NY Times: Stop Yapping About ‘Climate Change’, Talk About Air Pollution

New line of attack from the Cult of Climastrology, or a one off that actually kind of makes sense?

Enough About Climate Change. Air Pollution Is Killing Us Now.

Mr. Appelbaum is a member of the editorial board.

In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, doctors noticed a surprising silver lining: Americans were having fewer heart attacks.

One likely reason, according to an analysis published last month by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, is that people were inhaling less air pollution.

Millions of workers were staying home instead of driving to work. Americans were suddenly burning a lot less gas. And across the country, the researchers found that regions with larger drops in pollution also had larger drops in heart attacks.

I mean, Applebaum does rather have a point. Remember how clear the air was during those early days? Especially if you lived in a city? Even Raleigh, which is pretty spread out, had much cleaner air. You could tell. And, then, when things started opening up you could see the smog come back.

The low quality of the air that we breathe should be regarded as a crisis. It also presents an opportunity. The existential threat of climate change has come to dominate debates about environmental regulation. Proposals to curb emissions, once presented as public health measures, are now billed as efforts to limit global warming.

The solution to both threats is the same: We need to stop burning fossil fuels, preferably yesterday. But there is cause to wonder whether a greater focus on the immediate dangers posed by air pollution, rather than the more distant specter of global warming, might help to muster the necessary support for changes that are going to be expensive and disruptive.

Like I’ve said, I’m not against EVs, I’m against forcing citizens to purchase them, especially when they really aren’t affordable nor reliable for most. But, weaning ourselves from fossil fuels would be a good thing from an environmental point of view. It’s not the cleanest of energy sources, right? Will the climate cultists go with this argument? I doubt it. They’ve become beyond reasonable over the years. Perhaps 15 years ago they might have gone with this in order to dupe people. Not now.

There are practical reasons, too, why it may be easier to curb emissions in the name of public health than in the name of climate change. The laws authorizing environmental regulation, including the Clean Air Act of 1963, were written as public health measures. Conservative federal judges are seeking to use that history to limit the government’s ability to address climate change. When the Supreme Court in February heard arguments in a case challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, several members of the court’s conservative majority were openly skeptical that the agency has the legal authority to require the kinds of sweeping changes necessary to slow global warming.

It would be a big mistake to attempt to force this on people via executive action. They do not care, because, even this is about more governmental power over citizens. Shame. But, not unexpected.

Read: NY Times: Stop Yapping About ‘Climate Change’, Talk About Air Pollution »

LGB Admin To Appeal Mask Mandate Ruling

You don’t need masks in the White House briefing room, but, they want you to wear them on airplanes, trains, buses, and in transit centers

Biden Admin Poised To Appeal Court Ruling That Overturned Travel Mask Mandate

President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to appeal a federal judge’s ruling striking down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) mask mandate for public transportation.

District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of Florida’s middle district issued the ruling on Monday afternoon. By Monday evening, an administration official conceded that masking for public transportation “is not in effect at this time.” The official, however, also noted that “agencies are reviewing the decision and assessing potential next steps,” indicating an appeal was not off the table.

“The Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disagree with the district court’s decision and will appeal, subject to CDC’s conclusion that the order remains necessary for public health,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) subsequently announced Tuesday evening.

“If CDC concludes that a mandatory order remains necessary for the public’s health after that assessment, the Department of Justice will appeal the district court’s decision,” the DOJ statement added.

The Biden administration’s public transportation masking order was one of the last restrictions remaining from the COVID-19 global pandemic. The directive recently sparked backlash from several major airlines.

There’s almost nowhere left that requires masks. Most other countries have done away with them. Philly, also known as Killadephia, reimposed one and is now being sued. Some transit, such as the LA Metro, which almost no one takes, kept is mandate.

