State Sen. Jerry Cirino (photo, left; profile here), an Ohio Republican, is sponsoring a bill that “designates climate policy as a ‘controversial belief or policy.’” On a purely abstract plane, a climate “belief or policy” could be controversial if, say, it posits tha[...]
Posts Tagged ‘climate change’
April 15th, 2023 - 1:52 am § in Environment
Still in denial about climate change?
March 2023 was the 529th consecutive month of above-normal planetary temperatures, using the 2oth century average as a baseline (see story here). You can see that global warming is happening; ice is melting all over the world: Mountain glaciers, Arctic Ocean ice cover, the Greenland ice cap, Antarct[...]
February 15th, 2023 - 6:36 pm § in Environment, Politics
Florida won’t be a state in a few years
It’ll be a reef. Disney World will be gone, but it’s on the way out anyway, Gov. DeSantis having declared it “woke.” On the bright side, Congress will be rid of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and there’ll be two fewer Republican senators. “Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday [...]
Book review: “To Rule the Waves”
If you read only one book on global politics and strategy this year, make it this one. The author, Bruce D. Jones (bio here), has an academic background and has worked for the U.N., World Bank, and is currently at the Brookings Institution. He’s been a fellow at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and [...]
January 10th, 2023 - 4:56 am § in Science
Still think climate change is a hoax?
“Don’t Look Up” is a satire film about humanity in denial about an impending comet collision with earth (details here). It’s a not-too-subtle play on attitudes about climate change. Denialism is quite possibly the most striking cultural phenomenon of our time. Election, clima[...]
December 2nd, 2022 - 9:21 pm § in Environment
Busting a polar bear myth
Background: Polar bears are a symbol of the deleterious effects of global warming. Climate deniers claim: The polar bear population has “never been higher.” The facts: Polar bears came back from near-extinction caused by overhunting, thanks to conservation efforts and hunting restrictions, but t[...]
October 22nd, 2022 - 1:00 pm § in Environment
Anti-oil protests, meh
Back in the 1970s, when people fretted over “peak oil” and freaked out about long gas lines caused by Arab oil embargoes, Ralph Nader said “the world is awash in oil.” He was right, of course; much more oil has been found, and technological advances (e.g., fracking) have unlo[...]
Why do Republicans hate electric cars?
“The Biden administration has made support for EVs a top priority,” Huffington Post says (here), and that’s probably enough reason right there. In today’s tribal politics, at least on the Republican side, “if they’re for it, we’re ag’in it.” But [...]
September 29th, 2022 - 1:56 pm § in Environment
Dining in Venice
This photo is a bit unfair, because St. Mark’s Square isn’t always underwater, only during the seasonal high tides. And the flooding isn’t solely caused by sea level rise due to climate change; the ground under the city is sinking. Read why here. But what you see here is perhaps sy[...]
September 15th, 2022 - 2:58 pm § in Environment, Politics
Why nobody respects Congress
To keep this post readably short, I won’t go over the long history of colorful and vile characters who’ve served in Congress at one time or another. I’ll just say voters can elect anybody they want to, and sometimes do, and let it go at that. And also that polls through the years h[...]