Surprise: Satellites Find No Benefit From Carbon Offsets (scam)

By William Teach December 2, 2022 – 7:15 am

Who could have possibly seen this coming?

Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California

Many of the companies promising “net-zero” emissions to protect the climate are relying on vast swaths of forests and what are known as carbon offsets to meet that goal.

On paper, carbon offsets appear to balance out a company’s carbon emissions: The company pays to protect trees, which absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The company can then claim the absorbed carbon dioxide as an offset that reduces its net impact on the climate.

However, our new satellite analysis reveals what researchers have suspected for years: Forest offsets might not actually be doing much for the climate.

When we looked at satellite tracking of carbon levels and logging activity in California forests, we found that carbon isn’t increasing in the state’s 37 offset project sites any more than in other areas, and timber companies aren’t logging less than they did before.

The findings send a pretty grim message about efforts to control climate change, and they add to a growing list of concerns about forest offsets. Studies have already shown that projects are often overcredited at the beginning and might not last as long as expected. In this case we’re finding a bigger issue: a lack of real climate benefit over the 10 years of the program so far.

Essentially, these companies offering carbon credits/offsets really aren’t doing much in planting trees. It’s all a scam to make Warmists, mostly the moneyed ones, feel better about their own massive carbon footprints as they continue living the highlife and flying all over, driving in big fossil fueled vehicles, living in big mansions, and more. I don’t blame the companies so much, they’re just making a buck off of Warmists, though, as so many, including myself, noted back in the early 2000’s that no one seemed to actually be checking to make sure the carbon credits/offsets companies, and governments, were actually doing what they were supposed to be doing.

Here’s one idea they have to help fix this

Additionally, California could improve its offset contract protocols to make sure landowners can’t withdraw from an offset program in the future and cut down those trees. Currently there is a penalty for doing so, but it might not be high enough. Landowners may be able to begin a project, receive a huge profit from the initial credits, cut down the trees in 20 to 30 years, pay back their credits plus penalty, and still come out ahead if inflation exceeds the liability.

So, land owners can never back out? The contracts are forever? They will never be able to do with their land what they want? Speaking of satellites

NASA Cancels Satellite CO2 Monitoring Project

The Geocarb Project cancellation leaves a lot of questions – like how NASA managed to spend $170 million on the CO2 monitoring project without putting anything into space.

Good question. Here’s some of the article

NASA cancels greenhouse gas monitoring satellite due to cost

NASA is canceling a planned satellite that was going to intensely monitor greenhouse gases over the Americas because it got too costly and complicated. (snip)

When it was announced six years ago, it was supposed to cost $166 million, but the latest NASA figures show costs would balloon to more than $600 million and it was years late, according to NASA Earth Sciences Director Karen St. Germain. (snip)

The equipment alone has more than doubled in price and then there were non-technical issues that would have added more, she said. The agency has already spent $170 million on the now-canceled program and won’t spend any more.

Nice. Pissed away $170 million for nothing.

Read: Surprise: Satellites Find No Benefit From Carbon Offsets (scam) »

Posted in Carbon Credits, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Twitter Allowing COVID “Misinformation” Is A Grave Risk Or Something

By William Teach December 2, 2022 – 7:00 am

As we’ve seen, most of what they called misinformation turned out to be factually correct. Like when health professionals said masking most people, including kids, was unnecessary. That the vaccines wouldn’t stop people from getting COVID. That there was no reason to have anyone other than the elderly and with pre=existing conditions from isolating. And so much more. But, this is not the first time the authoritarian nags have gotten upset. They’ve been saying that allowing people their free speech is Dangerous since 2020

Twitter lifted its ban on COVID misinformation – research shows this is a grave risk to public health

Twitter’s decision to no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy, quietly posted on the site’s rules page and listed as effective Nov. 23, 2022, has researchers and experts in public health seriously concerned about the possible repercussions.

