A Few Thoughts on Bernie's Green New Deal

U.S. Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders recently released his plan for fighting climate change, which he - like A.O.C.,  is calling The Green New Deal. The plan can be found on the candidate's website.

I'm not going to argue whether anthropogenic global warming is real or a hoax. For the sake of this post, I'm going to assume that the climate of our planet is changing for the worse, and mankind is the chief culprit. I want simply to look at Sanders plan and see if it is at all feasible and if he is capable of achieving the goals he has put forth.

The plan is quite long. At over 13,000 words, the plan prints out to 20 pages. Addressing every point in the document for this blog post would be almost as difficult as Bernie Sanders getting his plan accomplished. I will only address a few points.

Reaching 100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization by 2050 at latest :

Wikipedia defines renewable energy as energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. I'm not quite sure how electricity can be produced using rain, tides and waves.

As one article from spectrum.ieee.org explains -To Get Wind Power You Need Oil 

"Wind turbines are the most visible symbols of the quest for renewable electricity generation. And yet, although they exploit the wind, which is as free and as green as energy can be, the machines themselves are pure embodiments of fossil fuels."

Solar powered electricity looks inviting to many, but along with the advantages, there are disadvantages: 

"Transportation and installation of solar systems have been associated with the emission of greenhouse gases. There are also some toxic materials and hazardous products used during the manufacturing process of solar photovoltaic systems, which can indirectly affect the environment."

There are several upsides to using geo-thermal compared to fossil fuels, but geo-thermal sources aren't available everywhere where electricity is needed. As someone who lives on an island where geo-thermal is the primary source of electricity, I can say the price of electricity isn't cheap.

Ending unemployment by creating 20 million jobs needed to solve the climate crisis:

Not quite sure how this number was attained. Does it factor in the number of jobs that will be eliminated by killing the fossil fuel industry?

Directly invest an historic $16.3 trillion public investment toward these efforts:

Not sure where this $16,300,000,000,000 will come from.

A just transition for workers:

"This plan will prioritize the fossil fuel workers who have powered our economy for more than a century and who have too often been neglected by corporations and politicians. We will guarantee five years of a worker’s current salary, housing assistance, job training, health care, pension support, and priority job placement for any displaced worker, as well as early retirement support for those who choose it or can no longer work."

I suspect this will work as well as Joseph Stalin's Five Year Plans.

As president, Bernie will: Fully electrify and decarbonize our transportation sector.

  Does he really believe he can replace every diesel and internal combustion powered vehicle with ones powered by electricity? Even allowing for his plan to provide grants and trade-in programs for people to obtain electrical vehicles, nothing short of outlawing gas powered automobiles, as well as gasoline itself, will prevent people who want conventional cars from buying one.

Progressives, such as the writer of an article at belatina.com support the idea that - ".......if elected as President, Sanders would immediately forgo Congressional approval and declare a national emergency using his executive powers from the White House, a move that would allow his administration to act quickly in implementing sweeping changes to our energy system."

Those on the Left are completely aware that Sanders must employ dictatorial powers and probably martial law to fully implement his Green New Deal. Without such powers, Sanders will find his plan even more difficult to pass than Trump's plan to build a wall.

More on the State of the Climate Report

I'm finding the 2nd book in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy as boring as the first, but I determined to complete the entire trilogy.

I'm about 45% through it and I was going to read the State of the Climate in 2016 Report at the same time, but I've hit a snag. I had downloaded the report and converted the document from pdf to mobi in order to be able to read the report on my Kindle. Unfortunately, that conversion didn't work out so well. Many of the pages in the pdf contain 2 pages, side by side. When converted to mobi, this makes reading the document next to impossible. I'll have to read the report in the pdf format on my PC - which I don't enjoy doing.

Never the less. I believe the report needs to be read and I'll do just that.

State of the Climate in 2016 Report

From an article published in The Manila Bulletin:

"The Earth set a series of dire records in 2016, including hottest year in modern times, highest sea level and most heat-trapping gases ever emitted, a global climate report said Thursday.
A range of key climate and weather indicators show the planet is growing increasingly warm, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down, said the annual State of the Climate Report".

The State of the Climate Report, an international, peer-reviewed publication released each summer is, according to American Meteorological Society,".....the authoritative annual summary of the global climate......"

"The report, compiled by NOAA’s Center for Weather and Climate at the National Centers for Environmental Information is based on contributions from scientists from around the world. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice, and in space."

