One Time Publication Rights
Exclusive, your circulation area
858 words
October 12, 2018
THE WAR AGAINST FOSSIL FUELS RECONSIDERED
By Jay Lehr and Tom Harris
United Nations global warming alarmists are at it again. On Monday, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) bureaucrats sat stone-faced on television in South Korea predicting that the planet would all but perish in ten years if carbon dioxide (CO2) is allowed to continue to rise in the Earth’s atmosphere. Their solution, as presented in the IPCC’s flawed report, “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” (SR15), was all too familiar: to avert catastrophe we must greatly reduce our use of fossil fuels in favor of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.
What is different this time, however, is that three days earlier, and a half a world away, a competing and more realistic report was issued in the United States. Entitled “Summary for Policymakers - Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels,” it was released by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), an international network of climate scientists sponsored by three nonprofit organizations: the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, the Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP), and The Heartland Institute. The new NIPCC report is a result of the contribution of 117 scientists, economists, and other experts who refute the IPCC’s claim that the impacts of climate change on human wellbeing and the natural environment justify dramatic reductions in fossil fuels use. Indeed, the NIPCC report concludes the exact opposite of the IPCC:
“Fossil fuels have benefited humanity by making possible the prosperity that occurred since the first Industrial Revolution….Fossil fuels powered the technologies that reduced the environmental impact of a growing human population… Nearly all the impacts of fossil fuel use on human well-being are net positive (benefits minus costs) or are simply unknown”
Impact of fossil fuels on human health - figure from Summary for Policymakers - Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
In the past 20 years the climate scare has plagued every nation, wasting billions of dollars attempting the impossible, namely, to control the temperature of our planet. It has been driven by a combination of inestimable arrogance and ignorance coupled with a desire to place the government in charge of virtually all activities in our societies. Used properly, the new NIPCC report will help finally defeat what Canadian historical climatologist Dr. Tim Ball calls, “The greatest deception in history.”
In contrast to the IPCC’s SR15 report, the NIPCC’s Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels (CCR II – Fossil Fuels) report is readable by a non-scientific audience. It addresses every aspect of our climate from sea level to hurricanes, the fallacy of climate models, the physics that controls weather, the absurdity of thinking the Earth can run on either wind or solar energy, and the selective junk science used by alarmists to fool the public.
One of the main reasons that IPCC reports have such little credibility is that they virtually ignore the scientific method of testing hypotheses. Instead, all efforts are directed toward proving a political position rather than having an unbiased search for the truth. The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of CCR II: Fossil Fuels concludes:
“IPCC and its national counterparts have not conducted proper cost-benefit analyses of fossil fuels, global warming, or regulations designed to force a transition away from fossil fuels, nor are they likely to do so given their political agendas.”
The most important part of the SPM for CCR II – Fossil Fuels is the table entitled “Impact of fossil fuels on human well-being.” It is a comprehensive assemblage of the issues promoted by climate change alarmists accompanied by a brief summary of the fallacy of each. Besides six pages of references from leading authorities at the report’s conclusion, references are also provided in the table to the applicable sections of the underlying science report to be released in December 2018 so readers will soon be able to see for themselves the supporting evidence for the new report’s conclusions. Here are some examples drawn from the table:
DROUGHT – No net impact – There has been no increase in the frequency or intensity of drought in the modern era. Rising CO2 lets plants use water more efficiently, helping them overcome stressful conditions imposed by droughts. Chapter references 2.7, 5.3
ECONOMIC GROWTH – Benefit - Affordable and reliable energy is positively correlated with economic growth rates everywhere in the world. Fossil fuels produced the three industrial revolutions that made possible the unprecedented global rise in human prosperity. Chapter references 3, 4.1, 5.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2
HEAT RELATED MORTALITY – Beneficial – Extreme cold kills more people than extreme heat, so a warmer world would see a net decrease in temperature related mortality in virtually all parts of the world, even those with tropical climates. Chapter reference 4.2
SEA LEVEL RISE – No net impact – There has been no increase in the rate of increase in global average sea level in the modern era, and therefore no reason to expect any economic damages to result from it. Local sea levels change in response to factors other than climate. Chapter references 2.7, 8.2
CCR II: Fossil Fuels explains that the social benefits of coal, oil, and natural gas vastly exceed the costs. The last thing we should be doing is turning off fossil fuels, our most abundant, least expensive energy sources, in a futile attempt to control the planet’s climate.
___________________
Dr. Jay Lehr is the Science Director of The Heartland Institute which is based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition and is also a policy advisor to Heartland.
...========================
YOUNG CULTURE
Announce Winter Tour
With Locals Only
Check Out Latest Single, "Drift"
Albany, NY - October 12, 2018 - Pop rock band Young Culture will be hitting the road this December with fellow New Yorkers Locals Only. The week long run kicks off on December 1st in Philadelphia, with additional stops in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Nashville, and more. For a full list of shows, please see below or visit facebook.com/youngcultureNY.
