{"id":280350,"date":"2023-09-25T14:36:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=280350"},"modified":"2023-09-25T14:36:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:36:25","slug":"net-zero-and-the-politics-of-narcissism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=280350","title":{"rendered":"Net Zero and the Politics of Narcissism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0RICHARD ELDRED<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In an\u00a0excellent interview with\u00a0UnHerd\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Freddie Sayers<\/a>, political philosopher John Gray questions the effectiveness of current climate policies, suggesting they were implemented prematurely and lacked the necessary technology and materials. Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

I\u2019m not a climate sceptic. I\u2019m a disciple in that regard of a great friend who died recently, James Lovelock. He used to say that climate science is inexact, but if it has a bias, it\u2019s probably towards underestimating<\/em> the speed of climate change. He thought that climate change would consist of sudden jumps and it could transform things quite quickly, in a couple of decades. We might be in the middle of it. That\u2019s my view \u2013 I\u2019m not a climate sceptic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I am very sceptical about is Net Zero, and the kind of conventional green policies that are being launched. Firstly, they were launched before the infrastructure was there \u2013 before the technology was developed that could make them work. No consideration was given to the fact that many of the raw materials that were needed for the inputs, the batteries and so on, were now substantially or even largely controlled by China in Africa and elsewhere. It\u2019s in Africa that the Great Game of the 19th century is being refought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, they might be found in other countries; in Sweden and America, various deposits have been found. But they are not easily developed. And in the meantime, these programmes can\u2019t go ahead. Nor were the economic costs of these green programmes properly assessed. There was a constant insistence that they would be job-creative. Even in America, they haven\u2019t been that job-creative. And remember, America is very big, and can throw very large amounts of money at these things \u2013 the Green New Deal is largely a protectionist scheme. We can\u2019t do that because we\u2019re too small; we\u2019re too exposed to flows of international capital. The idea that in Britain or in Europe these programmes could ever possibly work \u2013 it\u2019s a bit like suffering from cancer and using candle therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people might say: \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to, we\u2019ve got to show that we\u2019re on the right side, we\u2019ve got to accomplish it, even if other people don\u2019t do it.\u201d I think that\u2019s the politics of narcissism: \u201cI want to feel good.\u201d But in the meantime, you\u2019re wasting resources and you\u2019re wasting time. There is a serious possibility that we\u2019re now in the early stages of runaway climate change. We should be focusing everything we\u2019ve got \u2013 not on having an infinitesimal impact on global carbon levels, which would be the case even if the whole Net Zero programme was implemented, but on policies of adaptation. And adaptation is not going to be easy. Remember, most climate scientists agree that once human-induced climate change is in the works, it goes on for decades or even centuries. You can\u2019t just stop it. There\u2019s a general idea among environmentalists that we started this so we can stop it. They are wrong. We started it, probably, but we can\u2019t stop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve said previously we\u2019re living in an age of tragedy<\/a>. I\u2019m not too sure about that anymore. I think we\u2019ve advanced further than tragedy. We\u2019re entering an age of absurdity. Consider German climate policy. Germany, as we keep hearing, is incomparably more adult, more advanced, more modern and in every way superior to bungling Britain. But in Germany, the result of their closing down of nuclear and going for renewables has been an increased reliance on the dirtiest kind of coal. Well, this is tragic, but it\u2019s even more than tragic. It is completely absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s difficult to put these arguments forward because people start shouting at you or they start crying or they say they can\u2019t get up in the morning. I rather brutally suggest: \u201cWell don\u2019t. Stay in bed until you get a better reason for getting up. And if you don\u2019t, well, there we are. Progress always has casualties.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop Press: <\/strong>According to Polar Bear Science<\/a><\/em>, Arctic sea ice has once more defied expectations by not experiencing a significant decline this year, disappointing those who had long anticipated a \u2018death-spiral decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an\u00a0excellent interview with\u00a0UnHerd\u2019s\u00a0Freddie Sayers, political philosopher John Gray questions the effectiveness of current climate policies, suggesting they were implemented prematurely and lacked the necessary technology and materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":280356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819134,691818272,691819262,691822946,691822947,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-280350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-alarmism","9":"tag-climate-hysteria","10":"tag-green-agenda","11":"tag-green-tyranny","12":"tag-john-gray","13":"tag-net-zero","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-753.png?fit=1700%2C1012&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1aVM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":256137,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256137","url_meta":{"origin":280350,"position":0},"title":"Watch: Morano on Newsmax: Biden \u2018bypassing democracy to impose Net Zero vision\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Biden \u2018bypassing democracy to impose Net Zero vision\u2019","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00image-120-1024x574-1.webp?fit=1024%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00image-120-1024x574-1.webp?fit=1024%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00image-120-1024x574-1.webp?fit=1024%2C574&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00image-120-1024x574-1.webp?fit=1024%2C574&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":213803,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=213803","url_meta":{"origin":280350,"position":1},"title":"John Kerry\u2019s climate office rife with ties to far-left green groups","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry\u2019s office is filled with officials who have previously held high-ranking positions at various global green energy institutions.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/0image-74-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/0image-74-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/0image-74-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/0image-74-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":223647,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223647","url_meta":{"origin":280350,"position":2},"title":"Gray Greenwashing: Is Regulation Next?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Voluntary Carbon Market has produced some of the most egregious examples of\u00a0#greenwashing\u00a0on record and is synonymous with a lack of integrity. 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