Vermont Tries Playing Games With Carbon Taxation Since They Can’t Pass Legislation

By William Teach January 28, 2020 – 4:58 pm

Climate cultists are always playing games

Basically, the Warmists have failed to get legislation implementing a climate tax passed even in uber-leftist Vermont, so, from the link

Over the past 50 years I have seen a lot of bills introduced into the Vermont Legislature. Of all the bills over all those years, the absolute worst was just introduced in the House, with 87 co-sponsors (all Democratic and Progressive). It’s titled the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA, H.688).

The Climate Action Coalition believes that the planet faces a climate emergency due to human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Every year for the past five years its dozens of lobbyists have labored to persuade the legislators to take bold and far-reaching steps to drive down those emissions.

The centerpiece of those efforts has been a carbon tax. The argument has three components. First, we must drive down the use of carbon-based fuels by Vermonters using heating oil, natural gas, gasoline, diesel and propane. (snip)

For five years, however, the Climate Action advocates have failed to find the votes, even in this green-friendly Legislature, to enact even the beginning stages of a carbon tax. So here comes their Plan B: The Global Warming Solutions Act. (snip)

Since there aren’t enough  votes for a carbon tax, the GWSA would replace the 2006 “goals” with much stricter “mandatory requirements”; create a 21-member climate action super-government  (the Climate Council, controlled by legislative leaders); task it with developing a sweeping plan to regulate anything and everything that might reduce CO2 emissions; implement the plan with state agency rules backed by penalties; authorize the Conservation Law Foundation to bring suits to get judges to order the rule-making agencies to move faster and further to save the planet  from the “climate emergency”; and use tax dollars to pay the plaintiff’s legal costs if it “substantially prevails” in a courtroom.

Two things are perfectly clear here. The bureaucrats can’t levy a carbon tax, but the scope of rules they may find essential to defeating climate change is unlimited. After all, this is an “emergency”!

And most importantly — read this carefully — no legislator will ever vote on wave after wave of sweeping rules that will affect the lives of every Vermonter.

It’s just an attempt to sidestep the voting citizens and take power out of their hands as they elect lawmakers. Hooray Fascists!

Add to the utter lack of accountability, and the cost of the army of regulators and enforcers needed to carry out the plan, and the invitation to CLF and others to sue the state to force quicker and more far-reaching oppression (as CLF did under a similar statute in Massachusetts), and you have a Green Police State, financed by the victims.

Read the whole thing. Warmists will attempt anything to force their Fascist policies through.

Read: Vermont Tries Playing Games With Carbon Taxation Since They Can’t Pass Legislation »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 28, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post on how drag queen story hour expanded across America.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Say, Was St. Greta Really “Striking” By Skipping School On Fridays?

By William Teach January 28, 2020 – 11:09 am

Apparently not

Obviously, we should take this all with a bit of skepticism, but, crazy if true. From the link

Despite “striking” from school on Fridays to protest government inaction on climate change, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was part of a school program that didn’t mandate in-person attendance at all.

This revelation comes in a new documentary by Rebel News, exposing the power brokers and financiers behind Thunberg’s rise.

The documentary Greta Inc. reveals that, despite Thunberg’s calls for other students to join her in striking from class, attendance at her school is not mandatory and she can do her schoolwork while at home or away.

“In August, she initiated a school strike for the climate at Mynttorget outside Parliament House. Now she sits there every Friday, but she no longer educates. The school leaves her there with a customized study program and a textbook,” writes journalist Peter Franke in Swedish, according to a translation from Rebel’s documentary.

So, not actually a strike.

The relationship between Thunberg’s rise and Swedish PR guru and CEO Ingmar Rentzhog was also brought into question.

Rentzhog has raised millions for Thunberg’s activism after claiming to have “discovered” her protesting outside of the Swedish parliament.

Thunberg’s fame ballooned shortly after Rentzhog shared images of her protest on social media.

At the height of the climate demonstration, Rentzhog used the teenage activist in promotional materials for his organization We Don’t Have Time, and promised investors that his company would be “extremely profitable.”

