{"id":337976,"date":"2024-07-30T11:30:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T09:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337976"},"modified":"2024-07-30T11:30:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T09:30:18","slug":"fantasies-of-clever-climate-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337976","title":{"rendered":"Fantasies of Clever Climate\u00a0Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Science Matters <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Chris Kenny writes at The Australian Facts at a premium in blustery climate debate<\/strong><\/a>. Excerpts in italics from text provided by John Ray at his blog, Greenie Watch.  My bolds and added images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collective Idiocy From Intellectual Vanity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think we are so clever. The conceit of contemporary humankind is often unbearable.  Yet this modern self-regard has generated a collective idiocy, an inane confusion between feelings and facts<\/strong>, and an inability to distinguish between noble aims and hard reality.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This preference for virtue signalling over practical action<\/strong> can be explained only by intellectual vanity, a smugness that over-estimates humankind\u2019s ability to shape the world it inhabits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

As a result we have a tendency to believe we are masters of the universe, that we can control the climate and regulate natural disasters. Too lazy or spoiled to weigh facts and think things through,<\/strong> we are more susceptible than ever to mass delusion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have seen this tendency play out in deeply worrying ways,<\/strong> such as the irrational belief in the communal benefits of Covid<\/strong> vaccination despite the distinct lack of scientific evidence. Too many people just wanted to believe the vaccine had this thing beaten.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, there is no area of public debate where rational thought is more readily cast aside<\/strong> than in the climate and energy<\/strong> debate. This is where alarmists demand that people \u201cfollow the science\u201d while they deploy rhetoric, scare campaigns and policies that turn reality and science on their heads.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This nonsense is so widespread and amplified by so many authoritative figures<\/strong> that we have become inured to it. Teachers and children break from school to draw attention to what the UN calls a \u201cclimate emergency\u201d<\/strong> as the world lives through its most populous and prosperous period in history, when people are shielded from the ill-effects of weather events better<\/strong> than they ever have been previously.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians tell us in the same breath that producing clean energy is the most urgent<\/strong> and important task for the planet and reject nuclear energy,<\/strong> the only reliable form of emissions-free energy. The activists argue that reducing emissions is so imperative it is worth lowering living standards, alienating farmland, scarring forests and destroying industries, but it is not worth the challenge of boiling water to create energy-generating steam by using the tried and tested technology of nuclear fission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Our acceptance of idiocy, unchecked and unchallenged, struck me<\/strong> in one interview this week given by teal MP Zali Steggall. In many ways it was an unexceptional interview;<\/strong> there are politicians and activists saying this sort of thing every day somewhere, usually unchallenged.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steggall was preoccupied with Australia\u2019s emissions reduction targets<\/strong>. \u201cIf we are going to be aligned to a science-based target and keep temperatures as close to 1.5 degrees as we can, we must have a minimum reduction of 75 per cent by 2035 as an interim target,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steggall then patronised<\/strong> her audience by comparing meeting emissions targets to paying down a mortgage.<\/strong> The claim about controlling global temperatures is hard to take seriously, but to be fair it is merely aping the lines of the UN, which argues the increase in global average temperatures can be held to 1.5 degrees with emissions reductions of that size \u2013 globally.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

We could talk all day about the imprecise<\/strong> nature of these calculations<\/strong>, the contested<\/strong> scientific debate about the role of other natural variabilities<\/strong> in climate, and the presumption<\/strong> that humankind<\/strong>, through policy imposed by a supranational authority, can control global climate as if with a thermostat.<\/strong> The simplistic relaying of this agenda as central to Australian policy decisions was not the worst aspect of Steggall\u2019s presentation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Coalition has no policy, so let\u2019s be really clear, they are taking Australia out of the Paris Agreement if they fail to nominate an improvement with a 2035 target,<\/strong>\u201d Steggall lectured, disingenuously.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This was Steggall promulgating\u00a0the central lie of the national climate debate<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0that Australia\u2019s emissions reduction policies can alter the climate.<\/strong>\u00a0It is a fallacy embraced and advocated by Labor, the Greens and the teals, and which the Coalition is loath to challenge for fear of being tagged into a \u201cclimate denialism\u201d argument.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

It is arrant nonsense<\/strong> to suggest our policies can have any discernible effect on the climate or \u201cclimate risk\u201d. Any politician suggesting so, directly or by implication, is part of a contemporary, fake-news-driven dumbing down<\/strong> of the public square, and injecting an urgency into our policy considerations that is hurting citizens already with high electricity prices, diminished reliability and a damaged economy.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steggall went on to claim we were feeling the consequences of global warming already. \u201cAnd for people wondering \u2018How does that affect me?\u2019, just look at your insurance premiums, our insurance premiums around Australia are going through the roof<\/strong>,\u201d she extrapolated, claiming insurance costs were keeping people out of home ownership. \u201cThis is not a problem for the future,\u201d Steggall stressed, \u201cit is problem for now.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

