 50 in April .
Then withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty looms ( it is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respect for institutions demands we consummate our withdrawal or the Senate can kiss its Article II , Sec .
2 treaty role goodbye ) .
Bitterly cling to the facts above in the coming months .
A lot is at stake .


climatedepot--2020-03-20--Climate Litigation: a Government Grab for Cash

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse ( D-RI ) is a clumsy bully , particularly when it comes to those who disagree with his obsession with redesigning society in response to climate alarmism .
Whitehouse is also a promiscuous filer of often angry amicus curiae or “ friend of the court , ” briefs ; his pet peeve is that parties who disagree with him have the same access to the judiciary that he does .
His most recent fulmination , filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit , has proved a particular embarrassment .
Sen. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fellow climate extremists Sens .
Ed Markey and Jack Reed ( D-RI ) , assailed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for having dared to voice their opposition to Rhode Island v. Chevron Corp. et al.
, which seeks billions of dollars from energy companies for supposedly having caused climate change .
The Chamber broke ranks , as the sole dissenting voice among a mob of fifty others weighing in in support of using the courts this way .
That was too much for Whitehouse , Rhode Island ’ s junior senator , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to neuter the judicial branch of government on these questions to the benefit of its fossil fuel donors.
” This is pretty salty stuff even considering it ’ s Whitehouse , who once asked former attorney general Loretta Lynch if she would investigate opponents of the “ climate ” agenda for racketeering .
This bad look could get worse , and soon did in the form of newly obtained public records suggesting someone is indeed misusing the courts for money here , but it ’ s not who Sen. Whitehouse would have you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notes has come to light thanks to a state open-records law request by the transparency group Energy Policy Advocates ( “ EPA ” ) .
These notes , and a second , corroborating set of typed notes , reveal who is using the judiciary for what .
These records offer two independent transcriptions of a shocking confession about Rhode Island ’ s lawsuit and , implicitly , all the rest of its ilk pouring into state courts around the country .
As Energy Policy Advocates recently informed the court earlier this month in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were taken during a two-day July 2019 meeting hosted by the philanthropic Rockefeller Brothers Fund ( RBF ) at the Rockefeller family country estate in Pocantico Hills , N.Y .
The event was titled “ Accelerating State Action on Climate Change.
” Various gubernatorial chiefs of staff , department secretaries , or cabinet equivalents attending this meeting came from both Republican and Democratic state administrations .
Two environmentalist activist groups financed by the RBF , along with Tom Steyer ’ s Energy Foundation , were also in attendance .
The watchdog group obtained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including typed notes of Katie McCormack of the Energy Foundation , and handwritten notes taken by the Rocky Mountain Institute ’ s Carla Frisch .
One striking passage , replicated in both sets of notes , opens a troubling window onto this “ climate nuisance ” litigation .
Frisch recorded the comments of Janet Coit , the director of Rhode Island ’ s Department of Environmental Management , as follows : On its face this entry seems to be a confession that the Rhode Island legislature is not persuaded of the claims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matter .
It appears to also reflect a senior appointee of the governor explaining why the legislature has thereby declined to obtain from the taxpayer , and then appropriate to the State , the “ sustainable funding stream ” that the plaintiff Rhode Island desires .
And so it is “ suing big oil ” .
None other than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggested as much , making numerous relevant observations in a 2019 report on the issue , summarized with , “ local government leaders may eye the prospect of significant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for budget shortfalls.
” Fortunately , we can be confident that Frisch did not mishear director Coit .
McCormack provided the Rockefeller Brothers Fund with a typewritten set of her own notes transcribing the proceedings .
McCormack ’ s typewritten transcription of Coit ’ s commentary reads almost verbatim : These notes on their face both affirm two realities that have become inescapable in recent years about this epidemic of “ climate nuisance ” litigation , all channeled into state courts after the first generation of suits floundered in federal court .
These @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stand in for elected officials not willing to pay the political price for taxing their voters for the extra hundreds of billions of dollars they wish to spend .
Defendants in the Rhode Island “ climate nuisance ” case might be interested in obtaining further insight into what Coit meant by this and , if she claims as she no doubt will that it ’ s not what it seems , why two contemporaneous transcribers heard her the same , damning way .
Other emails obtained by Energy Policy Advocates reveal concern that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the public , and possible machinations to avoid that .
The confession by Rhode Island ’ s Director of Environmental Management surely is one very big reason why .
It ’ s time the courts formally confront that the “ climate nuisance ” litigation campaign generally , and we now know this lawsuit , specifically , is a grab for revenue and other desired policies that have eluded parties via the legislative process .
Politicians are seeking the most favorable local court to stand in for that political process .
Were they to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would pay , but the politicians would escape responsibility for having charged them .