So, not “grassroots”? Make sure to read the rest.

Read: Say, Was St. Greta Really “Striking” By Skipping School On Fridays? »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

NJ Governor Murphy Makes Big Pledge To Force Citizens To Fight Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach January 28, 2020 – 7:17 am

So, when is Phil going to give up his long fossil fueled flights to his house in Italy? And his limo? And his government funded helicopter?

Murphy just unveiled N.J.’s master plan for energy and made a big pledge to fight climate change

New Jersey will become the first state in the nation to require builders consider the impact of climate change if they want their projects approved, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday as he unveiled the final version of the state’s new energy master plan.

The Democratic governor outlined the plan in a speech at Stockton University in Galloway, calling the 290-page document “ground zero” for “weaning the state off its century-old addiction to fossil fuels.”

Ever been to NJ and seen how many people are on the roads? Ever seen all the oil refineries and storage facilities in northeast Jersey? How about the airports? How’s he going to do this? NJ may not always be the destination, but, it is very much a gateway state that people pass through to go to the northeast and southeast.

The document lays out the Murphy administration’s vision for how to ensure the state reaches its lofty green energy goals: 50% clean energy by 2030, and 100% clean energy by 2050.

Have fun with your taxes, NJ residents

The plan is intended to slash the Garden State’s greenhouse gas emissions, reducing New Jersey’s contribution to climate change.

Murphy warned Monday that climate change is direct threat to New Jersey. He citied a recent Rutgers University report that said sea levels along New Jersey’s coast are expected to rise more than one foot by 2030 and two feet by 2050.

Actual data, rather than computer models, says otherwise. Sea rise is actually about where you expect it to be during a Holocene warm period, but, some of that is caused by land subsistence. You won’t be getting a foot over the next 10 years.

Murphy also painted the plan as a response to how President Donald Trump’s administration and other Republican have responded to climate change.

“We are going to make New Jersey the place that proves we can grow our economy, create jobs, and fight climate change all at the same time,” said Murphy, a frequent critic of the Republican president.

Actually, I’m all for this. Let them be the test group, and we can watch and see what happens as a warning to other states who want to give this stuff a whirl.

The only thing Murphy has going for his beliefs is that he is not against nuclear, but, good luck getting a nuclear plant built.

New Jersey got 94% of its energy from natural gas and nuclear power combined in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Garden State environmentalists are pushing for the state to phase out those two energy sources, but Murphy’s plan allows for both to continue.

Enviroweenies are trying to get him to block all new natural gas. They won’t allow nuclear. So, how? Good luck. What will really happen are lots of taxes and fees and an even higher cost of living. Housing costs will skyrocket. People will leave.

Of course, Phil won’t change his own behavior: that’s for the little people to be forced.

Read: NJ Governor Murphy Makes Big Pledge To Force Citizens To Fight Hotcoldwetdry »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

Trump Administration’s “Public Charge” Rule Wins At Supreme Court

By William Teach January 28, 2020 – 6:59 am

Realistically, should the United States Be bringing in vast amounts of immigrants who are unable to stand on their own two feet, ones who will immediately be living off the largess of the taxpayers? A goodly chunk of nations around the world require people to have usable skills and the ability to provide for themselves in order to immigrate. Of course, this has made liberal outlets upset, such as CNN

5-4 Supreme Court allows rule to take effect that could reshape legal immigration

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to make it more difficult for low-income immigrants seeking to come to or trying to remain legally in the United States.

The so-called public charge rule, unveiled in August, impacts people who rely on public assistance, including most forms of Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.

It made national headlines last summer when then-acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli, in his defense of the rule, revised the iconic poem on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, saying: “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

Advocates and several states immediately opposed the rule, arguing that the changes would penalize immigrants who rely on temporary assistance from the government and impose costs on the states.

And that is exactly the point. When people were coming in to the US via Ellis Island, the government was not providing food stamps and welfare and healthcare and such: they had to earn their way. Why should the U.S. now be letting in people who will be essentially wards of the state? Forbes notes (in an article that is having a meltdown over this SCOTUS ruling)

Immigration analysts expect implementation of the public charge rule to be ruthless. An applicant would be denied permanent residence if a consular officer or immigration adjudicator, in effect, issues a prediction that an individual might use certain benefits for 12 months within a future 36-month period. U.S. District Judge George Daniels observed there is no precedent for this type of definition in the history of U.S. law.

