h/t Breitbart; Remind me, didn’t something really bad happen last time Germany experienced high inflation and a cost of living crisis?
“Part of the population is no longer able to save”
Status: 08/21/2022
By Laurin Meyer , Karsten SeibelThe savings banks expect that soon 60 percent of households will have no money left over at the end of the month to put something on the high edge. The Greens are calling for an interest rate cap for overdraft facilities.
Dhe majority of Germans are increasingly reaching their financial limits due to high inflation. “We expect that because of the significant price increase, up to 60 percent of German households will have to use their entire disposable income – or more – monthly for pure living expenses,” said Sparkasse President Helmut Schleweis WELT AM SONNTAG.
“This part of the population is then simply no longer able to save.” With 40 million households nationwide, this would affect 24 million households. A year ago, according to the Sparkasse wealth barometer, only 15 percent were unable to put money away. The Sparkassen Group itself has 50 million customers.
…
However, many customers are still benefiting from the fact that they can redeem the additional savings that accumulated during the Corona period due to a lack of consumption options. “The peak value of the savings rate was around 16 percent in 2020, for 2022 we expect a return to the pre-crisis level of eleven percent,” says Martin.
…
Read more (German): https://www.welt.de/finanzen/verbraucher/article240576763/Inflation-Mehrheit-der-Deutschen-kann-nichts-mehr-sparen.html
WUWT recently reported some German politicians appear to be preparing for war against their own citizens, if this crisis leads to unrest or insurrection.
President Trump tried to warn German politicians were making a grave error, with their green energy fantasies and dependence on Russian gas, but they just laughed at him. Now we have proof Trump was right. Ordinary German people are suffering, because Germany’s leaders are fools.
Germany is not the only European nation which is treating its citizens with contempt, Dutch farmers are still fighting an ongoing battle with their government, over nitrogen fertiliser restrictions.
I once asked British politician Nigel Farage why European politics is so messed up, why their leaders are so unresponsive to ordinary people. From memory Farage’s answer was the party list proportional representation system is to blame.
With party list PR, political candidates don’t have districts, the leader of each party presents an ordered list of candidates to the electoral office. The number of people on that list who get into parliament is determined by the total number of votes their party receives, starting from the top of the list.
PR looks great on the surface, because even voters for minority parties have a chance to receive some representation. The reality is very different. What PR actually does is concentrates all political power into the hands of a permanent leader class, composed of people whose names are at the top of the PR electoral list.
As long as politicians retain their grip on party leadership, they never have to worry about being personally voted out of office. Even worse, party leaders can arbitrarily destroy the careers of mavericks or anyone who votes against the party line by simply bumping them down the list, without the need for a formal dismissal or expulsion. It is this concentration of power into the hands of a permanent leader class which makes PR politicians insensitive to the needs of ordinary voters.
Both Germany and the Netherlands operate forms of government mostly based on proportional representation.
One would not expect a voting procedure to have such malign effects. But creative people can do things like the mob primary in California, added to the “nonpartisan” redistricting procedure, led to a basically one party state.
I left out the final step of electoral list PR, where party leaders ally with each other to engineer a sham democracy, because I don’t have proof that it has happened, but I think it is a real possibility.
If you want proof look at the Netherlands.
Previous government fell over a scandal in the tax service.
No new elections, just a backroom Frankenstein deal to put the fallen government back together again …. with the same leadership.
And a large contingent of voters – the real opposition – permanently shut out. Because deemed beyond the pale.
Same here in Ireland. Essentially, the same two political parties have Governed the country since 1922.They have tumbled alternating from one to the other with legacy hatred for each other. Until recently, when neither got anywhere near the numbers needed. So they joined together in a coalition with the support of the Greens, to make up the numbers. Now, everyone is familiar with the term ”energy poverty”
“President Trump tried to warn German politicians were making a grave error, with their green energy fantasies and dependence on Russian gas, but they just laughed at him.”
Russian gas is available to Germany at the market price and always has been.
