Posts filed under ‘ethical & philosophical’
Der Spiegel Skewers the World Wildlife Fund
A splendid and disturbing investigative feature in Der Spiegel explains why the WWF doesn’t deserve your charitable donations.
Get ‘em While They’re Young
The World Wildlife Fund thinks its corporate logo should be plastered on children’s flesh.
Mother Mexico & the Jackals
How are green groups different from yesterday’s colonial powers? Their global agenda is paramount, their lack of empathy for ordinary people breathtaking.
The WWF’s Soulless Climate Campaign
The World Wildlife Fund is using ordinary Mexicans as pawns in a geopolitical chess game.
Eco Narcissists & Their Last Chances
For half a century green activists have insisted that their historical moment – and a particular generation – are the planet’s last hope.
Thank You, British Taxpayers
British taxpayers spent £165,937 in recent years on climate change projects here in Canada.
Earth Hour: Corporations Preaching Morality
When you dim your lights for Earth Hour, you’re protesting in a manner approved by multinational corporations. You’re allowing banks and insurance companies to tell you how to spend your Saturday night.
The Wealthy Corporations Behind Earth Hour
Earth Hour was brought into this world by corporations. Fairfax Media Limited – whose newspapers, magazines, and radio stations are supposed to report impartially on environmental issues – owns one-third of this annual green event.
Canada’s Senate, David Suzuki & The Delinquent Teenager
My book is discussed in the Canadian Senate – and the David Suzuki Foundation behaves like a rabid dog.
Fairy Tales on the Road to Rio
Nine papers are being distributed by an upcoming save-the-world conference. They’re explicitly intended to influence the behaviour of world leaders at the Rio summit in June. But the claim that they represent the latest scientific thinking is a gross distortion.
The Authoritarian Impulse and Climate Change
People who want to save the planet are fond of more laws and more red tape. They talk of silencing their opponents and sending people to prison.
17 Days Later, Peter Gleick is Back in the Saddle
Peter Gleick confessed to lying and stealing less than three weeks ago, but that didn’t prevent him from delivering a keynote speech to the California Water Policy Conference yesterday.
Explosive Pachauri Profile in Australian Magazine
Five years before Rajendra Pachauri became chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a judge ruled that he had “sworn to false affidavits” – and that a non-profit organization was “not safe” in his hands.
Where Do Gleick’s Apologists Draw the Line?
If it’s OK for scientists to lie to advance the fight against climate change what other bad behaviour is acceptable?
Gleick Speak
Peter Gleick issues a statement about the Heartland documents.
Big Oil Money for Me, But Not for Thee
The Sierra Club takes fossil fuel money. So does the Nature Conservancy and Rajendra Pachauri’s sustainability conference. So why is the Heartland Institute being torn to pieces for the same behaviour?
The Royal Society’s Joyride
In recent years the world’s oldest science academy has been taken for a joyride. Three centuries of neutrality have been impulsively abandoned – in the name of fighting climate change.
Scientific Consensus, Leadership & Stephen Schneider
Is it any wonder that young climate scientists behave badly? Their elders set the example – by hurling insults at dissenters.
Proselytizing to Toddlers
Many jurisdictions frown on advertising that is aimed at children. But UNESCO says nursery schools should teach kids about sustainable development.
Pachauri’s 5-Star Sustainability Summit
If you were hosting a sustainability conference that criticized energy-intensive lifestyles and over-consumption, would you do it at a five-star hotel?
Medical Journals Spearhead Climate Lynch Mob
Why are the editors of leading medical journals trying to suppress climate free speech? Since this isn’t their area of expertise how dare they harass those with a different point-of-view?
IPCC Scientists – Guests of the Environmental Defense Fund
A powerful lobby group supplied their meeting space, helped with their travel documents & subsidized their meals. Top IPCC scientists went along for the ride.
Free Speech is Not Negotiable: Stop SOPA
The vibrant, international climate skeptic community owes its existence to the Internet. We must defend it.