The 298 page report is available here.

I've downloaded the pdf and, of course, converted the document to mobi via online-convert.com. I've looked at portions and intend on reading the entire report on my Kindle after I've finished reading the the 2nd novel in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.

As I've said, I've only read portions of the report, but it also contains information covering the climate on Mars. Looking forward to see how that gets tied into global warming.

Sometimes Mark Shea is Right

Sometimes, I actually agree with something Mark Shea writes. Perhaps this goes along the lines of how a broken clock is right twice a day, but I will give credit where credit is due.

I am in agreement with Shea on the abolition of the death penalty, and he and I agree on man's contribution to climate change. Where we might part ways on climate change, is in how I see his views on the various climate accords and solutions put forward by leftists as mostly virtue signaling. In his quintessential Trump hatred he has seen Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate accord as Trump actually wanting to destroy the planet.

Although I consider a good deal of Shea's attacks on the President as a case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, he does have a recent post damning Trump, where I agree that, in this case, Trump's actions can be vile and disgusting.

Entitled Trump steals from children with cancer, Shea's post links to an article on The Hill, which itself links to an article at Forbes.com, documenting how Donald Trump took control of the Eric Trump Foundation, diverting money donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis into revenue for the Trump Organization.

When Trump and HRC were duking it out in the POTUS campaign, I stated in more than one post that having to chose between those two was like choosing between mustard or mayo on your fecal sandwich. After the election, I was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. He's not my favorite POTUS by any means, but let's see what he does before we impeach him, OK?

Shea ends his post - "Impeach this vile human being now."

While I agree that Trump's actions toward St. Jude Hospital are vile and disgusting, I don't know if (legally) his actions are an impeachable offense.

Trump and the Paris Climate Accord

 President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and blogger Mark Shea has unleashed a firestorm of anti-Trump vitriol. In Shea's opinion, by his withdrawal from the agreement, Trump has flipped off Pope Francis and now, "Trumpian Catholics" are cheering.

I wanted to leave a comment on Shea's post, but as I've been banned from commenting on his blog, [twice, actually] I have to address his post here.

First of all, as I've said time and again, I did not vote for Donald Trump and I wish someone else (other than Hillary Clinton) had won instead. Secondly, I support Pope Francis. In a battle between Trump and the Pope, the Pope wins every time. Thirdly, although I see the discussion over climate change as more political than scientific, I lean on the side that maintains that the planet is warming and human activity contributes to that warming.

With all that being said, I find all the weeping and moaning over the Paris climate agreement withdrawal ridiculous.

Trump supporters claim withdrawing from the accord will make America Great Again. The anti-Trumpers says Trump's action will destroy the planet. Both sides are full of the organic matter I spread on my garden.

I've read the Paris agreement (found as a pdf thanks to NPR) and it is, as Hillary Clinton might say, the "biggest nothing burger, ever."

As an aside, thanks to Hillary, we can now dispense with phrase "nothing burger" from this point forward.

My reasons for being against the Paris agreement are the opposite of Trump's. Trump doesn't believe in climate change, probably hasn't read the agreement - but believes signing it hurts Americans.

I, on the other hand, believe in the science behind climate change, I have read the agreement and believe the accord to be 31 pages of useless crap. Like everything thing else Liberals support, it is a useless document written to make people believe they are accomplishing something when they aren't actually doing squat.

Greenhouse Effect

Out of curiosity, I placed a kitchen thermometer inside our car for about an hour. The windows were up. The car was in the shade. Still, the temperature read 140°F (60°C).

Bill Nye - Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Being an old fart myself - I'm 2 1/2 years older than Bill Nye - I was spared the trauma of having grown up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy on TV. Fortunately, I was an adult when that program originally aired from September 10, 1993, to June 20, 1998 and consequently, it's fairly easy for me to see Bill Nye, not as a "science guy", but as the windbag he is.

During the 13th and last episode of Nye’s Netflix series, "Bill Nye Saves the World", entitled "Earth’s People Problem", Nye advocates that governments should consider punishing people in the developed world for having "extra kids." Thankfully, everyone else appears to disagree with Nye on this. He's being criticized by National Review,The Federalist, New Republic, Lifesite News,Mark Shea, and Matt Archbold, to name just a half dozen.

