GWPF Newsletter: After GWPF Complaint, Green Activists Withdraw Wind Energy Ads

In this newsletter:

1) Green Activists Withdraw Adverts Which Falsely Claim Price Of Wind Energy Has Fallen By 50%
Daily Mail, 27 December 2017
 
2) Global Temperature For November 2017 Continues Decline
GWPF Observatory, 24 December 2017

Karl du Fresne: Dominatrix vs dinosaur

Don Brash made two big mistakes recently.

The first was to think he could criticise a high-profile Radio New Zealand presenter on Facebook and get away with it. The second and much bigger mistake was to accept an invitation to explain himself on Kim Hill’s Saturday morning radio show.

Inevitably, Brash was savaged. It was as close as RNZ will ever get to blood sport as entertainment.

Viv Forbes: The Never-ending Battles of the Coral Sea

For at least 50 years Australian taxpayers and other innocents have supported a parasitic industry in academia, bureaucracy, law, media and the tax-exempt Green Alarm “Charities”, all studying, regulating, inspecting and writing about yet another “imminent threat to Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.”

It has become the never-ending battle of the Coral Sea.

The threats change, but there is always a doomsday forecast – Crown-of-Thorns, oil drilling, fishing, cane farming, coastal shipping, global warming, ocean acidity, coral bleaching, port dredging, chemical and fertiliser runoff, coal transport, river sediments, loss of world heritage status etc. Every recycled scare, magnified by the media and parroted by politicians, generates more income for the alarm industry, usually at the expense of taxpayers, consumers or local industries.

Dave Witherow: Jabberwocky

For more than a year our state broadcaster, Radio New Zealand, has concealed the fact that it is engaged in a campaign to “change the linguistic landscape”. This radical new mission was far from voluntary. It was imposed from above, forced upon a supine RNZ staff following amendments to the Maori Language Act in 2016.

Few New Zealanders were aware that one of their most trusted institutions had been so fundamentally subverted, and no-one at RNZ, it would seem, thought fit to tell them (or even, as many of us might have hoped - to protest). But no, they just quietly went along - some of them minimally and probably reluctantly, but others with servile enthusiasm.

Frank Newman: Investment analysis a waste of time?

Most property investors undertake some form of analysis before they make an investment decision.  They "Crunch the numbers" to forecast profit and in some cases they use quite sophisticated models to predict investment returns out some 10 years or so. 

This typically would involve estimating the future rental stream, expenses, interest rates, and a resale value of the property. The timing of those  future income steams and payments are then adjusted by what known as a discount rate to take account of the time value of money - because money in hand can be invested so net cash flow received sooner rather than later is worth more.

Gerry Eckhoff: Response to the Dave Witherow column in the Otago Daily Times

At first glance it would seem that the Otago Daily Times, Arthur Wellesley and the writer of a recent and contentious column in the ODT - Dave Witherow, do not have all that much in common. 

The connection is the famous statement of Arthur Wellesley - better known as the Duke of Wellington or the Iron Duke who famously said – “publish and be damned”. 

The Duke was alleged to be having an affair with a “scarlet women” and was subject to a blackmail attempt in return for their silence. The allegations were published. The Duke went on to become Prime Minister despite the English being scandalized.

GWPF Newsletter: EU Energy Ministers Back Coal & Wood Burning

Europe’s Great ‘Green’ Energy Swindle Exposed

In this newsletter:

1) Europe’s Great ‘Green’ Energy Swindle Exposed
Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, 19 December 2017 
 
2) EU Ministers Back Govt Subsidies For Coal-Fired Power Plants Until 2030
Platts, 19 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: New Study Finds Cosmic Rays-Climate Link

Scientists Find Missing Link Between Exploding Stars, Clouds, And Climate On Earth

In this newsletter:

1) New Study: Cosmic Rays, Solar Activity Have Much Greater Impact On Earth’s Climate Than Models Suggest
Graham Lloyd, The Australian, 19 December 2017 
 
2) The Missing Link Between Exploding Stars, Clouds, And Climate On Earth
Technical University of Denmark, 19 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Trump's National Security Plan: Energy Dominance, Not Climate Change

US Fuels The World As Shale Boom Powers Record Oil Exports

In this newsletter:

1) Trump’s National Security Plan: ‘Energy Dominance,’ Not ‘Anti-Growth’ Climate Policy
Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, 18 December 2017 
 
2) Trump To Remove Climate Change From List Of National Security Threats
Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist, 16 December 2017 

GWPF Newsletter: Weak Solar Activity And La Nina May Cool Global Temperatures In Months Ahead

Germany To Open Another New Coal Power Plant

In this newsletter:

1) Weak Solar Activity And La Nina May Cool Global Temperatures In Months Ahead
No Tricks Zone, 13 December 2017
 
2) New Paper Questions Paris Agreement’s Dubious Temperature Limits
Global Warming Policy Forum, 14 December 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Speaking Freely

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

On behalf of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research I would like to take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely for your support and encouragement throughout the year - and to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! 

