16 Comments

1. 

   Martin on August 1, 2023 at 10:47 am

   Thanks for the last piece – now I must await my subpoena from the new IPCC chair (does he report to Guterres , and if so, do they talk about the weather?) for causing the world “harm” as a “ doom-monger”? Shouldn’t I be shot for that?

   The record of truth statements that follow “I’m an optimist…” is approaching net zero.
   Hey, 1.5 is not too bad, amirite?
   Hey, 2.0 is not really that, that bad, amirite?
   Hey, well now, 3.0, and look at me – oh wait, I’m dead. Hang on.

   • 

     Cassandra on August 1, 2023 at 12:09 pm

     🎯☠️ R.I.P. 🌎

   • 

     Panopticon on August 1, 2023 at 7:13 pm

     “…the new IPCC chair.”

     I hadn’t heard of him but it looks like Jim Skea has made quite the career out of selling a decarbonised future and carefully raising the climate alarm without causing *too much* alarm – a politically savvy and personally ambitious academic and bureaucrat of the first order. Perfect for heading up the IPCC.

     https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/j.skea

2. 

   Rain on August 1, 2023 at 11:53 am

   On that last post, about doomers causing more harm, as Nate Hagens said recently about the “things that scare him most” is that with global warming, “nobody has a plan.. nobody is in charge”.

   Our mate Tim, has just opined in a similar vein
   https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2023/08/01/it-begins/

   I have to agree with them both, none of the possible options are going to work, and they all look like “austerity”.

   • 

     Panopticon on August 1, 2023 at 6:55 pm

     I just read Tim Watkins’ article. He is on amusingly acerbic form.

     He does tiptoe around the edges of minimizing climate change at times but I think that is because, as he is at pains to point out, it is tiresome to be hectored on the subject by hypocrites pushing non-solutions.

   • 

     Harmon on August 2, 2023 at 6:57 am

     Extraordinaire well written concise piece that Rain , that’s a guy in my line of thinking there . I’m always a bit of more right wing anti overpopulation than these types of writers but he is spot on in his description of neoliberal market forces which are the biggest joke on the planet from 2020 onwards

     Hilarious. Great name for a blog as well (sheeple was too overused by now I suppose 🙂 )

3. 

   zip on August 1, 2023 at 2:29 pm

   Hello Pan

   Once upon a time, I thought I would like to become an oceanographer. As a child of the North Sea, that was the obvious thing to do. That didn’t work out because my beta brain left much to be desired, so I became a TV producer and journalist, which, after all, anyone can do 🙂

   But I did learn enough from it to have some idea of the consequences of the immense changes that these kinds of mag systems such as oceans and ice deposits cause.

   Well and whether “climate” doomers or the IPCC will be able to change much of that with their CO2 babble is the height of vanity and frivolity, though. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the Schwabs and El Gors of this world are crooks and scoundrels, just like, for that matter, the increasing squabbling of the ‘sceptics’ who see their opportunity at the moment.

   ‘Don’t look up’ is suddenly very much in vogue. I notice it almost daily on my platform, where the ‘sceptics’ are currently coming from all over the place to claim, fittingly, that ‘nothing is wrong’. After all, it’s a holiday and that shouldn’t be ruined now. Fortunately, the forest fires are gone for a while and everyone is jostling for ‘last minute’ flights to escape the bad rainy summer in NW Europe for a week at top prices. In a few weeks, everyone will be back and no doubt the squabbling over rising energy prices will begin.

   https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Imminent-Peak-In-Permian-Oil-What-Does-it-Mean-For-Investors.html

   Today an interesting and technically sound article on ‘shale gas’ ….. The end of the fossil era is insight 🙂

   • 

     Panopticon on August 1, 2023 at 4:50 pm

     “That doesn’t take away from the fact that the Schwabs and Al Gores of this world are crooks and scoundrels.”