Those Who Claim to Speak for the Future
A collection of NGO brats, self-important rich folks, and UN bureaucrats have taken it upon themselves to be the voice of future generations.
Proud To Be Canadian
First our leaders said ‘no’ to Kyoto. Then they stood up to green bullies.
What Financial Meltdowns Teach Us About the IPCC
When I describe the surreal world of climate science to people who are strangers to that world I know it sounds fantastical. But there are strong parallels with the recently destroyed economies of Iceland, Greece, and Ireland.
The World’s Slowest Learners
UN bureaucrats say climate change is a planetary emergency and that time is running out. So when US senators unanimously rejected the Kyoto Protocol where was Plan B?
Rajendra Pachauri: Ever the Activist
According to the head of what is supposed to be a neutral scientific body, young people need to be mobilized to become major agents of change. Does it really need to be said that science is no longer science if those with activist agendas are in charge?
When the Police Knock on Your Door
When six police officers visit your home for three hours, confiscate your computers, and mess with your phone line it’s little comfort to be told you aren’t a suspect.
Which Other Minorities Should Be Blasted into Space?
How funny would it have been had IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said that gays should be given a one-way ticket to outer space?
Over-the-Top Climate Rhetoric
Emotional, over-the-top language doesn’t come from real leaders in a time of real crisis. Rather, it’s a sign that someone’s trying to stampede public opinion.
Pachauri’s Green Torch Bearers
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is supposed to be a neutral and impartial body. But its chairman is encouraging business students to be green activists.
Pachauri Interviewed by Pretend Journalist
The UK’s Guardian newspaper has published a fawning article about IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri. But the article is pure propaganda. It was written by the Natural Resources Defense Council – a green lobby group that fancies itself “the Earth’s best defense.”
The IPCC’s Fake Review Editor
A person who “played no role whatsoever” in an IPCC chapter nevertheless signed a statement that claimed otherwise.
A Dark Day in Australia
Two thirds of Australians opposed the carbon tax that has just been passed, but Al Gore says this legislation is a victory for the Australian people.
How to Spot a Delinquent Teenager
Delinquent teenagers never take responsibility for their own actions. After they’ve set fire to the the neighbour’s sofa they insist the real issue is that the cops got the time slightly wrong.
Al Gore’s Money-Grubbing
Al Gore says climate change is a planetary emergency. But he’ll only tell a campus audience about it if the cheque is big enough.
Moral Leadership, Climate Change & the UN
The head of the UN has told the inhabitants of a country still recovering from civil war that the greatest threat to their well-being is climate change.
The Journal of Climate & the IPCC
We’re supposed to trust the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s conclusions because it relies on peer-reviewed scientific literature. But many of the people who run scientific journals also write IPCC reports. This is a circular, incestuous process.
Naming Names: Marine Experts Tainted by Activist Cash
The list of people who’ve accepted $150,000 from an advocacy organization is a long one. There are lots of PhDs here, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with full-blown political activists.
Pew, What’s That Smell?
An activist group has been funding a particular corner of scientific research to the tune of $1 million a year for more than two decades. Do we really think this hasn’t influenced how those working in that field see the world?
Chris Landsea and the Moral Midgets
The scientific community expects us to trust its judgment on the question of whether global warming is the fault of human beings. But its response to the Chris Landsea affair demonstrates that that judgment is impaired.
Fanaticism 101
According to someone with a PhD from Harvard, my skeptical climate change views mean one thing: I’m intent on murdering his grandchildren.
The Thrashing of Al Gore Continues
When skeptics argue with Al Gore about the science of climate change do they step right into a trap?
Walter Russell Mead Trashes Al Gore
Over the past 16 months Walter Russell Mead, a Democrat, has authored a series of bracing commentaries about what’s wrong with the green movement. Near the top of his list: Al Gore.
The Activists, the Media, and the Public
When activists hoodwink the media – and questionable environmental scare stories are the result – why don’t we care?