In this week’s newsletter we look at the importance of free speech to the healthy functioning of a democracy, and our NZCPR Guest Commentators Dave Witherow reflects on the firestorm of outrage that followed the publication of an article he wrote criticising the excessive forcing of the Maori language onto non-Maori speakers during Maori Language Week.

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

Frank Newman: Mini-budget delivers on promises

The new government's mini-budget presented to Parliament on 14 December delivered on Labour's promise to reverse the legislated tax cuts that were due to come into effect on 1 April next year. They will instead direct that money into welfare.

The amount of money is significant. Had the tax cuts not been reversed, some $8.4 billion would have been distributed to taxpayers over the next four years by increasing the threshold at which higher marginal tax rates take effect. All taxpayers would have benefited.

GWPF Newsletter: Global Ocean Cooling Continues

Global Ocean Temperatures Drop Back To Pre El Nino Levels

In this newsletter:

1) Global Ocean Cooling Continues 
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 11 December 2017
 
2) Walter Russell Mead: Fracking Our Way To Mideast Peace
The Wall Street Journal, 12 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: EU Climate Consensus Broken

Centre-Right Parties Reject Green-Left Policy Proposals

In this newsletter:

1) EU Climate Consensus Broken: Centre-Right Parties Reject Green-Left Policy Proposals
EurActiv, 10 December 2017 
 
2) Sources: Trump Supports Pruitt's Plan To Set Up Formal Climate Science Assessment
ClimateWire, 11 December 2017

John Robinson: Open Letter To The Treaty Minister

To Andrew Little: Minister for Treaty Settlements

I have worked on gathering information on Treaty issues, as a consultant for the Treaty of Waitangi Unit at the Department of Justice, and with the Victoria University treaty of Waitangi Research Unit in projects for the Crown Forestry Rental Trust.

GWPF Newsletter: The Truth About That Dying Polar Bear

In this newsletter:

This was one polar bear dying a gruesome death as happens in the wild all the time. If sea ice loss due to man-made global warming had been the culprit, this bear would not have been the only one starving: the landscape would have been littered with carcasses. Yet other bears around him did not starve and die.  --Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, 9 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Britain Starts Dismantling Wind Farms After Successful Lake District Campaign

EU Member States Abandon Legally Binding Targets For Renewable Energy

In this newsletter:

1)  Britain Starts Dismantling Wind Farms After Successful Lake District Campaign
The Times, 7 December 2017

2) EU Member States Abandon Legally Binding Targets For Renewable Energy
EurActiv, 6 December 2017

Mike Butler: Sir William and the Waikato Times

The experts who last week sought to “deconstruct” comments on the Treaty of Waitangi by Hamilton businessman Sir William Gallagher could face a bit of deconstructing themselves.

The fencing manufacturer caused a stir during a speech to Waikato businesspeople on Friday night, November 24, and was reported to have said that there was no doubt Maori ceded sovereignty, and criticised “reparations, among other things.

NZCPR Weekly: Defend Your Beach

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we provide an important update on the coastal claims process and urge concerned Kiwis to take a stand – before it’s too late, our NZCPR Guest Commentators Dr Hugh Barr and John McLean outline why the new Minister, Andrew Little, needs to review the former Minister’s decision to award a Customary Marine Title, and in this week’s poll we ask whether you believe there needs to be a public information campaign to inform people how to become engaged in the marine and coastal area claims process.

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

GWPF Newsletter: Climate Change Goes To Court

U.S. Justice Department In Talks With Scientists Over Looming Climate Court Battle

In this newsletter:

1) German Court To Hear Peruvian Farmer's Climate Case Against Energy Company RWE
The Guardian, 30 November 2017
 
2) Exxon Climate-Change Probe Goes To Massachusetts Top Court
Reuters, 5 December 2017 

Sarah Taylor: Marine and Coastal Act's costly shambles will haunt country for decades

Touted by National as offering a durable and expeditious solution to Labour’s Foreshore and Seabed Act, Chris Finlayson’s Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (MACA) has unleashed hundreds of competing claims that will tie the courts up for decades, costing the country tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in claimant funding, policy advice and legal fees. 

