Matt Ridley’s wonderful book The Rational Optimist provided some upbeat fodder for Reader’s Digest which Matt has posted on his blog.
As it has been ‘Planet under pressure‘ week I thought I would join in.
Matt Ridley’s wonderful book The Rational Optimist provided some upbeat fodder for Reader’s Digest which Matt has posted on his blog.
As it has been ‘Planet under pressure‘ week I thought I would join in.
Matt Ridley is sane, coherent and interesting, but the man is going to starve!
Nobody’s going to fund an optimist.
As always, pure genius from Josh…
Soory OT but can someone please direct me to the data on ocean pH. There is a great deal of hype but I have seen very little data.
Thanks
Nice one Josh.
Oh, noes! It’s not as worse as we thought!
“Global trade enriches us”
Who exactly is “us”?
Mugs, T-shirts, we now need the lot!
Love it–thanks Josh!
Ray says:
April 2, 2012 at 10:29 am
Who exactly is “us”?
—
Us is every person on the planet.
Thanks guys!
Ray, do follow the link to Matt’s blog – worth reading the whole article, and indeed the book.
😉
Ray says:
April 2, 2012 at 10:29 am
“Global trade enriches us”
Who exactly is “us”?
———————————————–
Pretty well everyone whose paycheck isn’t signed by a regulatory monopoly.
RE: Brian H says: Oh, noes! It’s not as worse as we thought!
Yes it is, we’ll have to invent a new fake crises!!!! :-))
Ray says: “Global trade enriches us”
Who exactly is “us”?
Perhaps they meant U.S. (of A.)?!
Wait, I thought there was supposed to be no pressure.
I like the oil rig, crafty.
Wild life is getting nasty, watch out for swans near Ell Pie Island.
Ray says:
April 2, 2012 at 10:29 am
“Global trade enriches us”
Who exactly is “us”?
________________________________
It ain’t Karl Marx.
He’s dead.
Super image Josh! It’s given me an idea.
With Josh’s permission, this image can be printed, full colour, as a poster – ideally with the WUWT logo and web link prominently positioned at the bottom. An A2 sized poster (420×594 mm, 16.5×23.4 inches) costs £2,217 – $3,549 for… 50,000 copies!
Once done, volunteers could order several free copies from WUWT to deliver to their local schools, colleges, libraries etc, and/or readers can order their own copy to display as desired. The only fee involved would handling/cover postage costs.
Now. It may be said that most schools etc would throw the poster straight in the trash (deeming it unPC). But that is not the main point. The actual appearance of these posters would at least challenge a PC point of view (which maybe doesn’t get challenged that often) and there might be a surprising number of educators who actually agree with the message and act to hang the poster up for everyone to see – the fact that it is a very attractive image only encourages this to happen.
In the meantime, I guess lots of regular WUWT visitors (especially the younger ones) would love to have a fab poster of their favourite website to display and it would advertise WUWT get everyone who sees it taking.
WUWT could even produce a dedicate web page explaining each of the claims Josh lists.
With Anthony’s huge visitor base, I wouldn’t imagine it would be long before the print cost is covered by generous donations.
It’s time to start playing the Warmies at their own game… and I can’t think of a better way than Josh’s delightful image to do so.
Ooops…
“and it would advertise WUWT and get everyone who sees it talking.”
Peter S, nice idea! Hope a suitable patron thinks so too.
Those asking about “Global trade enriches us” clearly have nor read Ridley’s book.
The Rational Optimist traces the anthropological origins and significance of trade throughout human history. Trade is one of the prime factors driving human evolution because trade allowed individuals to specialize in particular goods and services.
There’s much more to the book, but that’s one revealing take-away message I gained.
Buy it. Read it. Learn from it.
Energy, of course, does not cost less. Natural gas is cheap for the moment, but that’s likely to reverse for both short and long term reasons. The oil supply looks likely, to me at least, to peak in the next two years.
“Energy costs less” I don’t understand the context of this. “Energy” in the UK is heavily burdened in various ways which drives up costs for the consumer.
It’s what you would expect when political lunatics plan to govern by energy & climate policy.
The idea of making a big deal out of the fact that the oceans warmed over the past century should give an academic pause in that to reach any other conclusion would be stupendously idiotic. We were in the grips of the LIA for several centuries. During that time one would expect the oceans to cool. We only started out of the LIA 150 years ago. During THAT time one would expect the oceans to warm. This is like saying that the average temperature of swimming pools in Los Angeles is higher in summer than it is in winter. DUH!
That oceans have warmed over the past 100 years does not indicate that anything is wrong or that we are causing it. It is simply validation of what we already know; that climate was colder during the LIA than it is today and that it has warmed gradually and the sea and atmosphere didn’t just jump to a higher temperature one morning.
