Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Richard Branson is so shocked by President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris, he’s putting his own money into renewables R&D. My question – isn’t this how Capitalism is supposed to work?
Richard Branson: Business leaders are ‘baffled’ by Trump on climate change
[British] billionaire Richard Branson said business leaders were left dumbfounded by President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that companies are now even more driven to invest in clean energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“Whether it’s GE, or whether it’s the big oil companies… I haven’t come across one business person who doesn’t want to get out there and do everything they can to try to compensate for the [Trump] administration’s very strange stance,” Branson said on a Wednesday call with reporters.
“A lot of people in the world are baffled by the American administration’s comments,” the Virgin Group CEO said.
…
Read more: http://mashable.com/2017/06/21/richard-branson-business-leaders-trump-paris-agreement/
Does anyone need more evidence that President Trump’s decision to take government out of the energy business was a stroke of genius?
Before President Trump tore up the agreement, Branson and his friends were content to sit back and let US taxpayers take all the risks and pay all the bills.
Since President Trump tore up the Paris Agreement, Branson and his friends suddenly feel compelled to put their own money and time into funding high risk green energy R&D. Meanwhile, US tax money which would have likely been wasted on renewables can now be spent on stuff taxpayers actually care about, like retiring public debt, improving public healthcare or fixing broken US infrastructure.
Branson could raise the cash by selling his airline.
Of course, if anyone is unhappy their tax money is no longer being spent on green R&D, they are free to use their own cash to join Branson’s crusade to save the world. But people are also now free not to contribute to green R&D. Everyone gets to choose what happens to their own money.
Talk about win / win.
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I think it would be great for this billionaire to spend loads of his money on green energy research that would provide many new jobs for many motivated people.
But given today’s versions of renewable energy technology, this would be like spending loads of money to pay people to build horse-driven carts. Great for creating jobs and for giving people a purpose, but how does it help those living in reality? Employment for the sake of employment is not the purpose of employment, is it?
“Trump has taken government out of the energy business, ” [9:49 am and others]
That is not the best description of what Trump did with the Paris thingy.
U.S. businesses will continue to introduce new products that are more efficient, improve the processes they use, and support environmental projects. Various government agencies from NSF to the DoE will continue to fund energy related projects.
Trump has cancelled the large flow of tax dollars that the UN wanted for its Green Climate Fund (Obama sent a bundle before being kicked out of the White House**) that was to be controlled (wasted) by unaccountable foreign agents.
[**3 days before leaving the White House, Obama sent $500,000,000 to the Green Climate Fund]
Obama should be impeached, at a minimum, for that. He’d lose his security detail and 10-year (or whatever it is now) pension, too.
Mark,
A past President is not subject to impeachment. That’s reserved
for folks who are currently “in office”..
A past U.S. President is actually just a normal citizen, with a Secret
Service detail mandated by Federal Law.
Past Presidents MIGHT be subject to criminal and civils laws that
they personally violated during their term in office. Richard Nixon
was issued a blanket pardon by then-President Gerald Ford for
impeachable and otherwise unspecified acts while President.
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was indicted in criminal court for
conspiracy in an infra-structure bribe scheme while Governor of
Maryland… before being elected Vice President. He WASN’T
offered a pardon by then-President Nixon.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a comment moderated into oblivion on
WUWT in over nine years.
What did I do wrong?
[You triggered a “key word and tricky phrase” alarm in the “queue list” … No problems ….mod]
Strange, fracking research was carried on by the US government when no one in the private sector would put up the money. I don’t recall see any complaints on WUWT about that.
[??? .mod]
And once again we’re faced with a conundrum, can non sequitur actually be rationalized?
you mean the SAFETY of fracking was researched.
as in water table, geo stability, etc.
quite a difference.
I’m SURE its an honest mistake……
With the aim to prove the environmental damage under Obama. But what did not succeed.
OK, here ya go…
Respond, respond, respond.
(if this doesn’t give you needed emotional boost let me know and I’ll respond again).
Here’s some context on the government funded fracking research:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorensteffy/2013/10/31/how-much-did-the-feds-really-help-with-fracking/#7e8b4fda3edf
Wouldn’t you agree that low level R & D funding to supplement larger industry efforts is in a quite different category than massive subsidies?
I have no problem with funding research. The problem is that line production has been funded by the tens of billions of dollars. That distorts the market and floods us with inefficient and uneconomical technologies.
