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On Sunday, actor and activist Bill Nye — known as "the science guy" — dismissed the high cost of the Green New Deal with a cheap stunt: lighting a globe on fire. "By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on earth could go up another four to eight degrees," Nye declared on the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. "What I’m saying is the planet’s on f**king fire. There are a lot of things we could do to put it out. Are any of them free? No, of course not, nothing’s free,...

A local Seattle TV star returned to the small screen last night — though with a few more profanities than his schtick might be accustomed to. On Sunday, Bill Nye the Science Guy stepped in on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to help explain the thinking behind the Green New Deal and carbon pricing.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) called for “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” to avert full blown climate catastrophe. It’s not too late to stave off the worst impacts, they urged – indeed, it’s “possible within the laws of physics and chemistry”. But we need to act fast. Presidential candidate Joe Biden, 79, seems to have a very different understanding of the climate crisis than the world’s leading climate scientists. Several top advisers to the former vice-president previewed his “middle of the road” plan on the issue for Reuters on Friday. As...

"It is worse, much worse, than you think." That's how David Wallace-Wells' new book "The Uninhabitable Earth" opens. It's a painstakingly researched look at the catastrophic consequences global warming is already having on the planet - and the even worse ones that are coming unless drastic action is taken over the next three decades. "Projections estimate that if we don't change course on global warming, we could have a global GDP that's 30 percent smaller than it would be without climate change. That's an impact that's twice as big as the Great Depression, and it would be permanent." What can...

Bill Nye wants to remind you of the seriousness of global warming and he's not mincing words. The well known science commentator appeared on "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" on Sunday and put things bluntly while talking about the Green New Deal, introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey. Nye wants you to know, "The planet's on [expletive] fire." "By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another four to eight degrees," Nye said. "What I'm saying is the planet's on [expletive] fire. There are a lot...

Pope Francis has told young economists and entrepreneurs that the world needs a different kind of economy, “one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it.” In a letter to young business people for an upcoming event titled “Economy of Francesco,” named for Saint Francis of Assisi, the pope declared that “the safeguarding of the environment cannot be divorced from ensuring justice for the poor and finding answers to the structural problems of the global economy. (emphasis mine)” “We need to correct models of growth incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment,” he said.

“Apocali Now!” is a cheeky lampoon of the political left’s many predictions of environmental doom—and the serial failures of those predictions. The book is funny, on-target, and effectively turns the tables by using Saul Alinsky’s 5th rule (“Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon“) against the left. But “Apocali Now!” does not mock environmentalism—it mocks the left’s particular brand of frenzied, eschatological environmentalism."

Five climate-change bills signed Tuesday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee will mandate renewable power, subsidize electric vehicles, require buildings to be remodeled and dictate how energy air compressors, generators and other appliances use. Inslee, a Democratic candidate for president who has made global warming the focus of his campaign, signed the bills at a park in Seattle. The package will put Washington at the forefront of defeating climate change, he said. "Let the word go forth, from this time and place, that from today forward, Washington state is leading in the effort to defeat climate change," Inslee said. The bill...

The AMA published a study of the effects of “Mass Shootings” on gun sales. The authors found gun sales were about as likely to decrease as to increase after the events. Instead of the traditional FBI definition of a mass murder as killing four or more people in a single incident, not including themselves, the study published by the AMA uses the more wide ranging “Mass Shooting”, which they define as an incident in which 5 or more people are injured or killed. Not surprisingly, this increased the number of incidents substantially. The researchers found 124 incidents from November...

With the season having ended, it is time for my annual review (see previous reviews here and here) of how NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center’s Winter Outlook did....Starting off with temperature The Winter Outlook issued on November 15, 2018*, for December-February was one that tilted towards the warm side (1). Reality… well—and this is for all those GenXers out there—reality bites. Instead of a warmer-than-average Northern Plains, Pacific Northwest and West Coast, temperatures were colder than average. And the southeastern United States, a place where the winter outlook saw an equal chance of all options, was the warmest compared to average....

Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke claims to believe that “climate change is the greatest threat we face.” So why is he proposing such a paltry response to this supposedly existential threat?

Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a government commission said Saturday. The announcement marked a significant shift for Europe’s largest country — a nation that had long been a leader on cutting CO2 emissions before turning into a laggard in recent years and badly missing its reduction targets. Coal plants account for 40% of Germany’s electricity, itself a reduction from recent years when coal dominated power production. “This is an historic...

When John Barrasso, a Republican from oil and uranium-rich Wyoming who has spent years blocking climate change legislation, introduced a bill this year to promote nuclear energy, he added a twist: a desire to tackle global warming. Mr. Barrasso’s remarks — “If we are serious about climate change, we must be serious about expanding our use of nuclear energy” — were hardly a clarion call to action. Still they were highly unusual for the lawmaker who, despite decades of support for nuclear power and other policies that would reduce planet-warming emissions, has until recently avoided talking about them in the...

Today’s Campaign Update, Part II (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Ok, look: If we’re going to have all of this incessant climate alarmism going on, can’t we at least get the numbers straight? All of this constant throwing out seemingly random numbers about when the world’s going to burn up, freeze, flood or just plain end is getting unbelievably tiresome. Why bring this up now? Yesterday, Senator from the #ClimateScam Ed Markey told a sheep-filled audience that “Within 15 years, Mar-a-Lago’s going to be underwater for over 100 days a year, it’s going to be Mar-a-Lagoon, not Mar-a-Lago.” Clever, right?...

An Oxford University professor Dr. Young-hae Chi has claimed aliens are already breeding with humans to create a new hybrid species that will save the planet. Poor Dr. Chi, he has stumbled across the story of the century, but hasn’t the foggiest idea why his ‘crazy theory’ is actually largely correct. And the funny part is, all it would take to clear things up for the good doctor is a King James bible from his local Five and Dime shop. Aliens interbreeding with humans, eh? Yep, that happened in Genesis 6 3,500 years ago, and Matthew 24 says that in...

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Wednesday that he would go through the “normal process” to deal with climate change instead of declaring a national emergency if he is elected president. Speaking at the “She The People Forum” in Houston, Texas, Booker was asked if he would declare a national emergency to deal with climate change the same way that President Donald Trump used national emergency to deal with the crisis at the border.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has declared a "climate emergency" in her speech to the SNP conference. The SNP leader told delegates in Edinburgh she was inspired after meeting young climate campaigners who had gone on strike from school. Ms Sturgeon said "they are right", and pledged to "live up to our responsibility" to halt climate change. She also announced what she described as the SNP's "biggest campaign on the economics of independence". Labour is expected to press the UK government to declare a national climate emergency on Wednesday.

Changes could be coming to your favorite restaurant thanks to a statewide initiative just being announced Wednesday, called Restore California Renewable Restaurants. Restaurant owners have the option of charging customers an additional 1% on their bills that would go to help stop climate change. Payments will be gathered by the California Air Resources Board and spent on implementing carbon plans on farms and ranches across California, boosting healthy soil, according to the Perrenial Farming Initiative. “There’s always going to be the people who say, why is this on the bill? I don’t want to pay it. I don’t care what...

Dr Chi said it was 'not only scientists and theologians, but also non-human species who appear to be greatly concerned about the survivability of the human species.' Reversing climate change now would not only save the world but would also prove to aliens that their low estimation of humans' moral capacity was wrong, he said. He added: 'It may be more or less assumed that the hybrid project is a response to this impending demise of human civilisation.' His new book, which is written in Korean, is called Alien Visitations and the End of Humanity. There are four types of...

Winter storm watches and warnings have been posted by the National Weather Service for parts of southeastern Minnesota, northern Iowa, southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. A band of heavy snow will likely lead to difficult travel conditions, especially in the winter storm warning area.