A question for anyone who thinks that addressing global warming will cripple the economy, and also thinks that global warming is bunk: How do you know that addressing global warming will cripple the economy? Is your answer based on any economic models? If so why do you trust economic models, yet distrust climate models? Why... Continue Reading →

In Britain, cops have the power to search you if you take a picture of a "sensitive" area, but they won't tell you which areas are "sensitive," because they're so "sensitive." The British Journal of Photography is trying to use the UK Freedom of Information Act to find out which places in Britain have such... Continue Reading →

India wants per capita emissions because it has a growing population. China wants credit for reducing its population and being the workshop of the world. Australia wants credit for being hot. Russia wants credit for being cold. The US argues it is too rich to cut emissions; the Africans that they are too poor. The... Continue Reading →

The BC NDP were rightfully chastised for irrationally opposing the carbon tax introduced by the BC Liberals, and instead proposing a climate change policy that would be both ineffective at reducing GHG and harmful to the economy. This cost the BC NDP most of the support it traditionally enjoyed form environmentalists, and possibly lost them... Continue Reading →

Humans prefer cockiness to expertise The research, by Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, shows that we prefer advice from a confident source, even to the point that we are willing to forgive a poor track record. Moore argues that in competitive situations, this can drive those offering advice to increasingly exaggerate... Continue Reading →

Let’s face it the current conservative coalition between libertarians and social conservatives never made any sense.  One wants the government out of our lives, the other wants the government to enforce morality.  The two are diametrically opposed on far to many issues. Is there a better conservative coalition?  Perhaps, and it first reared it’s head... Continue Reading →

I applaud the Governor General for not being a hypocrite, and I denounce much of Europe for being one. I am of course referring to this: "Neanderthal" and "blood lust" were some of the phrases animal-rights campaigners used today to describe Jean's cultural encounter in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in which the Queen's representative sliced off... Continue Reading →

A given economic growth rate can be sustainable only if the average impact per unit wealth declines at an equal or greater rate. -Michael Tobis

Given that I have highlighted some of the more amusing arguments against the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill (and no, it wont cost American families $3,100 per year) , it is only fair that I state my position. The short answer is best summed up by Paul Krugman in the New York Times: The legislation now on... Continue Reading →

Something most cap and trade proponents don’t seem to get: The cap isn’t really a cap at all. While the cap in cap-and-trade is entirely virtual, realized only through pricing or administrative actions like penalties, the concrete image of a placing a physical object like a cap over emissions reassures that there is a limit... Continue Reading →

I was pretty sure we hit rock bottom when Rep. John Boehner (R - OH) claimed that “the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical”, but apparently I was wrong. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) defended his anti-global warming position on C-SPAN by arguing CO2 should not... Continue Reading →

Harper’s Conservative government has had a troubled relationship with science. From demoting, then removing the National Science Adviser, to appointing a creationist science minister, Harper’s Conservatives have never held science in  high regard. Now comes word that Harper is appointing two anti-science climate deniers to important federal scientific bodies. The scientific community is justifiably appalled.... Continue Reading →

Yes I know that there were other important issues that British Columbian’s had to consider when going to the polls yesterday, but that isn’t how that rest of the world saw it. To anyone outside of BC who had any interest in global warming policy the election was little more than a referendum on the... Continue Reading →

A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters reinforces what what countless other studies in the past have found: That changes in the sun are not responsible for the global warming in recent decades. Here is the abstract: Although controversial, many observations have suggested that low-level cloud cover correlates with the cosmic ray flux. Because... Continue Reading →

Originally posted on April 15, 2009 at 7:35 pm Mark Jaccard has recently released an analysis of the BC NDP’s main policy to deal with global warming concluding that: if BC were to try to reach its aggressive GHG emissions reduction target without emissions pricing for non-industrial emitters, relying instead on industry and government funds... Continue Reading →