It is a problem all right \u2013 it is unmitigated garbage masquerading as a policy debate.<\/strong> Taking it to its logical conclusion, Steggall claims if Australia reduced its emissions<\/strong> further we would lower the risk<\/strong> of natural disasters, leading to lower insurance premiums and improved housing affordability<\/strong> \u2013 it is surprising that world peace did not get a mention.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mind you, these activists do like to talk about global warming as a security issue. They will say anything that heightens fears<\/strong>, escalates the problem and supports their push for more radical deindustrialisation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our national contribution to global emissions
is now just over 1 per cent and shrinking.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia\u2019s annual emissions total less than 400 megatonnes while China\u2019s are rising by more than that total each year and are now at 10,700Mt or about 30 times Australia\u2019s. While our emissions reduce, global emissions are increasing. We could shut down our country, eliminating our emissions completely, and China\u2019s increase would replace ours in less than a year.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

So, whatever we are doing<\/strong>, it is not changing and cannot change the global climate.<\/strong> Our national chief scientist, Alan Finkel, clearly admitted this point in 2018, even though he was embarrassed by its implications in the political debate. Yet the pretence continues.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And before critics suggest I am arguing for inaction, I am not. But clearly, the logical and sensible baseline for our policy consideration should be a recognition that our national actions cannot change the weather. Therefore we should carefully consider adaptation to measured and verified climate change<\/strong>, while we involve ourselves as a responsible nation in global negotiations and action.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, we should not be leading that action but acting cautiously to protect our own interests and prosperity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is madness<\/strong> for us to undermine our cheap energy advantage to embark on a renewables-plus-storage experiment<\/strong> that no other country has dared to even try, when we know it cannot shift the global climate one iota. It is all pain for no gain.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet that is what this nation has done. So my question today is what has happened to our media, academia, political class and wider population<\/strong> so that it allows this debate and policy response to occur in a manner that is so divorced from reality?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we so complacent and overindulged that we accept post-rational debate<\/strong> to address our post-material concerns? Even when it is delivering material hardship to so many Australians and jeopardising our long-term economic security?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Should public debate accept absurd<\/strong> baseline propositions such as the idea that our energy transition sacrifice will improve the weather<\/strong> and reduce natural disasters, simply because they are being argued by major political groupings or the UN? Or should we not try to impose a dose of reality and stick to the facts?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feebleness of our public debate has telling ramifications \u2013 there is no way this country could have embarked<\/strong> on the risky, expensive and doomed renewables-plus-storage experiment if policies and prognostications had been subject to proper scrutiny and debate.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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

Our media<\/strong> is now so polarised that the climate activists of Labor, the Greens and the teals are able to ensure their nonsensical advocacy is never challenged,<\/strong> and the green-left media, led by the publicly funded ABC, leads the charge in spreading misinformation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, we are not as clever as we think. Our children need us to wise up.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

We think we are so clever. The conceit of contemporary humankind is often unbearable. Yet this modern self-regard has generated a collective idiocy, an inane confusion between feelings and facts, and an inability to distinguish between noble aims and hard reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":338003,"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":[691818216,691818152,691818362,691828313],"class_list":{"0":"post-337976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-climate-emergency","10":"tag-climate-policies","11":"tag-control-the-climate","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/9a094cc5b4c60240cd59a1cd03ff5671-1.jpeg?fit=1456%2C816&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1pVe","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":340061,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=340061","url_meta":{"origin":337976,"position":0},"title":"BBC climate change output blasted as \u2018ludicrous\u2019\u2013GB News","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/08\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from Net Zero Watch has exposed misinformation and factually incorrect reporting by the BBC on climate change.","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1_112080366_p08c03dy-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1_112080366_p08c03dy-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1_112080366_p08c03dy-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1_112080366_p08c03dy-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":198091,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=198091","url_meta":{"origin":337976,"position":1},"title":"Africa Wants Oil and Gas: Not UN\/COP Poverty","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Robert Bradley Jr. \u201cWhen people driving Teslas tell Africa to turn away from hydrocarbons \u2014 it\u2019s immoral, it\u2019s wrong,\u201d [Erik] Prince said. \u201cWe have real energy poverty across the continent.\u201d (quoted in Bloomberg Green,\u00a011\/11\/2021) Oil, gas, and coal are energies for the masses; wind, (on-grid) solar, and batteries\/EVs are\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0african-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0african-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0african-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0african-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0african-energy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":344892,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=344892","url_meta":{"origin":337976,"position":2},"title":"Wrong, Associated Press, New Short Corn Variety Is a Marketing Ploy, Not a Response to Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Associated Press (AP) released a story claiming climate change is causing windstorms to worsen, threatening corn production, leading farmers to consider a new short corn variety. 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Is climate change to blame?\u201d claims that climate change is creating conditions, like worse storms, droughts, and wildfires, that contribute to the rise of authoritarian governments around the world governments. 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