Costco, Harold Ford and COP 29

Costco, Harold Ford and COP 29

Do you Costco? If so please explain the mob scene every time I go there. I dropped my membership when they stopped carrying my favorite pimento cheese because its CEO said that Black Lives Matter was a Marxist group. I like Sams better anyway and only went to Costco to buy gas, its Kirkland coastal cheddar cheese and salsa. When Costco reinstated my pimento cheese, I reinstated my membership. I really missed the cheddar cheese but not the mobs stocking up on toilet paper and purified water.

Do you ever watch “The Five”? The liberal seat is often occupied by Harold Ford, jr. who may be the most rational democrat on the planet. When he was in the Congress he was the only black member of the Blue Dog democrats – whose membership has dwindled from 54 to 10. It was ironic that when he left the Congress he was replaced by a white Jewish member solidly on the lunatic fringe of the democrat party. I voted for Ford when he ran for the Senate when the esteemed Bill Frist retired. Unfortunately he lost to Bob Coker. More unfortunately he really disappointed me when he left Tennessee for New York. I wish he had stayed in Tennessee and ran for either governor or again for senator. I would vote for him again. I think he is not “progressive” enough to be elected in New York. But he would be a quantum step up from their current governor and two senators – especially the odious Chuck Schumer. He would also make a great president.

Did you follow this year’s UN climate conference, COP 29? Me neither. Why the UN insists on having its conferences in oil producing countries is beyond me. Last year’s conference was in Dubai. This year’s was in Baku, Azerbaijan whose president scolded the attendees saying that fossil fuels were a gift from God. Next year it will be in Belem, Brazil so it can damage the Amazon with all its private jets and 65,000 delegates. Yes 65,000! Don’t you think that these climate change poseurs will inflict tremendous harm to the fragile ecosystem of the Amazon?

Those of us outside the cocoon of environmentalist zealotry probably look at the green movement as a grift from God. Environmentalists were able to get climate laws passed simply because it expanded the power of the state over its peoples – something that politicians love – not because of any ideal of saving the planet. Indeed, most of the climate laws will not influence the climate. The climate control folks are now running up against the reality that their actions are negatively impacting people and economies. Europe has shut down coal and nuclear and has seen energy prices skyrocket. Industries are facing higher operating costs. Volkswagen, the German icon, is shutting down plants and laying off workers because of the losses it is incurring having to build EVs for which there is little demand. All the while, the demand for fossil fuels is increasing. Ironically, less carbon is being generated as natural gas is being substituted for coal (especially in the US). But the greenies even hate natural gas and are never satisfied wanting all fossil fuels to go away. I thought carbon was good for the planet. Meanwhile back at the UN Conference, the poorer countries want the richer countries to fork over up to a $1 trillion dollars to help them transition from fossil fuels to wind and solar. Right. You can bet that most of that money will line the pockets of the politicians and their buddies rather than go to climate change. It is akin to reparations.  As one minister said, “no country ever got rich by using expensive energy.” 

Here in the United States we can expect a reversal of Biden’s green energy industrial policy. Trump calls it a scam meant to line the pockets of the green grifters (Al Gore anyone?).

I am not a climate change denier because the climate always changes. Rather I am a climate model skeptic, having built, tested and evaluated econometric models for my entire career.

I am not an environmental scientist but my observations are that the planet is not fragile and repairs itself. People talk about global warming as if it is a bad thing. But is it? More importantly, is it manmade? Yet the starkest evidence of global warming occurred when there were few if any people on the plant – the end of the Ice Age. Greenland may be getting greener but the Antarctic ice mass is increasing. Is this because of manmade global warming or a natural occurrence? No model can explain what is going on today much less predict what will happen 100 years from now. For many climate change is like a religion based on faith which makes me an agnostic.

What is ironic is that over time industrial production.  and agricultural production have gotten cleaner. We have cleaner air and water. Yet the climate zealots are never satisfied. They want to ban all internal combustion engines. They want to lower our standards of living. They want to stop industrialization. They want perpetual poverty to most of the world’s inhabitants. I think they are wrong. I think a mixture of fossil fuels, solar (but not wind) and nuclear energy can continue to make us better off, reduce poverty and produce a cleaner environment.

Prove me wrong.