Quite the see-saw oscillation of political denial vs a small modicum of better sense:


Environment Bill: Ministers in tight spot ahead of COP26 climate summit
wrote:

The House of Lords has put the government, and in particular new Housing Secretary Michael Gove, in a tight spot ahead of the COP 26 UN climate conference in Glasgow in November.

Peers have defeated the government 14 times to rewrite important sections of its landmark Environment Bill.

Ministers will now have to decide whether to accept the changes, or spend the weeks before the gathering voting them down in the Commons.

Over the past fortnight, a cross-party alliance of peers - Labour, Lib Dems, crossbenchers and some Conservatives - has pushed through some significant changes to the legislation. These include a call to declare a climate change and biodiversity emergency, seeking to eliminate sewage discharges into rivers, protecting habitats, soil quality and ancient woodlands, and raising air quality.

They also want to ensure pesticides are assessed for their long-term impact on honeybees and pollinating insects, and beefing up the powers and independence of the new watchdog body, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

That last was a cross-party amendment, led by the ecologist and crossbench peer Lord Krebs, who argued the OEP as described in the bill would be a "toothless watchdog"...

Here's hoping the greedy destructive political greed can be overcome for the better good of us all and for the better good of the world around us.


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

More of the same ongoing real world story:


Climate reporting reaches melting point


Will we avert our Man-made prophesy?...

With the present politics and corruption: Can we??


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

U.S. flood insurance rates to rise for 77% of policyholders -study

Sept 21 (Reuters) - Changes to the main U.S. flood insurance program will raise rates for 77% of policyholders, according to a new study issued on Tuesday, although property owners in some poorer neighborhoods will see premiums decrease.

The study by the QuoteWizard unit of financial services provider LendingTree Inc (TREE.O) reviewed price changes due for the roughly 5 million participants in the National Flood Insurance Program, set up in 1968.

Under the new "Risk Rating 2.0" system from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) taking effect Oct. 1, new premiums will be based on a property's value, risk of flooding and other factors, rather than simply on a home's elevation.

Meant to account for climate-change-driven shifts like increasing flood frequency, the new plans also will make the program more equitable, said Nick VinZant, QuoteWizard senior research analyst.

A quote from the NYT article where I first saw this news

In the past, insurance policy has been vulnerable to political pressure. In 2012, Congress rolled back some of the subsidies in the flood insurance program, only to reverse course two years later after voters objected to higher costs.

But the growing threat of climate change may make that kind of intervention less successful, said Roy Wright, who ran the flood insurance program until 2018 and now runs the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

“We cannot hide the truth of this increasing risk,” Mr. Wright said. “We shouldn’t hide it. Tell people the truth.”

Undeniable!


Climate change: Youth have 'every right to be angry' says UK PM
wrote:

Boris Johnson says young people have every right to be angry about the state of climate change.

The UK prime minister told climate activists in Milan that they were paying the price for the "reckless actions of their elders".

The penitent mood here was underlined by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who said politicians needed to be "whipped into action."

Both agreed that urgent action to limit warming was now desperately needed...

... They've heard from a host of voices including Greta Thunberg who castigated politicians for dashing the hopes and dreams of young people.

She mocked their promises on climate as just more "blah, blah, blah".

Speaking here today, several senior politicians conceded that Ms Thunberg was essentially correct in her analysis.

"Young people around the world are already paying the price for the reckless actions of their elders," said Mr Johnson...

... Steps like this might not be quite what youth activists are demanding.

Their proposals to leaders include giving young people "meaningful participation" in all decision making on climate change.

They are calling for the end of fossil fuels by 2030, as well as transparent climate finance systems and responsible and sustainable tourism.

"We are going completely in the wrong direction and unfortunately speeding into the wrong direction," Nisreen Elsaim from Sudan told the conference.

"I'm afraid that not only you, the old generation, but us will be the last generation to witness that planet as it is."...

Meanwhile:


Insulate Britain protesters glue hands to M25
wrote:

Activists from the protest group Insulate Britain blocked part of the M25 for an eighth day in three weeks, causing long queues of traffic...

... Insulate Britain, which is calling on the government to insulate all UK homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions, said in a statement: "We are raising the tempo this week as, despite the urgency of the situation, there has been no meaningful response from the government to our demands..."

All a political game of yet more "Blah, blah, blah..." whilst the Denial worsens and continues yet further...


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

So how big a role can reducing demand play in smoothing the peaks of electricity use? Sara Walker, reader in energy at Newcastle University, says it needs a big push from policy-makers.
She told me: "There's great potential but there appears little attention on the subject at government level. We really need a strong policy signal - and we're not getting it."

