GWPF Newsletter: Not A Single EU State Is Meeting Paris Climate Targets

Britain Backs Away From Total Ban Of Conventional Cars

In this newsletter:

1) Forget Paris: Not A Single EU State Is Meeting Paris Climate Targets
P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, 19 June 2018 

2) James Hansen: The World Is Failing 'Miserably’ To Address Climate Change
The Guardian, 19 June 2018

Melanie Phillips: The titanic struggle to save the United Kingdom

No-one should be in the slightest doubt about the titanic struggle becoming more desperate by the day to defend British democracy and restore the UK as an independent self-governing nation.

An all-out attempt is being being made to frustrate the wish of the British people, expressed by 52 to 48 per cent in the 2016 referendum, to leave the EU.

Last night, after a day of drama and arm-twisting, Theresa May’s government narrowly escaped defeat over the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Wendell Cox: Housing Affordability - Time To Do What Works

The front page of The Wall Street Journal cited the difficulty of cities (Note 1) trying to stop the escalation of house prices “Western Cities Try, and Fail, To Slow Chinese Home Buying.” The more descriptive online headline said: Western Cities Want to Slow Flood of Chinese Home Buying. Nothing Works: Governments from Vancouver to Sydney to Toronto are using taxes and other restrictions to tackle real-estate bubbles. 

The article also covered Auckland and Melbourne and their attempts to discourage Chinese buyers, who have been getting much of the blame for the severe housing affordability.

Mole News

New $300k fund launched to celebrate suffrage in NZ
People working on projects based on women’s equality are being urged to apply for funding to celebrate 125 years since New Zealand women won the right to vote.

Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter launched the $300,000 contestable fund today.

NZCPR Weekly: Time for Random Drug Testing of Drivers

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we investigate the growing danger that drug users are posing on our roads and outline the urgent need for stronger deterrents and better detection, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Mike Noon from the Automobile Association is challenging the Labour-led Government to introduce random roadside drug testing devices, and our poll asks whether the Associate Minister of Transport, Hon Julie Anne Genter, should recuse herself from decision-making over the introduction of roadside drug testing devices.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

Daniel Di Martino: Socialism, Not Corruption, to Blame for Venezuela’s Oil Production Drop

Venezuela’s tragic famine and refugee crisis taking place despite the largest proven reserves of oil on the planet. Watching it play out on television is one thing. Living through the ways socialism pushes the middle class to poverty and the poor to starvation is another experience entirely.

Although I was fortunate enough to leave Venezuela almost two years ago to come to the United States, not everyone has the chance to leave. Venezuela has become the latest experiment of socialism, and like all those before, it has resulted in famine and mass exodus.

However, some news outlets wrongly state that Venezuela’s crisis is due to lower oil prices and that its oil production has collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption, claiming socialist policies are not to blame. However, what these analysts fail to understand is that widespread mismanagement and corruption of a whole industry and country are only possible within socialism. Only an economy that lacks free prices and competition, with high levels of government involvement and tight regulations can harbor government mismanagement and corruption that lead to shortages and hyperinflation.

GWPF Newsletter: Antarctica Is Still Gaining Ice, NASA Scientist Says

Claimed Antarctic Ice Loss In Doubt

In this newsletter:

1) Antarctica Is Still Gaining Ice, NASA Scientist Says 
Daily Caller, 15 June 2018 
 
2) Ice Loss? Maybe
GWPF Observatory, 15 June 2018

Karl du Fresne: Even Northland didn't want him, but now he's going to be our acting PM

So we’re going to have Winston Peters as our acting prime minister for six weeks. Not bad for a politician who was rejected by his own electorate at the last election after failing to complete a single term.

Not bad either for a politician whose party won only 7 per cent of the vote and which, judging by recent polls, would struggle to scrape back into Parliament if an election was held tomorrow. 

This is democracy New Zealand-style, in which the rewards – the baubles of office that Peters once insisted he wasn’t interested in – go not to a politician who commands broad public support, but to a crafty minor player who has learned how to game the system and manipulate the bigger parties.

Frank Newman: ACT re-branding

Apparently the ACT Party is having an identity crisis. My take is that its crisis is much broader than identity alone, however ACT leader and sole MP David Seymour says they are looking at a possible name change.

In an interview on Radio NZ on 15 June he said he did not want to give anything away about the new name, but he did mention various options were being considered, like Liberal Party or something more radical like Reason Party.

Frank Newman: Fact based myths

Last month I wrote about the meth myth, and how a moral panic and media beat-up cost blameless tenants and landlords their homes and lots of money. 

The "How did this happen?" post-mortems are going on at present but it's pretty clear that real facts were nowhere to be seen when the decision makers were writing the rules. 