It must be paid for in Rubles now because the EU made Euros worthless for Gazprom. The grave error is Germany refusing to pay in Rubles. Gazprom would prefer to sell Germany as much gas as they want to buy. Trump never predicted what actually happened.
Yes he did, and it happened! Try blaming the EU as you stated not Trump.
Trump warned Germany (and the EU) to not get more dependent on Russian gas. They were already dependent. What choice did they have after opposing coal, nuclear power and fracking? What’s left? They have to import natural gas from somewhere.
Trump did not predict EU sanctions that would force Gazprom to demand payments in rubles. It’s the EU banking sanctions that forced a changed in currencies required for gas payments that most EU nations refused to do.
Russian companies want to sell as much energy as possible to the EU, but only for a currency they can use — Trump did not predict that at all– he predicted the opposite — that Russian companies would NOT want to sell their energy o the EU to punish them, In fact, the EU is punishing themselves.
“What choice did they have after opposing coal, nuclear power and fracking?”
You mean, what choice did they have after rejecting every sane choice? One might dare to speculate that rejecting the sane choice is the definition of insanity.
They have to import from somewhere. They would have to import from somewhere even if they had a 100 year internal supply because they refuse to use their own resources. Of course they could not switch on undeveloped domestic sources overnight but (except the doesn’t seem to be quite true in the UK) but their policy is a flat refusal to develop their own resources.
Trump tried to sell LPG to Europe like Canada tries now, therefore pitching their glaring dependency on Russian gas. After all, US at that time were net exporters of petroleum products plus the US would have strategic interests against a strong economic cooperation between European manufacturing and Russian raw materials (Brzezinski Doctrin).
Trump wanted to sell Germany US LNG which has to be more expensive than gas via pipeline from Russia. It’s unfortunate that EUs banking sanctions and Putin’s interference is causing political problems.
It is in Gazproms best interest to sell as much gas as possible to Germany. And in Germany’s best interest to buy that gas (if they refuse to produce their own gas) .
Meanwhile, German companies are refusing to pay rubles as soon as they can find a substitute. Imports from Russia already down over 50% and going to be down 100% eventually, maybe in a year or two.
So you claim can read trump’s mind, eh? Well, no. Trump told the EU to develop it’s own resources. Excess US nat gas is sold/shipped mostly in asia.
“So you claim can read trump’s mind, eh?”
Well said… Even Trump can’t read his own mind.
Trump warned Germany and the EU not to become more dependent on Russian gas. They continued to become more dependent. Now they’re suffering for their folly. Trump was right. QED.
This was an entirely predictable and logical outcome of energy policy based on environmentalist fantasies rather than long-established economic need. Shutting down reliable, safe, emissionless nuclear reactors was the epitome of environmental craziness.
You’re missing the point utterly. Trump warned to not put all of ones eggs in a single basket, to not depend on Russian gas because it could be held hostage. That’s it. And lo and behold, it is. It matters not that this particular instance is self inflicted.
Russian gas is not available to Germany due to the EU boycott of Russia over their illegal attempted invasion of the Ukraine. Germany’s reliance on Russian gas was always a great political mistake.
Did the EU boycott the US after it’s illegal invasion of Iraq?
I don’t think so. Hypocrites.
Is it true that Trump told German politicians it was stupid to be so dependent on Russia? Yes, that is true. And Germans didn’t believe him and laughed about it. All true.
Has it come to pass that the Germans should have listened to him? Yes it has, for whatever unforseeable reason. And it has come to pass in relatively short order that Trump was correct and the German politicians wrong, as in decades and decades of wrong reliance of the value of Energiewende and Russian reliability. Should we be laughing at them now, when their citizens could be freezing this winter due to their stupidity?
In fact, Germany has taken actions to undo that dependence on Russian energy, howevermuch too late, as Trump recommended.
Does the invasion of Iraq have ANYTHING to do with any of this? NYET, so what on Earth are you going on about?
