Who needs conspiracy theorists when we have this? Jeez.

David Ismay, Massachusetts Undersecretary for Climate Change

Speaking at a Vermont climate conference, Ismay said:

“So let me say that again, 60% of our emissions that need to be reduced come from you, the person across the street, the senior on fixed income, right … there is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts to point the finger at, to turn the screws on, and you know, to break their will, so they stop emitting. That’s you. We have to break your will. Right, I can’t even say that publicly.”

Update: Ismay has resigned his position. He claims his comments were intended to mean the opposite of what he said; this did not go over well with the Governor.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the (British) House of Commons

Sir Lindsay Hoyle told a gathering of counterparts from some of the world’s most powerful countries that the pandemic shows people are prepared to accept limitations on their lifestyles – if they recognise it is for the greater good.

He was surprised by the willingness of millions of people to wear masks and accept new rules, and said the urgent response the world has shown to deal with Covid-19 should now be harnessed to address climate change.

White House Climate Czar John Kerry

Climate Czar explains that he is exempt from saving the climate because he is elite and you are not:

White House climate czar John Kerry traveled to Iceland by private jet in 2019 to accept an environmental award and defended his transportation choice to a reporter at the time by calling it, “the only choice for somebody like me.”

And to Confuse Us

Climate change may have started in the early 19th century, pre-dating large scale fossil fuel consumption, according to several peer reviewed studies.

Lessons Learned

  • Most of the population is not paying attention
  • Most of the population accepts lies and inconsistencies
  • Most of the population goes along with anything an “expert” tells them, even when data and logic dispute the expert.
  • Most of the population has lost its ability to think for itself.

Disclaimers

After writing the above, you will conclude I am a right wing extremist wacko nut job who wants to destroy life on the planet and burns fossil fuels with crazy wild abandon.

Except reality intrudes …

  • 14 months ago, we completely replaced our attic insulation and raised it to R-60.
  • We spent $18,000 (before tax credits) to install solar PV on our home and at the end of one year, we have produced 100% of the power we consumed (plus produced an excess)
  • We heat our home entirely with locally sourced wood pellets, which the UN has classified as carbon neutral.
  • We installed two 220v outlets for potential future EV charging. One is outside and one is in the garage. We believe we have sufficient solar PV to recharge a future EV for local driving needs.
  • I spent much time this past year researching EV options but concluded that an EV, for now, is not “energy effective”. It makes more sense to continue driving my 42 mph Honda Fit due to the energy used during manufacture and eventual vehicle recycling. I concluded it was more climate friendly to install solar PV than to buy an EV – because solar PV offset the 70% of utility power that comes from (mostly) coal. Thus solar PV has a large CO2 emission reduction versus converting a fuel efficient gas car to run off of utility provided coal power.
  • I am still looking into EVs and EV related technology, probably every day.
  • What else might I do?

Coldstreams