climatedepot--2020-03-20--Matt Ridley becomes full government coronavirus ‘clampdown’ advocate: ‘We clampdown hard now’ and ma

Matt Ridley becomes full government coronavirus ‘clampdown’ advocate: ‘We clampdown hard now’ and may have ‘clampdown again when the virus resurges’

There are no good outcomes from here .
Many people will die prematurely .
Many will lose their jobs .
Many businesses will go under .
Many people will suffer bereavement , loneliness and despair , even if they dodge the virus .
The only question is how many in each case .
We are about to find out how robust civilisation is .
The hardships ahead are like nothing we ’ ve known .
Until this year I thought this kind of infectious pandemic could not happen today .
The defeat of infectious diseases as a cause of death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invincible : plague , smallpox , cholera , typhoid , measles , polio , whooping cough and many more eradicated or nearly so .
The failure of terrifying new animal-derived viruses like Hanta , Marburg , Sars , Mers , ebola , swine flu , bird flu and zika to cause more than a local or temporary interruption of the march of progress left us complacent .
( Only HIV went global . )
The advance of science allowing the rapid reading of the genome of the new coronavirus gave us false confidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it by the time it got out of China .
It seemed that only the most innocuous of common colds , and milder forms of flu , seemed capable of remaining ubiquitous .
And coronaviruses are a common cause of the common cold , so ( despite Sars ) they seemed like pussy cats , not tigers .
Successive waves mean successive curfews and successive body blows to the economy .
If we clamp down hard now and the infection rate drops , then we might be able slowly and cautiously to restart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to clamp down again when the virus resurges .
Each time we do this , it will be more painful , but at least the health service will be that much better prepared , with more intensive-care beds , more isolation facilities , more ventilators , more and newer testing kits , more data on the efficacy of repurposed drugs .


climatedepot--2020-03-21--In the Face of a Pandemic, Climate Activists Reevaluate Their Tactics: ‘No one wants to hear about c

In the Face of a Pandemic, Climate Activists Reevaluate Their Tactics: ‘No one wants to hear about climate change’

“ No one wants to hear about climate change now—not even climate change activists , ” she said .
“ It ’ s like shouting in a gale storm : Nobody ’ s listening to you.
” Until the coronavirus crisis exploded in the United States , Cherise Udell was helping to organize a national climate-action training aimed at mobilizing as many as 11 million people to fight for serious climate solutions .
As founder of the group , Utah Moms for Clean Air , she ’ s learned firsthand how building trust face-to-face is crucial for taking on big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But three weeks ago , in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic , she persuaded fellow organizers in the upcoming Arm in Arm 4 Climate campaign to rethink an upcoming activist training retreat .
Instead of gathering in Washington , D.C. , they are going to plan their direct actions virtually .
“ No one wants to hear about climate change now—not even climate change activists , ” she said .
“ It ’ s like shouting in a gale storm : Nobody ’ s listening to you.
” The coronavirus pandemic has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just as the movement has achieved unprecedented momentum .
It ’ s a pivotal moment for the cause because polls show that a majority of Americans see climate change as a problem .
Just last month , a poll found that seven of every 10 voters said government should be doing more to address climate change .
And leading up to the November elections , the issue is in play in everything from races for state legislatures and congressional seats to the campaign for the presidency .
For many activists , the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an object lesson for climate change .
How the pandemic is managed—or mismanaged—illustrates points that they have been trying to make for the climate with mixed success .
On Thursday , Laurence Tubiana , a former French diplomat involved with the 2015 Paris climate accord , described coronavirus as a wake-up call for governments to deal with climate change swiftly , according to Reuters .
She said viruses , like climate change , do not respect borders .
“ If we do not manage the climate crisis it will be the same , @ @ @ @


climatedepot--2020-03-21--Plastic bag bans aren’t helping us fight against coronavirus – Calls to reverse bans on single-use p

Plastic bag bans aren’t helping us fight against coronavirus – Calls to reverse bans on single-use plastic grocery bags