I believe Mark Shea summed it up best when he wrote:
"Curiously, those who go about deciding who the 'extras' are never number themselves in the ranks of excess humanity, perhaps because they never give any indication of having an excess of humanity."

When it comes to science, I'd probably turn to Louis Nye first before listening to Mr.Bill.

Wyoming Seeks Ban on Wind and Solar Energy

The fact that discussion on climate change is oriented more toward politics and less toward science disturbs me a great deal. While I agree with Pope Francis that destroying the planet is a sin, the political climate today makes an understanding of the planet's climate difficult, if not impossible. On one side of the argument, we have people who proclaim that every weather event - extreme heat, extreme cold, heavy rain, drought conditions - is proof that man is destroying the Earth, while on the other side, we have folks who are willing to deny any problem what so ever.

It doesn't help us understand the true situation, when we hear stories of one state legislature attempting to ban the use of solar or wind energy to produce electricity in their state. According to more than one source, lawmakers in Wyoming have introduced a bill that would forbid utilities from providing any electricity to the state that comes from large-scale wind or solar energy projects by 2019.

Of course, with the prevalence of 'fake news' today, I had to track down the story to see if there was any truth behind it. I've read SENATE FILE NO. SF0071 and the reports I've read appear to be true.

I understand the need for law makers to be skeptical; look honestly into the science behind the issue, and make the most educated accessment. However, I cannot for the life of me understand why any law maker would want to ban wind or solar energy projects. What sort of head up your butt logic is behind this?

Even if the claims of certain enviornmentalists are exaggerated - or even outright lies - why would anyone consider banning alternate energy sources. If you want to provide evidence to the climate change folks that you're in the pocket of Big Oil (or Big Coal) you've certainly done that.

UK Researchers Want Meat Tax to Reduce Climate Change

It seems as if I may have started raising pigs just in the nick of time. If the University of Oxford and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC has its way, the price of meat and dairy products will skyrocket in the not too distant future.

A study, conducted by a team of researchers from the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food reportedly show that about one billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions could be avoided in the year 2020 if emissions pricing of foods were to be implemented. In other words, a tax on food from animal products, which the group says produce high emissions of greenhouse gasses.

The group maintains that a high emissions tax will drastically reduce the consumption of meat and dairy products which they believe will, in turn, help fight global climate change and make us all healthier to boot.

Just how they could possibly issue a world wide tax remains to be seen.

I seems unlikely to me that the people in the U.S. will stand for a 40% increase in the price of beef. While its difficult to know how Hillary Clinton would have reacted to pressure from climate change activists had she been elected, we can be sure that President Trump will not go along with this emissions tax.

It's unlikely that Philippine President Duterte would agree to tax the Filipino people's food. Even if he did (which is unlikely) there would be a thriving black market on pork and chicken in the country.

Fortunately, with my own supply of meat, I won't have to worry about such foolishness.

Deadly Air Conditioners?

Evidently, at some point in the past, I must have signed a petition at the website, change.org. I have a vague memory of having done so, although the subject matter of that particular petition is lost to me. I do, however recall that my signing the petition was done in jest.

I bring this up because, as a result of my having signed a petition in the past, I will, from time to time receive an email from change.org letting me know of a trending petition which they feel I might wish to sign. They're usually wrong.

When I received the latest email from the website, I knew immediately that the petition must concern, in some way or other, global warming AKA Climate Change as there was the mandatory polar bear jpg which, by law, must accompany anything dealing with anthropogenic climate change.

This petition comes from Kay Tea of Seattle Washington and concerns air conditioning.

Kay Tea isn't against air conditioning, per se, but merely against air conditioning units. She admits that cooler room temperatures save the lives of "children, the elderly,[and] pets" and therefore, AC isn't completely evil, but the AC units currently in use world wide are inefficient, and "spew 100 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year". Some, she maintains, "contain (and leak) refrigerants called hydrofluorocarbons, a very potent and long-lasting greenhouse gas".

If the petition put forth nothing more radical than that, I might agree. But of course, Kay Tea couldn't leave it there. She had to put forward a GOVERNMENT SOLUTION. You know, cuz Big Government is the solution to every problem we face.

Kay Tea believes that the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget and the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget must use the power of the purse to make air conditioning innovation a top priority. It never occurred to her that there is nothing less efficient than government. It doesn't appear to have crossed her mind that letting the free market take care of this would be the best way to approach this (or any) problem. She need look no further than the failure of federal subsidies for alternative energy sources, like wind and solar, to see examples as to why her idea isn't the best solution.

