We are already doing far too much to fight climate change

I heard a promo for a radio programme today (Talking Point with Sarah Carey on Newstalk at 13:00 on April 26, 2014). The promo asks why we are not willing to do more to ‘fight climate change’? The truth is we are already doing far too much. It is not just me that thinks it. An article in Forbes magazine yesterday says the same thing.

     We have a carbon tax. On May 1 the tax on coal will increase to €20 per tonne of CO₂ emitted. This amounts to €2.40 per 40 kg bag of coal. This tax is paid by old people on a fixed income who heat their houses with coal. It disproportionately affects those who heat their houses with coal and peat relative to those using gas or oil because of the relative carbon percentages of the fuels.

     We subsidise electric cars, useless playthings of the wealthy, to the tune of €10,000 each. And there is no duty on the fuel so the owners continue to benefit at the expense of the rest of us for the lifetime of the car.

And the perhaps the worst part? Over its lifetime the average electric car will add to carbon emissions instead of reducing them. Because of the energy required to make the batteries each new electric car has the equivalent of 110,000 km more carbon emissions on the clock than a regular car. A driver will have to do a lot of driving to have lower emissions than a regular car over its lifetime. With a range of 100 km or so that is not easy. And I am not even counting the carbon emissions required to make replacement batteries.

     We subsidise environment despoiling windmills that can only generate electricity intermittently. We subsidise biofuels effectively burning food. This increases the cost of food to the world’s poor. It is estimated that the EU has already spent €500 billion fighting climate change with what tangible benefit?

     The truth is that the Earth is not warming as predicted by IPCC models. Remember, catastrophic climate change is supposed to occur as a result of global warming from CO₂ emissions. The name change is a hint – the Earth is not actually warming so the name of the problem had to change. The figure shows a comparison of actual temperature with the average of IPCC computer models.

     And it is not just the money. We are scaring our children with the Chicken Licken – Emperor’s New Clothes – fairy tale. We are telling them they are polluting by exhaling carbon dioxide or traveling in a car. We tell them we are killing polar bears even though we aren’t.  

     We are not telling them the good benefits of CO₂ emissions – increased agricultural output, reversal of desertification, warming of cooler and temperature regions where people die of the cold. Overall, we are telling them if they consume that are bad people and should stop sinning and repent. It is an old fashioned religious message dressed up in new clothes.

     So what should we do about climate change? Nothing really. But because the lie has been repeated so often now it is accepted as true even though it isn’t. Therefore we have to constantly tell the real story every time a radio programme, newspaper or website tells us we must do more about climate change.