Of course, the Let’s Go Brandon admin will have a tough time making an argument before the judicial branch when Biden is for choice

Read: LGB Admin To Appeal Mask Mandate Ruling »

Bummer: Hollywood’s Missing The Drama In Climate Crisis (scam)

Go for it, Hollywood! Slap all sorts of ‘climate change’ in your movies. Just because most of them tend to tank is no concern, right? You don’t worry about losing money, right?

Hollywood missing the drama in climate change, group says

Hollywood’s response to climate change includes donations, protests and other activism. but it’s apparently missing out on an approach close to home.

Only a sliver of screen fiction, 2.8%, refers to climate change-related words, according to a new study of 37,453 film and TV scripts from 2016-20. A blueprint for ways to turn that around was released Tuesday.

“Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change” was created with feedback from more than 100 film and TV writers, said Anna Jane Joyner, editor-in-chief of the playbook and founder of Good Energy, a nonprofit consultancy.

“A big hurdle that we encountered was that writers were associating climate stories with apocalypse stories,” she said in an interview. “The main purpose of the playbook is to expand that menu of possibilities….to a larger array of how it would be showing up in our real life.”

Hey, I’m just wondering: is this group and its members bankrolling films and TV shows? No? Huh. Why don’t they spend their own money to do this?

Among those who provided funding for the playbook project are Bloomberg Philanthropies, Sierra Club and the Walton Family Foundation.

So, this astroturfed group has big money donors, who could bankroll the “entertainment.” Have at it, Sparkys

But the playbook is asking writers and industry executives to consider a variety of less-dire approaches, Joyner said, with examples and resources included.

“We describe it as a spectrum, everything from showing the impact with solutions in the background,” such as including solar panels in an exterior shot of a building, she said. Casual mentions of climate change in scenes also can be effective.

“If you’re already attached to a character in a story and it authentically comes up in conversation for the character, it validates for the audience that it’s OK to talk about in your day-to-day lives,” Joyner said.

The thing is, people do not want to be preached at in entertainment, and mentioning certain things takes people out of the flow. I love the movie Avatar, but, there are a few comments negatively aimed at the military that just take you out of the flow. Unnecessary stuff.

Dorothy Fortenberry, a TV writer (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and playwright, said the industry needs to broaden its view of who it writes about, not just what.

“Climate change is something that right now is affecting people who aren’t necessarily the people that Hollywood tends to write stories about. It’s affecting farmers in Bangladesh, farmers in Peru, farmers in Kentucky,” Fortenberry said. “If we told stories about different kinds of people, there would be opportunities to seamlessly weave climate in.”

You want it, pay for it. What’s stopping you?

As part of the study that’s yet to be released in full, researchers checked for references to 36 key words and phrases including “climate change,” “fracking” and “global warming” in TV episodes and movies released in the U.S. market.

Don’t these people have anything better to do than be cult nags?

Read: Bummer: Hollywood’s Missing The Drama In Climate Crisis (scam) »

If All You See…

…is a potentially horrible fossil fueled golf cart, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Geller Report, with a post on a crazy grooming math worksheet.

Read: If All You See… »

Team Brandon Plans To Refocus On Domestic Issues Or Something

See, Biden has been consumed, consumed! with what’s going on in Ukraine. You remember, the war Brandon helped push Putin to start. So, now he wants to

Biden’s been consumed by Ukraine. His team wants to bring the focus back home.

Biden Brain SlugThe rest of the world might not allow it. But Joe Biden wants to return his focus to matters happening at home.

With the war in Ukraine entering its second month and continuing to dominate global headlines, White House allies are expressing concern that voters may see the president as more consumed by international affairs than domestic ones.

I’d think most consumers simply see Biden as checked out all around. I doubt they see him as consumed, when he does little during the week and heads to either his Delaware beach house or Camp David almost every single weekend.

The White House itself is keenly aware that voters’ perceptions about the economy are still likely to determine the outcome of November’s midterm elections. And as they warily watch the president’s poor poll numbers, two senior administration officials said a concerted effort is being launched to reemphasize to Americans that the president understands their pain and is trying to help.

