GWPF Newsletter: Europe's Green Utopians Pay Price For Green Energy Folly

Anti-Nuclear, Anti-Coal, Anti-Shale, i.e. Dependent On Russian Gas

In this newsletter:

1) EU Divided Over Russian Gas Dependence & Sanctions 
Stratfor, 25 July 2017

2) Germany’s Green Energy Fiasco Leads To Dependence On Russian Gas
Bloomberg, 4 July 2017

Green Fascism & Climate-Eugenics

‘Bio-Engineering Humans To Stop Climate Change’

In this newsletter:

1) Climate-Eugenics: ‘Bioengineering Humans To Stop Climate Change’
Tony Thomas, Quadrant, 28 July 2017

2) Michael Crichton: Why Politicized Science is Dangerous
Michael Crichton, State of Fear

Melanie Phillips: The Tory Jacobins

The reason why conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic have lost their way so badly in recent years is that they never understood, and paid scant attention to, the culture wars. In Britain, this has now led some of them to come out as warriors on the wrong side.

Conservatism is not an ideology but an attitude of mind. It involves identifying and holding onto what is most valuable and defending it against erosion or attack. In the 18th century this was embodied in the thinking of Edmund Burke, widely considered to be the philosophical godfather of conservative thought, when he defended freedom and human rights against the barbarism of the French Revolution.

NZCPR Weekly: Democracy Under Attack

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we look into the extent to which our democracy is under attack, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Anthony Willy reviews the state of democracy in New Zealand, and this week’s poll asks whether you believe New Zealanders are too complacent about the rise of the Maori sovereignty movement.

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

Guy Benson from the US: Handful of Senate Republicans Join Democrats to Kill 'Skinny Repeal'

In a stunning turn of events early Friday morning, Senate Republicans failed to garner a simple majority for a so-called 'skinny repeal' bill, widely viewed as their last chance to continue the process of repealing and replacing at least some significant elements of Obamacare.  

The final vote was 49-51, with John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins helping Democrats kill the bill -- which leadership insisted was merely a vehicle to get to a conference committee with members of the House of Representatives. 

Frank Newman: Soaring land values

Last week a government research agency, the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit, released a report confirming what many have been saying for years. The report is called Quantifying the impact of land use regulation: Evidence from New Zealand and is available online. 

The question it sought to answer was, "What has caused the price of New Zealand houses to soar in recent years?"

The two key points made in the report are: 

Roy Spencer: Study - Sea Level Rise Revised Downward

If I had not looked past the headline of the press report on a new study, I would have just filed it under “It’s worse than we thought”. 

A new study in Nature reported on July 17 carried the following headlines:

“Satellite snafu masked true sea-level rise for decades”
“Revised tallies confirm that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating as the Earth warms and ice sheets thaw.”

When I read that, I (like everyone else) assumed that corrections to the satellite sea level data since 1993 have now led to a revised trend toward faster (not slower) sea level rise. Right? 

Wrong.

Matt Ridley: The deep divergence in African genomes

News is dominated by sudden things — bombs, fires, election results — and so gradual news sometimes get left out. The past month has seen three discoveries in Africa that radically change our understanding of a crucial phase in human evolution. For those interested in the common history of all humanity, this should really be among the biggest news of the year.

The first of these discoveries is genetic. Swedish and South African scientists have made the origin of us — modern human beings — an even more mind-bogglingly gradual phenomenon than we used to think. Here is what they found. A skeleton of a boy who died 2,000 years ago at a place called Ballito Bay has yielded a good sample of preserved DNA. He was a Khoe-San, that is to say an indigenous native of southern Africa of the kind once called “bushmen”, who still live in the Kalahari desert.

