My parents used to talk about rationing during the war with great apprehension. Clearly the nutters in and supporting Cancun are clueless as to how such a scheme would be viewed by the public. My inbox has lit up today from all around the world over this issue. Short of Climategate itself, I haven’t quite seen any other similar reaction.
Excerpts from the Telegraph: Cancun climate change summit: scientists call for rationing in developed world
Global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind that climate change experts are calling for Second World War-style rationing in rich countries to bring down carbon emissions.
…
In a series of papers published by the Royal Society, physicists and chemists from some of world’s most respected scientific institutions, including Oxford University and the Met Office, agreed that current plans to tackle global warming are not enough.
…
In one paper Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, said the only way to reduce global emissions enough, while allowing the poor nations to continue to grow, is to halt economic growth in the rich world over the next twenty years.
…
Prof Anderson admitted it “would not be easy” to persuade people to reduce their consumption of goods
He said politicians should consider a rationing system similar to the one introduced during the last “time of crisis” in the 1930s and 40s.
This could mean a limit on electricity so people are forced to turn the heating down, turn off the lights and replace old electrical goods like huge fridges with more efficient models. Food that has travelled from abroad may be limited and goods that require a lot of energy to manufacture.
“The Second World War and the concept of rationing is something we need to seriously consider if we are to address the scale of the problem we face,” he said.
Full story here: Cancun climate change summit: scientists call for rationing in developed world
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Does anyone really want to see a ration stamp like this?
For anyone that wishes to get the Royal Society’s papers referenced in the article, they are available for a limited time download here:
http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1934.toc#content-block
Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research: “The only way to reduce global emissions enough, while allowing the poor nations to continue to grow, is to halt economic growth in the rich world over the next twenty years.”
Maurice Strong, founding executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme: “Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsiblity to bring that about?”
Singing from the same hymn sheet?
If they get it wrong with their rationing ideas than the Dutch Famine of 1944/45 will be a walk in the park compared to the humanitarian disaster that will strike!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_famine_of_1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poMfISFFrhE&feature=related
There is a lot to say about the things that we do wrong, but if we give in to those world climate jamboree attendees than we are to repeat this hungerwinter sooner or later, and its not question of will it happen? but when?
The “scientists” create a concept, paid by taxpayers’ money, serving as foundation for a money-making spin-off, generating private wealth.
Interesting and low-risk business model. Profit rates probably comparable with the drug business, but a lot of reputation and pleasure instead of deadly risks.
These are the money guys in Greenstone:
…M. was the founder Chief Executive of HSBC Private Bank (UK) for over 16 years
… S. was CFO of DE Capital Management LLP, a multi strategy hedge fund
Looks like another bubble is growing fast.
The word ‘FASCISM’ conjures up memories of Hitler, Mussolini and the holocaust. But the original meaning of the word was much more benign than those alter manifestations. The ‘Fasces’ were bundles of sticks tied into a long bundle, around the shaft of an axe. The symbolism was that, anyone can break an individual stick – but nobody can break a united bundle of sticks. In other words, ‘the people united can never be defeated’, ‘unity is strength’ etc. The bundle of sticks with axes protruding from each end was the dominant sculptural symbol of the Roman republic – and it was a symbol for democratic societies for many centuries. You can see the ‘Fasces’ sculpted onto the face of public buildings, libraries, town halls etc across Europe and the USA.
The political definition of ‘Fascism’ is “Centralised, Authoritarian Democracy” – and the ‘Statists’ who are imagining this authoritarian future: of rationed fuel, food, foreign holidays – are simply ‘Fascists’. They see themselves as the enlightened high priests of the new green movement that will manage the brave new world. The rest of us are ‘the Proles’, who must be controlled and managed in terms of reproduction, edukashun, work, consumption – every aspect of behaviour controlled by the elite.
I can remember the rationing during WWII. Petrol was not such a problem because life then was not as varied as today and there was little or no need to travel far. We were fed better due to there being no fast food and meats with high fat content were rationed rather than vegetables. If you lived in the country then meat was no problem provided you liked rabbit or the odd pheasant or partridge which found its way into the pot. There was also less media interference reporting the serious plight that we were in so everyone looked on the bright side.
Today media seems to think that we have to have out lives regulated to ‘save the planet’ which is a concept that they do not seem to understand. The best way to save the planet is to let it get on with the way it has always done and not interfere.
Foxgoose says: (November 30, 2010 at 1:29 am) It’s not about “the planet” anymore -”Green” has subtly metamorphasised into “greed”, George Orwell must be chortling in his grave.
I tend to think “weeping in his grave” because we did not heed his warning.
I was particularly attracted to the comment by Prof Anderson that..