They can research all they want. I’ll even support funding it, but the factory needs to be economically sustainable.
Chris, do you make stuff up on the spot, or is someone you handing you the nonsense you spew?
“Branson could raise the cash by selling his airline.”
He sold half, Virgin Atlantic, to Alaska Air!
And pocketed the loot!
Jajajajajajajajajaja
https://www.infowars.com/white-house-shows-no-sign-of-reopening-paris-climate-talks/ White House Shows No Sign of Reopening Paris Climate Talks
Mr Branson probably can’t hear us all the way up on that soap box. It’s important work pretending to be saving the planet by finding cheaper ways to power your resorts for the elite on once uninhabited Caribbean Islands.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2014/02/25/richard-branson-launches-a-green-energy-plan-for-the-caribbean/#3fb6f478734f
This is like Leo proclaiming to be saving the planet by building personal resorts on uninhabited shoals and saying they are restoring the environment better than ever by doing so.
Level 50 hypocrites.
Oh man. You cannot ride two horses at the same time Richard. If you want to personify big corporations and attract Occupy Wall Street movement clientele at the same time, you should have read their memo first: governments should be influenced by the majority of voters, not by 1%, particularly some arbitrary spokesmen of big corporations.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=G66APCwa&id=B52B31FFFFA04A365A11E51870C58427FCFDE044&thid=OIP.G66APCwa5v60zF3u-aCZIQEsDi&q=riding+two+horses+at+the+same+time&simid=608010020249340608&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0
Branson has a criminal conviction for tax evasion in the UK.
He has chosen to domicile outside the UK to avoid paying taxes, he is not British.
Taxes are for the little people.
““A lot of people in the world are baffled by the American administration’s comments,” the Virgin Group CEO said.”
The people that voted for Trump are not baffled by his comments. They understand and agree with Trump that the Paris Accord was a bad deal for the U.S.
Indeed. None of us really care about “a lot of people in the world.” They have their own governments, let them commit economic suicide at their own peril.
Yes, there are a lot of very gullible people out there who have elevated demonizing CO2 to religious ecstasy.
“It was the observation of one of the tribe of Levi, to whom some person had expressed his astonishment at his being able to sell his damaged and worthless commodities, “That there vash von fool born every minute.” And perhaps the calculation might be brought to the proof, that not more than fifty men of genius are born in half a century.”
Or as stated more recently: “there is a sucker born every minute“, a watchword phrase known by con men and fraud artists for many generations.
Trump got a standing ovation from the huge crowd last night in Iowa where he gave his speech, when he mentioned that he had withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Accord.
Trump said something to the effect that his supporters “get it” when it comes to understanding the issue of CAGW. Apparently, Mr. Branson does not get it.
The Paris agreement was a bad deal for all people or all countries with the exception of the parasitic dictators of some countries who stand to be the primary beneficiaries of the “climate fund” plus the “industrialists” who have been astute enough to have positioned their companies to be in the money flow path when the “grants” money starts to flow.
A crony capitalist who’s baffled by an unwillingness to bilk people. Go figure.
Please don’t use that phrase. There is no such thing as a “crony capitalist.” The phrase is an attempt (by socialists and other collectivists) to paint capitalism in such a way that makes it appear as if it is corruptible. It is not. What is more appropriate is the term corporatist, or even better, fascist.
No argument there.
This was basically my exact response to the NYT advert taken out by several businesses just prior to President Trump’s announcement to exit the Paris agreement. If companies feel obliged to put up their own money for “green” R&D and production then that is their prerogative, and was exactly the President’s point! The free market is a much more powerful force than it is given credit for and 99 out 100 times the government has intervened in the economy to try and “fix it” they have made it worse, not better. Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell and dozens of other economists have been saying this for decades.
I used to admire Richard Branson as a business person, I fly with Virgin and I love the Space Program they have undertaken ……..BUT I just can’t get my head around the fact he has been hoodwinked by the Gore’s of this world into believing the junk science of GW ……. AND after working with Burt Rutan ??????? …… The only thing I can think of is he feels he must side with the Green Blob because of the emissions from the planes that he fly’s ……… I wish he was a bigger man and would do the research instead of following like a sheep ……….. Oh well !!!
I think that Mr. Branson is being overtaken by another of his pet causes: Legalized marijuana. I think he smokes too much of it and is losing touch with reality. It’s his money, if he wants to waste it, please go ahead.
