Corporate/Investors' Greed Might End Up Saving the Earth from Eco-Armageddon

Vinnie and Luigi will be right over to collect.


The world's wealthiest investors — motivated solely by their own financial interests — might be the wild card as the climate change battle heats up.  No, they didn't suddenly get all warm and fuzzy about a bunch of smelly animals.

According to a report from The Economist, environmental destruction caused by climate change “may wreak a whopping $4.2 TRILLION in havoc upon rich investors’ portfolios if they don’t act NOW.”

Also from the linked article:

“...even if today’s Masters of the Universe are wealthy enough to not starve, drown, or get Mad-Maxed like the rest of us...they may experience something even worse, God forbid: The inability to 'fulfill their fiduciary duties.'”

And:

“Investors currently face a stark choice. Either they will experience impairments to their holdings in fossil fuel companies should robust regulatory action on climate change take place, or they will face substantial losses across the entire portfolio of manageable assets should little mitigation be forthcoming.” 

Or as Gordon Gekko used to say:  [sometimes] “greed is good.”

FEMA: No More Disaster-Preparedness Funding for Flat-Earth Governors

YES.  Do It.  NOW!!!

No more taxpayer handouts to red state governors who forbid hazard-mitigation plans that address climate change. Florida and North Carolina are the biggest offenders that I can think of off hand.  

In Florida, government employees are prohibited from using such phrases as climate change, global warming or sustainability.  North Carolina has a Koch/ALEC-dictated law which prohibits coastal planning officials from mentioning or even considering the anticipated rising of sea levels.

Keep it up and it'll cost you.

Among the ten states receiving the most FEMA disaster-preparedness funding (i.e. YOUR tax dollars), eight of these states are governed by Republicans. 

Maybe the Koch Brothers will step in and make a huge multi-billion dollar donation every time a red state gets afflicted by droughts, floods, fires, hurricanes...

Say “Climate Change,” Go To Prison

The State of Florida has FINALLY come to terms with climate change.  No, not the actual phenomenon of  climate change itself, of course.  According to the Florida Powers That Be, the best way to solve a problem is to simply not talk about it.  ssshhhhh!!!

Therefore, employees of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection are now prohibited from using the following phrases:  “climate change,” “global warming” and “sustainability.”

Problem solved.

“Climate Change” vs. “Global Warming”

Damned if we do, damned if we don't. The term “Climate Change” is more accurate, since the symptoms include hurricanes, floods and blizzards as well as hotter temperatures. But the general public is more alarmed and willing to act when they hear “Global Warming.”

“Climate Change” sounds too cerebral, too detached. “Global Warming” is more alarming, more galvanizing, but it opens the door for millions of inbred dunces to recite — on cue — “It snowed last night. So much for that there 'global warming' they keep talking about, huh huh huh uh uh uh.”

However, one particular group is extremely motivated by the term “Climate Change” — the Canadian government.  Stephen Harper's (no relation) administration is sooo alarmed by the term “Climate Change” that government meteorologists are not allowed to talk about it.  Period.  It's OK if a meteorologist mentions a specific weather event — a storm, flood, drought, etc.  But they are not allowed to say or imply that there's a larger pattern involved — i.e. “Climate Change” — or that fossil fuel consumption just might could maybe have something to do with it.

In fact, all government scientists are required to get permission from the federal government before they can speak to a reporter.  And they're told very clearly which answers they can and cannot give.

And for some odd reason, media coverage of climate change issues has decreased by eighty percent since Stephen Harper started muzzling Canadian scientists.  Andrew Nikiforuk, an award-winning journalists who's spent twenty years reporting on Canada's oil and gas industry, said:

“We have a government of thugs in Ottawa these days who are absolutely ruthless.  It’s a hostility and thuggery, is the way I would describe it. That’s exactly what it is.”

Anyone still think Canada is “better” or less corporate-owned than the U.S.?

Massive-Scale Agriculture is a Threat to the Climate

Fossil fuels aren't the only threat to the planet.  Modern mass-scale farming methods based on GMOs, monocultures and factory farms are also putting the Earth in jeopardy.  Needless to say, America's “media” are studiously ignoring this problem.

But as the linked article says, “The UN has been especially persevering in connecting the dots between climate change, agriculture, and food security."

The UN Commission on Trade and Development has released an alarming report titled “Trade and Environment Review 2013:  Wake Up Before It Is Too Late.”

Basically, organic and small-scale farming will be the only way to keep feeding seven Plus billion people without wrecking the planet.  The report says:  “This implies a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high-external-input-dependent industrial production toward mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers.”

Unfortunately, the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership and other global trade agreements are pushing in the opposite direction:  More GMOs, more mass-scale industrial farming operations, and corporate profits über alles.

Which way will we go?

(It was a rhetorical question.)

“Global Warming is a Myth” equals Flat Earth Society

Just try to imagine this wacky scenario: the Flat Earth Society is receiving mega-funding from some of the world’s most powerful industries. Think tanks and focus groups are coming up with ever more sophisticated propaganda methods for conveying the group’s message — The Earth Is Flat! — and slandering everyone who disagrees.

If this were the case, millions of gullible Americans would be saying “that Loony Left. Now they're trying to tell us the world is round. What are those treehuggers gonna come up with next?” “The world is round?? Looks flat to me. What a bunch of moonbats.”

Well, how different is this? A rightwing think tank — funded by ExxonMobil — has been offering $10,000 to scientists who are willing to write “reports” that deny or downplay global warming. As the author says, “the denial machine is running at full throttle—and continuing to shape both government policy and public opinion.”

According to 600 scientists from over 40 countries, there is a 90% certainty that the release of greenhouse gases — from the burning of fossil fuels — is causing longer droughts, more flooding and worse heat waves. This is widely recognized by vast majorities in Europe and Japan.

But in the United States, the Denial Machine’s propaganda tactics are working. Their methods are patterned after the tobacco industry’s tactics in the 1990s: Create doubt. Sow confusion. “We don’t know.” “The results are uncertain.” “Let’s not go overboard yet; we need more research.”

And here are the results: nearly two thirds of Americans think there's “a lot of scientific disagreement” on climate change. Only one third believes global warming is “mainly caused by things people do.” Do they still teach Critical Thinking in American high schools and colleges? Or any kind of thinking?

So far this year there have been eight bills introduced in Congress to reduce greenhouse gases. But the Democratic “leadership” hasn’t taken much action on them; and they aren't getting much pressure from the public either. Rush Holt, a New Jersey Congressman (also a physicist) said “every time the scientific case got stronger, the American public yawned and bought bigger cars.”