Science is Not a Tyrant
Activists, politicians, and journalists love to play the ‘science says’ game when talking about global warming. But scientific facts are one thing. How best to respond to those facts is a completely different discussion – in which we all deserve a voice.
How Much Harm to Humans is OK?
An IPCC official thinks that quadrupling gasoline prices could help save the planet. What effect such a policy would have on human beings appears to be irrelevant.
The IPCC as UN Funding Mechanism
You gotta love the UN. The 31-member IPCC bureau includes representatives from undemocratic and unsavoury countries such as Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Malaysia, Madagascar and the Maldives. Soon, these countries may be deciding the fate of billions of UN-administered climate change funds.
Climate Change & Violent Fantasies
When did it become acceptable to pen violent fantasies about people with whom you disagree? When did it become OK to talk – luridly and out loud – about their death?
David Suzuki is a Drama Queen
While the rest of us approach challenges with determination, optimism, and faith in ourselves as problem solvers, drama queens see only worst-case scenarios. They exaggerate. They emotionalize.
A Story about a Farmer, a Flood & Fish
A flooded-out farmer is fighting for his economic survival. Rather than assisting him, environmental bureaucrats are contributing to his nightmare.
No Harmony with Hogweed
People who think we should live in harmony with nature usually forget to mention poisonous plants.
Swedish Show Trial
Rather than championing logic and reason, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences now stages political theatre. Humanity is accused, tried, and convicted in a “court case” in which the verdict was determined in advance.
The IPCC, the UK, and Climate Censorship
When British delegates attempt to censor speakers at a Russian Academy of Science climate change event that’s a clue that science has left the building.
Blindspots at the IPCC
A new 1,000-page Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report appears to ignore both nuclear power and shale gas – even though both these energy sources emit far less CO2 than does coal. This suggests the IPCC’s top priority isn’t emissions reduction after all.
The Climate Caper
Written by a senior Australian scientist, The Climate Caper explores some of the reasons why official IPCC science has become so pervasive. For one thing, it’s affiliated with huge government agencies employing large numbers of civil servant scientists.
Fixed: the IPCC’s Climate Model Evaluation Game
Each IPCC report includes a chapter that evaluates climate models. Is this written by disinterested parties who take a cold, hard look at the strengths & weaknesses of these analytical tools? Nope. It’s authored by people whose livelihoods depend on climate models.
The Case of Michael Oppenheimer
Perhaps the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change doesn’t regard activist scientists as damaged goods because neither the National Academy of Sciences nor the American Association for the Advancement of Science does, either.
When the Lights Go Out
Having just spent 17 hours without electricity, I’m feeling especially keen on a stable energy supply.
Ka-Ching! More Greenpeace Money
One of the most senior authors for the upcoming climate bible has spent the past 17 years cashing cheques from Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
Foul Play on Facebook
Climate skeptic pages on Facebook were recently targeted. Our content was alleged to be “abusive” and the ability of readers to share it was temporarily blocked.
The IPCC’s Pretend Neutrality
Actions speak louder the words. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claims to be impartial and evenhanded – but that’s not how it behaves.
Politically Incorrect Prof May Lose His Job
A UCLA professor who found no link between a certain kind of air pollution and premature death is fighting to keep his job. But the state employee with the fake PhD merely got demoted.
Why is Humanity Always the Fall Guy?
Museums acknowledge that, historically, Mother Nature killed off fish and caused glaciers to retreat. So why do these same institutions imply that similar events in the here-and-now are solely the fault of humans?
Earth Hour? I’ll Take a ‘No Nagging’ Hour
As a young woman I embraced feminism because I didn’t want to be bossed around by men. These days it’s greens who want to regulate my behaviour.
Earth to Scientists
Half a century ago, a science journalist discovered that anything less than reverential reporting was interpreted by scientists as hostility. It would seem that climate scientists who label critics ‘anti-science’ come from a long tradition.
Dr Nadelhoffer, I’m Not Impressed
An expert who testified to Congress this week reached well beyond his own scientific expertise. By advocating a particular response to climate change he brings science into disrepute.