If any of these guys really thought climate change was such a serious problem they wouldn’t be falling over themselves to try and make money from it. I thought the idea is you spend what ever it takes to address a threat of global catastrophe. Instead these hypocrites are racing each other to see who can make the most. Meanwhile most affluent people wont pop a set of solar panels on their house unless they can make a profit. Most scientific research on climate change is just a bunch of self righteous arrogant people using it as an excuse to go have an adventure in an exotic location on somebody else’s purse. Its all BS as clear as day.
Richard Branson is not very bright, so it wouldn’t take much to baffle him.
Both Branson and Trump prove you don’t have to be smart to make lots of money. Helps if dad is rich.
Michael darby. Don’t know about Branson but Pres Trump is a brilliant man. Leftists like to call him dumb and say that he should be killed. That typifies their brilliance.
This is total nonsense. Trump has managed more than 500 companies before its presidency. His father only a few. And Trump has founded his success on hard work, namely on construction. Not in programs with which money is drawn from the taxpayer
Not true. I was at University in England when he founded Virgin Records. He’s a very clever man business-wise. Got lucky, but still no dumbo.
However, he did not make his billions with hard work like Trump. This (Trump) had more than 500 companies, from the small construction company to the large construction company. One comes into contact with all sorts of people, rich and poor, and does not come to marijuana smoking.
philincalifornia
Being a good businessman, and Branson clearly is, does not necessarily make him capable of thinking intellectually. Yes, like most entrepeneurs, he is a good at being able to make £1 into £2, but beyond that most do not have much intellect when discussing more technical and scientific matters
You can bet he’s getting subsidized somewhere
“When pigs fly”
..
When they say they’re baffled, it really means they can’t accept that their con has been busted. The hyper-rich will put some of their own money in, in hopes of keeping the con going long enough to restore their ability to fleece 98% of the world’s population, but within a few years, when they discovery that they still can’t hedge using “crap and traitor”, they’ll bail out, too. Then Al Gore will have to either commit seppuku or go back to hawking snake oil.
Actually, Branson did put money (his own) into the huge bioethanol facility in Keyes, California, that became Aemetis. He lost his shirt, but now that company has enjoyed some profitability, mostly due to the fact that bioethanol facilities are really cattle and chicken food producing companies (DDGs) with the ethanol (15 Billion gallons a year) as a by-product.
He’s not as bad as people on here are making him out to be. I don’t think he’s a phony virtue signaler, phony socialist w@nker. Obviously he’s just wrong on climate crap, but who wouldn’t be moving in the phony baloney circles he has to live in.
…. and no he’s not my Dad (smiley face).
Richard Branson pays almost no taxes. He lives in a tax-haven. Furthermore, his airlines and businesses are structured so as to funnel the profits to tax-havens.
It is not so long ago since he – as a publicity stunt – made one engine (out of 4) on one of his aircraft burn alcohol. Obviously, the piping and so on on that part of the aircraft had to be replaced afterwards – alcohol is far more corrosive than jet fuel.
“Jumbo Jet No Longer Biofuel Virgin after Palm Oil Fuels Flight”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jumbo-jet-no-longer-biofuel-virgin-after-palm-oil-flight/
In saying Branson pays almost no taxes, surely you make the point of how smart he is ?
You could have stopped at:
Richard Branson “Baffled”
G,gl “Richard Branson tax evasion”, read and enjoy!!!
In the top photo, is that a cardboard cut..out of Gore?
Add two spiky ears and a snout, and what do you have??!!! A Branal Piggory?
I thought that it was “The Turtle of Enormous Girth”
Trump’s arguement has nothing to do with climate science. Trump thinks that it is a bad deal for the USA. The reality is that our federal government has a huge national debt with huge annual deficits and huge annual trade deficits..We need to first get our own financial house in order before we can possible consider helping out wih the Paris Climate Agreement. We need to get out of debt first.
That is only half the truth. Trump sees that the world warms, he does not say that the man does not have his share in it, but does not draw a catastrophe out of this warming and no human (alone)guilt. This is also an essential scientific difference between people like Mann and Watts, between Schmidt and Dr. Christy an so on. And he concludes that it would be cheaper to adapt than to fight against civilization and warming. Therein he lies in a line with Lomborg.
The bearded one is baffled by the idea that the earth revolves round the sun.