GWPF Newsletter: UK Government’s Crazy Electric Car Policy Unravels

German States Take Trumpian Climate U-Turn

In this newsletter:

1) UK Government’s Crazy Electric Car Policy Unravels
The Daily Telegraph, 26 July 2017 
 
2) FOI Emails Reveal Obama’s Paris Climate Scheme
The Washington Times, 25 July 2017

Richard Epstein: The Diversity Fundamentalists

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is the new catchphrase of today’s elite businesses and universities. Those institutions assume D&I is both a means—to excellence—and an end in itself, making them more closely resemble the larger world of which they are a part. So understood, companies from Facebook to Apple to Goldman Sachs, and academic establishments from UC Berkeley to Harvard to Yale, have found their new holy grail. Their commitment to D&I is all too often treated as a self-evident truth that none should be allowed to question in public discourse. But this new consensus for D&I, if left unchallenged, has an unintended consequence: unthinking intellectual rigidity, a malaise that all successful institutions must guard against.

 The first difficulty with D&I is that it says very little about whom to admit and whom to exclude. Scarcity of places is a major constraint, so any institution committed to D&I has to decide whom to exclude from its community. Ironically, these institutions depend for their success on the institution of private property, which gives them the breathing room on which their cooperative activities rest. 

Kevin Donnelly from Australia: Christian values remain at heart of our culture

There’s no doubt the ABC when falsely accusing Christian men of being more prone to family violence is guilty of a cultural-left bias. And it’s not just the ABC that’s running a secular campaign against Christianity.

Read the Fairfax Press and the impression is that paedophilia mainly involves Catholic priests (ignored is that most children are abused by family or relatives), that Catholic schools don’t deserve government funding and that there’s no place for Christianity in public debates on issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

Gerry Eckhoff: Greens Co-Leader

Casting stones at those who are deemed to have committed indiscretions, minor offenses or crimes in this imperfect world of ours is never a particularly smart move. However, scrutiny is part and parcel for those who seek high office such as a Cabinet Minister and must expect to have their actions - past and present, placed under the spotlight. It is also expected of those who exercise their personal judgment, to be entirely consistent whether they happen to be a judge, a French rugby referee or part of this thing we call “public opinion”.  

The admission of politician Metiria Turei, co-leader of the Greens to having committed benefit fraud 20 odd years ago, is a case in point. The discussion seems to have been carefully developed to excuse and justify Ms Turei’s decision. Ms Turei is seemingly now a victim of her own actions. 

GWPF Newsletter: Why the Greens Lost, and Trump Won

The Great Green Diesel Swindle

In this newsletter:

1) Scott Pruitt May Invite Former Obama Official To Lead A Climate ‘Red Team’
Science Magazine, 24 July 2017
 
2) Joel Kotkin: Why the Greens Lost, and Trump Won
The Daily Beast, 22 July 2017 

GWPF Newsletter: German Carmakers’ Shares Crash On Allegations Of Diesel Collusion

Trump Administration Lining Up Climate Change ‘Red Team’

In this newsletter:

1) Europe’s Green Madness: German Carmakers’ Shares Crash On Allegations Of Diesel Collusion
The Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2017 
 
2) Trump Administration Lining Up Climate Change ‘Red Team’
Washington Examiner, 24 July 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Major Election Policies Announced

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we look at two controversial election policy announcements – by the Greens and New Zealand First, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Michael Coote outlines how Winston Peters could become a stabilising coalition force that keeps the extremist Green and Maori Parties out of Government, and this week’s poll asks whether you believe National should re-affirm its policy to abolish the Maori seats.

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

Brian Giesbrecht from Canada: University Succumbs to Politically Correct Nonsense

Why is the university pretending indigenous knowledge and science are the equivalent of our written knowledge base?

I recently listened to an interview of the new head of the University of Manitoba’s Indigenous Knowledge department on CBC radio. She articulately explained that “traditional knowledge” and “indigenous science” have been vital to the survival of the aboriginal culture.

A hunter-gatherer culture depended on information about the movement of animals, weather changes and the medicinal properties of plants, for instance. This important information was passed on orally through many generations, she noted. Because aboriginal culture had no written languages, “keepers” of this knowledge had a special place in the culture.

