Green Policy Fantasy

Czech President Vaclav Klaus once again proves that he is the voice of reason amoung western statesmen. Here is his op-ed: Green policies = economic decline

So I am amazed to see people going along with the currently fashionable political argument that policies like cap-and-trade, government mandates, and subsidies for renewable energy can actually benefit an economy. It is claimed that government, working together with business, will create "a new energy economy," that the businesses involved will profit, and that everyone will be better off.

This is a fantasy. Cap-and-trade can only work by raising energy prices. Consumers who are forced to pay higher prices for energy will have less money to spend on other things. While the individual companies that provide the higher-priced "green" energy might do well, the net economic effect will be negative.

Exactly. I would have a lot more respect for environmentalists who will come out and say: "It will hurt growth, but that is the price we have to pay." Fair enough. Then we can decide if we want to make that trade off. But please don't say it will create more growth and make the economy better. If it did, then nobody would oppose it. Lying to advance your argument will not work and is ruinous to your credibility.

Hat tip: Pat

Official Bilingualism Charade Travels to Vancouver

Good Grief! MPs worry Olympics will be lost in translation

Gauthier acknowledged things got off to a shaky start following a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the Games that was criticized because of a lack of French.

"There were some francophone activities that evening but not enough and effectively it has allowed us to increase our monitoring to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Gauthier said after his appearance at the official languages committee of the House of Commons.

MPs from the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats expressed concerns about whether tourism information, signs and billboards in the city and broadcasting would be offered to francophones in town for the events.

Vancouver is an English city. These directives are from Quebec, which is an officially unilingual French province 3500 km away.

Hat tip: Strack Attack, who adds: Open the wallet and spend a few million to fix this emergency!

Boring Old Canada

As I could hear CBC Newsworld in the background with a lead story on ski helmets, I was scanning the top news headline in the Montreal Gazette and it was this:

Ski helmet standards on the way

For God's sakes.

Protestors Need PR Lesson

These thugs pictured, one ready to throw a bottle, were part of protest against police brutality in Montreal Sunday. 200 were arrested.

To show you how bad they think police violence is, the protestors are going to hurl rocks, bricks and bottles at them.

After seeing this, I bet police brutality went up in the polls, if there were such thing. Isn't the only way to stop these types is meeting their violence with violence?

Doomsday Prof: It's Too Late for Earth

The Montreal Gazette has an article about British scientist James Lovelock who says global warming and doom are irreversible:

His apocalyptic theory foresees crop failures, drought and death on an unprecedented scale. The population of this hot, barren world could shrink from
about seven billion to one billion by 2100 as people compete for ever-scarcer resources.

"It will be death on a grand scale from famine and lack of water," Lovelock told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "It could be a reduction to a billion (people) or less."

(...)

Attempts to cut emissions of planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in an attempt to reduce the risks are probably doomed to failure, he added.

Easy for him the say, he's 89! The old coot. We can't come back to him in fifty years and say that he's wrong.

Hat tip: Strack Attack, who adds: F*ck it, now we don't have to worry about carbon taxes and recycling.

Good point.

UPDATE: I should have clarified, I don't take this guy seriously. Though, it might be fun to taunt green militants with: Why bother recycling? Paying carb taxes? etc. If the world is already doomed, there's no point. And a real "scientist" said so. No point arguing.

Queen's Axes Language Police

Queen's finally came to their senses and got rid of the thought crime police at Queen's reports the Montreal Gazette:

Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., has scrapped its "dialogue facilitator" program, calling it "incompatible with the atmosphere required for free speech." A scandal arose last year when it was revealed the student "facilitators" were mandated to intervene in private conversations to encourage discussion of social justice issues and discourage offensive language. In a report to the administration, a panel of experts noted the risk of "making students feel unsafe or under surveillance because of their opinions."

Three cheers! What a bad idea. I bet those volunteers who signed up to "monitor" conversations are being ridiculed, as they should. You can picture some liquored up students on pub night:

"Hey, asshole, you got a problem with what I'm saying? Well there's nothing you can do about it!"

Good! Those types of people deserve our scorn.

I've written about this before here and here