Free Republic

A coalition of 19 state attorneys general from across the country launched a formal investigation into six major U.S. banks last week citing legal concerns about banks’ “ESG” investing and their involvement with a United Nations alliance fighting CO2 emissions.The banks “appear to be colluding with the U.N. to destroy American companies” and undermine the nation’s best interests, one of the AGs warned in a statement e-mailed to The Epoch Times.Another AG argued that these U.N.-inspired banking policies were resulting in jobs being sent to communist China as the regime there continues building coal-fired power plants to ensure low-cost, reliable...

As California, New York, and other states move to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, public officials routinely echo the Biden administration’s claim that electric vehicles are a “zero emissions” solution that can significantly mitigate the effects of climate change. Car and energy experts, however, say there is no such thing as a zero-emissions vehicle: For now and the foreseeable future, the energy required to manufacture and power electric cars will leave a sizable carbon footprint. In some cases hybrids can be cleaner alternatives in states that depend on coal to generate electricity, and some suggest that it may...

Climate activists glued themselves to Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring at a Dutch museum on Thursday (Oct 27) in the latest stunt targeting famous artworks, but the painting was undamaged. Three men were arrested after the attack at The Hague's Mauritshuis museum on the 1665 masterpiece which has inspired a bestselling novel and a Hollywood film. The trio were Belgian, one 42-year-old and two 45-year-olds. "They remain in custody and are being questioned," The Hague police said. Social media images showed a man wearing a "Just Stop Oil" T-shirt gluing his head to the painting, while another glued...

In free markets, commodities bought and sold possess perceived value. When a buyer and seller reach an agreed upon price for any product, there is a "meeting of the minds." The value of any natural raw material is proportional to its scarcity. The more of it there is, and the more easily it can be obtained, the less value it holds. A vendor who sells ordinary rocks cannot make a living when his product is found freely all over the ground. If he transacts in gold or silver, diamonds or rubies, however, his hard-to-find "rocks" are worth a small fortune....

The latest scapegoat for climate change is your lovable dog and cuddly cat. According to CNN, pets are a negative impact in regards to climate change. CNN gave green advice on how to reduce your pets' "carbon pawprint," including feeding your canine companion "insect-based food" and adopting small rodents instead of dogs. Late last month, CNN published an article titled: "Our pets are part of the climate problem. These tips can help you minimize their carbon pawprints." The article went largely unnoticed until CNN promoted the article on social media – where it was widely ridiculed. CNN claimed that pets...

A swarm of climate change protesters rushed the field during halftime of the UPenn-Yale football game on Saturday and refused to leave, delaying the start of the second half. The protesters, numbering around 60, represented the Fossil Free Penn organization. The group is pressing the university to fully divest from fossil fuels.

We’ve seen a lot of climate change protesters in this country. They’re usually incredibly annoying, doing things like blocking traffic by linking themselves together on the highway or gluing their hands to something. Last week as we reported, we saw these two people throw soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and glue themselves to the wall. Context pic.twitter.com/GCLHATIdW7 — spicymayo (@spicymayo18) October 14, 2022 The young woman with pink hair is bordering on hysterical as she tries to convince people of the importance of their actions. The usual reaction to people like this has been to cut them loose or free...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joined a “global coalition of mayors” at a summit on climate change this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, burning fossil fuels on an international flight rather than attending remotely and attending to pressing issues at home.

Inside the more than 130-year-old Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal — which was battered by Hurricane Sandy ten years ago — state officials announced a lawsuit against five major oil and gas companies on Tuesday afternoon. The 200-page civil suit says the companies, as well as a petroleum trade association, have knowingly lied to New Jerseyans about the existence and impact of climate change and the length at which the fossil fuels they have helped to burn worsen the planet. The companies, state officials said, have known since at least the 1950s that the burning of fossil fuels is...

BERLIN (AP) — Insurance companies that have long said they’ll cover anything, at the right price, are increasingly ruling out fossil fuel projects because of climate change — to cheers from environmental campaigners. More than a dozen groups that track what policies insurers have on high-emissions activities say the industry is turning its back on oil, gas and coal. The alliance, Insure Our Future, said Wednesday that 62% of reinsurance companies — which help other insurers spread their risks — have plans to stop covering coal projects, while 38% are now excluding some oil and natural gas projects. In part,...

Ancient microbial life on Mars could have destroyed the planet’s atmosphere through climate change, which ultimately led to its extinction, new research has suggested. The new theory comes from a climate modeling study that simulated hydrogen-consuming, methane-producing microbes living on Mars roughly 3.7 billion years ago. At the time, atmospheric conditions were similar to those that existed on ancient Earth during the same period. But instead of creating an environment that would help them thrive and evolve, as happened on Earth, Martian microbes may have doomed themselves just as they were getting started, according to the study published Oct. 10...