Approximately 380 claims were lodged for “negotiation” with the Attorney General, while 200 further were lodged in the High Court before 3^rd April 2017, the Act’s six year claim deadline.

GWPF Newsletter: Arctic Refreezes After Warm El Nino Year, Melting Pause Continues

14 Climate Bullies Attack Susan Crockford For Telling The Truth About Polar Bears

In this newsletter:

1) Arctic Refreezes After Warm El Nino Year, Melting Pause Continues
Ron Clutz, Science Matters, 3 December 2017 
 
2) 14 Climate Bullies Attack Susan Crockford For Telling The Truth About Polar Bears
Thomas Fuller, Climate Scepticism, 1 December 2017

GWPF Newsletter: 2017 Sets New Record For Global Food Production

Royal Society – It’s Worse Than We Thought

In this newsletter:

1) Global Warming: 2017 Sets New Record For Global Food Production
UN Food And Agriculture Organization, November 2017

2) GWPF Podcast: Royal Society – It’s Worse Than We Thought
GWPF Podcast, 1 December 2017

Frank Newman: Rāhui to you too

Rāhui. It's becoming an important word. It's also been in the news a lot lately. To place a rāhui on something is to restrict or prohibit access, normally temporary to allow replenishment.

This is quite different from a Wahi Tapu, which is a reserve empowered by the Historic Places Act 1993 and is defined as a place sacred to Maori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense. These tend to be site specific but may be an area.

GWPF Newsletter: Never, Ever Trust Climate Alarmists

Great Barrier Reef More Resilient To Climate Change Than Previously Thought

In this newsletter:

1) Great Barrier Reef More Resilient To Climate Change Than Previously Thought
The Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2017 

2) The Green Inquisition: Fears University May Sack Marine Scientist Over Comments On Great Barrier Reef Health
The Australian 26 August 2017

Matt Ridley: Britain should give the EU £20 billion extra as an act of charity

The letter Theresa May should send with the cheque as Britain's "financial settlement" with the European Union:

Theresa May reportedly plans to offer about £40 billion of our money in order to bring the European Union to the table to discuss whether it wishes to trade freely with Britain after we leave in 2019. I listened to a German MEP last week describe these negotiations as “a French commissioner insulting an entire nation”, and heard a British MP call the EU’s obsession with money “disreputable”. The result is not humiliating for us, but for them. If I were Mrs May, this (tongue-in-cheek) is the letter I would write to accompany the offer.

GWPF Newsletter: Green Lobby Defeated As Germany U-Turns

Bavarian Minister Kills Germany’s Grand Coalition On Glyphosate

In this newsletter:

1) Green Lobby Defeated As German U-Turn Swings EU Vote In Favour Of Glyphosate
Deutsche Welle, 27 November 2017
 
2) Germany’s Glyphosate U-Turn Angers Green Lobby
Politico, 28 November 2017 

Karl du Fresne: Freedom of speech, Rachel Stewart-style

New Zealand Herald columnist Rachel Stewart is a true champion of free speech. Except, that is, when someone wants to say something she doesn’t like.

In her column this week she savaged an occasional Otago Daily Times columnist named Dave Witherow. Witherow is guilty of the unpardonable sin of being (like me) an ageing, conservative male. In the eyes of the left-leaning bigots who have acquired almost total control of the public conversation in New Zealand, this automatically disqualifies him from having a valid opinion on anything.

NZCPR Weekly: The Dangers of Dependency

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we look at the cause of New Zealand’s dependency culture and how the new Government’s proposed changes could make the situation worse - especially for children, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Lindsay Mitchell shares her concerns over the proposed scrapping of benefit sanctions, and in this week’s poll we ask whether the penalties on sole parent beneficiaries who do not name the father of their child should be abolished.

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

Frank Newman: LVR relaxed and mini budget day looms

Last week the Reserve Bank loosened its grip on bank lending, making it a little easier for low deposit house buyers.

Acting Reserve Bank Governor, Grant Spencer, said, “LVR (Loan Value Ratio) policies have been in place since 2013 to address financial stability risks arising from rapid house price inflation and increasing household debt. These policies have helped improve banking system resilience by substantially reducing the share of high-LVR loans. Over the past six months, pressures in the housing market have continued to moderate due to the tightening of LVR restrictions in October 2016, a more general firming of bank lending standards and an increase in mortgage interest rates in early 2017...Housing market policies announced by the Government are also expected to have a dampening effect on the housing market."