Germany is already at least half way toward their goal of not paying rubles for gas, with imports from Russia down at least 50% so far. Their goal is no payments in rubles at all by roughly mid-2024, or faster, if they can find non-Russian sources.
But if nations refuse to buy Russian gas, there will be less Russian gas produced, reducing the global supply of natural gas. Unless demand falls by an equal amount, reduced global supply will drive global prices higher than they would otherwise be.
Germany is anti-nuclear power, anti-coal power, anti-fracking and anti-Russian natural gas. That does not add up to common sense. If they run short of natural gas this coming winter, whose fault is that?
There was nothing illegal about the resumption of the Gulf War.
Baloney
Iraq was viciously attacked based on the false claim of having weapons of mass destruction and implying a connection with 9/11.
Russia, China, India, Pakistan, etc. all have weapons of mass destruction too — nuclear weapons — should we attack them too, warmonger?
Bullshit
1) Iraq was attacked because Saddam refused to allow access to his weapons labs to UN inspectors.
2) Nobody ever claimed, that Iraq was involved in 9/11. That is a lie that the Russia invented in the years after the war.
3) You know when an idiot is losing an argument when he has to make the claim that unless someone solves every problem, then he shouldn’t try to solve any problem.
4) BTW, I love the charge of war monger from someone who routinely defends Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine.
Obvious point: Germany already has US troops inside its borders and has not found it troublesome.
They have had experience of Russian troops inside its borders and did not like it one bit.
There is a difference between Russian invasions and US invasions.
Germany has experienced both and knows which one it prefers.
What Russian invasion?
In your imagination?
I”m guessing you have forgotten about WWII and the Iron Curtain.
It would have been available if they had set up long-term contracts – for known amounts at certain times and at a fixed price,
But the didn’t, they set up fixed contracts for modest amounts of gas and then depended on the spot-market for the vast majority of their needs
In retaliation for their sanctions, Putin simply closed the spot market. He honoured and still does honour the fixed contracts but quantities are negligible compared the spot market.
And what kept the spot market price low was Fracked Gas in the US depressing market prices worldwide…..
But nobody seemed to realise it was impossible to move significant amounts of that cheap US gas across the pond – and won’t be till 2030 at least.
Which was of course what was going through the sugar & booze addled brain of Boris.
(Jeez, there are pictures of him & Carrie on holiday in Greece – dear gods, what does she see in him… Tighten your belt, stand up straight and ‘breathe in’ if you do go searching. Maybe slap on some fake tan as well, or don the Ray Bans)
Carrie obviously sees in Boris the opportunity to advance her Green theories – someone has to make sacrifices!
theyre a matched set daft n entitled and thick
Illegal, that’s rich
cant see why reliance on Russias gas and oil was a problem except for it meaning usa sales to them were going to be more expensive..
and while Trump thought selling to them was good for usa biz its also forced YOUR prices up and dropped home supplies NOT smart.
even now Russia would supply IF eurocrats werent so far up their own kybers stupid! sanctions and theft of russias foriegn trade account cash showed usa was capable of breaking banking deals
blocking SWIFT was childish. Canadas refusal to return the turbines required to keep gas flowing when the next turbine was due to be serviced added to the misery. Trudope at his best!
trade in Rubles get gas its pretty simple
the entire Ukie sh*tfight was started and kept going BY usa and idiots ruling in germany really deserve all theyre getting
pity the people didnt have a say
I’m no supporter of Trump though Biden is every bit as bad, but Trump was right about Russian gas as well as the dangers of climate change policy.
Over and above all of that, the Russians have no intention of selling gas to any Western nation regardless of how they pay.
As for the state of poverty, the exact numbers might not be known but the facts are very clear. The drive to net zero is pushing hundreds of millions into poverty, lowering living standards and will result in many deaths as older and vulnerable people will not be able to keep themselves warm or feed themselves properly.
The West has walked into this and continues to do so. It’s a catastrophe, which is also likely to lead to civil unrest and dangerous times in many countries. The really sad thing is that it could all have been avoided.