This makes one wonder what other moral "pandemics" are similarly based on fiction or fear rather than fact. How about house sales to foreign home buyers?

GWPF Newsletter: Coal Comeback Spurs CO2 Emissions Growth

Global Emissions Surged To Record High — But In The US, They Dropped

In this newsletter:

1) Coal Comeback Spurs CO2 Emissions Growth
Reuters, 13 June 2018
 
2) Oh Dear: Global CO2 Emissions Surged To Record High In 2017 — But In The US, They Dropped
Bloomberg, 13 June 2018

GWPF Newsletter - Green No More: Germany Rejects EU’s Green Energy Ambitions

Germany On Track To Widely Miss 2020 Climate Target 

In this newsletter:

1) Green No More: Germany Rejects EU’s Green Energy Ambitions

EurActive, 12 June 2018

2) Germany On Track To Widely Miss 2020 Climate Target - Government 
Clean Energy Wire, 12 June 2018 

Newt Gingrich: The Economy is Thriving on Trump’s Reforms

President Trump’s positive impact on the U.S. economy and markets is unassailable.

Except for a short disruption in February, the major stock market indices have been on a steady ascent since Donald Trump’s formal selection as the Republican nominee for president. The Nasdaq Composite Index has sailed from 5036.37 on July 19, 2016 to 7637.86 at the closing bell on Tuesday – continuously meeting and exceeding record highs along the way.

We have seen similar market trends in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, which have climbed from 18559.01 and 2163.78 on the day Trump was nominated to 24799.98 and 2748.8 by Tuesday, respectively.

Melanie Phillips: Springtime for Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump?

So how should we view the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un and the declaration they have both signed? Is it a “historic” breakthrough for world peace as is being celebrated by the likes of this commentator; or is it a disgraceful debacle, as is being lambasted by the likes of this one?

Well, as Zhou Enlai reputedly observed when asked about the impact of the French Revolution on western civilisation, it’s simply too early to say.

The terms of the declaration signed by Trump and Kim are studiedly vague. The North Korean regime has previously made promises about de-nuclearisation which it promptly tore up.

NZCPR Weekly: Replacing Damaging Regulations

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we look into the damage caused by over-the-top regulations - including meth testing and the ban on fireplaces and wood burners, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Mike Butler investigates the methamphetamine testing scandal, and our poll asks whether you believe there should be a greater requirement for law makers to produce evidence-based research before passing new laws and regulations.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter: Massive Climate Funding Failed To Sway US Public Opinion

U.S. House Votes Down Social Cost Of Carbon

In this newsletter:

1) Massive Climate Funding By Wealthy Foundations Failed To Sway US Public Opinion
Western Wire, 7 June 2018
 
2) US House Votes Down Social Cost Of Carbon
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 9 June 2018

Art Carden: Red Tape Is What Keeps Housing Unaffordable

“I’d love to live in San Francisco, but I don’t want to pay $750,000 to live in a closet.” That’s what I tell my introductory economics students when I discuss housing prices. I probably need to update it to $2 million or something like that.

Why? Why is housing so expensive in cities like San Francisco, Boston, New York? It’s expensive because demand is high and rising. It’s insanely expensive to live in San Francisco because practically everyone wants to live in San Francisco.

But that’s only half the story. Housing is also insanely expensive because supply isn’t rising very quickly.

When you have demand rising quickly and supply changing slowly, you get rising prices. So, how do we fix it?

GWPF Newsletter: Global Ocean Air Temps Drop Back To Pre-El Nino Levels

Wind Disappears In Britain Leaving Turbines At A Standstill

In this newsletter:

1) Global Ocean Air Temps Drop Back To Pre-El Nino Levels
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 6 June 2018
 
2) Wind Disappears In Britain Leaving Turbines At A Standstill
Bloomberg, 5 June 2018 

NZCPR Weekly: Coastal Claim Developments

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we look into some developments regarding marine and coastal area claims – including a new claims Bill that is in front of Parliament, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Hugh Barr questions the legitimacy of claims for customary rights, and our poll asks whether you believe the High Court should be the only avenue for tribal groups to pursue marine and coastal area claims.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE. 

GWPF Newsletter: Chinese Solar Stocks Plunge As Beijing Pulls The Plug

Is Theresa May Re-Nationalising Britain’s Energy Industry?

In this newsletter:

1) Chinese Solar Stocks Plunge As Government Suspends New Solar Farms, Cuts Subsidies
South China Morning Post, 4 June 2018 
 
2) Is Theresa May Re-Nationalising Britain’s Energy Industry?
Nick Butler, Financial Times, 4 June 2018