The Migration Policy Institute concludes, “[N]early half of the U.S. noncitizen population could be at risk of a public-charge determination – up from the current 3%.” The technology startup Boundless estimates up to 200,000 young married couples could be at risk of not qualifying for a spousal green card under the regulation.

Should up to 50% of the people allowed in need public assistance? People who initially apply for citizenship already need to be able to stand on their own two feet to qualify. Why not the rest? This will cause a massive reduction in the number of refugees and such, as well as them bringing their family members over

(Fox News) The rule, announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in August, defines a “public charge” as an immigrant who received one or more designated benefits for more than 12 months within a 36-month period.

Those benefits that would be designated included Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), as well as most forms of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps.

What most are forgetting about is that it could very impact those who are here illegally from being granted legal status, including DREAMers. Oops. Bummer.

A 2019 Urban Institute study found that people are already being deterred from applying for benefits for their U.S.-born children, fearing that it could harm their own immigration status. The study also found that 14 percent of nearly 2,000 adults who were born outside the U.S. or living with foreign-born family members have been dissuaded from participating in public benefit programs for fear it would impact their chances to obtain green cards, The Los Angeles Times reported last year.

The rule does not penalize applicants for benefits received by a family member, like a child who is a citizen. But many are scared and need convincing.

This is primarily talking about illegal aliens who had anchor babies.

Overall, shouldn’t the U.S. want to bring in people who can provide value, rather than be wards of the state? Shouldn’t our forcibly taken tax money be used to help Americans?

Read: Trump Administration’s “Public Charge” Rule Wins At Supreme Court »

Posted in Illegal Immigration | 18 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cultists Unhappy Youtube Is Allowed To Host Skeptic Videos

By William Teach January 27, 2020 – 5:35 pm

As usual, this Vox article is long, way, way, long, just keeps going and going. Hyper-Warmist David Roberts just can’t stop. What does he really want, though?

In a polarized world, YouTube can’t remain neutral

The US nonprofit Avaaz has a new report out detailing how YouTube is actively spreading climate misinformation to millions of viewers through its recommendation algorithms, including videos with exciting titles like, ahem, “CIA Whistleblower Speaks Out About Climate Engineering Vaccination Dangers and 911.”

The report contains a number of recommendations for the platform, including working with independent fact checkers to identify such videos and remove or demonetize them.

The recommendations make perfect sense — as long as climate misinformation can be reliably and fairly identified in a way that won’t get YouTube embroiled in political or ideological controversies.

Why is it their business? Why do they think they have the right to demand that Youtube use “independent” (meaning left leaning climate cultists) fact checkers? People put videos up. That’s the point. Don’t like it? Don’t watch them. Some are insane BS, like the one mentioned in the first paragraph, some are right on the mark. Of course, they consider anything that exposes the reality of the ‘climate change’ scam as disinformation, as you’ll see in the article itself.

YouTube and other social media platforms do want to limit the spread of misinformation and hate speech, if only to relieve social pressure and defend their reputations. But they want to do so while remaining ideologically neutral, refraining from anything that might appear to be choosing sides in America’s culture war.

Unfortunately, in a polarized and divided US, where even the most basic facts and values are contested, that posture is becoming impossible. The choice between neutrality and fundamental values like respect for evidence and non-discrimination is becoming unavoidable, and private companies like social media platforms, when pressed, will always choose neutrality, for business reasons.

It’s a cute argument, but, the point of Youtube is to allow people to upload videos. Get over it.

Anyhow, this long, long, long screed jumps into S1 and S2 thinking, because, well, this is Vox being Vox

The broad thrust of Kahneman’s work was to challenge “homo economicus,” the conventional economic view of human beings as rational interest maximizers. There’s a lot to it, but at its heart is a distinction between System 1 (S1) thinking and System 2 (S2) thinking.