Quote “I am not saying we have to go back to living in caves,” he said. “Our emissions were a lot less ten years ago and we got by ok then.” unquote.
Perhaps I have missed something regarding caves. When I travel around Ireland, I have only been into 2 cave systems. One is the Ailwee cave and I have forgotten the name of the other one. Both of these caves are quite small. Neither would accommodate more than a couple of hundred people. The population of all Ireland is probably about 6 million.
I know that there is evidence in France and some other countries that ancient people may have used caves in the distant past. Cave paintings show the proof of this.
In other countries, how many residential caves have been found? Not many, believe me.
In New Zealand there are 2 major caves. Waitomo is in the North Island, and is not suitable at all for occupation. In the South Island, by lake Te Anau are the famous Te Ana-au caves. The words Te Ana-au mean Cave of Rushing (or swirling) waters. No room in either of these to accommodate 4.5 million people and all those sheep.
So, please, would idiot professors, stupid climate change alarmists, insane green religionists, and other similar fools stop talking about “HAVING TO GO BACK TO LIVING IN CAVES
It just won’t happen. Unless we build more caves of course. How many billions of tons of concrete would we need for that I wonder?
Peter Walsh, Dublin
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Why are Greens so out of touch with life and the world?
So we introduce rationing, while China builds one new coal fired power station every week for the next five years. Yeah, now that will really reduce emissions.
Is someone selling hair-shirts down at Cancun?
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David, UK says November 30, 2010 at 1:43 am
Maurice Strong, founding executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme: “Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsiblity to bring that about?”
That should be EVIL CANADIAN Maurice Strong, he who hides in China.
“Global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind that climate change experts are calling for Second World War-style rationing in rich countries to bring down carbon emissions.”
Thats really funny, what has changed over the past year that no scientists know about? Scientists have been years trying to find any evidence to demonstrate that global warming is a serious threat and failed. Nothing has changed in the past year except with a strongish El Nino global temperatures are expected to be higher then when there isn’t one. Thanks for continuing the evidence that these people are nothing, but just a propaganda machine saying the same increasingly worse nonsense, when the scientific evidence points increasingly the opposite way. If nobody sees this then I’m sorry you are blind.
mistake- in above post, should be nonsense.
[Correction facilitated …. bl57~mod]
Smokey says:
November 29, 2010 at 7:02 pm
9 of 10 correct here. I got #9 wrong.
The stupidity of the rationing idea is beyond description. To destroy economies that advanced on a native streak of inspired invention typified by the Scots is so far into the realms of Marxist dreaming that people such as Louise Gray, who breathlessly report each syllable of this nonsense, will wake up soon to discover they are unemployable; even worse, they have tarred themselves so completely that there will be no problem finding somewhaere to stick the feathers.
“This could mean a limit on electricity so people are forced to turn the heating down, turn off the lights and replace old electrical goods like huge fridges with more efficient models.”
Which is why many national Governments are pushing for smart meters – to ration electricity.
As an athlete I need to consume between 4000-5000 clean calories a day – efficient healthy eating. Putting me on rations would kill my hope of a career of any kind based on sport. Putting poor athletes on rations would consign them to the ghettos of the world – no more future heroes for kids to look up to.
So pardon my anger, to those who consider AGW to be a threat worth curtailing human liberties – we’ll remember your names and if we suffer any loss of dignity or quality of life or ambition, we’ll come for you and put you down like every dictator who has fallen before.
This is the last hurrah for Global Warming alarmism being taken seriously by Governments across the world. China will not sign anything. The US cannot sign anything. India will not sign. Brazil and South Africa will not sign.
With Italy the next country to be on the verge of massive austerity measures, Berlusconi (for all of his many, many faults) will campaign for the wretched carbon cap scheme to be scrapped as a waste of money.
I remember the last-but-one Labour Government falling in 1979 after its Prime Minister went to a nice sunny conference in the Caribbean while Britain shivered in extremely cold weather with rubbish on the streets from massive public sector strikes. The Labour Government fell.
You won’t find the current UK PM sunning himself at Cancun negotiating for rationing and economic standstill. He knows his political history too well to make that sort of mistake. The UK is covered in snow this morning.
When you’re desperate to keep the money flowing when you’re losing the argument, then you ramp up the rhetoric and fear.
Robt moderates what Geoff Sherrington says November 29, 2010 at 7:17 pm “[But gasoline rationing in WWII was created to deliberately restrict driving – not because gasoline was in short supply, but because the rubber for new tires was in short supply when the Japanese conquered the Malaysia/Indonesia rubber plantations. If fewer miles were being driven because gas was rationed, then fewer tires would wear out. Robt]
Clarification: I was in Australia, where the most troublesome rations were meat and dairy products. Fuel was given as an example above. Fuel was short here as well, because we produced no petroleum of our own then, IIRC.