Nicholas Kerr from the US: Charlie Gard and the need for limited government

A few days after our first child was born, our pediatrician commented at a check-up, “Isn’t it funny that last week you’d never even met Penelope, and now you’d lay down in front of a bus for her?” 

I recalled this as I followed the tragic story of 10-month-old Charlie Gard who suffers from a rare genetic condition. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) determined that nothing could be done to save him, but his parents wanted to try an experimental treatment in the United States. His doctors did not believe this was in Charlie’s best interests, took the case to court, and won. His parents exhausted all their appeals last week and it appears Charlie will soon be taken off life support.

Matt Ridley: How the electric car revolution could backfire

The British government is under pressure to follow France and Volvo in promising to set a date by which to ban diesel and petrol engines in cars and replace them with electric motors. It should resist the temptation, not because the ambition is wrong but because coercion could backfire.

The electric motor is older than the internal combustion engine by about half a century. Since taking over factories from the steam piston engine at the end of the 19th century, it has become ubiquitous. Twinned with its opposite number, the turbine (which turns work into electricity, rather than vice versa), it drives machines in factories, opens doors, raises lifts, prepares food, brushes teeth and washes plates.

GWPF Newsletter: The Truth About Green Subsidies

In this newsletter:

1) As Japan Cuts Green Subsidies, Up To 100 Japanese Solar Firms Could Go Bust This Year
PV Tech, 18 July 2017

2) As Green Subsidies Dry Up, Ontario Wind Turbine Factory Closes, Shedding Hundreds Of Jobs
Toronto Sun, 18 July 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Will The Sun Put The Brakes On Global Warming?

The Hiatus: One Message For Politicians, Another For Scientists

In this newsletter:

1) Will The Sun Put The Brakes On Global Warming?
Fox News, 16 July 2017
 
2) The Hiatus: One Message For Politicians, Another For Scientists
GWPF Observatory, 17 July 2017 

Brian Arrandale: Immigration Matters - a view point

As an immigrant to New Zealand in the late 1950’s; from being a 10 pound “Pom” happily domiciled in Australia, (finding that a first holiday abroad can lead to very quickly to further immigration, especially so, when it involves the opposite sex)! 

Like many I have mixed feelings regarding immigration, which has been a feature of the developed world since time began. The real question regarding this country and the influx of immigrants is that our infrastructure has lagged well behind. We are unable to cope with this yearly influx at the present rate; and we will continue to fall steadily back and never be able to close this ever widening gap.

GWPF Newsletter: Population Doomster Paul Ehrlich’s New Eco-Scare: ‘Biological Annihilation’

We Are in Era of Mass Extinction — Of Reason

In this newsletter:

1) Population Doomster Paul Ehrlich’s New Eco-Scare: ‘Biological Annihilation’
Reason Online, 12 July 2017

2) Earth Is Not In The Midst Of A Sixth Mass Extinction
The Atlantic, 13 June 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Banning Begging

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we look at public safety in New Zealand and problems caused by law changes, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Sir Robert Jones explains why begging should be prohibited, and this week’s poll asks whether you would support a ban on begging.

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

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: The new European ‘hipster right’ and the question of identity

They want to preserve the racial and cultural identity of Europe. They want to deport non-European immigrants. They want to close down the mosques. They want to reassert Europe as being of, and for, Europeans.

No, we’re not on about some bunch of old closet Nazis grumbling into their beards. They’re young, they’re bright, they’re well educated and brimming with worldly savvy. They are referred to as the ‘hipster right’ – the Identitarian Movement.

Brian Gaynor: Red tape tying business in knots

The massive increase in rules, regulations and compliance is one of the major issues facing New Zealand businesses. This regulatory imposition is accelerating, even though we have a right of centre, supposedly business-friendly Government.

Board and management meetings are now clogged with compliance issues and attendees often have little time to discuss long term strategic plans.

Karl du Fresne: We gave young drinkers a chance - and they blew it

I’m going to surprise myself in this column by reluctantly conceding that the legal age for the purchase of liquor should be returned to 20.