Before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit , warnings about potential public health consequences of banning single-use plastics in the name of environmental protection fell on deaf ears .
But now people are wisely calling on lawmakers in New York , California , and other states and localities to reverse bans and regulations on single-use plastic grocery bags .
Reusable bags can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 and other pathogens .
Research shows that reusable bags harbor dangerous microorganisms .
In fact , the sanitary nature of single-use plastics is one of the key reasons these products have become so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they require less energy and make less pollution in production than alternatives .
Problems related to plastics in the environment can and should be addressed by proper disposal policies and litter control , rather than through policies that undermine public health .
Back in 2011 , researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University examined a sample of reusable bags from shoppers and found “ large numbers of bacteria , ” including dangerous fecal bacteria such as coliform , E. coli , and salmonella .
Bacteria was found in 99 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no bacteria or viruses were found in a sample of disposable plastic bags and new reusable bags .
Bacteria can easily be transferred from leaking meat packages as well as from fruits and vegetables , and the study found it grows in the bags that are stored in car trunks .
Reusable bags also pick up bacteria and viruses from simply being held and carried around .
A 2012 study found that nine members of a soccer team contracted the norovirus , a leading cause of food poisoning , from touching a reusable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The bag had been stored in a bathroom .
That might seem like an outlier , but people cart these bags all over the place , touching surfaces on public transportation , taking them into public bathrooms , and other places , creating lots of opportunities for the bags to pick up bacteria and viruses .
The pathogens on these reusable bags can also infect people in grocery stores who don ’ t even use them .
A 2018 study assessed the probability of norovirus transmission from reusable grocery bags carried around in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not infectious , virus as a proxy .
It found that the virus easily moved from the bag all around the store , with a high concentration found on the hands of both consumers and store checkout clerks .
It ’ s feasible that these reusable bags could also carry the coronavirus , which is why Clemson University Professor Robert M. Kimmel , author of a 2014 life-cycle study on plastics , has urged New York state to halt its ban at least until the coronavirus is under control .
Kimmel explained that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ highly likely to be contaminated with bacteria and viruses and could transfer this contamination to people by contact with supermarket check-out conveyors , grocery carts , kitchen counters and other surfaces.
” The reusable bags should be thoroughly washed after every use , says Kimmel .
Yet only 3 % of reusable bag consumers ever wash the bags according to a survey conducted by Charles P. Gerba and colleagues at the University of Arizona .
Single-use plastic bags are not the only problem for environmental activists , who also want bans on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should all carry our own “ to-go ” set of reusable metal or wooden utensils , straws , and cups .
But again , these are likely to harbor pathogens if not thoroughly cleaned between every use — and this includes their carrying cases .
And cleaning a reusable straw isn ’ t exactly easy .
A key reason that busy eateries rely on single-use utensils and containers is because they provide superior sanitary performance .
Studies dating back to the 1970s showed that reusable utensils often contained dangerous levels of bacteria even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restaurants where a high volume of people circulate in and out quickly .
That ’ s one very good reason why fast food eateries , school cafeterias , hospitals , nursing homes , and other medical facilities have relied on single-use plastic products : They reduce risks of disease transmission .
Apparently , Starbucks and Dunkin ’ finally got the message in the age of the coronavirus : Both announced that they will no longer allow their customers to get refills in reusable cups .
Single-use plastic bans amount to bad public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proper disposal , rather than bans , is the answer to litter problems .
It ’ s time for lawmakers to wake up before more people get sick from dirty pathogen-laden reusable products .
Angela Logomasini , Ph.D. , is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute , a free market think tank .


climatedepot--2020-03-22--Toronto Star Columnist: COVID-19 deaths are ‘not where the terror lies. The true terror is mass deat

Toronto Star Columnist: COVID-19 deaths are ‘not where the terror lies. The true terror is mass death and that could become reality if we don’t tackle climate change’