Russia and China have been funding green and other leftists parties in both Europe and the US for many decades.
Sounds like good old capitalism to me.
Partially fund the green dreamers to benefit your own corporations.
Funding political parties in other countries is a part of capitalism?
You have some really strange notions regarding things you do not understand.
They are not political parties
They are non-government organizations.
Th Russian funding, which I assume is a small percentage of total funding, did not create the green dreamers.
They take part in the political parties.
BTW, the last time I checked the Greens and the Democrats are officially registered as political parties.
You really do have a habit of assuming things not in evidence.
And ignoring things that are right in front of your face.
Whatever it takes to defend Putin, eh?
You described crony capitalism but labeled it capitalism. Big difference.
Typical of people who can only win arguments by changing the definition of the words they’re using. But at least you were honest enough to provide your definition.
Myself – I prefer free market economics. Of course, every government in the world rejects that as they then give up a significant amount of power to the people they govern.
one word
SOROS
one word
communist
What a strange definition of capitalism you have.
American companies fund green non-government organizations to benefit sales of their products too
Funding a group to promote the downfall of another nation’s economy is distinguishable from funding a group to promote the sale of one’s products.
Not when one’s goal is to defend Putin from any and all criticism.
I see Russia playing divide and rule. They have cut pipeline supply to Finland, the Baltic states, Poland, Germany and Romania (Whitestream and Isaccea) by 80-100%. Some gas flows via Turkstream and via the Ukraine. LNG shipments have continued to Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal and recently resumed to the Netherlands.
Germany’s pipeline wasn’t cut, we are still getting ca. 3 TWh of gas a day.
Not from Russia. There is zero flow on the Yamal pipeline at Kondratki, Nordstream is at 20%. Check out the flows here
https://transparency.entsog.eu/#/points/data?from=2022-02-01&points=sk-tso-0001itp-00168exit%2Cat-tso-0001itp-00062entry%2Cat-tso-0003itp-00037entry%2Cat-tso-0001itp-00162entry&to=2022-08-24
The link gives Baumgarten in Austria which handles supply ex Ukraine. TAG is the German bit.
While true, Gazprom would prefer to sell as much gas as possible for a currency that they can use: Rubles. Payment is Eoros is like payment in Monopoly money. They are responding logically to harsh EU banking sanctions. Do you propose they give away gas for free?
Gazprom are not constrained in selling gas to Germany by the currency of payment which has been roubles since April. They are simply obeying Putin’s orders to cut supply as a tactic in their war.
Many German companies have already refused to pay rubles, cutting exports from Russia in half, and the remaining companies are trying to find alternative gas sources as soon as possible. They are all intending to stop paying for gas in rubles — no more gas from Russia — as soon as possible. Why would Putin deliberately hurt his government’s tax revenues while his nation is fighting an expensive war?
It would be insane for any Russian companies to refuse energy exports paid for in rubles, which would be very profitable, and those profits would provide the Russian government with tax revenues.
If Gazprom ruled Russia the disaster in Ukraine would end immediately and even Crimea would be handed back.
But Russia rules Gazprom. And so Gazprom is not being run for the most profit.
In the U.S., we already have civil unrest and lawlessness, promoted by the left-wing agenda (open borders; decreased policing; no bail; little prosecution of violent crime; COVID lockdowns; Blue cities). It is becoming epidemic.
It reminds me of scenes from Back to the Future II.
You forgot a 40-year high inflation rate and a President who is not all there and a Vice President who is a word salad dingbat. Just a few more “minor” issues. Not to mention Nut Zero goals.
But we do have proper pronouns.
My pronouns are “Whence, What, Whither”
I’m no supporter of Trump though Biden is every bit as bad, but Trump was right about Russian gas as well as the dangers of climate change policy.
— I voted for Trump in 2020. He was hammered by COVID lockdowns. He had good intentions but his fast tracked vaccine has been a nightmare. But Trump was a genius compared to Jumpin’ Joe Biden — a leftist, liar (I repeat myself), and a president in transition, from a human being into a vegetable.