Living in Philippines, where the four seasons are Hot,Hot,Hot and Hot, I am a....uh.....fan of air conditioning. I am not a fan of increased global temperatures or higher electrical bills. If Kay Tea can find a way to change the laws of thermodynamics and make air conditioning cheap and environmentally friendly, I'd be behind her 100%. I don't think, however, that the answer lies with the United States Government.

Pope Francis says Destroying the Planet is a Sin

Whenever we get reports on the things famous people said or did, we can always tell before reading the report if the story will have a positive or negative spin by the accompanying photo of the person in question. Each one of us has good and bad photographic moments.....some photos are unattractive, no matter how you may look in "real life", and it's easy enough to search the Internet and find a less than flattering photo of anyone we don't agree with.

Judging by the photo used by Breitbart for it's recent report on Pope Francis' message for the "World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation" I knew immediately that the editors were none too pleased with the Pope's comments on climate change and global warming.

For the most part, the writer of the article, Thomas D Williams accurately reported Francis' comments, but it was the accompanying photo, and the dismissive lede - Pope Francis: Global Warming a ‘Sin,’ Man Can Atone by Recycling and ‘Car-Pooling’ - whereby Williams displayed his passive-aggressive attitude toward the Pope's comments.

Williams attempted to dismiss everything the Pope said with his final sentence in the article, "Apparently the Pontiff's words have already been heard, since scientists are now forecasting that 2017 will be a cooler year than 2016".

Apparently Williams failed to read the entire Business Insider article he linked to. Climate scientists are indeed forecasting that the heat may not be quite as bad in 2017 due to the cyclical fading of El Niño. Those scientists do not deny climate change and note that there was no sign of a strong La Niña, El Niño's opposite that can cool the planet.

On a positive note, William's article does link to Pope Francis' message as shared by Vatican website. It would behoove us all to read the Pope's message and give prayerful consideration to it.

The Rain. Day Two

As I mentioned yesterday, we have finally gotten rain in Negros Oriental. The 10 day forecast calls for some rain every day for the rest of the month. Today is the 2nd day of that forecast and it's accurate so far. With rain two days in a row, can we officially say the rainy season has returned?

I had banking business in Dumaguete this AM and it began to rain on the drive home. We've needed the rain and I'm happy to see it, although the woman who does our laundry may not be too pleased. One can't hang clothes outside when there's a shower.

We had originally planned for my wife's papa and his helper to build the piggery this week. It's estimated to take at least six days to complete the job. I'm sure that the return of the rain will affect that schedule, but there shouldn't be too much problem in ordering the rest of the materials needed for the project. In the spot where I've planned to plant a few vegetables, there is a hole in the ground caused by the removal of the coconut tree stump. There's to be some digging for the piggery and piggery septic tank. My plan is to take soil from there to fill the hole. Should the rain slow the work on the piggery, it will slow my gardening project as well.

I'm not complaining, mind you. We're in desperate need of rain, and I can adjust my schedule when we do get the rain.

Welcome to the Future

Folks roaming about the Poblacion (downtown) area of Sibulan, who would otherwise have to walk from point A to point B, heretofore had two transportation options.

Option one (as seen in the above photo) is the motorcycle powered tricycle. Before buying our car, I had made use of this form of transportation when either going to the highway to catch an easy-ride to Dumaguete, or taking the tricycle directly to the city.

The 2nd option available is the bicycle/human powered pot pot.

Obviously, the pot pot is used by people wanting to go relatively short distances. I'm almost ashamed to say that, not long after we first arrived in Sibulan and were staying at the in-law's house, we did take a pot pot going to church. I felt guilty having someone carry me about this way.

Now, there is a third option for those moving about in Sibulan. It is a battery powered, electrical vehicle.

Sorry, I don't know the local term for this vehicle.

These vehicles arrived in Sibulan after we had purchased a car, and after I had begun walking regularly; I've never had the need to ride in one. Had the vehicles been here when we first arrived, riding in one would have eliminated the guilt I associate with paying a man to take me hither and yon, by pedaling a bicycle.

Needless to say, these electrical pedicabs improve the air quality - no choking exhaust fumes like those from internal combustion engines. I wonder though, if the electrical powered vehicles help "global warming" or climate change. Producing electricity does affect the environment. Further complicating the question is the fact that electricity on this island is produced geothermally.