In the coming weeks, Biden will travel more inside the country and further stress that Russia’s invasion isn’t some far-off crisis but one with deep economic ramifications in the United States.

“Voters, as sympathetic as they are to Ukraine, are getting a little fatigued,” said Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster. “And they’re wondering: We’re spending all this money abroad, but what are we spending here at home?”

They must have some internal polling about this. Whether it’s correct or not is questionable. It sure looks like Brandon will travel around trying to Blame Putin for all the economic troubles, most of which started before Russia invaded Ukraine, in order to not get blown out in November.

Lake said it was imperative that the president spend the seven months remaining before the midterms explaining his record and promising to do more. “Half of voters,” she suggested, still don’t know what Biden has accomplished to date.

That’s because he hasn’t done much of anything positive.

“They don’t know what’s in the infrastructure package. They don’t know the full extent of the rescue package. They don’t know the executive orders that he’s taken on inflation,” she said, referring to the coronavirus stimulus money sent to states, and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law to rebuild roads, bridges and more.

The scope of Biden’s presidency will be impacted by Democrats’ ability to keep control of at least one, if not both, chambers of Congress this November. And the White House knows it needs to both hammer home Biden’s accomplishments and show Americans it is trying to do more, even at the margins.

Might not want to focus on the executive orders on inflation, since it has gotten worse, and is one of the highest in the developed world.

As it looks to refocus on domestic issues, the White House is eyeing faster, tangible actions to tackle kitchen table issues, namely inflation. This month, Biden issued executive orders allowing the use of an ethanol blend this summer to lower gas prices and to jumpstart a new regulation fixing the Affordable Care Act’s so-called family glitch, which would lower health insurance costs for millions. And late last week, the administration announced plans to resume the sale of leases for oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

The ethanol one won’t change the dynamic much, nor will the silly ACA “fix”, and there are poison pills in the oil and gas drilling order. The article then spends lots of time trying to say what Biden has done and will do, which is why his ratings are terrible. Like CNN+. And CNN.

“Democrats have one overriding political communications priority now – we have to convince voters that things are better because of our time in power,” said Simon Rosenberg, a longtime Democratic operative, who is advising campaigns and party committees to ramp up now. “If people come to believe by this summer that things are better we will be competitive this fall. If they don’t, we won’t.”

Better? Are most people looking around and saying “things are better?”

Read: Team Brandon Plans To Refocus On Domestic Issues Or Something »

Big Post Easter Snow Storm Hit Monday, Guess What Got Blamed?

Can you really blame me when I call them a cult?

(CNY News) It’s the last thing we want following Easter – a snowstorm that may bring up to 11 inches of the white stuff with it! I know, it’s hard to imagine now that we are already enjoying seeing spring flowers like daffodils, hyacinth, and other early-blooming flowers all around but that’s exactly what’s heading our way according to the National Weather Service in Binghamton.

A Winter Storm Warning is set to begin tonight at 6:00 pm (lasting until 12:00 pm Tuesday) for the following counties: Chenango, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Oneida, and Sullivan. Heavy snow is expected with a range of 5 to 11 inches of accumulation. Unfortunately, it will be heavy snow which can be difficult to shovel and is also very slippery on roads and sidewalks. The additional threat with heavy snow is the potential for power outages as trees limbs fall under the heavy weight of the snow.

In some areas, the snow is expected to fall rapidly at times, at a rate of up to 3 inches an hour and we all know how dangerous traveling can be when that happens, with low visibility and very slick road conditions. (big snip)

Weather caused 80% of the power outages between 2003 and 2012, according to Climate Central. As climate change increases the number of extreme weather events we see within a year, it stands to reason that the number of power outages we see in the space of a year will increase as well. Do yourself a favor, and subscribe to your local weather alerts so that you can be in the know when these types of events are expected.

 

(CBS Pittsburgh) One of the biggest areas of concern when it comes to climate change is the risk of more severe weather.