     I’m afraid all sorts of sinister individuals are hijacking the climate change narrative, on both sides of the argument, to further their own agendas or fatten their wallets. It’s cold comfort that events will overtake them, too…

   • 

     TR on August 2, 2023 at 1:25 am

     It doesn’t matter what one’s political, economic or religious delusions are, I think this just might apply.

     “People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.” –
     John Kenneth Galbraith

4. 

   FamousDrScanlon on August 1, 2023 at 8:00 pm

   It’s so good to finally learn why, since James Hansen gave the world the first serious, no doubt, climate warning in 1988, humans have ignored hundreds of warnings & a mountain of climate consequences – it’s those damn DOOMERS what done it!

   Doomers have convinced 8 billion humans to ‘give up’ the fight including the billions who did not even know climate change was a thing. They polled thousands of customers of Carnival Cruise Lines and asked if they knew that each two week cruise pukes out such huge amounts of multiple waste streams that it’s a miniature environmental holocaust all it’s own? 99% said yes they knew cruises are obscenely polluting & they were not going to go on the cruise because they wanted to do everything they could so their grandchildren did not have to live in the climate endtimes & join a cannibalistic sewer tribe to avoid starving, but one of the few thousand doomers who hang out on obscure blogs said it was too late, so we said Hell Ya & booked 2 tickets to a guilt free paradise cruise. Thanks Doomer. We’ll send you a post card.

   I’m a Doomer. If I knew I had such god like powers of persuasion, I would have gone into sales & retired a billionaire at 30 – Hell Ya!

   The IPCC was created to by the wealthy nations to be a gate keeper, via the policy recommendations, for the wealthy oil nations. It’s not the science, which the IPCC does not do. It’s in the policy recommendation end where the corruption is and that has been Jim Skea’s gig in the IPCC since 1990. I do not trust any policy people – government or NGO’s noe should anyone without thoroughly checking for themselves.

   Jim Skea is not even a scientist. He is a career long establishment yes man. He the policy man who has long pimped carbon capture storage (CCS) which is funny because the article before this one is all about how much bullshit CCS is. I’ve read studies on CSS as far back as 2015 and they all say it’s bunk. Jim knows that but he still pimps it. I consider guys like Jim as bad or worse than right-wing deniers and you could not stoop lower than blaming Doomers or other powerless plebs for the entire human race using as much energy via consumption as their nations & income will allow. For most in the west they consume to their credit limit.

   If you want to know why the IPCC is a corrupt shit show, listen to some of the real scientists who have volunteered there since it’s formation.

   [b]IPCC: the dirty tricks climate scientists faced in three decades since first report [/b]

   “Shortly afterwards the US delegation “tabled a catalogue of attempted emasculations” of the text. Along with the Saudi and Soviet delegations, representatives of the richest and most powerful country in the world “chipped away at the draft, watering down the sense of alarm in the wording, beefing up the aura of uncertainty”.

   It would be a painful three decades for people anxious to see action on climate change. For the scientists investigating the problem, it would often be a personal battle against powerful interests.”

   https://theconversation.com/ipcc-the-dirty-tricks-climate-scientists-faced-in-three-decades-since-first-report-145126
   ….

   The COP conferences are also corrupt gate keeper events. It’s political theater so the plebs think they have our back so they don’t revolt against the status quo and the system. The managers are guys like Jim who are the ones who are guilty of making sure the public does not change by promoting horse shit techno save like CSS and other not yet invented tech. Jim & Co are lying and giving people false hope. No need to stop shopping or jetting off to Vegas or going on Glutton cruises honey. CCS & wind turbines & solar panels will save us.

   What Doomers do, is what no one in authority will do – tell the truth. One truth we all know is that the only thing that would work is less consuming and since it’s impossible to police consuming the only thing that might have worked & I stress might have is having less babies. That is considered taboo, so now we are just like yeast in the bottle of glucose consuming the glucose and reproducing as fast as we can, or if you prefer, just like those reindeer on St Mathew island waiting for the 59th min.

   https://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comic/st-matthew-island/
   ……………….

