Last Week in Climate Change

Is climate action finally starting to develop momentum?

There was some good news last week for those of us who worry about the future of the planet,. Both inside and outside of Congress, Pope Francis spoke about the need to protect the environment and address climate change. Some conservative Catholics are eager to dismiss this as simply another misguided opinion by a left-learning Pope. But his predecessor, Pope Benedict, also spoke out on climate change, as we reported a couple of years ago.

There were other notable developments. China announced plans for an ambitious national carbon trading system. This announcement helps build momentum toward the Paris talks. It also makes the current Republican talking point — that America “can’t do it alone” — look increasingly feeble. Also last week, the NY Times reported that some major multinationals, including Walmart and Johnson & Johnson, have established plans to shift entirely to renewable energy. And in California, the CARB announced plans for major cuts in petroleum use under the state’s pathbreaking Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Climate policy always has its up and downs, and one good week doth not a trend make. But amidst the short-term fluctuations, we do seem to be seeing a longer-term progressive trend. Let’s hope the trend continues and gathers force.

One Reply to “Last Week in Climate Change”

The pope doesn’t have a clue about what causes climate change, nor does he have a special source of knowledge to tell him how climate will change in the future. But he does understand global politics, and he does want the Catholic Church to be considered relevant to political plans for the future.

The key to coping with climate change is minimizing government interference with the efforts of private individuals, companies, organizations, and other associations, to cope with climate change.

Climate alarmists are enthusiastically marching forward to make life more difficult for all human beings – in the name of protecting the environment. Heavy-handed regulations suppressing energy exploration, production, and use, will impoverish and endanger people across the planet.

And of course, it is ludicrous to think that climate can be controlled, or that it can be predicted. That has never been achieved in the past, and there is no reason to think that it can be now. That won’t inhibit climate change true believers from pursuing their political agendas. Neither will the failure of the efforts. They will keep on adjusting the climate models, rationalizing their failure to predict or control climate, and continue to say they will get it right next time.

Much like failure of the Soviet 5 year plans of the past never deterred Soviet central planners, would-be climate controllers will never lose their enthusiasm for political schemes to control human lives and property.

Intelligent people will be working – to the extent they are allowed – to cope with whatever climate change nature delivers. They won’t be advocating or resorting to political solutions, understanding that all political action is based, ultimately, on the use of force. Laws and penalties and taxes and regulations and cops and armies and guns, are useless tools in developing solutions needed for successfully dealing with nature.

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Reader Comments

paul grant says:

September 28, 2015 at 9:56 am

The pope doesn’t have a clue about what causes climate change, nor does he have a special source of knowledge to tell him how climate will change in the future. But he does understand global politics, and he does want the Catholic Church to be considered relevant to political plans for the future.

The key to coping with climate change is minimizing government interference with the efforts of private individuals, companies, organizations, and other associations, to cope with climate change.

Climate alarmists are enthusiastically marching forward to make life more difficult for all human beings – in the name of protecting the environment. Heavy-handed regulations suppressing energy exploration, production, and use, will impoverish and endanger people across the planet.

And of course, it is ludicrous to think that climate can be controlled, or that it can be predicted. That has never been achieved in the past, and there is no reason to think that it can be now. That won’t inhibit climate change true believers from pursuing their political agendas. Neither will the failure of the efforts. They will keep on adjusting the climate models, rationalizing their failure to predict or control climate, and continue to say they will get it right next time.

Much like failure of the Soviet 5 year plans of the past never deterred Soviet central planners, would-be climate controllers will never lose their enthusiasm for political schemes to control human lives and property.

Intelligent people will be working – to the extent they are allowed – to cope with whatever climate change nature delivers. They won’t be advocating or resorting to political solutions, understanding that all political action is based, ultimately, on the use of force. Laws and penalties and taxes and regulations and cops and armies and guns, are useless tools in developing solutions needed for successfully dealing with nature.