In just the past year, we’ve seen tornadoes in late October, record-setting snowfalls in mid-March and more frequent flash flooding. But are we actually seeing increasing extreme weather here in southwestern Pennsylvania or does it just seem that way? (snip)

The takeaway? It does appear western Pennsylvania’s severe weather patterns are changing, although slightly.

Sigh

Sigh. Cult

 

Read: Big Post Easter Snow Storm Hit Monday, Guess What Got Blamed? »

LGB Admin Suspends Masking After Federal Judge Nixes CDC Rule

This has made all the Mask Cult very upset, because, see, they apparently do not think wearing a mask protects themselves, oh, no, you need to wear a mask. It’s all very, very silly

Biden admin suspends mask mandate for airports, buses after judge rules against CDC guidelines

The Biden administration on Monday suspended enforcement of its mask mandate for airports, planes and other forms of travel after a judge said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority.

US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the CDC failed to properly explain its decision to impose the mandate or follow proper rulemaking procedures.

The Biden administration on Monday evening confirmed that travelers can ditch their masks pending a review of the ruling.

Um, we really do not need their permission to do so. Judge Mizelle ruled that the CDC did not have the authority to impose a mask mandate on everyone per the Constitution

“The agencies are reviewing the decision and assessing potential next steps. In the meantime, today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time,” an administration official said.

“Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time. CDC recommends that people continue to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.”

Many airlines immediately stated they will not require masks, while others have made no announcements. Here’s the cool thing, mask Cultists: you can wear one if you want. Amazing, eh? Heck, I might consider wearing one if when I fly next Christmas, limiting exposure to the cold and flu. COVID? Not so much. Of course, airlines could require masks if they want, as a private business. I doubt they will.

There hasn’t been much regarding subways, train stations, buses, etc, yet.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Psaki to explain why masks on mass transit make sense when people haven’t had to wear masks at most indoor venues, including the White House briefing room, for nearly two months.

“This is based on health considerations and data that the CDC looks at about transmissibility, as we’ve seen an increase in cases on airplanes,” Psaki replied.

In other words, the Brandon admin really has no answer, they were just forcing masking for the hell of it, rather like letting illegals in without testing and such while requiring masks. Democrats are not taking it well, like this Massachusetts state rep

Yeah, less teaching about stupid stuff in schools, more on How The U.S. Government Works

Read: LGB Admin Suspends Masking After Federal Judge Nixes CDC Rule »

LA Times Seem Surprised So Many Died Of COVID On Biden’s Watch

I’m blowing off my normally scheduled ‘climate change’ post in favor of Nicholas Goldberg blaming Let’s Go Brandon (also available at Yahoo News)

Nicholas Goldberg: We weren’t supposed to get anywhere near 1 million COVID deaths in the U.S. Then we did

COVID dancing penguinsAt the start of the pandemic, in late March 2020, President Trump held a White House briefing at which his top advisors presented their official COVID-19 death projections. In somber tones, they forecasted that between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans would die from the disease if we followed reasonable social-distancing and other mitigation guidelines.

Two hundred and forty thousand! That was an inconceivable amount of death. Four times the number of Americans who died in Vietnam. Eighty times the number who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Actually, the early forecasts were talking about deaths ranging from 200K to 2 million for 2020 alone, when no one knew anything about the Chinese coronavirus

Today, two years later, we all know how that worked out. We didn’t behave as we should. We didn’t see the light after two weeks. And we didn’t have 100,000 deaths, or 240,000 deaths either.

Instead, we’re now closing in on 1 million deaths. As of Sunday, total U.S. COVID deaths were at 986,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 400 more Americans dying each day.

Our cumulative national death rate of more than 200 deaths per 100,000 people is higher than that of any other large, wealthy, industrialized nation.

Can you guess who’s at fault? Trump. Sort of. His name appears three times. Biden’s name appears zero times, despite way more people dying under Biden, including during his first 12 months, than during Trump’s time. Remember things like this?

Biden has overseen 400,000 COVID deaths. By his own logic, he should resign.