For decades, I have argued in favour of liberalised liquor laws. And for the most part, I believe I have been proved right. Thanks to gradual liberalisation, most of the alcohol drunk in New Zealand today is consumed in vastly more civilised conditions than when I began patronising pubs.

GWPF Newsletter: Most Europeans And 2/3 Of Britons Reject IPCC ‘Climate Consensus’

Everything You Have Read About Melting Greenland Is Wrong

In this newsletter:

1) New Poll: Most Europeans And 2/3 Of Britons Reject IPCC ‘Climate Consensus’
Global Warming Policy Forum, 12 July 2017 
 
2) Everything You Have Read About Melting Greenland Is Wrong
No Tricks Zone, 12 July 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Climate Models = Climate Astrology

Climate Scientists Now Predict Wet Future For California

In this newsletter:

1) Climate Astrology: Climate Scientists Now Predict Wet Future For California
UPI, 6 July 2017
 
2) Red Teaming: Trump Administration Plans To Re-Assess Climate Science In Series Of Reviews
CBC News, 6 July 2017

Frank Newman: No trust in landowners

Last week commissioners began hearing submissions on what is the most significant change in Whangarei District Council planning rules in decades. Alarmingly, few people actually realise the new rules are in the pipeline. Hardly a word has been mentioned in the media, and the Council itself did not hold any public meetings to inform the public of the changes.

Ten plan changes are proposed - affecting every landowner outside of the built up urban environment. The plan changes divide the rural (countryside) area into seven "Environments" with "Resource area" overlays, each with their own rules. (Plan changes PC85, 85A, 85B, 85C, 85D, 86A, 86B. 87, 102, and 114.)

Mike Butler: Cheeky book against separatism

Once we were one: The fraud of modern separatism is a bold book from a cheeky writer whose understanding of race relations in New Zealand was learned from direct experience.

Andy Oakley grew up in the mean streets of Cannons Creek, Porirua, so he knows about poverty from direct experience.

NZCPR Weekly: Next Steps in Coastal Claims

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we outline new developments in the marine and coastal area claims process – and launch a Register of Interest for everyone who would like to help oppose claims in their local area, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Hugh Barr explains why the claims process is such a threat to users of the coast, and this week’s poll asks whether you agree with Maori tribal groups that they should be considered as ‘guardians’ of the environment. 

You can see the Countering Coastal Claims Campaign page here: www.nzcpr.com/countering-coastal-claims-campaign

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

Barrie Deas: Fishing and Brexit

Fishing will be a sort of litmus test for Brexit. As the UK begins the process of leaving the EU, we have entered a period of extreme uncertainty. The outcome of the exit negotiations, and the kind of trade relations that the UK will have with Europe after it leaves, will be dependent on many complex factors, not least whether an agreement will be possible at all. 

At the end of the negotiations it may still be uncertain how the UK will fare in the world; that may not become clear for some years or decades. But what will immediately be clear is whether UK fishermen still feel that they are shackled into a system that was designed with their disadvantage in mind.

GWPF Newsletter: Global Temperatures Drop Back To Pre-El Nino Levels

Study Finds Temperature Adjustments Account For ‘Nearly All Of Recent Warming’ In Climate Data Sets

In this newsletter:

1) Study Finds Temperature Adjustments Account For ‘Nearly All Of Recent Warming’ In Climate Data Sets
Daily Caller, 7 July 2017

2) Global Temperatures Drop Back To Pre-El Nino Levels
Roy Spencer, 3 July 2017 

GWPF Newsletter: China Met Office Confirms Global Warming Hiatus

University Professors Afraid To Teach Controversial Subjects For Fear Of Being Sacked

In this newsletter:

1) China Met Office Confirms Global Warming Hiatus
GWPF Observatory, 4 July 2017 
 
2) Global Land-Surface Air Temperature Change Based On The New CMA GLSAT Data Set
Science Bulletin, 62(4) 2017

GWPF Newsletter: 1600 New Coal Power Plants Being Built Around The World

Solar Panels Generate 300 Times More Toxic Waste Than Nuclear Reactors

In this newsletter:

1) Forget Paris, Forget G20, Forget Trump: 1600 New Coal Power Plants Being Built Around The World
The New York Times, 1 July 2017
 
2) Coal On The Rise In China, US And India
Associated Press, 26 June 2017 

Karl du Fresne: An arrogant young man spitting the dummy, or was there more to it than that?