Fiddling While Infants Perish
13 times as many children die before their first birthday in Rwanda as in Canada or the UK. Most people live below the poverty line, and 3 out of 10 are illiterate. Yet a UN official says Rwanda has demonstrated “leadership” by banning plastic bags.
Green Math: Let’s Spend a Billion to Save $8 Million
The person in charge of green energy projects for a group of Los Angeles community colleges wanted to cut down trees and obliterate playing fields so that $1 billion could be spent on alternative energy installations. Power currently costs these colleges less than $8 million a year.
Scientists Speak Out
Two physics professors – one in America and one in the UK – are condemning the behaviour of prominent climate scientists. They say it’s a violation of scientific honesty and integrity.
Not Your Grandfather’s Greenpeace
Environmental activist organizations are all grown up now. We need to adjust our thinking accordingly.
Environmentalism Runs Amok
Nearly half a century after the first Earth Day, the chessboard has changed dramatically. The players with the power, the war chests, and the influence are different now.
You Doubt Monger, You
When environmentalists organize themselves, fund-raise, and try to spread their message this is considered legitimate democratic activity. Yet the minute climate skeptics do the same we’re accused of being doubt-mongers who manufacture uncertainty in order to mislead the public.
Flying Cars and Sewing Machines
People who look into the future and see only environmental devastation have lost their sense of wonder.
Scientists Have Allowed Themselves to Be Used
An award-winning meteorologist says he’s ashamed of – and embarrassed by – his profession.
Friday Giggles
On those days when one doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, I choose to laugh. The Daily Bayonet blog contrasts so completely with anything available from the mainstream media one can’t help wondering what the world would be like if this gent were a late-night comic.
It Isn’t a Conspiracy – It’s Just Money, Fashion & Power
If much of the world were to snap out of it and realize that global warming has been over-hyped, large companies would lose hundreds of billions.
How Do You Say ‘Independent’ in Australian?
Any government body headed by eco-campaigner Tim Flannery cannot possibly be considered “independent”.
Bill McKibben’s Bad Example
Those seemingly nice people brimming with such concern for the planet are actually profoundly intolerant.
Michael Crichton’s Legacy
The late Michael Crichton drew our attention to the startling lack of rigour in climate science when compared to drug testing.
Teachers: the New Green Police
Canadian teachers (who are employees of the state) are attempting to dictate how children’s lunchbox sandwiches get packaged. Intruding so intimately into people’s private lives is not an acceptable way to save the planet.
Credit Where It’s Due
A news account suggests Michael Oppenheimer is a class act. Rather than calling climate skeptics “deniers” he admits they might be smart people.
The Sad State of the Debate
According to some people, only a “climatologist” can be a credible scientific voice in the climate debate. Why do we spend so much time trying to disqualify people – rather than addressing their ideas?
Is the IPCC a Scrutiny-Free Zone?
A senior author thinks the IPCC should take a stand by declaring Freedom of Information requests a form of harassment.
The Silent Treatment
Should AGW proponents acknowledge critics? Or should they avert their eyes and block their ears?
If You Don’t Believe in Global Warming, the Terrorists Win
A writer fabricates imaginary Osama bin Laden opinions. Then he fabricates imaginary climate skeptic opinions. The fact that they’re identical, he says, proves that skeptics are morally reprehensible “deniers” who should be ignored.
Celebrating Science
A web comic that reminds us what’s powerful, noble, and inspiring about the scientific endeavour.
Have a Little Faith
Humans are ingenious and creative and resourceful. Whatever challenges the future may hold, we shall overcome.
Blood Supply Threatened by Green Extremism
For every green idea that truly makes sense, there’s half a dozen dumb ones. When bureaucrats promote these dumb ideas communities lose their bloodmobiles.
The UN’s Grim Fantasy: One-Child Laws
Ted Turner has fathered five children. But he thinks China’s coercive one-child policies should be exported to other countries. Why aren’t other UN officials scrambling to distance themselves from his remarks?