Kahneman described S1 as “fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, and unconscious,” describing what are more colloquially known as “gut reactions.” S2 is “slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, and conscious,” which is closer to what we tend to conceive of as thinking — taking a step back, slowing down, consciously assessing and reasoning.

We eventually are told that America was founded on S2 institutions (if you’re still awake from reading the actual article), and that they’re breaking down (because people are allowed to post Wrongthink to Youtube, I guess), and other things like Rush Limbaugh and Fox News are Bad and Wrongthink. Essentially, if you make it deep into the article, you learn that Youtube and other social media outlets should censor the hell out of anyone not following the Climate Cultist point of view.

It is transpartisan institutions and transparent rules, equitably enforced, that create social trust in a pluralist democracy. And it is social trust that enables such S2 infrastructure to persist. When it’s working, it creates a positive feedback loop.

But right now it isn’t working. The opposite loop is running, thanks to the many failures of US institutions and the coordinated right-wing backlash against them. Social trust is declining; as it does, institutions have a harder time operating effectively; as they stumble, it further reduces social trust.

If anything can check that negative feedback loop, it’s not going to be social media companies writing better algorithms. Those who believe in liberal values, who respect science and expertise and seek a peaceful, equitable multi-ethnic democracy, must devote themselves to taking power and reshaping public institutions to be more effective, trustworthy, and democratic.

Building S2 infrastructure that lives up to the lofty ideals in America’s founding documents is long, slow work. But it is the only path back from the abyss.

This is the central argument: unless they follow not just the climate cult viewpoints, but all Leftist viewpoints, they’re failing, and this needs to be enforced. Nope, not Fascist at all.

Read: Climate Cultists Unhappy Youtube Is Allowed To Host Skeptic Videos »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 27, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible evil ice cream from evil cows, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A View From The Beach, with a post on Warmists wanting to move to Buffalo before climate doom comes.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 21 Comments | Trackback URL

Say, Where’s The Transcript For House Witness #18?

By William Teach January 27, 2020 – 10:43 am

Eighteen? There were eighteen? That’s weird, because the House managers told us there were only 17 numerous times over the last week

So That’s Why Schiff Won’t Release the Transcript of the 18th Witness

While presenting the Democrats’ case for impeachment on the Senate floor, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff (D-CA) kept referencing 17 witnesses who testified during the House impeachment inquiry. But there were 18 of them. Schiff and the Democrats are refusing to release the testimony of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and according to Republicans who were present during Atkinson’s closed-door testimony, the reason the transcript hasn’t been released is because it proves both the whistleblower and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff did not tell the truth about their contact with each other.

Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo interviewed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on “Sunday Morning Futures” about the 18th transcript the Democrats are refusing to release. Rep. Ratcliffe was there for Inspector General Michael Atkinson’s testimony and says the transcript is damaging to Chairman Adam Schiff and the whistleblower.

“The House managers kept putting up charts talking about the 17 witnesses,” Ratcliffe began. “But there were 18 … I was there. It’s the one transcript out of 18 that hasn’t been released. It’s a 179-page transcript … It’s the one transcript that talks about Adam Schiff and the whistleblower. Now, everyone knows by now that Adam Schiff was not truthful about his contacts with the whistleblower. What they don’t know and what’s in that transcript is that the whistleblower wasn’t truthful about his contacts with Adam Schiff. This whole thing started, Maria, when the whistleblower filed a complaint with the inspector general under penalty of perjury that wasn’t true and correct, made representations in writing and verbally that weren’t true and correct. And when we found that out and tried to get into the details of that, Adam Schiff, who was in charge of this investigation, shut it down, and now he’s trying to bury that transcript.”

Huh.

Time to call Adam Schiff to the witness stand.

Read: Say, Where’s The Transcript For House Witness #18? »

Posted in Current Affairs, Democrats | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

University Of Derby Offers Crybaby Students And Staff Therapy For Climate Anxiety

By William Teach January 27, 2020 – 7:58 am

These are supposed adults who are losing their minds over a tiny increase in Earth’s average temperature since 1850, something entirely normal during the Holocene

University offers students struggling with anxiety about climate change THERAPY to tackle their feelings of ‘anger, guilt and grief’

Students and staff anxious about climate change are being offered therapy to tackle feelings of anger, guilt and grief.