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: What the Aussie postal ballot tells us about the future of democracy

You’ve got to hand it to the Aussies for originality. There’s a divisive social issue the Government would rather not have to deal with (same-sex marriage – SSM), so let’s have a postal ‘survey’ to gauge public opinion and then we might put the issue to a vote in parliament or we might not, depending on the outcome. Real cutting-edge leadership, Mal.

Just in case anyone is in any doubt, this was neither a referendum nor a plebiscite, either of which would have been conducted under the auspices of the Australian Electoral Commission. Instead, this show was run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and participation wasn’t compulsory as it would be under Australian electoral law.

Matt Ridley: Supporting wind and solar energy at the expense of the environment

First published November 20th 2017: You can always tell when there is a United Nations Climate Conference of the Parties (COP) coming up, because there are any number of carefully timed press releases about how hot it has been or is going to get in the future. The media has been snowed under with such things for a while now, and sure enough, this week sees the gathering in Bonn of the usual circus of thousands of diplomats, bureaucrats, quangocrats, envirocrats and twittercrats.

Sceptics and lukewarmers are not welcome, despite the falling poll numbers for alarmism: in Britain public “concern” over climate change has dropped steadily from 82% in 2005 to 60% today – which is in line with the scientific evidence that warming is proving slower and less harmful than the models predicted. 

GWPF Newsletter: First Poland, Then Germany, Now Spain: Europe Rejects Coal Phase Out

Germany To Cut Down Ancient Forest For Coal Mining

In this newsletter:

1) First Poland, Then Germany, Now Spain: Europe Rejects Coal Phase Out
EurActiv, 24 November 2017
 
2) Germany To Cut Down Ancient Forest To Clear For Coal Mining
Associated Press, 25 November 2017

GWPF Newsletter: Hooray!

UK Government Bars New Green Energy Subsidies

In this newsletter:

1) Hooray! UK Government Bars New Green Energy 
Energy Live News, 23 November 2017 
 
2) Here’s Why: Green Levies ‘Will Add £200 To Energy Bills’
Daily Mail, 21 November 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Refugee Controversies and Climate Change

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we look into media reporting and the new Government’s plans for refugees and climate change, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Barry Brill shares his concerns about the use of global warming propaganda, and in this week’s poll we ask whether you think New Zealand should open its doors to “climate change” refugees.

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

Frank Newman: High standards imposed by insurance companies

It seems insurance companies are requiring landlords and property managers to be much more vigilant in the way rental property is managed. The implications are that if a rental is not managed in a manner that minimises risks to an insurer, then they risk having their claims denied.

Here are two examples from a landlord’s insurance policy package currently being promoted by a major insurer. The examples relate to the Landlord’s Obligations clause, and claims for methamphetamine contamination.

Tim Ball and Tom Harris: Avalanches of Global Warming Alarmism

 Throughout the United Nations Climate Change Conference wrapping up in Bonn, Germany this week, the world has been inundated with the usual avalanche of manmade global warming alarmism. The UN expects us to believe that extreme weather, shrinking sea ice, and sea level rise will soon become much worse if we do not quickly phase out our use of fossil fuels that provide over 80% of the world’s energy.

There is essentially nothing to support these alarms, of course. We simply do not have adequate observational data required to know or understand what has happened over the past century and a half. Meaningful forecasts of future climate conditions are therefore impossible.

GWPF Newsletter: Mugged By Reality, Germany’s Climate Consensus Is Collapsing

Germany In Crisis As Coalition Talks Collapse

In this newsletter:

1) Germany In Crisis As Coalition Talks Collapse Over Climate Hysteria And Migration
AFP, 20 November 2017
 
2) Benny Peiser: Mugged By Reality, Germany’s Climate Consensus Is Collapsing
Global Warming Policy Forum, 20 November 2017

Nils-Axel Mörner: Fiji ‘Flooding’ is Fake News

Open Letter to Honorable Prime Minister of Fiji and President of COP23 Frank Bainimarama:

   - Field evidence in the Fiji islands indicate no rise in sea level   
   - Fiji corals indicate full sea level stability since 1950

Daniel Mitchell: The Real Victims of Class-Warfare Taxation

Remember John Kerry, the former Secretary of State and Massachusetts Senator, the guy who routinely advocated higher taxes but then made sure to protect his own wealth? Not only did he protect much of his fortune in so-called tax havens, he even went through the trouble of domiciling his yacht outside of his home state to minimize his tax burden.