RobW says:
April 2, 2012 at 10:21 am
That’s because there is little data … you could start with my post The Electric Oceanic Acid Test.
w.
Matt Ridley’s father died recently.That means that Matt must now be called by his new title, Viscount Ridley.
Josh, I love it.
But:
Where’s frakking?
Where’s natural gas?
Drill, baby, drill. Frak, baby, frak.
The USofA wins!
As does everybody … when (iff?) they wake up.
Josh – Anthony would need to pick this idea up to see if it had legs. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.
ANH says:
April 2, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Matt Ridley’s father died recently.That means that Matt must now be called by his new title, Viscount Ridley.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No “must” about it. Maybe in official circles within the UK and British Commonwealth but in the rest of the world the title is applied purely on a courtesy basis and in formal situations he’s no more than Mr Ridley.
Steven Kopits says:
April 2, 2012 at 12:13 pm
“The oil supply looks likely, to me at least, to peak in the next two years.”
Steve,
OIl peak, in 2014? Only if exploration, drilling, and production of oil continues to be needlessly constrained by government regulations!
MtK
“us” can be used in the editorial sense similar to “we” and in a related sense to the pluralis maiestatis and others.
http://www.igopogo.com/we_have_met.htm
Willis Eschenbach says:
April 2, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Love the ‘Kool-aid’ reference there, Willis!
sorry – a bit OT but
Graphite says:
April 2, 2012 at 2:19 pm
ANH says:
April 2, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Matt Ridley’s father died recently.That means that Matt must now be called by his new title, Viscount Ridley.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No “must” about it. Maybe in official circles within the UK and British Commonwealth but in the rest of the world the title is applied purely on a courtesy basis and in formal situations he’s no more than Mr Ridley.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am sorry Graphite you are so rude.
this is so wrong :
quote
and in formal situations he’s no more than Mr Ridley.
end quote
The more formal the occasion the more correct it is to use some one’s title.
For instance; if I was to meet one of your elected representatives here in the UK (I believe they title themselves ‘Senator’ ) it would be incredible rude; crass and ignorant of me NOT to address him as (for example) Senator Ridley; alternatively I believe your ex Presidents have taken to titling themselves ‘Mr President’ – again I would be a total naive boor to NOT use his self awarded title; no matter what I think of the US democratic system; so it would be Mr President even here in the depths of the UK; because that is the polite and correct thing to do.
It is only if INVITED to not use some one’s title (no matter who awarded it to them) that it is correct not to use it.
Merely a matter of good manners.
Have a look at some of the news clips of various US Presidents dealing in formal situations with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Socialist Republics back in the 60s; 70s 80s etc. and; considering the communist states considered themselves above the use of any title – how the Secretary General addresses the President of the United States of America; no mere Mr Kennedy/Nixon/Regan/Bush/Clinton/Bush from such representatives of such a class free and egalitarian society (oops I’d better do a /sarc off ). But take the point; the more formal the occasion the less correct it is to be a boor by demonstrating a lack of manners.
Ray says:
April 2, 2012 at 10:29 am
“Global trade enriches us”
Who exactly is “us”?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I watched a BBC doco last night, featuring Jonathan Dimbleby’s travels through Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. Terribly, terribly PC of course but it showed, absolutely starkly, how improved communications are lifting living standards throughout East Africa. There was a wonderful segment on the coffee market in Ethiopia; on how modern methods had cut out parasitical middle-men and put money in the pockets of the growers. Without the technology, most likely developed in the USA and manufactured in China (global trade, see), the parasites would have continued as the big winners.
Most telling was how road building, combined with modern irrigation practices, was opening up vast areas of previously unused land to agriculture and horticulture, improving the diet of city dwellers and the economic position of farmers.
I’m sure there are other denizens of the BBC who see huge trucks on modern roads as a disaster for Africa and the planet but for the people of that region they are a godsend.
In New Zealand, where I live, from time to time you’ll hear the well-worn phrase “Export or die”. It’s an absolute truism. Besides, I like a banana on my morning muesli and we can’t grow ’em here.
I am listening to 3 part play on BBC Radio 4 it was supposed to be about terrorists planting a virus which killed 1/3 of the population. Now it just twisted : warriors were angry a climate skeptic was making progress, so one of the girls fitted him for rape. But the fit up didn’t work, so when they got out of jail they engineered the virus which eventually wiped out the 1/3 of the world’s population to save “gaia”.
– The first part already got wiped fro the BBCiplayer but the other 2 parts are on BBC website here (the full version can be bought at audiogo.co.uk for £7.49
– some discussion over on Bishop Hill
BBC Play : Pandemic : A three-part thriller by John Dryden.