University of Derby are running art therapy sessions for those suffering ‘eco-anxiety’ -an issue brought to the forefront of public attention by 17-year-old activist Greta Thunberg.

Participants are encouraged to express their feelings about climate change through ‘poetry and movement’.

One student attending the therapy sessions, Claire Prowse, said climate change makes her feel like she is ‘not going to have a future’.

She told the BBC: ‘It makes me very anxious because every time I look at the news I rarely see any good news about the environment.

So the news is out there reporting doom and gloom, as are the schools, resulting in loony tunes students and staff.

The academic behind the sessions, Dr Jamie Bird, said people suffer ‘climate grief’ when they see the environment being damaged.

Writing on a blog on the university’s website, Dr Bird, who is head of health and social care research at Derby, said: ‘This activity focuses on the here and now. It does not seek to solve problems or provide solutions.

‘It provides a safe space to express feelings in a compassionate environment.’

Eco-anxiety is described by Psychology Today as ‘a fairly recent psychological disorder afflicting an increasing number of individuals who worry about the environmental crisis’.

So, crybabies.

Those taking part in the workshops, which climate activists are also invited to, try to express their feelings by being creative in a set of activities.

Groups try to ‘make sense’ of their feelings by sharing and discussing their work, which may be a poem, sculpture, or dance.

One activity involves participants watching an ice cube melting – representative of an ice cap – and then creatively describing how they feel about it.

OK, now tell them that they are going to have to pay a whole lot more our of their pockets for their beliefs as well as lose more freedom and choice, and we’ll see if they continue to Believe in this scam.

Read: University Of Derby Offers Crybaby Students And Staff Therapy For Climate Anxiety »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Special Snowflake Syndrome | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

Impeachment Theater Today: Leaked Bolton Book Claims Ukraine Military Aid Held Over Investigations

By William Teach January 27, 2020 – 7:44 am

It’s not like John Bolton might have an axe to grind after getting fired, and not like Trump was withholding all that military aid that Obama provided…oh, right, Obama sent blankets after Russia took part of Ukraine, and all the impeachment theater House managers voted against providing military aid to Ukraine

BREAKING: Bolton to Claim Trump Held Up Ukraine Military Aid Over Biden Investigations

John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, will claim in his upcoming book that the president wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until officials in the country announced investigations into Joe Biden and his family, the New York Times reported Sunday.

The stunning revelation comes as Trump battles an impeachment trial in the Senate over his efforts to have an investigation into his political rival announced by Ukraine, and undermines a chief argument of Republicans that military aid was not conditioned on such an announcement.

Per the Times:

Mr. Bolton’s explosive account of the matter at the center of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial, the third in American history, was included in drafts of a manuscript he has circulated in recent weeks to close associates. He also sent a draft to the White House for a standard review process for some current and former administration officials who write books.

…

Over dozens of pages, Mr. Bolton described how the Ukraine affair unfolded over several months until he departed the White House in September. He described not only the president’s private disparagement of Ukraine but also new details about senior cabinet officials who have publicly tried to sidestep involvement.

Even if true, Joe Biden admitted to demanding that Ukraine fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma or he’d withhold a billion dollars in aid. That’s rather corrupt, is it not? Let’s also not forget that Biden was part of a presidential administration that spied on a GOP candidate. That they went to a FISA court under false pretenses to get warrants to spy on Donald Trump, his campaign, and his associates. Might Trump have wanted some payback? This is politics. People need to get over the pig in the mud stuff that occurs.

Then you have Trump responding with multiple tweets

I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems. Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations (Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations – and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.

Does Bolton have any concrete proof?

Read: Impeachment Theater Today: Leaked Bolton Book Claims Ukraine Military Aid Held Over Investigations »

Posted in Current Affairs, Donald Trump | 19 Comments | Trackback URL
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