These would be the same people who initially said that masks were unnecessary unless you were sick, then said wear a mask if you were inside and going to be near people, then wear them all the time inside even if you are nowhere near anyone else, then wear them outside, then double mask, then wear an N95. All while so often getting caught not wearing one themselves. And that the vaccines were totally safe. And that they stopped people from getting COVID. And that buying seeds to garden was dangerous

As a researcher who studies social media, I believe that reducing content moderation is a significant step in the wrong direction, especially in light of the uphill battle social media platforms face in combating misinformation and disinformation. And the stakes are especially high in combating medical misinformation.

Then buy Twitter yourself. Or, debunk what people are putting out. Prove your case. Shutting people down is wrong.

There are three key differences between earlier forms of misinformation and misinformation spread on social media.

First, social media enables misinformation to spread at a much greater scale, speed and scope.

Second, content that is sensational and likely to trigger emotions is more likely to go viral on social media, making falsehoods easier to spread than the truth.

Third, digital platforms such as Twitter play a gatekeeping role in the way they aggregate, curate and amplify content. This means that misinformation on emotionally triggering topics such as vaccines can readily gain attention.

Funny, the same people demanding that everyone be censored now had no problem with all the 9/11 Truther stuff, as well as the proven fake Russian collusion garbage.

In 2021, a U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory identified that social media platforms’ content moderation policies need to:

  • pay attention to the design of recommendation algorithms.
  • prioritize early detection of misinformation.
  • amplify information from credible sources of online health information.

These priorities require partnerships between healthcare organizations and social media platforms to develop best practice guidelines to address healthcare misinformation. Developing and enforcing effective content moderation policies takes planning and resources.

Let them buy social media companies. And that looks like the government attempting to censor citizen’s voices. The very fact is is that people spread misinformation well before social media, and we do not need government, companies, or powerful entities dictating what we can say or think. Even if wrong.

Read: Twitter Allowing COVID “Misinformation” Is A Grave Risk Or Something »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Bat Soup Virus | 27 Comments | Trackback URL

Hot Take: 207 Republicans Voted Against Sick Days For Railroad Workers

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 6:33 pm

From the insane moonbat minds at Jezebel

More Than 200 Republicans Voted Against Paid Sick Days for Railroad Workers

Railroad workers are unionized and their contract is set to expire on Dec. 9, which has prompted speculation about a possible railroad strike that could disrupt travel and cripple supply chains.

President Joe Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh helped broker a tentative deal earlier this year, but four out of 12 rail unions voted against it, mostly because the proposed contract included just one single paid sick day. In their current contract, the workers have zero sick days. (snip)

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted on a bill to adopt the tentative contract, which passed 290-137. Many Democrats were also furious about the sick time issue, so the House also voted on Resolution 119, which would add seven days of paid sick leave to the contract. A whopping 207 Republicans voted against it. The resolution still passed with 221 votes, from 218 Democrats and a measly three Republicans.

They were just doing as Biden and Pelosi asked, to vote for a clean bill. Congress does, in fact, have a lot of power in the business of privately owned railroads, but, what happens if this resolution becomes part of the Tentative Agreement, and the railroads spike it? Which then leads to a strike? That was the whole idea of voting for a clean bill. The railroads say there is a reason they only want 1 sick day (I’m not buying it, workers should have more, or, at least be able to use a few vacation days without notice as sick days). Congress is not the place to muck around with this.

So far, the White House has nothing to say on not getting a clean vote. And it ended up getting a clean vote, without that resolution, in the Senate

(Wall Street Journal) Senate lawmakers passed a bill Thursday to prevent a nationwide strike by railroad workers after rejecting a proposal to give them expanded paid sick leave.

In a 80-15 vote, with one voting present, lawmakers agreed to force unions to adopt an earlier labor agreement, exceeding the 60-vote threshold for the measure to pass. The move is expected to end the long-running labor dispute between Union Pacific Corp., CSX Corp. and other freight railroads and more than 115,000 workers.

The measure now goes to the White House. President Biden has said he is prepared to sign any resolution passed by Congress that prevents such a strike. Under the Railway Labor Act, Congress can make both sides accept an agreement to prevent harm to the U.S. economy.

The additional 6 sick days was shot down 52-43, unable to pass the 60 vote threshold. They also killed an amendment to allow for 60 days more of negotiation

Read: Hot Take: 207 Republicans Voted Against Sick Days For Railroad Workers »

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Still Your Fault: Baby Names To Change Due To Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 4:50 pm

Well, this is a new one (via Watts Up With That?)