The point of emphasis was that rationing was more often to give fairness in distribution, not to conserve or export some modelled scientific hypothesis. And it hurt. When my Dad came back from WWII in New Guinea, we had little money. One Christmas my 2 brothers and I received a ripe mango in the stocking. This was not all that costly, as they grew on a tree near the house of 2 rooms that we 5 survived in, with no running water.
And they wonder why they are losing in the public opinion polls.
Thats it. At -2C i turn off the heating. I’ll have just a streak of bacon for dinner so as to stop this transportation of vegetables from afar. Think of all the c02 that will be saved.
in summer, go the opposite way and turn off air conditioning
make eco friendly clothes from bin bags, so as to save on c02 producing factories and plant.
Turn off the lights and sit in darkness.
Walk from London to Manchester, Milwaukess to New York, or Paris to Lyons and Tokyo to Osaka.
Foreign travel – that’s easy. rowing boats produce no c02. It would be a mighty adventure to go from the Port of New York to Southampton
When you really look into it, there are many ways we can carry on living as normal and achieve the same ends. The more the developing world advances, the greater we ought to severly curtail our lives.
heck we could even accommodate for El Nino. During an el nino year we can even ditch eating and rationing altogether.
“Global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind…”
Presumably becoming even more serious once we actually find some statistically significant warming. Perhaps they will find some on the beach in Mexico. Meanwhile here in the UK….
Sorry only got as far as “By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent”.
I just emailed this to the Daily Telegraph. They have printed several of my letters in the past, but they won’t print this. After Climategate, the Telegraph’s climate change coverage became more balanced, but they’ve now reverted to type. All their recent climate change coverage is completely biased and one-sided.
Chris
**********************************
Sir,
You quote Professor Anderson as saying that, in order to halt our emissions, we
must ‘halt economic growth in wealthy countries for the next 20 years’. I believe
that most people would find this offensive, particularly as opinion polls clearly
show that the majority believe climate change is natural, and that we are currently
experiencing yet another harsh winter that suggests global cooling rather than
warming. But it gets better. A quote from his cv on the Tyndall Centre’s web
page: “He is currently a non-executive director of Greenstone Carbon
Management….”
So, as well as advocating the destruction of our future prosperity on the basis of
an unproven theory that is almost certainly wrong, he is personally profiting from
his own advocacy. I think it’s time climate scientists returned to honest science
rather than pursuing their own vested interests.
You’ve missed the important one. What will be the monthly ration for Victory Gin?
The world has endured nationalsocialism at the expense of 10 of millions deaths , shall we survive world socialism at the expense of 100 of millions dead bodies ?
‘Options include putting mirrors in space to reflect sunlight or covering Greenland in a massive blanket so it does not melt.
Sprinkling iron filings in the ocean “fertilises” algae so that it sucks up CO2 and “seeding clouds” means that less sunlight can get in. Other options include artificial “trees” that suck carbon dioxide out of the air, painting roofs white to reflect sunlight and man-made volcanoes that spray sulphate particles high in the atmosphere to scatter the sun’s rays back into space. ‘
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/8169039/Cancun-climate-change-summit-UN-considers-putting-mirrors-in-space.html
A massive blanket over Greenland – wow, grandiosity beyond even the most fevered dreams of the ‘normally’ psychotic patient. They are simply mad aren’t they, entirely, totally bananas. And the warmists take this seriously.
‘Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή “psyche”, for mind/soul, and -ωσις “-osis”, for abnormal condition) means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a “loss of contact with reality”. People suffering from psychosis are described as psychotic. Psychosis is given to the more severe forms of psychiatric disorder, during which hallucinations and delusions and impaired insight may occur. [1]. Some professionals say that the term psychosis is not sufficient as some illnesses grouped under the term “psychosis” have nothing in common (Gelder, Mayou & Geddes 2005)
People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and thought disorder. Depending on its severity, this may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the daily life activities.’
That’s the wikipedia take on it. Fits well.
“Gareth says:
November 30, 2010 at 3:13 am”
Already installed in many countries. Australia is also pushing for smart meters, while power costs are rising exponetially at this time. The Australian Govn’t is also pushing for an internet information filter – designed to protect our children. What the minister fails to understand that “tech savvy” crimials know how to get around these things.
“Geoff Sherrington says:
November 30, 2010 at 3:59 am”
Rationing, during WWII, lead to a massive growth in the black market. One thing is true, less food and more activity lead to the British public being at the hight of health. The Australian Govn’t is also considering a “fat food tax”. Ok so a summary about consumption taxes of the like, and their success, in Aus;
Smoking taxes. Fail.