Western leaders are madder than I thought

 Unherd

Europe is belatedly grappling with the (entirely foreseeable) consequences of imposing sanctions on Russia. The Nord Stream pipeline has been intermittently closed over the summer, reportedly for “maintenance” (which no one believes). Another closure has just been announced.

As a result, prices are rocketing across the continent, with the ripple effects already being felt by businesses and consumers. 

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From the comments:

"This certainly has to do with Russian sanctions, but that isn’t the whole story… by any stretch.The serious misery we are only just beginning to experience is far more the result of decades of short-termist policy making re energy security, and pandering (and I would argue ‘elite capture’ – an almost cult-like groupthink among the elite/governing classes) and their naive wholesale stampede toward the ruinous policy of Net Zero …well before we have any adequate infrastructure or technology in place to replace the ‘old’ energy types [namely oil, coal and gas]."

"The rot started in 1997 when Blair stopped all new nuclear projects and was made worse by Milliband’s disastrous 2008 Climate Change Act. The 2010 coalition continued the nonsense with the LibDems insisting on having the Energy Department under their control.
And yes, it’s got worse since 2015 with undeliverable policies on gas boilers, petrol/diesel vehicles and heat pumps making a bad situation worse.
All political parties have been singing from the same hymn sheet and now we haven’t got a prayer."

 "This article completely misses the point – this energy and cost of living crisis was not caused by western leaders’ failure to appease an aggressive tyrant’s unprovoked invasion of a democratic neighbour, but by them adopting energy policies which allowed them to become dependent on and at the mercy of this particular tyrant for many of their energy needs in the first place. An ultra-nationalist bully like Vladimir Putin was always going to start a major war eventually, and now he has."

"If the West had not thoroughly embraced Green energy and gone away from reliable, cheap coal and nuclear it would not be in the big crunch it is in now.
It will take more than 100 years to displace fossil fuels, if they even need to be displaced (AGW is BS). What is the big rush? Why immiserate the people for a pipe dream? (Oh, yeah, it makes them feel virtuous!)"

 

Energy Company Shuts Down Access to Home Thermostats During 90 Degree Heat Wave in Denver

 Gateway Pundit

Now you know why the government and Big Tech were pushing smart meters.

Residents in Colorado were surprised this week when they were unable to adjust the smart meters in their own home. The government shut down access to their home thermostat in order to save on energy during the current heat wave.

It’s for your own good......When thousands of Xcel customers in Colorado tried adjusting their thermostats Tuesday, they learned they had no control over the temperatures in their own homes. via @jaclynreporting https://t.co/mgLEC6SEzR    ......

The Gateway Pundit warned consumers about smart meters back in 2011 when the Obama White House was pushing the idea.

We posted this report by The P/Oed Patriot back on December 20, 2011."

 

The misinformation and lies that are peddled to the public on climate change dwarf the misinformation on COVID

 American Thinker

The misinformation and intentional lies on climate change/global warming dwarf the misinformation the government fed us on COVID and are an existential threat to our survival as a great country.  Essentially, climate change pushers are infecting the U.S. with a pandemic of the indoctrinated. 

The Earth is not rapidly warming.  We have had a one- to two-degree rise in 160 years after a little ice age ended in 1860.  That is cyclical and normal and certainly has no relationship with an exponential rise in fossil fuel consumption. 

Sea levels are not rising rapidly.  Sea levels have risen and fallen throughout history, and a nine-inch rise in over 100 years in seas that average over 12,000 feet deep is essentially immeasurable.  It certainly cannot be attributed to organic fuel combustion engines. 

Floods and droughts are not worse than ever.  The Earth is covered by deserts and seas, which are there because of big floods and long droughts. 

Climate change is not killing thousands of species each year.  Extinctions have always occurred, and it appears that fewer than two species per year have gone extinct the last 500 years, and those certainly can't be attributed to humans, CO2, or fossil fuels.   ...

One of the most egregious examples of pure lies was that polar bears were dying because of climate change.  They are thriving today, and somehow that story is not printed because it doesn't scare the public into submission...........

Why don't journalists do their job and ask Biden, Kerry, AOC, Gore, Gates, and all the others spreading this propaganda for scientific data showing a direct relationship between fossil fuel consumption and temperature?  The answer is that they don't care and probably know there is none. 

Getting rid of organic fuel combustion vehicles and replacing them with vehicles powered by the flammable pollutant lithium will not change the climate at all.

Anyone who believes that politicians and bureaucrats who can't control budgets, crime, borders, or a virus; can't keep their promises on Obamacare; and can't get kids to read or do math at grade level can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity forever if we just destroy our economy needs to take a cognitive test."