Also, I can't speak to the economic issues surrounding the electrical vehicles. I don't know the price of the pedicab; I don't even know the priced charged to ride in one. I do know that, in spite of the fact that the there are no fossil fuel costs associated with producing electricity here, the price of electricity is very high. Does the driver save money recharging the battery (how many times a day?) versus the cost of putting gasoline in a motorcycle?

I have lots of questions, but few answers.

Finally, Rain.

At around 1:00 AM, I was awoken by the sound of rain. Glorious, wonderful, sweet rain.

My wife, who was also awake, remarked that it sounded like a very heavy rain. From the sound, the storm wasn't typhoon strength, but it sounded a little scary, none the less. I got out of bed, went into the living room and opened the front door to have a look.

The rain was steady, but relatively light or moderate; not nearly as heavy as it sounded from our bedroom. Perhaps, with the metal roof, the sound was the audio equivalent of an optical illusion. We need rain; we haven't had a good, steady rain in a very long time. I'm thankful for the rain, but I'm also thankful that it wasn't as heavy as it sounded.

If the forecast, as shown it the screen shot above can be believed, we can expect increased rainfall over the next 10 days. Let's hope so.

Clouds

This photo, taken this morning, shows clouds coming in off the ocean in the East, giving us hope that we might get a little rain today.

We had the same hope yesterday. At around 2:00 PM, I noticed clouds gathering, heading toward us. There was a feeling of rain in the air. After a two hour wait, rain finally arrived yesterday afternoon. Sadly it was barely a sprinkle that didn't last more than 20 or thirty minutes. A thirty minute rain would have been fine, if it had rained harder. A light sprinkle would have been OK too, if it had lasted for 2 or 3 hours.

Normally, after April's dry spell, we can expect the rains to return in May. So far, this month, we haven't been so lucky.

La Niña?

An article from al jazeera.com predicts that the periodical variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is oscillating back to the relatively cooler phase, La Niña and should bring more rain during the Indian Monsoon season and more rain over Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and northern Australia.

That seemed to me to be good news, until I came across two separate stories concerning forecasts from The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) which says that Philippines can still look forward to above average temperatures and below average rainfall for a few more months.

For May and June 2016, PAGASA forecasts below-normal rainfall in Luzon and the Visayas but expects Mindanao to experience near-normal rainfall then. The Visayas, where we live, can expect near-normal rainfall in July, August, September and October.

In an article in the Manila Times, Pagasa is said to be warning that the possibility of the country experiencing La Niña is rising, which could favor the formation of tropical cyclones over the western Pacific, thus increasing the number of typhoons. La Niña is characterized by above normal rainfall and strong monsoon activity.

Yet another article, this one from tempo.com, has PAGASA saying, that "from the drought of the past few months, we must now prepare for storms and rains".

So, which is it? Below average rainfall or an increase in the number of typhoons? Is there any wonder that some folks are skeptical that scientists can make heads or tails out of our ever changing climate?

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Prayer for Rain

In a number of earlier posts, I've mentioned the drought currently ravaging many areas of the Philippines. In the province where we live, Negros Oriental, April is typically the driest month of the year. This month has been especially dry, thanks to El Niño, which many are saying is being made worse by the increase in global temperatures.

This past Sunday, Apr 17, 2016 (Fourth Sunday of Easter) was Good Shepherd Sunday. Many of the priest's remarks dealt with our responsibility to be "good shepherds" by taking care of the environment. A final prayer after Mass focused on our failure to take care of the home God has given us. It was stated that the prayer came from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a copy of the prayer. Part of the prayer made reference to mankind disobeying God by cutting down trees. I was shaking my head at that. Over cutting of trees and deforestation is sinful, but there should have been a distinction made between deforestation and the proper use of lumber.

In another section of the prayer, it was stated that El Niño was brought on by human activity. I'll admit that El Niño could be worsened by Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW), but El Niño is a natural phenomenon. It isn't productive to exaggerate mankind's involvement in the creation of El Niño.

At The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news website, a prayer for rain vs El Niño issued by the CBCP was published online. The "Oratio Imperata" for rain was released by the CBCP Secretariat for consideration of the dioceses because only bishops can mandate prayers in their respective pastoral jurisdictions.

Nowhere in the "Oratio Imperata" was mankind mentioned as the cause of El Niño.