Weather can affect baby names. A couple uncommon ones might be about to blow up

Some parents name their babies after celebrities, others, for revered ancestors. But enjoyable weather can influence a parent’s choice as well, an analysis of hundreds of millions of baby names in the United States has shown. Names such as April and Autumn show up more in states where those times of year are most beautiful, the new study concludes.

The new study persuades Ruth Mace, an evolutionary anthropologist at University College London (UCL) who was not involved in the work, that “we sometimes take in our environment and reflect it in our children’s names.” (there are then 9 more paragraphs talking about names like May, June, April, and Autumn around the world, none which really discuss global warming, to the final, short paragraph)

And, Mace says, “[It’s] interesting to speculate our great-grandchildren may have names like January and February as global warming races along” and warm weather comes earlier in the year.

Mind you, this is not some offbeat blog or something, this is the magazine Science.

Read: Still Your Fault: Baby Names To Change Due To Climate Crisis (scam) »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is the flag of an Evil carbon polluting nation (but, China is OK), you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Not A Lot Of People Know That, with a post on the top 5 climate lies.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

British Lunatics Say It’s Time To Rethink Christmas Because Half Of Citizens Not Christian

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 10:30 am

How about no?

Time to rethink Christmas as half of country not Christian, says diversity group

A group that works with organisations on issues of diversity and inclusivity says it may be time to cancel Christmas. The call comes after new statistics showed that less than half of the population of England and Wales described themselves as Christian in the 2021 census, meaning that Christianity is now a minority religion.

But the UK still has a ‘heavy emphasis on celebrating the birth of Jesus’, according to Watch This Sp_ce, an award-winning diversity and inclusion consultancy. They say that, from November onwards, the decorations in town centres, the advertising on our televisions, the constant emails from retailers, all imply that everyone will be celebrating on December 25.

The people working with Watch This Sp_ce are exactly who you think they are. Hard left moonbats

We are passionate about building a more equal society. One that benefits from the individual voices and unique perspectives that make humanity so richly diverse.

In other words, forcing people to Comply with their Progressive beliefs

We came together through volunteer projects, all looking to help amplify marginalised voices and support underrepresented groups to follow their ambitions. We started to talk about all the ways we knew the world needed to change. How businesses could be better. Where the gaps were in our society.

Then came lockdown. We found ourselves trapped in our homes with more time on our hands, watching the world having to rethink absolutely everything. And we knew we had to do something.

Yet, they aren’t upset at the government for their hardcore lockdown methods. Nope. They want to force businesses to follow what WTS says. Back to the original article

But they say many people feel left out and excluded from the celebrations, while their own religious or spiritual festival is ignored, and more feel under pressure to spend large mounts of money for ‘no real reason’.

Watch This Sp_ce says that, at work, these issues are ‘loaded into a pressure cooker’, hoghlighting people in the team that don’t celebrate at this time of year, forcing them to either ‘conform to a religion they don’t believe in’ or stand out as a highly visible minority amongst their teammates, who may well be labelling them Scrooge.

I don’t know about Britain, but, few feel that pressure here in the U.S. I work with plenty of people who are not Christians. We have a Christmas tree. We play Christmas music. We have an ugly sweater day. We have a Christmas party. No one cares. No one is really that soft in real life. No one is getting all freaked out like these activist moonbats at WTS.

Watch This Sp_ce us encouraging organisations to reconsider their approach to the festive season. Co-Creator Allegra Chapman said: “Christmas can be a time of fun and joy, but it is also filled with stresses, challenges and discomfort. Rather than forcing everyone to celebrate in an old-fashioned way, in the name of ‘just a bit of fun’, there is a great opportunity for organisations to take a fresh look at how and why they bring their teams together.”