New slogan, bet it will never get used!
Save energy, save money, save the planet

At this time, climate change is nothing but a gigantic Ponzi scheme.
That doesn't ignore the fact that it is/could be real, just...

Needing to insulate your house might cost you tens of thousands of pounds and you're only going to be saving several hundreds of pounds, so the economics of that doesn't really add up."

What about flats in cities & towns?
Would understand the following statement from a journalist who got their degree out of a cereal box, but...

Writing in the Sun, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "The Greenshirts of the Boiler Police are not going to kick in your door with their sandal-clad feet and seize, at carrot-point, your trusty old combi."

..A Prime Minister?

As for heat pumps?
How would they work during an extremely cold winter?

At this time, climate change is nothing but a gigantic Ponzi scheme.

Some proof.
28th May 2019
Europa League Final
Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
2,500 miles away from London.
It was put to UEFA that it would be better to hold it at Wembley in London as both clubs were based in London.
It was rejected (Not for the 1st time either.)

Five of the past nine Champions League finals have been contested by teams from the same country in a foreign venue. Climate campaigners called on Uefa to put the environment at the heart of such hosting decisions to limit travel, a recommendation Uefa rejected.

It's going to get worse
UEFA's view:

"Our mission is to manage our carbon footprint," Michele Uva, Uefa's director of football social responsibility, told BBC Sport.
"We are working to analyse the impact but our priority will be to reduce the footprint of each event and to offset remaining emissions.

Money 1st, scrrew the climate.

Heat pumps work in cold weather by adding resistance heating. They also tend to run a very high percentage of the time which may only give them a life of 5 years or so--requiring more frequent replacement than a furnace and compressor system. Also, electricity tends to be a lot more expensive way to heat your home than by natural gas. Unless electricity is provided by wind, solar or nuclear it won't affect your carbon footprint--just your wallet and bank account. People need to be given much more evidence and a stronger case for linking a minuscule amount of CO-2 in the atmosphere to any putative warming of the planet.

I myself would be more concerned to know if :
In fact we are really warming in a statistically significant way vs past climate variations
The sun is producing more heat(radiation) than it was 50 years ago-feels like it to me
If water vapor from thousands of airliners in the sky at any time might act as more clouds and less re-radiation.

In any event I am not convinced that anything can be done about it short of putting a big mirror or shade out at the Lagrangian points--then who do you sue when you are adversely affected?

Some good questions, but all the answers you are looking for are already out in the public domain, so here's a quick summary:

In fact we are really warming in a statistically significant way vs past climate variations

Yes, the change is much, must faster than previous rises which were measured in thousands of years per degree C vs. tens/hundred years for the current rate of rise.

The sun is producing more heat(radiation) than it was 50 years ago-feels like it to me

No, but what has happened is that the atmospheric absorption/reflection rats have been changing quite dramatically

If water vapor from thousands of airliners in the sky at any time might act as more clouds and less re-radiation.

No effect compared to the effects of increased CO2 and other greenhouse gasses (and those same aircraft are pumping out way more CO2 per mile than they are water vapour, so are contibuting to the greenhouse gas load)

In any event I am not convinced that anything can be done about it short of putting a big mirror or shade out at the Lagrangian points--then who do you sue when you are adversely affected?

A great idea, but it would have to be tens of thousands of miles across, and one would have to sue the designers of the mirror when it failed to reduce the temperature changes on earth.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

In any event I am not convinced that anything can be done about it short of putting a big mirror or shade out at the Lagrangian points--then who do you sue when you are adversely affected?

A great idea, but it would have to be tens of thousands of miles across, and one would have to sue the designers of the mirror when it failed to reduce the temperature changes on earth.

And anyone who is relying on PV cells to charge their car or power their house would probably sue you, too. A mirror couldn't allow light to reach agricultural crops for photosynthesis, while blocking out heating effects on ground used for other purposes.

Heat pumps work in cold weather by adding resistance heating. They also tend to run a very high percentage of the time which may only give them a life of 5 years or so--requiring more frequent replacement than a furnace and compressor system. Also, electricity tends to be a lot more expensive way to heat your home than by natural gas. Unless electricity is provided by wind, solar or nuclear it won't affect your carbon footprint--just your wallet and bank account. People need to be given much more evidence and a stronger case for linking a minuscule amount of CO-2 in the atmosphere to any putative warming of the planet.

I myself would be more concerned to know if :
In fact we are really warming in a statistically significant way vs past climate variations
The sun is producing more heat(radiation) than it was 50 years ago-feels like it to me
If water vapor from thousands of airliners in the sky at any time might act as more clouds and less re-radiation.