The English version of the prayer issued by the CBCP can be found at the above link, but I will include it in this post as well:

“Most Gracious and Most Merciful God,
Creator, Source and Giver of all things,
Most powerful in heaven and on earth,
We give You honor and glory.”

“We thank You
For our home – the earth;
For our light – the sun, moon and stars;
For our solace – our family and friends, our community, our neighbors.”

“United as Your children, we come to You, pleading,
Shower us with rain, provide us with water that we need.
Father, Your children are begging to survive,
Hear us, we desire to live.”

“Prolonged drought is depriving us of the fruits of our toil;
Low water supply means hunger and thirst for most of us;
El Niño continues to threaten our relationship with one another.
O Lord, this is a very hostile phenomenon that we beg for You to end.”

“At this time of looming catastrophe, dear Lord, dwell in our hearts.
Teach us to be more generous; bring out the best in us;
Turn our eyes and ears toward the needs of others, especially the poor.
Move us to share more, care more, serve more and love more.”

“Holy God, You sanctify this earth to be our sacred abode.
Grant us courage to take in hand the sufferings of the environment;
Grant us might to save and protect the beauty of nature.
Grant us wisdom to restore whatever we have destroyed.”

“O Loving God, behold on us, Your beloved children
Feel us, feel for us;
Let heaven cry and its tears be our blessed rain.
Have mercy on us Lord, have mercy.”

“We beg you,
Most Gracious and Merciful God,
Please, let it rain.
Amen.”

Waiting For Rain.........

........is like waiting for Godot.

For the third day, dark clouds have gathered, coming in from the ocean and teasing us into believing it might rain.

I did feel one rain drop while walking home from the market. But, no rain so far.

The Accuweather forecast calls for a few showers today and a thunderstorm tomorrow. I hope so.

As I've noted before, we are experiencing a drought. This is normally a dry season in Negros Oriental, but it's being made worse by an El Niño which some are saying is being made worse by climate change.

As one can see by the screenshot, today's high will be 34 with a "RealFeel" of 45. For my American friends.....that's Celsius not Fahrenheit. In Fahrenheit that would be 93.2 and 113.

The Butternut Squash

Late yesterday afternoon, we took our butternut squash plants out to our property in Magatas where we had recently cleared alway some of the growth.

I'm not at all certain that the plants will survive. We are currently experiencing a drought in Philippines and it maybe too much for the squash to survive. There is a natural spring nearby and water can be toted to the plants......but I'm still doubtful.

We can only wait and see.

Bill Nye the (un)Enlightened Individual Guy

Living through a drought in Philippines, it's difficult to deny that the climate is undergoing a change. Some put the blame for the drought on El Niño -which is probably true to some extent- but many argue that the effects of El Niño have worsened due to the increase in overall global temperatures.

Of course, I have only anecdotal evidence, but there's no question that it's much drier here in Negros Oriental than when we arrived two years ago.

Does climate change pose an even greater than ISIS and global terrorism?

Are we, as Obama has stated,the last generation that can stop climate change?

I'm skeptical......not of climate change being brought about by human activity; no, I'm skeptical that we can unite as a planet to halt whatever climate change is happening.

Earlier this morning, I caught portions of Bill Nye the so-called Science Guy on the National Geographic Channel "grappling with his own feelings about climate change". Nye is a "climate activist" and is doing his utmost to change folks minds and hearts in order to combat climate change. I have no doubt that his intentions are good.

However.......

In the above mentioned National Geographic program, Nye is seen flying over "environmentally dangerous" areas in a helicopter. He travels from point A to point B in automobiles and airplanes. In his program attacking the fossil fuel industry, he ironically shows us how even Bill Nye the Enlightened Individual Guy can't get by without the use of horrible, evil and globally destructive fossil fuels.

I know quite a few Left leaning folks who agree with the POTUS that climate change is more of a threat than ISIS, but continue to commute from city to city in order to earn a paycheck. Everybody else needs to adapt. Everyone else needs to cut back on fossil fuel, while these guys continue to drive wherever and whenever they want. They'll work in air-conditioned buildings in the summer and in buildings warmed to a toasty temperature in the winter months.

Like their hero, Mr. Nye, many climate activists aren't nearly as green as they'd have us believe.
I say, if you're not willing to walk the walk regarding your own lifestyle habits, don't preach to me about mine.