   Here’s a few on the BS that is COP & their shameless yearly high dollar gluttonous conferences attended by thousands of jet setting ‘managers and it’s all sponsored by the very same people-corporations they are supposed to be fighting.

   Expert IPCC Reviewer Speaks Out

   “The upcoming 26th COP (Conference of the Parties) to be held November 2021 in Glasgow is on the docket for scientists and bureaucrats, as well as big moneyed interests, to knock heads in a formal setting to discuss the state of the planet. If all goes according to plan, like past COPs, powerful economic interests will sabotage what would otherwise be a rather dim forecast of a planet in various stages of collapse, some terminal.

   We’ve seen this act (COP) repeat over and over, ever since COP1 in Berlin in 1995, as each successive COP-ending-ceremony finds the Parties congratulating each other, slaps on the back, for one more successful climate conference of 20,000-30,000 able-bodied professionals wiped-out from overconsumption of Beluga caviar and Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, but subsequently carbon emissions increase the following year, and every following year thereafter. What’s to congratulate?

   More to the point, the annualized CO2 emissions rate is +60% since COP1, not decreasing, not going down, not once. After 25 years of the same identical pattern, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the take-home-work from all 25 COPs mysteriously turns into the antithesis of the mission statement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

   https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/20/expert-ipcc-reviewer-speaks-out/
   ……

   [b]COP27: 90% of sponsors have fossil fuel ties[/b]

   “18 out of 20 of the sponsors of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate talks currently underway in Egypt directly support or partner with the fossil fuel industry”

   https://corporateeurope.org/en/2022/11/cop27-90-sponsors-have-fossil-fuel-ties
   ……………………………

   [b]Saudi Arabia dilutes fossil fuel phase out language with techno fixes in IPCC report[/b]

   [quote]Saudi Arabia watered down a major UN climate science report by pushing for the use of unproven technologies that would allow the continued extraction of oil and gas,

   Publication was delayed by six hours on Monday following a marathon 40-hour session over the weekend for scientists and government representatives to finalise its summary for policymakers – the longest approval plenary in the IPCC’s 34-year history.

   Language on risks and feasibility concerns about carbon dioxide removal techniques was toned down. References to shifting away from coal, oil and gas were qualified with the word “unabated” and “fossil fuels with CCS” was identified as a way to cut emissions in line with global climate goals.[/quote]

   A whole section was introduced on CCS, describing the technology as “an option” to cut emissions from fossil fuel use and in the industry sector. It notes that CCS has the capacity to store more carbon under ground that what is needed by 2100 to limit warming to 1.5C, albeit with some regional limitations.

   https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/04/04/saudi-arabia-dilutes-fossil-fuel-phase-out-language-with-techno-fixes-in-ipcc-report/
   ………………

   [b]COP26: Document leak reveals nations lobbying to change key climate report[/b]

   https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58982445
   ……………

   [b]COP24: US, Russia, Saudis downplay IPCC report in display of disunity[/b]

   https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/cop24-us-russia-saudis-downplay-ipcc-report-in-display-of-disunity/
   …………

   “Prof Jim Skea, the newly elected head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that apocalyptic messaging merely “paralyses” the public and fails to motivate them to protect the planet.”

   First off, Jim is saying we have done nothing to slow down climate change, because of the public’s lack of motivation. Regardless of the reason why the public lacks motivation Jim Skea is implying things would be different if the public was motivated. He says nothing about politicians, oligarchs and corporations needing to be motivated. Blaming the public is decades old & it was thought up in an industry think tank. There never has been any intention on the part of the people who have the power to do anything to slow climate change, because they have always know the only thing that could do that is to limit population- less people = less consumption…..= less profits & power.

