Professor John Raine: Balancing the climate narrative - The science is not settled

The 23rd July 2025 USA Department of Energy (DoE) Report, “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate” [1], authored by five eminent scientists, at last brings some balance back into official statements on climate change and humankind’s contribution to this. The USA DoE Report reviews the science around how anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions have affected, or will affect, climate in the USA, extreme weather events, and selected metrics of societal wellbeing.

Owen Jennings: Now Here’s a Funny Thing.

Airlines have trees to offset their CO2 Greenhouse Gas emissions. That’s recognised and acceptable. More than that it is encouraged and subsidised.

Farmers have grasses to offset their CH4 (methane) Greenhouse Gas emissions. That’s not recognised and it’s not acceptable. More than that, they are heavily criticised and are threatened with severe penalties.

Humans emit CO2 Greenhouse Gas. We are not penalised because we are part of a closed, natural cycle where we eat greens that are grown by photosynthesis that uses CO2. That’s IPCC policy.

Ian Bradford: It’s Concerning Just How Many Have Been Sucked in by the Anthropogenic Climate Change Fraud

About four years ago, the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came on TV and declared “We have a climate emergency.”

Without any justification for this statement, she sent a high proportion of the country into a panic mode. It was to come out that humans were putting Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate and this was causing global warming which would be catastrophic if allowed to continue. Later, cows were in the firing line too emitting Methane which was also contributing to global warming.

Eric Crampton: Misplaced ambition

It isn’t crazy to claim that New Zealand’s school system lacks ambition. Or, if it is, our shop has been crazy for a while.

But if you were going to complain about a lack of ambition in the New Zealand school system, carbon accounting seems a ludicrous place to start.

Unless you’re the Ministry for the Environment.

Newsroom reported this week on frustrated Ministry for the Environment officials unable to get school boards to fill in carbon accounting paperwork. They briefed Ministers that the education sector lacks “sufficient ambition.”