Over at GreenWatch we now have archived an interactive list of the “worst environmental prophecies of catastrophic doom.” It is a list of eleven of the most interesting and pointed cases of environmental activists raising the red alert, and the unintended fall out from it.
This week we burst the bubble of “water scarcity.”
My esteemed co-worker Eric had it just right, when he lamented against these fears, last month. If liberals and greens get their way water will be just another resource subject to the “tragedy of the commons.”
Alarmists fear poor countries and people will run out of fresh water because Western nations are consuming more water than ever. This false prophecy fails to recognize that lack of infrastructure, not supply, is responsible for inadequate fresh water supplies in the less-developed world. Alarmists also oppose well-drilling, irrigation, and dam-building to tap into existing water supplies.Another technique, desalinization of ocean water, has provided the arid Middle East with potable water for more than 40 years. Water-saving markets and technologies can address this problem: In drought-stricken regions market-driven volume pricing cuts the subsidy of flat rate below-market pricing to heavy users of water.
Climate change is happening faster than previously predicted according to a new World Wildlife Fund can help. report. Do you want to do your part to stop climate change and save the planet? Then send money to the World Wildlife Fund, because they can help!
Why do people believe this stuff? The WWF is obviously interested in promoting climate change as a problem because they are raising money to combat it. Yet people are blind to how self-serving WWF’s tactics are. In 2006, they took in $162,536,877.00. That is a lot of money to raise! Given that the new report states that climate change is an even greater threat than previously thought, it is all the more important that they receive more money this year.
You may recall another recent discussion of the World Wildlife Fund on this blog. It also highlights just how self-serving the WWF really is. Ignoring the huge amounts of emissions given off by planes, WWF is organizing a $65,000 trip around the world for its wealthier donors. Private jet, luxury accommodations, etc. How will they offset the carbon emissions from this trip? They don’t say. They probably don’t care, as long as the money comes in.
The hypocrisy of the World Wildlife Fund is out of control. They use environmental causes to raise incredible amounts of money that they put into research that confirms that they need more money to keep fighting the good fight. All this money being pumped into WWF and the like and the only thing coming out are fear mongering climate change reports and global warming alarmist claims. Why don’t they actually do something to help fix the environment, if that is really what they care about? Obviously, not doing anything pays better.
Ultra-liberal billionaire George Soros, recently dubbed the owner of the Democratic Party on Saturday Night Live and founding father of the very secretive Democracy Alliance, has recently, and very clearly, stated his goals for the future of the economy. Use the environment as a vehicle to install a New World Economy. Here is a short excerpt from an interview with Bill Moyers that took place last week:
GEORGE SOROS: You see, for the last 25 years the world economy, the motor of the world economy that has been driving it was consumption by the American consumer who has been spending more than he has been saving, all right? Than he’s been producing. So that motor is now switched off. It’s finished. It’s run out of — can’t continue. You need a new motor. And we have a big problem. Global warming. It requires big investment. And that could be the motor of the world economy in the years to come.
BILL MOYERS: Putting more money in, building infrastructure, converting to green technology.
GEORGE SOROS: Instead of consuming, building an electricity grid, saving on energy, rewiring the houses, adjusting your lifestyle where energy has got to cost more until it you introduce those new things. So it will be painful. But at least we will survive and not cook.
BILL MOYERS: You’re talking about this being the end of an era and needing to create a whole new paradigm for the economic model of the country, of the world, right?
GEORGE SOROS: Yes.
This quote has everything: climate change alarmism, socialism, and hypocrisy. Soros says we need a new economic model. There are two things are striking about this comment. First, it is hard to tell from the interview how much Soros really cares about improving the environment as opposed to using the environment as an effective tool of social and economic change. He can use the environment as the new ‘motor’ that drives the economy. The second striking point, far scarier than the first, is his agreement that we need a “whole new paradigm for the economic model of the country, of the world.” This is radical stuff. Soros, now that he has made his billions, wants to overthrow the system that made him wealthy. Does George Soros want to be the only wealthy one left standing? Then he really could own the Democratic Party. Talk about life imitating art!
I have a solution to offer, but it is only temporary. Why don’t we devise some method of using the hot air that constantly spews from Mr. Soros’ mouth as a source of alternative energy? On a good day he could fuel much of the Northeast. Feel free to check out a bit more of the interview, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
The World Wildlife Fund is offering a private jet expedition in an attempt to reach a new level of hypocrisy. The journey is made up of a 24-day whirlwind world tour that will take guests to almost every corner of the globe. Take a look at a brief description of the trip:
Join us on a remarkable 25-day journey by private jet. Touch down in some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see the top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans. Explore natural and cultural treasures in remote areas of South America, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Africa.
To reach these remote corners, travel on a specially outfitted private jet that carries 88 passengers. World-class experts – including WWF’s director of species conservation – will provide a series of lectures en route, and a professional staff will be devoted to making your global adventure seamless and memorable.
Sound great? You can book your spot for a pretty hefty price tag: $64,950! But, of course, this is trip is meant to raise money for the WWF by entertaining some of its wealthier donors.
But, how does this square with the World Wildlife Fund’s mission? Here is where it gets pretty murkey. Steve Milloy, of Fox News, ran some of the numbers using a carbon footprint calculator and this is what he came up with (he claims he uses WWF’s own calculator, which I cannot find, but the calculators on the EPA website confirm these numbers):
Using the carbon footprint calculator on the WWF’s own web site, the 36,800-mile trip in a Boeing 757 jet will burn about 100,000 gallons of jet fuel to produce roughly 1,231 tons of CO2 in 25 days — that’s the equivalent of putting about 1,560 SUVs on the road during those three-plus weeks and that doesn’t even include emissions related to local air, ground and water transport and other amenities.
The WWF laments on its web site that the average American produces 19.6 tons of CO2 annually, which is nearly five times the world average of 3.9 tons per person. But during the WWF’s posh excursion, travelers will produce 14 tons of CO2 per person. That’s 71 percent of the average American carbon footprint and 360 percent of the average global footprint in a mere three-and-one-half weeks. But who’s counting — especially when you’re in “19 rows of spacious leather seats with full ergonomic support” enjoying “gourmet meals, chilled champagne [and] your own chef.”
So, WWF’s suggestion is for their guests to emit, in one month, almost the same amount of CO2 as the average American produces in a year. Do you know who else likes to emit this much CO2 per month? Al Gore. The powerful players in the environmental movement seem to believe that cutting emissions is necessary and that everyone who can’t write a $65,000 check to the WWF needs to do everything they can to save the world.
The brazen “Do as I say, not as I do” attitude that “Big Enviros” display is getting ridiculous. I hope that people will start to realize that environmentalists are only trying to taking advantage of people when they trumpet their alarmism through the media loudspeaker. This hypocrisy will continue until people wise up to their slimy green tactics.