When the coronavirus catastrophe finally ends , what will we have learned from it ?
Good lessons about citizenship , social cohesion , hygiene and patience but also about shamelessly venal politicians , even greater domestic abuse of women in a crisis , hoarding , secret health violations that harm others , financial panic and just plain panic .
I mention this because COVID-19 is something of a test run for worse news , which is climate change .
As two McGill University professors , Eric Galbraith and Ross Otto , recently pointed out in The Conversation , total COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s not where the terror lies .
The true terror is mass death .
Global heating is another universal danger where the suffering will be intensely personal .
Canada is racing to flatten the COVID-19 curve just as we will eventually be cutting carbon output , as life grows increasingly arduous and unpleasant even in fortunate countries like our own .
But here ’ s the thing that strikes these two professors , one in earth system science and the other in psychology .
Why are we so frantic about COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say there are four reasons : the instinctive , vivid , personal fear of COVID-19 ; the suddenness of the viral attack ; the immediate , obvious strategies to fend off the virus strategies ; and finally , the fact that nations are able to go it alone .
Dealing with the coronavirus is easier than dealing with climate change .
It has been fast and remarkable .
The economist and historian Adam Tooze says the coronavirus has shattered the myth of “ faith in the market , ” that the economy has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliberately inducing one of the most severe recessions ever seen .
In so doing we are driving another nail into the coffin of one of the great platitudes of the late 20th century : it ’ s the economy stupid.
” There is a certain freedom to this , he says .
“ Given the experience of the past dozen years we should now never tire of asking : which economic constraints are real and which imagined ?
” He is clearly referring to what we might do to slow climate change .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and possibly dire , questions .
The historian Yuval Noah Harari asks about the consequences of the coronaviral peace after the “ fast-forwarding ” that crises bring .
Personal surveillance is here to stay , he says .
He is referring to facial recognition technology and health-tracking used by China ’ s communist government but there is something inevitable about it coming to the rest of the world .
If we used it successfully to fight death , shouldn ’ t we keep it ?
He suggests we may see the normalization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to trust governments ( “ the soap police ” as he calls it ) , and the need for a globalized supply chain world to globalize everything , to sit down and negotiate , to communally regulate .
He predicts that countries will now pre-screen their own citizens before they travel , rather than relying on their national destination .
It makes sense .
And he asks another question that we will all be wondering about very soon .
Will the U.S. join the planet again ?
If Trump is re-elected , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become a nation without allies , who will have to turn elsewhere .
A Biden administration would presumably renormalize , re-sanitize , and rebuild a world order after having seen how fragile it can be .
But who knows ?
There may well be good lessons , one of them being transparency , even in nations like Canada where governments hand out information with the greatest reluctance .
Citizens should have access to tests and medical records .
They should be entrusted with their own data and with public data that affects their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in social norms , a realization that we are indeed all in this together and that social media brutality was a primitive era we ’ re happy to see die .
And let ’ s be frank , humans will learn how to maintain cleaner bodies and cleaner homes , and then perhaps a cleaner planet .
There has to be agreement on migrants , for there will be more of them in a heating world .
As Prime Minister Trudeau announced Friday , there has to be a system in place so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a country outside official border points , endangering their own health and the health of anyone they encounter .
It ’ s not clear what will be done after the crisis ends , but it was good to see two nations , the U.S. and Canada , agreeing about their mutual border and preparing for regulation rather than chaos .
I also wonder if people will become more self-sufficient , growing food in allotments or their own gardens , returning to preparing food themselves .
Given the whacking of global retirement savings in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ optional .
Our lives will be different from now on .
The hope is that we will live more intelligently , thinking more about our future on the planet rather than the blithe destruction we indulged in for 50 years .


climatedepot--2020-03-22--Democrats, greens seek climate mandates on aid to struggling airline, cruise industries: Morano: ‘De

Democrats, greens seek climate mandates on aid to struggling airline, cruise industries: Morano: ‘Dems know that they should never let a crisis go to waste’

Senate Democrats and environmentalists want to tack climate-change mandates onto proposed federal aid to major airlines and cruise lines reeling from the novel coronavirus outbreak .
In a letter to the House and Senate leadership , eight Senate Democrats said that any financial assistance to the travel industry “ should be paired with requirements that companies act in a more responsible fashion ” by reducing their carbon footprint .
“ If we given the airline and cruise industries assistance without requiring them to be better environmental stewards , we would miss a major opportunity to combat climate change and ocean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the same time , more than 200 environmental and wildlife groups urged Congress to place a cap on greenhouse gases from U.S. air fleets , which would require the industry to reduce emissions by 20 % per decade from 2020 levels .
“ Climate change damages will wreak havoc on a scale even greater than the coronavirus , ” said the Friday letter headed by the Center for Biological Diversity .
“ It is time to stop repeating the mistakes of the past and ensure that any bailout of the aviation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address its threat to our climate , workers and communities.
” We ’ re trying !
It is possible to accomplish two goals at once , even in Congress .
https : //www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/if-were-bailing-out-corporations-they-should-bail-out-the-planet … If We ’ re Bailing Out Corporations , They Should Bail Out the Planet As companies pursue government assistance to endure an economic slump prompted by the coronavirus pandemic , Democrats have the power to make any bailout depend on promises to meet the targets set in… newyorker.com 36 people are talking about this Which is really strange because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : //twitter.com/tan123/status/1241176567532969992 … The U.S. airline industry is pushing for $ 50 billion in financial assistance—about half in zero-interest loan guarantees , half in cash grants—as air travel nosedives in reaction to COVID-19 , while the Senate GOP package as introduced includes loans but not grants .
The risk for Democrats lies with the optics of holding up critically needed aid over climate concerns .
United Airlines and its unions warned Friday that layoffs would be necessary to account for next month ’ s anticipated 60 % drop in planned flights without federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morano blasted the effort to insert climate change into the pandemic response , saying that the “ last thing U.S. businesses or the economy need are more punishing climate-based mandates to satisfy the Democrat Party base.
” “ Democrats know that they should never let a crisis go to waste , ” said Mr. Morano , author of “ The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change.
” “ They are pouncing on any opportunity to inject climate into the Covid-19 issue .
Trying to make sure that any federal stimulus bills include going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ is not the way to proceed .
”