Links tagged “development”

By Madhvi Ramani - The Week Magazine: Excerpts: "But where scientists and popular movements have thus far failed to convince the world to act, it seems that Mother Earth may have succeeded, with the never-before-seen COVID-19 virus...The novel coronavirus is estimated to have curbed carbon dioxide emissions in China by a quarter."

"It's not just air travel. People are canceling cruise trips after 3,711 passengers and crew members were quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan due to the virus. Another win for the environment, since people on a seven-day cruise produce roughly the same carbon footprint as they would during 18 days on land..."

"The current epidemic shows us that we are completely unprepared to deal with future outbreaks of diseases that will occur as a result of climate change. Not only will climate change increase the number of diseases passed from animals to humans due to changing boundaries of habitats and decreased biodiversity, but the melting ice and permafrost are releasing long dormant bacteria and viruses, like anthrax. The novel coronavirus has sent alarm bells ringing throughout the world. It's time for us to wake up, listen to the primordial Earth goddess Gaia, and act."

Climate activist Astrophysicist & Philosopher Martín López Corredoira on coronavirus and its impacts: "Neither Greenpeace, nor Greta Thunberg, nor any other individual or collective organization have achieved so much in favor of the health of the planet in such a short time."

"There are also positive aspects. As said by the proverb, every cloud has a silver lining...We see a reduced production in Chinese industry, which has resulted in a huge drop in China's pollution."

Venice...is now deathly silent. What a respite for the Venetians! What good news for the ecologists and tourist-haters! This positively affects the reduction of CO2 emission and the whole wave the destruction associated with holiday and professional conference tourism...It is certainly not very good for the economy in general, but it is fantastic for the environment."

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Also See: Former UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres: Slower economic growth from coronavirus ‘may be good for climate’ – ‘There is less trade, less travel, less commerce’

The Week mag touts impact of coronavirus as a ‘win for the environment’ – ‘A significant reduction of…carbon footprints’

Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked former UN chief Figueres: "Is there any sense that this could be self-controlling -- that as we see economic growth possibly slowing down around the world, because of coronavirus -- that's actually good for the climate?"

Christiana Figueres replied: "Well, that is, ironically, of course, the other side of this -- right? It may be good for climate. But I think -- because there is less trade, there's less travel, there's less commerce."

Weaponizing Coronavirus: Figueres also said: Expect more disease outbreaks ‘if we continue to deny, delude and delay on climate change’

Figueres also used the coronavirus as an opportunity to plug the UN's campaign to reduce and stop meat-eating around the world. "If we continue to eat animals, we will actually be poisoning ourselves and being the genesis new diseases that we have not seen before," Figueres explained. [See: ‘Food Police’ –UN Meat report: UN seeks ‘massive expansion of the UN’s regulatory power…lifestyle controls’]

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Also see: Climate activists celebrate ‘the benefits of coronavirus’ – ‘It is fantastic for the environment’ – Economic slowdown is ‘good news for the ecologists’

The Week mag touts impact of coronavirus as a ‘win for the environment’ – ‘A significant reduction of…carbon footprints’

"Appeal court says decision to give go-ahead not consistent with Paris agreement"
“For the first time, a court has confirmed that the Paris agreement temperature goal has binding effect. This goal was based on overwhelming evidence about the catastrophic risk of exceeding 1.5C of warming."

Michael Shellenberger on Bernie Sanders’ $16 trillion Green New Deal: "Rather than being progressive, in the sense of redistributing wealth, or labor-saving, and growth-encouraging, the proposal is regressive. It would disproportionately hurt the poor by making them pay more for basic goods like food and energy. And it would slow economic growth by reducing labor-productivity.

Sanders may deny that his Green New Deal would increase energy prices, but in boasting that it will create 20 million more jobs, he is pointing to the reason why energy prices would rise. Making anything more labor-intensive makes it more expensive. 

And making energy, the master resource of the economy, more expensive, Sanders’ plan would slow growth, which would in turn reduce wage growth, and reduce the societal wealth needed for Sanders’ social programs, home-building, and more liberal social attitudes toward minorities, women, and children."

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Environmentalists were “self-righteous, elitist, neo-Malthusians who call for slow growth or no growth,” complained civil rights legend, Bayard Rustin, to Time Magazine in 1979. The Malthusians, he said, “would condemn the black underclass, the slum proletariat, and rural blacks, to permanent poverty.” The Malthusians knew they needed a way to rationalize their agenda as moral. They did so by adopting the progressive language of wealth redistribution. The unholy alliance between Marxists and Malthusians was partly inspired by an argument between Ehrlich and the ostensibly socialist New Yorker writer, Barry Commoner, over the issue of population control and poverty. Commoner blamed poverty for food crises, where Ehrlich blamed overpopulation.

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In the early 2000s, my colleagues and I dusted off the Green New Deal created by Commoner and called it a “New Apollo Project.” All of the basic elements were the same: massive taxpayer investments in renewables, organics, efficiency, mass transit, and much else in the progressive agenda that can be justified as somehow reducing emissions. Twenty-five billion was wasted on biofuels. Tens of billions more were wasted on energy efficiency programs that cost more than they were worth. Well-connected venture capitalists got rich. Wealth was distributed upwards. And the renewables it subsidized contributed to rising electricity costs.