Pope Francis and global activists are pictured in a banner for the new YouTube Originals film on the pope's encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." The film launched Oct. 4, feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the same day the Holy See acceded to the Paris Agreement. (CNS photo/YouTube Originals)VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican hosted the global premiere of a new documentary on the urgent need to address climate change on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the same day the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2015 Paris Agreement entered into force...

ROME — Vatican Cardinal Michael Czerny insisted Tuesday there is no place for discussion with those who doubt or deny the “climate crisis.” Over the past seven years, “the environmental crisis of our common home has worsened drastically,” declared Cardinal Czerny, who like Pope Francis is a member of the Jesuit order. The cardinal’s words came during a presentation in the Vatican of a new documentary film celebrating the pope’s “great encyclical letter Laudato Si,” a 2015 text dealing with care for the environment and the climate crisis. “Apocalyptic floods, mega-droughts, disastrous heatwaves, and catastrophic cyclones and hurricanes have become...

Joe Biden on Friday burned 3,866 lbs of jet fuel to fly 72 miles aboard Air Force One to deliver a speech in Hagerstown, Maryland. Biden’s 40-minute flight to Hagerstown burned about 3,886 lbs of jet fuel as he traveled in a Boeing 757 aircraft, which burns roughly 5,800 lbs of fuel per hour if the aircraft is traveling at the average speed of 598 miles per hour at 35,000 ft, according to Aviation Insider. Biden’s trip to Maryland produced over 12,000 lbs of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis. ... Biden produced CO2 emissions...

Hurricane Ian “rapidly transformed from a relatively weak storm into a strong one, [a] phenomenon that has become more common” due to climate change. So reported the New York Times in its daily email newsletter. It also said, “Ian embodies several of the major hurricane trends in recent years, as the world copes with the effects of climate change. It’s a strong storm -- and strong storms are becoming more common in the Atlantic Ocean, as its surface water has warmed.” The prayers of a nation go out to the people in Florida devastated by Hurricane Ian, particularly those in...

Researchers:Hurricanes are NOT increasing in frequency nor intensity, data shows.Increase in hurricane damage is due to more people living along the U.S. coastline.MAIN POINTS from a 2018 research article from the American Meteorological Society:While neither U.S. landfalling hurricane frequency nor intensity shows a significant trend since 1900, growth in coastal population and wealth have led to increasing hurricane-related damage along the U.S. coastline.[T]here is an insignificant trend in CONUS landfalling hurricanes from 1900-2017 (Fig. 2a)…[and] (Fig.2b). We therefore conclude that the large increase in observed hurricane-associated inflation-adjusted CONUS damage (Pielke et al. 2008) is primarily due to increases in exposure...

The Palace's confirmation came after The Sunday Times reported that conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss objected to Charles attending the conference, known as COP27, when she met with the king last month at Buckingham Palace. The Times' report suggested that Truss' advice had influenced the king's plans. King Charles has attended the conference in the past. But a member of Truss' Cabinet said the government and palace were in agreement about the decision. Clarke also rejected suggestions that Truss didn't want Charles to attend the summit because she intends to water down Britain's climate goals. The government remains committed to...

*** Retraction Watch reports: After months of investigation that identified networks of reviewers and editors manipulating the peer review process, Hindawi plans to retract 511 papers across 16 journals, Retraction Watch has learned. The retractions, which the publisher and its parent company, Wiley, will announce tomorrow in a blog post, will be issued in the next month, and more may come as its investigation continues. They are not yet making the list available.***My own view as someone who left academia after becoming a Harvard professor is that corruption has infiltrated the academy along with careerism and politicization. Correcting the situation...

The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that six of the nation’s largest banks would participate in a pilot climate scenario analysis exercise in 2023. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will undergo the exercise, which the Fed said will not have capital or supervisory consequences. The Fed plans to publish aggregate findings from the exercise but no firm-specific information. The exercise, which had been expected, will kick off the Fed’s efforts to gauge the level and management of risks for banks when it comes to climate change, after European regulators already mounted similar efforts.

Twenty-seven House Democrats have joined a growing chorus of voices calling for the resignation of World Bank chief David Malpass after he made comments that critics say smacked of climate denial. In a letter sent Thursday to President Biden, representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and 25 other Democrats said Malpass’s recent comments were both “troubling” and “unacceptable” and that the World Bank should have a “leader who listens to the science and is a global leader in combating climate change.” “We urge you to advocate for the removal or forced resignation of David Malpass as World Bank Group...