   • 

     Harmon on August 2, 2023 at 7:06 am

     One could call me an extreme neo malthusian, a right wing extreme accepter of climate science coupled with geopolitical reality, you would probably like me better than the latest ipcc fashion here , yes .

     These guys dont have a clue do they . They swing wildly from greta to techno fixes, to easing the population into calm happy thoughts.

     They do the same with geopolitical threats . Many multinational organizations these days are charlatans an all pushing their sysyphus wheels of a global multicultural village with magic climate solutions in rose tinted glasses with a nice sauce of furry woke feelings

     Liberal tragedy of the commons

5. 

   TR on August 2, 2023 at 1:28 am

   When the Clever Apes are flinging shit at the fan they should expect to get some on them. I keep forgetting their motto: “It’s not my fault.”

6. 

   Rain on August 2, 2023 at 8:04 am

   FamousDrScalon

   Your mention of COP reminded me of this latest satirical ad posted below.

   Since Australia has cancelled hoting the 2026 Commonwealth (too expensive, cant afford it, not enough international visitors spending money etc to make a return on the investment… besides half or more of the Commonwealth nations are even broker than we are, cannot afford to send teams, including the UK).

   So with the 2026 Games off the table, Australia with Pacific Small-Island-States have put in a bid to host the 2026 COP 31

   Speaking of ascerbic wit,
   (Remember, this is meant to be satire)

   https://youtu.be/YBjyxA-wYS4

   • 

     FamousDrScanlon on August 2, 2023 at 6:45 pm

     Thanks Rain. That Juice crew has been providing comic relief for years. I had not seen one for awhile. Back in thee olden times when I hung out at r/collapse, their videos were regularly posted.

7. 

   Curt Kastens on August 2, 2023 at 8:33 am

   Why consume less does not work on planet earth, though it may have worked on another planet.
   Number ONE: Billions of people do not have the training or access to the resources to grow their own food. Without this ability they are forced to sell their services to make a living. For huge numbers of these service workers it is neccessary to create an unneeded demand for something to be able to make the money to be able to gain access to food.
   There might have been a non free market solution to this, but the well to even consider this option was poisoned. To go a bit further, yes I am aware that socialism has its own contridictions does not gurrantee any kind of sustainable economic success either. Which leaves a mixed economy as a potential third alternative. But when taking bits and peices of two systems that do not work what are the chances that a group of 100% well intentioned humans could have found the correct mix?
   I think that the chances are quite small becuase humans would have been much smarter than what they actually were (are). They would have had to have figured things out (about environmental sustainability) before they destroyed the forests and turned to coal as an energy substitute for wood. Ok to be technically correct they might have had a window of a few decades once they started using coal. But once they started using coal they would have had to have had not only the knowledge that they are headed down a dead end, they would have also have had the to overcome the temptation to see how long the dead end goes.
   Number Two: One person’s luxury is another person’s neccissity.
   Number Three: (Back to Number One) Unless humans lived with no non renewable resources humans would eventually run out of critical resources no matter how little they consumed. Of course that could be a very long time if the population was controlled. But humans overcame the natural controls on their population, except for their own human desire, for about two generations in an industrializing society. But those two generations are enough to create a population crisis.

8. 

   Red on August 2, 2023 at 8:52 am

   ““In this age of climate crisis, the world is consuming more crude than ever,” writes Javier Blas. “Currently there’s no chance that the world will reduce oil consumption by 2030 nearly as much as needed to meet its net-zero emissions targets. And that’s why many Western governments, while preaching green in public, in private tell oil executives to keep investing in more production.””

   Shut down the militaries and their industries and you’ll save on a lot of oil burning. I’ve said to anyone who would listen since the early eighties that if the LTG was anywhere near right about the oil reserves running out later in this century the global MIC would look to be the last ones to use it. No way would that system will idle its equipment while the farm tractors and commercial trucks move about. No government in the world can do without its military arm of control.