I did not object to Kerry’s tax avoidance, but I was irked by his hypocrisy. If taxes are supposed to be so wonderful, should not he have led by example?

David Skilling: Small countries in an age of giants

Singapore is benefiting from a strengthening global economic recovery with increasing external demand supporting export-oriented sectors. Advance estimates are for GDP growth of 4.6% for the year to Q3 2017. And the 13-strong group of small advanced economies that I monitor are growing as strongly as they have since 2011.

This economic good news contrasts with the concerns about populism and protectionism raised over the past couple of years, to which small countries were thought to be particularly exposed.

GWPF Newsletter: German Jamaica-Coalition Talks In Near Collapse

Merkel Refuses To Set Coal Deadline At Climate Talks

In this newsletter:

1) German Jamaica-Coalition Talks In Near Collapse
euobserver, 17 November 2017

2) Merkel Refuses To Set Coal Deadline At Climate Talks
Associated Press, 15 November 2017

NZCPR Weekly: Improving Productivity and Wellbeing

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we look into New Zealand’s productivity problem, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Michael Reddell shares his suggestions for lifting productivity and economic success, and in this week’s poll we ask whether you think productivity will improve under the new Labour Government.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
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Matt Ridley: Amara's Law

Alongside a great many foolish things that have been said about the future, only one really clever thing stands out. It was a “law” coined by a Stanford University computer scientist and long-time head of the Institute for the Future by the name of Roy Amara. He said that we tend to overestimate the impact of a new technology in the short run, but we underestimate it in the long run. Quite when he said it and in what context is not clear but colleagues suggest he was articulating it from some time in the 1960s or 1970s.

Along comes an invention or a discovery and soon we are wildly excited about the imminent possibilities that it opens up for flying to the stars or tuning our children’s piano-playing genes. Then, about ten years go by and nothing much seems to happen. Soon the “whatever happened to . . .” cynics are starting to say the whole thing was hype and we’ve been duped. Which turns out to be just the inflexion point when the technology turns ubiquitous and disruptive.

Richard Epstein: The Income Inequality Obsession

One of the great political divides in the United States concerns the role of the state in redressing income inequality across individuals and groups. 

Recently, the outspoken conservative commentator Dennis Prager noted that in one representative debate during the 2016 presidential campaign, the words, “Wall Street”, “tax,” “inequality,” and “wealthy” were used 59 times by Democratic candidates. In contrast, “ISIS,” “terrorism,” “free,” “debt,” “liberty,” and kindred terms gathered a scant 10 mentions.

GWPF Newsletter: 'Brain Washing' Needed To Tackle Climate Change, California Gov Tells Vatican

Frustration Shows Up As Bonn Climate Summit Is Deadlocked

In this newsletter:

1) 'Brain Washing' Needed To Tackle Climate Change, California Gov Tells Vatican
The National Catholic Register, 12 November 2017

2) Frustration Shows Up As Bonn Climate Summit Is Deadlocked Again
The Indian Express, 14 November 2017

Bruce Moon: Our Reversion to Tribalism

"The intense tribalism we are seeing, domestically and internationally, does suggest that we may be approaching a point of true planetary peril." 

So asserted commentator Robert Wright in writing "Why do we fight and can we stop?" in "The Atlantic Magazine" for November 2013.

"People", he says, meaning all of us, "magnify their grievances and do the reverse with their rivals  ... you forget your sins and remember your grievances. ... We're not aware of the information [our] biases exclude. ... The world's gravest conflicts are not over ethical principles or disputed values but over disputed facts. …  We seem designed to twist moral discourse to selfish or tribal ends."

GWPF Newsletter - NASA: Volcanic Activity Is Heating Up Antarctica’s Ice Sheet

Climate Targets Threaten Germany’s Prosperity, Ministry Of Economy Warns

In this newsletter:

1) NASA: Volcanic Activity Is Heating Up Antarctica’s Ice Sheet
Daily Caller, 7 November 2017 

2) Are Underwater Volcanoes Causing Global Warming? 
Daily Mail, 6 February 2015 

NZCPR Weekly: A Government of Controversy

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s newsletter we look into the growing controversy surrounding the new Government, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Karl du Fresne examines the impact of Winston Peters’ legal action against National MPs on the legitimacy of the Government, and in this week’s poll we ask whether Winston Peters should authorise the release of details regarding the overpayment of his superannuation.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
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