Two things you never stop learning as a journalist is that there are usually two sides to a story and that things are often not quite what they seem. I was reminded of this by the media feeding frenzy over Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay.

On the surface, it looked straightforward enough. Here was a cocky young MP, a political careerist ordained by the party’s high priests and priestesses as an up-and-comer, brought down in a steaming heap of ordure – and committing the unpardonable sin of splattering his leader in the process.

David Skilling: What can we learn from the Greeks?

Two Greeks have been in the news again recently.  The first, Yanis Varoufakis, was the Finance Minister during the depths of the Greek crisis.  He has just published another book, attracting celebrity endorsements, apportioning blame to many for the continuing agonies in Greece.  FT columnist Martin Wolf commented charitably on his book, and fellow columnist Wolfgang Munchau remarkably suggested that the Brexiters could learn from Greece.

Few emerge from the Greek crisis looking good, including senior Ministers in the Syriza government.  Playing chicken, and railing against austerity and Germany, may be good fun, but it did little to address Greece’s underlying challenges. Greece has a debt problem, but the core issue is that Greece is deeply uncompetitive.  Even debt relief and a lower cost structure (or in extremis, a depreciated currency outside the Eurozone), is unlikely to be sufficient for the Greek economy to perform better on a sustained basis.

Frank Newman: Jones - NZ First Leader in Waiting

On 28 April 2014 we wrote this about Shane Jones.

Jones heads for the transit lounge

The liquefaction within the Labour Party surfaced again this week with the impending departure of Shane Jones from the Party and Parliament.

The public face is one of pleasant well wishing. What’s really going only the insiders would know, but our speculation is that Jones faced a number of unpalatable choices and he went for the one that gives him the best long-term political opportunity.

GWPF Newsletter: Trump To Abolish Obama’s Green Legacy By Boosting Coal And Nuclear Projects

Trump Vows to Unleash the ‘Vast Energy Wealth’ of the U.S.

In this newsletter:

1) Trump To Abolish Obama’s Green Legacy By Boosting Coal And Nuclear Projects
Daily Caller, 29 June 2017
 
2) Trump Vows to Unleash the ‘Vast Energy Wealth’ of the U.S.
Bloomberg, 29 June 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Immigration Matters

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we look into immigration and the problems with the welfare system that are leading to an increasing demand for unskilled foreign workers, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Rodney Hide explains why immigration is good for the country, and this week’s poll asks whether you believe that able-bodied people on welfare should be required to sign a contract agreeing to remain drug free and accept any suitable job that comes along, or risk losing their benefits.

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

Richard Epstein: Doctrinal Tangle At SCOTUS

The United States Supreme Court recently handed down two opinions that reveal a deep inconsistency in its basic constitutional jurisprudence.

In Matal v. Tam, the Court wisely rejected the effort of the Patent and Trademark Office to deny registration of the trade name of the Asian band “The Slants” on the ground that the name disparages Asians. The Court unanimously held first that trademark registration does not convert the name “The Slants” into government (rather than private) speech, which would allow the state vast discretion in deciding whether or not to grant the trademark. Second, the Court held that the First Amendment protects hate speech. In the words of Justice Samuel Alito, “Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express the thought that we hate.”

Frank Newman: Meth, insulation, and the Jones boy

Standards New Zealand has released a new methamphetamine testing and decontamination standard. The new measures will be welcomed by landlords.

The main change is an increase in the limit at which contamination is deemed to have taken place from 0.5 micrograms to 1.5 micrograms per 100cm2. The new standard also establishes clear methods for sampling and testing, and testers and decontamination contractors will require a certain level of competency to achieve accreditation.