California governor Gavin Newsom has signed a raft of new state laws tightening up the rules on waste recycling, strengthening policies it adopted in 2019. (That year it stopped hotels from giving out small plastic bottles for amenities, created a state recycling commission, and extended a recycling loan program till 2031). Some highlights from Megan…
Category: Jane Shaw Stroup
China, Facing Blackouts, Goes ‘All-In’ for Oil, Gas, and Coal
China’s energy production is in turmoil—but probably not because it is cutting back on fossil fuels. Although President Xi has claimed the country will cut back, it hasn’t so far. The causes of the current energy crisis are multiple. Reuters lists some: “China is in the grip of a power crunch as a shortage of…
Record Cold in Antarctica. ‘A Mere Blip,’ says the Washington Post
The Washington Post routinely explains surprising weather events as caused by “climate change” (formerly known as global warming). “Hot” events like the California wildfires are blamed on climate change. Similarly, “cold” events like Texas’s 2020 winter freeze are blamed on climate change. But sometimes the cold is just too severe to explain with climate change. Or…
More Voices Speak Out Against Climate Panic
Now that the Biden administration calls climate change an “existential crisis,” and the UN Secretary-General warns that the world has reached a “tipping point on the need for climate action,” more temperate voices are beginning to speak up. People known for their expertise in economics are puncturing glib statements by politicians and the media. They…
The Doctors Should Know Better
An editorial appeared in 200 health journals this month, including prominent medical journals such as the New England journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal. Its title was “Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health.” It contended that global warming is a crisis on the corder of…
Why Can’t Conservation Groups Buy or Lease Federal Land?
By and large,, conservation groups in the United States cannot buy or lease federal land or water rights and apply them to conservation goals. That is, they cannot obtain cattle grazing rights to let bison roam; “mining rights” to leave the minerals in the ground; timber leases to stop cutting trees; or federally supplied water…