At the Oct. 22, 2020, debate against then-President Donald Trump, Joe Biden said anyone who is responsible for 220,000 deaths from COVID should not be president.

Now, here it is December 2021 and these 220,000 deaths have increased to 813,000.

By my calculations, Joe Biden is now responsible for 417,000 deaths — more than the 396,000 who died while Trump was president. By his own thought process, Biden should have resigned several months ago, especially since he told us he was going to fix this.

Since that time, the death toll has almost hit one million. Despite having all the knowledge, despite all the vaccines, despite all the Dem required restrictions, mandates, and forced masking. Why zero mentions of Biden? Another trip down memory lane

Read: LA Times Seem Surprised So Many Died Of COVID On Biden’s Watch »

If All You See…

…is a foggy day caused by too much heating from climate change over a cold ocean, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is American Power, with a post on how feminism got hijacked.

Read: If All You See… »

Surprise: Apparently, Presidents Can Do Very Little About Inflation

Oh, wait, not, sorry, since Biden is president, this is about government being limited in what they can do

What can the government do to stop or slow inflation?

Where's Joe BidenInflation in the U.S. rose 8.5% in March, compared with the prior 12 months, marking the highest increase since 1981, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

Between February and March, inflation rose 1.2%, making for the biggest month-to-month jump since 2005.

And the media was blaming George W. Bush directly for it

According to several economists and other financial experts, high consumer demand in the economy — met with low supply — is the main factor driving inflation. The war in Ukraine is also driving up prices, specifically on oil and food, they said.

And the government is limited on intervening, according to experts who spoke with ABC News.

Experts also told ABC News that inflation is likely to be an issue in the coming months, one even saying they expect it to last for years.

See? It’s not Biden’s fault, er, the government’s fault. It has nothing at all to do with spending way too much money, policies restricting the energy sector, lockdowns, and even just things that Biden and his Comrades say they’re going to do. Government cannot do much at all! What happened when inflation was bad during the early Reagan years, thanks to Carter policies and other things? Reagan enacted policies that helped free the economy and charged it up.

Certainly, normal consumer demand and poor supply is a big factor. But, this is all a way for ABC News to absolve Biden of any responsibility. That’s it. Because plenty of economists and financial experts will tell you his policies are, at best, not helping. Spiking energy prices from natural causation and Biden policies hurts inflation.

Consumers traditionally spend the bulk of their money on services, but during the pandemic, demand shifted toward goods, Stacy Tisdale, financial journalist and founder of Mind Money Media told ABC News.

“You saw that breakdown, you saw manufacturers not be able to keep up with that demand, you saw the challenges that manufacturers were having, because of COVID, then you saw the supply chain disruptions. And that’s kind of what’s underpinning all of this,” Tisdale said.

Yes, true. Like I tell people, you had all the mining for metals and precious metals shut down around the world early in the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. You had all the production on all the parts that go into new vehicles shut down, including all the microchips. You had production of vehicles shut down. In some cases, such as if they were assembled in Canada, they were shut down multiple times. You can only mine so much. You can only then make so many products, such as sunroofs and brake pads. How do you catch up? Reportedly, lots of 2023 redesigns will not have fog lights where they would usually have them because of this.

Now do this with everything else. What was the big demand during early COVID? Other than paper towels, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper, it was really computers and tablets. It wasn’t cars or so many other products. Demand for gasoline was down. When things sorta started getting going in the summer and fall of 2020, demand wasn’t higher than normal. Is demand above normal now? No. Can Biden really do much about that? Only so much. He’s screwed enough up during his just over a year in office. But, even talking about opening things up and producing more energy would help. Positivity goes a long way.

There’s little to nothing Biden can do about the auto industry, which is a big driver of inflation right now. He can’t make it catch up. But, let’s be honest: when the economy starts catching up, when inflation does come down, you know the same media will be lauding Biden for all he’s done, right? Giving him all the credit.

Read: Surprise: Apparently, Presidents Can Do Very Little About Inflation »

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