It's not often that a rock or punk band will make a hip-hop style mixtape just to clear their creative cobwebs. But that's exactly what Albany-based four-piece Young Culture did. Formed by school friends Alex Magnan (vocals) and Gabe Pietrafesa (guitar), who have been playing together for a number of years, Young Culture put out their debut mini-album, You, in the summer of 2016. It was followed up with a five-track EP called Blue. The former had a song, "Bedroom Floor" that featured Derek DiScanio from State Champs - a fellow Albany band - on backing vocals. The latter was co-produced by him and Seth Henderson, who's worked with the likes of Real Friends, Knuckle Puck and Sleep On It.
Young Culture - completed now by guitarist Troy Burchett and drummer Nick Cavin - toured those songs and began to build up a solid following, which remains strong today. But instead of working on new material for the band, the pair, fuelled by an inherent restless creativity, began to experiment, Pietrafesa sending Magnan different beats to write lyrics over just to keep their inspiration and creative juices flowing.
A complete 180 to the music Young Culture had made previously, the band released them as a mixtape under the abbreviated moniker YC. The songs served as an important writing exercise for the pair to sharpen their skills when it came back round to writing 'real' Young Culture songs. That influence is very much evident in "Drift," the first song the band has written since signing to Equal Vision Records earlier this year.
The result is a song that redefines who Young Culture is as a band, but also reshapes the perimeters of pop-punk - although it should be noted that they're very wary of being confined to just that genre. As they should be - because there are many more layers to this song and this band.
The release of the emotionally charged "Drift" is helping to usher in a brand new phase of Young Culture's existence. They might now be just 20 years old, but both Pietrafesa and Magnan's attitude and songwriting ability display a maturity way beyond their years. And while this isn't an entirely new beginning, it certainly marks the start of something that's thoroughly unique, electrifying and engaging.
The band's new single premiered exclusively via Substream Magazine, and is now available via streaming services at evr.lnk.to/drift.
For More Information, please visit:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/youngcultureNY
Twitter: www.twitter.com/YoungCultureNY
Instagram: www.instagram.com/YoungCultureNY
Upcoming Tour Dates w/ Kayak Jones
12/1 - Philadelphia, PA @ Creep Records
12/2 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland
12/3 - Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall
12/4 - Fayetteville, NC @ Drunk Horse Pub
12/5 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
12/6 - Ocala, FL @ Alchemy Ballroom
12/7 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Purgatory)
12/8 - Nashville, TN @ Rocketown
========================
Switzerland steps up as a U.S. ally in the trade war
By Dr. Wolfgang Klietmann
President Trump is levying tariffs on several major trading partners. And they're striking back.
China says it's prepared for "the biggest trade war in economic history" and promises to impose retaliatory tariffs of "equal scale and equal strength" on U.S. goods. The European Union has slapped tariffs on U.S. products ranging from bourbon to motorcycles. And Mexico has hiked tariffs on $3 billion worth of American imports.
These countries are playing with fire -- a full-blown trade war could deeply damage their economies since they're heavily dependent on exporting goods to America. They'd be wise to de-escalate tensions and address the structural trade imbalances that have angered President Trump.
For inspiration, they could look to Switzerland, a famously neutral country that has quietly carried on a balanced and mutually beneficial trading relationship with the United States.
Switzerland's economic ties to the United States date back to the mid-1800s. As of 2016, Switzerland -- which has a population of just 8 million people -- was one of the United States' largest trading partners. The two nations traded $115 billion in goods and services.
The benefits flow both ways. The United States imported $14 billion more goods than it exported to Switzerland. But the United States also sold $9 billion more in services than it purchased.
As a result, the total U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland was less than $5 billion -- a pittance compared to our $375 billion deficit with China and our $71 billion deficit with Mexico.
Swiss firms have also made substantial direct investments in the United States.
For example, drug manufacturer Novartis is bringing a $55 million gene therapy production plant and 200 jobs to North Carolina. Swiss chocolate maker Lindt, which has located half of its factories in America, is expanding its Stratham, New Hampshire plant with a $201 million investment. This March, Swiss synthetic flooring company Gezolan opened a $12 million plant in Georgia. And in July, Swiss satellite manufacturing company RUAG began production at a Florida facility which will ultimately support over 600 jobs.
All told, Swiss firms have plowed $224 billion into the United States, making the small alpine country our seventh largest source of foreign direct investment. These companies support over 460,000 American jobs which pay an average salary of $103,000.
Meanwhile, U.S. firms have returned the favor by investing $155 billion in Switzerland.
The Swiss immigrant Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), who became Secretary of the United States Treasury and served under presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, would no doubt be proud of the current state of Swiss-American trade relations. Gallatin brought fiscal discipline to the nascent United States and is honored with a prominent statue in front of the Treasury building in Washington, D.C. The inscription reads simply "Genius of Finance."
President Trump has targeted several countries for their allegedly unfair trade practices. But Switzerland isn't in his crosshairs -- and for good reason. Swiss companies and officials work hard to ensure the trade relationship remains fair and balanced. Other countries ought to follow Switzerland's lead.
Dr. Wolfgang Klietmann is a former clinical pathologist and medical microbiologist at Harvard Medical School. He is a board member of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce's Boston chapter.