The real lesson I learn form this image, and the one that hasn’t got a caption, is that tectonic drift is accelerating at a much greater rate than I thought! That certainly sounds disastrous!
that should have been “Eco-warriors”
Steven Kopits says:
April 2, 2012 at 12:13 pm
The oil supply looks likely, to me at least, to peak in the next two years.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If the drilling methods used in 1850s Pennsylvania were never improved upon, then oil production might have peaked in, who knows, 1925. And if the exploration and extraction methods of the 1930s were the best they were ever going to be, then oil would have become uber-expensive by 1965. And so on and so on.*
But that’s not how the world works.
Mankind’s entire history is a saga of improvement upon improvement. Granted, for most of his time on the planet, the improvement man sought was for better ways to kill and subjugate other men and the largest effort went into that area, alongside finding better ways to worship his various gods.
But starting with the Renaissance and given a huge shove by the Industrial Revolution, the most recent era is one in which the big push has been in improving man’s condition. I don’t see the 20th and 21st centuries as the high point of our existence; I see current times as a prising open of a portal through which can be glimpsed a golden age.
The main factors holding us back at present are corruption and greed among our leadership, whacko religionists of all stripe and pessimists in general . . . like the Chicken Littles who run around screaming “we’re running out of oil, we’re over-heating the planet, there are far too many of us”.
Have some faith in your species.
“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
*I’m not an oilman and accept I may be wildly astray with those dates.
Graphite:
Your post at April 2, 2012 at 2:19 pm is plain wrong.
A person provided a title by his or her nation is entitled to have the courtesy of that title being acknowledged by all. So, Viscount Ridley should be addressed as Viscount Ridley everywhere.
According to your argument President Obama should only be called Mr Obama by everybody except Americans when he is in the US, and by everyone including Americans whenever he is outside the borders of the US. In fact, he is as entitled to the courtesy of being addressed as “President” as Matt Ridley is entitled to the courtesy of being addressed as “Viscount”.
An insistence that either of them should only be called “Mr” is an insult to the nation which has given him his correct title.
Richard
Energy IS cheaper,once you take away the incentives/free loans/payback bucks that the eco-cultists have put on conventional energy bills with their “green” scams.
Great idea,Peter S. Maybe some of our big oil chec……errrrr….tips to Anthony could be used to help out?
it’s a wonderful world, josh, but the CAGW architects are trying – for the right price – to make a mess of it:
2 April: Guardian: EU carbon target threatened by biomass ‘insanity’
Renewable energy targets are driving tree-cutting for biomass energy – and may cause Europe to miss its 2020 carbon target
Arthur Neslen for EurActiv, part of the Guardian Environment Network
On 29 March, a call was launched at the European Parliament for Brussels to reconsider its carbon accounting rules for biomass emissions, and EurActiv has learned that the issue is provoking widespread alarm in policy-making circles.
“We’re paying people to cut their forests down in the name of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and yet we are actually increasing them. No-one is apparently bothering to do any analysis about this,” one Brussels insider told EurActiv.
“They’re just sleepwalking into this insanity,” he added…
Wood makes up the bulk of this target and is counted by the EU as ‘carbon neutral’, giving it access to subsidies, feed-in tariffs and electricity premiums at national level…
The EU is aware of the issue and a proposal that could impose binding criteria for biomass for energy production, delayed many times, had been expected later this year but may be delayed again…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/02/eu-renewable-energy-target-biomass?newsfeed=true
——————————————————————————–
LOL.
2 April: UN News Centre: UN-backed study shows technology can help world move to low-carbon economy
“Addressing climate change implies completely transforming our way of life, the way we work, the way we travel, shifting our model of development to a fairer, more sustainable model to ensure our survival,” said the Secretary-General of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Hamadoun Touré, in relation to the report…
It also highlights the importance of public private partnerships in accelerating change.
Conducted by the Broadband Commission Working Group on Climate Change – chaired by the President and Chief Executive Officer of the technology company Ericsson, Hans Vestberg, and including members representing industry, international bodies and non-governmental organizations – the report is based on interviews, case studies and supporting material from more than 20 leaders and experts in the field…
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41687&Cr=sustainable+development&Cr1=
Report: The Broadband Bridge: Linking ICT with Climate Action for a Low-Carbon Economy
http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/Climate/BD-bbcomm-climate.pdf
Someone mentioned peak oil in two years! As a geologist … not likely.
However, it it gets to expensive or scarce………. well being the son of a fisherman up here in Nova Scotia Canada, I’m going out in February, when the cod eating seals are nice and fat. Why? Because they float when I pop them in the head because they are loaded with blubber.