In any event I am not convinced that anything can be done about it short of putting a big mirror or shade out at the Lagrangian points--then who do you sue when you are adversely affected?

The mini split heat pump I installed 2 yrs. ago does not use resistance heating in cold weather, the manufacturer claims it will work down to 5F. Last winter it performed fine at 23F.
I live in the Puget spund region with virtually all electricity coming from hydo and wind and the rates are quite low. During the 2 winters I have had it I cut my power bill by $165 a month compared to the resistancw heat I previously used.
The unit was quite inexpensive, $1000 plus $1500 to have it installed and the power company gave me a $800 rebate. After this winter it will have been paid for. As a business decision a 3 year payback is awsome.
The bonus of using it for AC is quite nice last summer we had 2 extreem heat events and even a 115F my house easily maintained 73F.
I like the money savings, the green aspect of it and comfort it has provided year around. It totally pencils out for me.

---

t totally pencils out for me.

Yah

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Unbelievable.
A 77 year old retired doctor, a member of Insulate Britain, was one of those blocking the A40 in London.

Retired doctor Christian, 77 - one of the demonstrators coated the black liquid - told Greatest Hits Radio London News: "It wasn't painful, it didn't hurt - it was unpleasant, but just sad, the whole thing's sad, it's sad that we have to do this."

So no thoughts on his "comrades" blocking ambulances then.
I bet he didn't think it sad to suck on the governments tit for 45 years earning him his pension.

We continue to see our Government roll over at the feet of the Building and Construction industry monopoly to continue to enjoy a good belly rub and tickling... To the extortionate greater cost of everyone, and our planet, to forever suffer shoddy overly cheap builds that are very wastefully very expensive to run.

How else can we push/persuade/force the government to take useful action to drag our building industry, a screamin' and a screechin', to something more recent than the at present worse than Victorian standards?


Who's cosy profit and loss?...

All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

We continue to see our Government roll over at the feet of the Building and Construction industry monopoly to continue to enjoy a good belly rub and tickling... To the extortionate greater cost of everyone, and our planet, to forever suffer shoddy overly cheap builds that are very wastefully very expensive to run.

How else can we push/persuade/force the government to take useful action to drag our building industry, a screamin' and a screechin', to something more recent than the at present worse than Victorian standards?


Who's cosy profit and loss?...

All on our only one planet,
Martin

Mandatory birth control, removes demand for new structures.

Mandatory birth control, removes demand for new structures.

Is that not euphemistically called "Fiscal Policy"...?


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Mandatory birth control, removes demand for new structures.

Is that not euphemistically called "Fiscal Policy"...?

That is paying couples to have more babies to increase revenue growth.

Denial is the New Normal?...


Climate change: Extreme weather events are 'the new norm'
wrote:

... some of the extreme events that have been experienced around the world this year.

• It rained - rather than snowed - for the first time on record at the peak of the Greenland ice sheet
  
• A heat wave in Canada and adjacent parts of the USA pushed temperatures to nearly 50C in a village in British Columbia
  
• Death Valley, California reached 54.4C during one of multiple heat waves in the south-western USA
  
• Months' worth of rainfall fell in the space of hours in an area of China
  
• Parts of Europe saw severe flooding, leading to dozens of casualties and billions in economic losses
  
• A second successive year of drought in sub-tropical South America reduced the flow of river basins and hit agriculture, transport and energy production
  

Another worrying development, according to the WMO study, has been the rise in global sea levels...

... And that is just from the 1 deg C rise we have industriously polluted so far.


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Unbelievable.
A 77 year old retired doctor, a member of Insulate Britain, was one of those blocking the A40 in London...

Unbelievable?

Or are others entrenched in continued denial and continue to be too ignorant to care a hoot??...


COP26: Climate activist Greta Thunberg leads Glasgow protest
wrote:

The arrival of world leaders in Glasgow for the COP26 summit has triggered a series of protests across the city.

Dozens of gatherings were taking place, including one being attended by teenage activist Greta Thunberg.

She told fellow activists that change "would not come" from politicians at the summit but from individuals showing leadership...

And I consider her to be completely right.

The off-hand ignorantly dismissive response from our government to the on-going attempts by Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion people to stir a meaningful response, is very telling for how we are all being completely failed by our politicians.

Is "The Problem Of Pollution and Climate" some political tin can to be kicked yet farther down the road to beyond the cozy sumptuous retirement of the present politicians?...


All on our only one planet lost in our own poisonous political world...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

25 THOUSAND people attending.
How many flew in from afar?
In how many aircraft?
How many will actually contribute anything?
How many will be there just to polish the chairs?
How many are there just for the "tea and nibbles"?
How many would be just as effective staying at home?
How many would be MORE effective staying at home?

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?