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Green cronyism and pop science

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Recently, Barry Arrington noted, in Climate Alarmism and Crony Capitalism, a Marriage Made in Hell,

As reported in the WSJ. As many of us suspected (knew for a certainty, actually) all along, it has never been about science or the environment. It has always been about money

That realization is beginning to seep into the mud up  here in Canada, of course. Just for example, in Ontario province:

Ontario electricity has never been cheaper, but bills have never been higher Why?

A hidden tax on Ontario’s electricity has pushed the actual purchase price in the opposite direction, to the highest it’s ever been. The tax, called the Global Adjustment (GA), is levied on electricity purchases to cover a massive provincial slush fund for green energy, conservation programs, nuclear plant repairs and other central planning boondoggles. As these spending commitments soar, so does the GA.

Canada is a “nice” place. It’s cold here in winter, but we don’t let people freeze to death. The Ontario government simply steps in and pays the jacked-up utility bills of our poorest residents.

That prevents crises and the attendant bad publicity, as intended. But it also staves off citizen organization against misrule.

It amounts to the French aristocrat throwing coins at beggars out the windows of his coach: Relieving the immediate needs of the poorest of the poor puts off serious discussions of the consequences of widespread corruption and misrule.

The big problem isn’t corruption as such but corruption claiming the mantle of some high-minded purpose, like science, religion, or saving the planet. The planet isn’t helped because some useless “green energy” project gets government funding. But a questionable business enterprise may find it just the ticket. And pop science can chalk it up as some kind of “success.”

Pop science media have been all-in, self-righteous enablers of this stuff. You know, anyone who doubts or criticizes questionable claims or stats is a “denialist,” even though fiddle and fudge, to say nothing of a-crock-a-lypse, are rampant.

Underlying all this is an assumption that most people can’t grasp reality and need coercion.

In truth, a well-educated public in a free society is probably the best hope on the planet for making decisions.

See also: When Science is Co-opted by Politics This article sets forth an alphabetical list of hyperlinks to 883 (and counting) calamities that have absurdly been attributed to global warming. Below is the list just through the letter “B.” Go to the article and click on the links to see for yourself.

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