How about they just mind their of f’ing business? Worry about their own lives. Of course, moonbat activists can’t do that, and, let’s be honest: this is about the typical Progressive hatred of Christianity. So, they give ideas like “ask your staff what they want”, “make a calendar”, “be flexible” (you can bet the house on these Progressives at WTS are not flexible in the least), and “celebrate purposefully”

Rather than enforcing awkward socialising for the sake of Christmas, maybe it’s time to reconsider how and why you bring your staff together. Celebrating milestones in your achievements as a team, throughout the year, and bringing people together in a way that helps them to get to know one another and understand their work is much more powerful than everyone drunkenly draping tinsel over each other. You might choose to have a spring, summer, autumn and winter celebration, for example, where you reflect on progress, recognise successes and think ahead to the coming season. If your work dos are going to involve alcohol, which might well be what the majority of your team want, make sure that there are plenty of alternatives available and that drinks are just an accompaniment to the event rather than the reason everyone is there. The idea is to allow everyone to connect and socialise, not to encourage everyone to get wasted.

Have these people worked in the private sector before? Run their own business? Managed people in the private sector? One is an HR specialist, which means a major league nag. One worked as an accountant, says nothing about running a business. Then there’s a “digital marketing expert and filmmaker”, meaning she does TikTok or Youtube. A “racial justice and anti-racism campaigner.” A “artist, writer, and educator who facilitates learning with inclusion at its core.” The only one who supposedly has experience in the private sector is Mo Kanjilal, who says she has “experience as an award-winning Vice-President of Sales & Marketing at a global corporation.” Would it be out of bounds to suggest, as a cofounder of WTS with Allegra Chapman, that she is probably not Christian, and wants to force her only unhappy thoughts on everyone else?

Almost no business enforces awkward socialising for the sake of Christmas. That’s not reality. Perhaps back in the 40’s, but, not now. Just a bunch of Christmas hating nags.

Read: British Lunatics Say It’s Time To Rethink Christmas Because Half Of Citizens Not Christian »

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Bad News: Cute And Fuzzy Bunnies Could Be Next Victims Of Climate Doom

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 7:15 am

I’m serious, we can’t let them walk away with everything. If we give in, we’re giving in to all the cute, fuzzy bunnies in the world.

Rabbits Could Be The Next Climate Change Casualty

Climate change is already having detrimental effects on ecology and wildlife around the world, and these problems are likely to get worse in the years ahead. But there remains much that is unknown. While many species, like the arctic polar bear, will predictably be worse off as their natural habitat and food sources are depleted, other species will undoubtedly benefit, and for still others, fortunes could go either way. One case in point is rabbits.

There are known to be more than 30 different species of rabbit, including 305 different breeds, spread across the world. Rabbits are one of the most recently domesticated animals, with some scholars tracing their domestication back to French monasteries in the 600s. Around that time, Pope Gregory the Great ruled that rabbit meat could be consumed during lent, leading to increased production in monasteries. (snip)

At higher temperatures, rabbit production becomes more challenging, which means higher costs for farmers in the form of fans, air conditioning units or other cooling strategies. Reduced fertility among rabbits is one consequence of hotter temperatures (something apparently also true in humans). Litters tend to have fewer bunnies, birth weights are lower, and there are higher rates of mortality among the young.

This is mostly aimed at domestic production of rabbits, rather than wild ones, but, one has wonder, how did they survive during the previous Holocene warm periods, which were warmer than the current one?

This is yet another area where the impacts of climate change, both for humans and wildlife, are likely to be diverse and multifaceted. Rabbit populations in some areas, like the Canary Islands, could well increase even while those cute white snow bunnies become harder and harder to find. On balance, the effects look harmful. Some estimates suggests more than two-thirds of rabbit species could be threatened by climate change.

“Could be.” Yet, survived fine, and flourished during the Medieval Warm Period. Just another attempt at scaring people.

(Cute and fuzzy bunnies from One Crazy Summer.)

Read: Bad News: Cute And Fuzzy Bunnies Could Be Next Victims Of Climate Doom »

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

People Demonizing Fossil Fuels Companies Seem Upset They Refused To Cooperate In Hearing

By William Teach December 1, 2022 – 7:00 am

If government officials and a whole bunch of other people were demonizing you and your company, would you be involved in their show trial?

‘Unconscionable’: California oil companies facing new tax are no-shows at gas price hearing

Are oil companies exploiting Californians to rake in record profits? How can state regulators stop refineries from shutting down for maintenance at the same time? What are the best approaches to prevent future gasoline price spikes in the Golden State?