Seal oil is fine …. and would make great bio-diesel. Might small kind of fishy driving in the city though. Hey … it is renewable energy…. and they also make lovely boots and coats.
Graphite April 2, 2012 at 3:07 pm, uses the phrase ‘cut out parasitical middle-men’.
A component of future optimism of the Viscount Ridley type depends upon the ratio of productive people to less productive. By ‘productive’ I loosely mean those who make goods and some services that can be traded, think the old barter system. Goods – a person who finds a higher-yielding rice is more valuable that one who creates yet another administrative regulation. Services – an airline pilot is more helpful in general than a critic who reviews movies.
In my last half-decade, the most prominent social shift to my eyes has been the proliferation of those who watch, at the expense of those who make and do, though this comment varies enormously from country to country.
The usual suspects are still busy working hard on their pressure points-
http://joannenova.com.au/2012/04/the-new-world-order-black-brown-and-soviet-red-all-over/#more-21188
peter_dtm says:
April 2, 2012 at 3:05 pm
“I am sorry Graphite you are so rude.”
“For instance; if I was to meet one of your elected representatives here in the UK (I believe they title themselves ‘Senator’ ) it would be incredible rude; crass and ignorant of me NOT to address him as (for example) Senator Ridley . . .”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Actually, Peter, we don’t have senators where I come from. If you were to meet one of my elected representatives there in the UK, the correct form of address would be “mister”, as in Mr Key for the Prime Minister of New Zealand. In official documents and correspondence, Mr Key would be The Right Honourable John Key (which is how he’d be introduced on state occasions), cabinet members would be The Honourable and other Members of Parliament would have MP tacked on to their names.
The reason I posted was to correct the original assertion that Matt Ridley “must” be addressed as Viscount Ridley. I repeat, for non-Brits there is no “must” about it. It is entirely a matter of choice and courtesy. For instance, I have met Lord Monckton. To the best of my memory, I addressed him as “Lord Monckton”. I’m certain I didn’t call him Chris or Mr Monckton.
If you want an example of inappropriate greeting, one of your own provides a prime example. When Helen Clark, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, met Tony Blair for the first time, she put out her hand to shake his, as any good Kiwi sheila would do. This was not good enough for Blair, it seems. His response was to grasp Clark by the shoulders, haul her towards him and plant a kiss on one cheek then repeat the exercise on the other cheek.
Is this standard British behaviour? Had the odious Blair been consorting with Europeans for so long he’d become one? Has the practice spread throughout the British Isles? If it has, it’s a sure sign of a once-great nation’s monumental decline.
Perhaps M4GW could use those for a “12 Days of Earth Day” song?
On the first day of earth day, GAia gave to us, 25,000 Thriving Polar Bears. . .
I’ll leave it up to their imagination. Believe you me, they’ll be much better at it.
Total global credit issued exceeds 650 Trillion $$ equivalent not getting into the unfunded olbligations, I wonder if that is cause for “pressure” and alarm?
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2011/10/BIS%20OTC%20Gross%20Notional_0.jpg
Certainly more important than human co2.
Graphite says:
April 3, 2012 at 12:49 am
indeed – i picked up further down that you are a kiwi (my bad manners in assuming you were a Yank; for which; my humble apologies ).
Indeed the odious Blair represents all that is bad about the UK and our self proclaimed ruling class – pretensions twits with the manners of slobs and the ethics and morals of sharks (I think that is something in common with the PM of a land not far to the West of you …). In that; I probably do sharks a dis-service.
And; of course; in Kiwi; I am in no doubt you would only use the address ‘Rt Hon’ in written communications – unless one was introducing your Prime Minister (I hadn’t realised that the Kiwi PM was also a Privy Councillor ) in a formal setting.
As you no doubt gathered – the point I was making (having seen some similar sentiments from our American cousins in the past) is that it is just good manners to use the claimed/correct honorific when addressing some one.
RobW says: April 2, 2012 at 10:21 am
Sorry OT but can someone please direct me to the data on ocean pH. There is a great deal of hype but I have seen very little data.
To quote Prof. Ian Plimer, “The oceans can only become acidic when the earth runs out of rocks.”
The presence of CaCO3 & MgCO3 guarantee that the oceans will remain slightly alkaline. More CO2 paradoxically increases alkalinity as the carbonic acid dissolves Ca & Mg carbonates to form soluble bicarbonates which are alkaline.
RobW says: April 2, 2012 at 10:21 am
Sorry OT but can someone please direct me to the data on ocean pH. There is a great deal of hype but I have seen very little data.
____________________________
To add to what Philip Foster says look at http://www.co2web.info/esef4.htm
it is from this web site that has other good stuff: http://www.co2web.info/