World War II Rationing – the ‘Hated Sacrifice’
Some people argue that energy rationing of the sort imposed during wartime is necessary to save the planet. But World War II rationing made life miserable for ordinary people. It also nourished the black market & organized crime.
Why Good Judgment Matters
Data is collected, recorded, adjusted & interpreted not by disinterested robots but by people. Because highly-educated individuals can look at the same data and come to different conclusions, the degree to which a person’s judgment can be trusted becomes a central concern.
Appalling Rhetoric from a Climate Skeptic
The climate change debate is important. Human lives (and trillions of dollars) hang in the balance. We therefore need open, vigorous dialogue. We need to hear all perspectives. But this can’t happen when both sides are trying to shut down the debate by declaring other people’s views criminal.
The Non-Stop Disaster Narrative (2-minute video)
One environmental scare story always seems to follow another. Even though the predicted disasters never materialize, we still believe the latest one.
Lest We Forget the Importance of Liberty
To a large degree the climate change story is a media story. Journalists are supposed to be guard dogs, not lap dogs. Instead, they’ve become arbiters of scientific truth – refusing to report on non-conformist perspectives.
Last of a five-part series.
Margaret Atwood Should Resign From PEN International
As Vice President of PEN International, Margaret Atwood has pledged to oppose “any form of suppression of freedom of expression.”
But she sits on a board directors with a man who says some people have no right to free speech. She has written the foreword to a book by David Suzuki – who thinks politicians should be jailed for their climate change views. She has also encouraged her Twitter followers to visit a web page that says a TV station that hasn’t even begun broadcasting should be stopped.
Slaying the Unicorn
The campaign against ‘Fox News North’ threatens the intellectual freedom of all Canadians.
Speech Crimes & Ethics 101
An ethics professor thinks corporations that challenge climate dogma should be charged with a new kind of crime against humanity.
Strangely, he’s unconcerned that a representative of the violent & unsavoury Sudanese government fills one of the IPCC’s four most prominent positions.
Local Government Is Not About Being Green
Local government is supposed to be about water, sewer, garbage collection, police and ambulance services. So why are so many election candidates obsessed with the environment? Canadian taxpayers already fund environment ministries at two other levels of government.
Blood & Gore Against Global Warming
A UK green group has produced an advertisement in which people (including school children) who exhibit insufficient enthusiasm for reducing their carbon footprint are blown to pieces. Yep, they are cavalierly murdered while those in the vicinity get splattered with blood and gore.
The Politics of Fear
According to many commentators, conservatives are now ascendant because they have invoked the politics of fear.
So where are the denunciations of the politics of fear employed by greens? They’ve played that hand for years – exploiting & targeting kids in the process.
Can We Recycle Bono?
Climate change activist Bono now appears in Louis Vuitton ads – a $1200 bag slung over his shoulder. How exactly does extreme conspicuous consumption fight global warming?
Anti-Science Claim Is Devoid of Meaning
During the first half of this month, activist-scientist-blogger Joe Romm described other people as anti-science on 16 separate occasions. This is the equivalent of a toddler calling everyone from the babysitter to grandad a poopy head.
The Legal Disclaimers Behind the Climate Science
Dangerous climate change is supposed to be such “settled science” we’re being told to transform the way we live & work. Yet some of the parties promoting this view are covering their butts by protecting themselves from legal consequences.
Intellectual Freedom
The American Library Association defines intellectual freedom as the “right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view.” Eco activists who attempt to silence the voices of climate skeptics threaten intellectual freedom as well as free speech.
Shielding Climate Orthodoxy from Free Speech
American professors are encouraging journalism students to suppress certain kinds of news so that the public won’t be confused by climate skepticism. This turns journalists into arbiters of truth and treats the public like children.
The Water Cannon of the Climate Debate
The climate bible is the ultimate weapon in the global warming debate. Skeptics are told the experts have spoken and that carbon dioxide is the Great Satan.