As state regulators and legislators try to better understand what’s driving California’s high gas prices and weigh whether Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to tax oil company profits could be the answer, one thing is clear: they need more information and data from the companies producing and distributing the gasoline.

It’s pretty easy: start with Econ 101 and The Law Of Supply And Demand. Add in the extreme taxes, fees, and regulations from the People’s Republik Of California. Look at the reduction of refineries, which make up about 50% of the price per gallon. It all ads up

The California Energy Commission pursued those questions at a Tuesday meeting where they heard from industry analysts. Commission members did not, however, get any help from the companies that produce more than 90% of the state’s gasoline.

Chevron, Marathon, PBF Energy, Phillips 66 and Valero — all declined to participate in the hearing. In letters to the commission, most said speaking publicly about their operations, maintenance and inventory levels would force them to divulge trade secrets. PBF Energy, however, added that “the politicization of this issue by Governor Newsom, heightened by the misleading information he released and commented on related to our (2022 3rd quarter) earnings, precludes us from participating in this hearing.”

According to PBF Energy’s Q3 financial report, the company’s profit jumped from $59.1 million last year to $1.06 billion this year — an increase of nearly 1700%.

Newsom called the reasoning by oil companies “pathetic” and vowed to “hold these companies accountable.”

This completely blows off the market forces, especially for an industry with such low profit margins. If Californians weren’t buying so much, there wouldn’t be these earnings.

“Every Californian deserves to know why we were being fleeced at the pump even as gas prices declined across the country and crude oil prices were going down,” Newsom said in a statement. “The oil industry had their chance today to explain why they made record profits at our expense but they chose to stonewall us.”

The companies have zero obligation to explain themselves to hostile government and entities who are looking to scapegoat the companies, especially since Newsom and the rest of the moonbats won’t listen or believe the explanations.

Read: People Demonizing Fossil Fuels Companies Seem Upset They Refused To Cooperate In Hearing »

Posted in Democrats, Energy | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Still Your Fault: Disturbing Links Between Climate Crisis (scam) And Slavery

By William Teach November 30, 2022 – 3:37 pm

Is this about all those poor folks in 3rd world nations, along with populations in China, being forced to work to dig out metals for EVs, solar panels, and wind turbines?

The disturbing links between climate change and modern-day slavery

On Sept. 12, a disturbing new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free and International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed that the number of people in modern slavery has risen by approximately 10 million since 2016. Fifty million women, children and men are exploited through forms of slavery like forced labor and sex trafficking on any given day.

And, because this is a cult, they have to link it to climate apocalypse

The report pointed to climate change as a significant contributing factor to the world’s growing slavery epidemic.

In 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that the greatest impact of climate change could be on human migration, with millions displaced by erosion, flooding and food system disruptions. Now, forecasts from the World Bank warn of more than 200 million environmental migrants by 2050.

International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence, observed this connection in South Asia where we combat forced labor slavery. The IJM casework data indicated that 78 percent of rescued forced laborers had come from regions where impacts from climate change had placed their fundamental livelihoods at risk.

Thin. Very thin. They actually care more about their so-called ‘climate change’ links than about the slavery

Additionally, IJM finds that in places where people profit from enslaving and exploiting human beings with next-to-no risk of legal sanction, the same offenders often also profit from exploiting and destroying the natural environment without risk of punitive action. Slavery and environmental destruction flourish where criminal impunity prevails and legal protection for both people and the environment is lacking.

So, they’re saying this is occurring in 3rd World Shitholes? Huh. What’s mentioned are mostly environmental, real environmental, issues.

This The Hill opinion piece fails to mention that 22 million are trapped in forced marriages, but, I’m sure they Blame that on you driving a fossil fueled vehicle, as well. China? It’s mentioned only once. Guess they do not want to tick the Communist nation off.

Read: Still Your Fault: Disturbing Links Between Climate Crisis (scam) And Slavery »

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If All You See…

By William Teach November 30, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible, evil, terrible gas powered stove, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, with a post on China supporting Apple moving against Twitter.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 10 Comments | Trackback URL
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