The Battle for the Soul of Science
The public is being told that to doubt global warming is to be anti-science and that to question behaviour reminiscent of adolescent gamers is to “attack” climate scientists for doing their job. It’s time the grown-ups in the scientific community made themselves heard.
Al Gore Blows Tobacco Smoke in Our Face – Again
Al Gore’s family raised tobacco for years. He boasted about his involvement with this crop on the election campaign trail, and accepted donations from big tobacco. With supreme hypocrisy he now attempts to discredit climate skeptics by connecting them rhetorically to this unpopular industry.
Let There Be No More Scientific Consensuses
Science is about doubt – not certainty. Journalism is supposed to reveal – not conceal. When scientific organizations claim there’s a consensus, they step over the line into political advocacy. When media outlets trumpet said consensus they “disappear” highly-qualified, dissenting scientists.
Is This Politics or Science?
For those of us who think science is about being open to new ideas and perspectives, Michael “hockey stick” Mann isn’t the kind of scientist we’d want our kids to grow up to be.
Valentine’s Day and the Scientific Method
Real science tells all. It doesn’t hide results that don’t conform to expectations.
Audi’s "Green Police" Superbowl Ad
Talk about bringing one’s agenda to the party. A vegetarian green entrepreneur thinks the ad is an example of advertising that “casts environmentalists…as wack-jobs.” Someone else demonstrates his Christian beliefs by calling people with whom he disagrees a long list of names.
If We Don’t Agree, You’re Crazy
A businessman who believes in a diversity of climate opinions, and who thinks a certain amount of hysteria has been associated with global warming is declared mentally ill by a green blogger.
Science Says: Hop on One Foot
Scientific investigation produces facts. But even when we have full confidence in the accuracy of these facts we must still choose how to respond to them. When activists insist there’s only one possible response they’re attempting to preempt important democratic discussions, to silence our voices, to substitute their own views for those of the community.
Copenhagen Banner: Scrap Capitalism
Climate change protesters who decline to distance themselves from the capitalism-is-the-problem crowd aren’t really serious. If they were, they’d declare loudly that the merits of various political systems is a separate debate.
Bullies Need Not Apply
Rather than working to persuade the skeptically-minded, global warming activists condemn. They name-call. They accuse. This isn’t the sort of behaviour one associates with an iron-clad case.
On Saying the Debate is Over (2-minute video)
A 2-minute video about why it’s not OK for one party in a discussion to unilaterally declare that “the debate is over.” Full text provided.
The Honest Broker
A moderate and pragmatic voice in the climate debate, Roger Pielke Jr. argues in this book, The Honest Broker, that scientists deserve this label when they present a variety of options to the public – rather than advocating a single course of action.
The Age of Regret
The Age of Stupid is a fictional film about the future. It says current humans are too dumb & self-absorbed to pay attention to the threat of global warming. I propose a different scenario: What shall I say to my grandchildren when they ask me why I did nothing as every facet of daily life became assessed, inspected & regulated by eco bureaucrats? What shall I say when they ask me why I allowed personal liberties to slip away?
How Much Is a Bird’s Life Worth?
Oil companies get fined $7,000 per bird for inadvertently harming wildlife. Yet society ignores the predictable massacre of thousands of birds by wind farms. Are we protecting wildlife – or harassing oil companies?
Al Gore Thinks Your Brain Is Too Primitive
It seems not to have crossed Al Gore’s mind that some of us consider his arguments flawed, his data suspect & his rhetoric overwrought. Instead, he prefers to believe that human neo cortexes are too primitive – that we’re biologically incapable of grasping his apocalyptic message.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Greenpeace thinks climate skeptics should be silent because a “scientific consensus” has established that dangerous climate change is real. Yet Greenpeace’s active opposition to genetically modified foods flies in the face of another scientific consensus – the one that says such products are safe.
Good Girl, Bad Girl
We are all entitled to ask questions – about anything, but particularly about a topic that is rarely absent from the daily news. Yet according to a spokeswoman for the United Nations it is immoral and irresponsible to question climate change.