Trump had good instincts on climate change but meanwhile he left office with CO2 still called “pollution”, which is ridiculous. Trump fought the deep state (leftists in government) and they won, especially after Covid hit.
We have seen what happens with our new President, who supports the deep state, and it is shocking. We have January 6 political prisoners. We have raids on political opponents.
Trump’s greatest accomplishment is that he did battle with the deep state and tried to prevent their goal of absolute power — rule by “experts”. Which they unfortunately are making great progress with, along with state governments, in their devious responses to Covid.
Over and above all of that, the Russians have no intention of selling gas to any Western nation regardless of how they pay.
— A complete fabrication. Russian companies benefit greatly from exporting energy products. And the Russian government benefits from the taxes they pay on the profits.
The drive to Nut Zero is insane.
With Germany as the “poster child”
Blame them and the EU, not the Russians.
The Russians could not care less about Nut Zero for their own nation, along with China, India, and every undeveloped nation.
What was Trump bad at? Policy wise.
He was effective in blocking the leftists, which proves he was EVIL.
The Trump Administration:
Never got the Mexico wall built
Failed to stop illegal immigration
Did not end the opioid crisis
Reckless spending and deficits in 2020 (did not veto it)
Did not reduce government role in student loans
Did not reduce crime
Promoted Covid scaremongering by Birx and Fauci
Rushed development of a vaccine that was a failure
No repeal of Affordable Care Act
Could not stop China’s theft of intellectual property.
Stayed in Afghanistan to avoid admitting a loss.
No end to North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs
CO2 still called a pollutant
Slow economic growth over four years
Did not bring down drug prices
Did not “drain the swamp”
blocked at every turn BY dems and all the lies and fluff asshats like zuckerberg were encouraged to throw as well
Richard appears to believe that because Trump was constantly blocked by the entire establishment, that makes him incompetent for not accomplishing 100% of the things Richard wanted, whether or not it was in his power to do (i.e. “repeal ACA” is up to Congress, not President)
Richard’s hero Putin, would have just had all those who disagreed with him killed.
Trump didn’t do that, therefore Trump is a failure.
Unlike Putin, Trump was not a dictator. In order to get anything done he had to work with congress.
if a few millions illegals left germany that would help a lot
Wrong. Germany has been paying in euros since the beginning of April. Russia cut Nordstream supply in late July. Add the blue and orange lines to get total Nordstream supply. After the maintenance shutdown they failed to restore volumes beyond 20% of capacity.
Gazprom has been hoping their best customer (Germany) will see the light and start paying in Rubles. They could have cut off all gas exports immediately. But doing so would most likely permanently lose their best customer, so they gradually reduced supply hoping Germany would capitulate. Germany has decided to punish Russia by punishing themselves. Gazprom should end all gas exports to Germany until paid in Rubles which is not complicated, or impossible. Euros are worthless to Gazprom now, and could be worthless forever.
Germany has been paying in roubles since April That is not the issue.
Many German companies have refused to pay in rubles.
Gas imports from Russia are down over 50% with the goal of no gas payments in rubles as soon as possible.
returning the siemens turbine IS a huge issue the second turbine was due scheduled maintenance and that WAS given plenty of advance notice
Richard,
You’re correct in that Trump was right about Germany’s ‘energy fantasies’ and wrong about her ‘dependence on Russian gas’. Perhaps those who routinely downvote your posts pointing out the latter should consider the following:
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” – Adam Smith
To be blunt, there ain’t no-one on this site, or anywhere else for that matter, that isn’t 100% dependent on others for the goods and service they need to survive. It’s called the extended market economy and it works extremely well until someone, i.e., ‘governments’ blow it up.
The US is somewhat dependent on oil exports too, although mainly from Canada and Mexico (I’m not so sure Justin TrueDope is still friendly). The US even bought some Russian energy products a few years ago.
The US is so dependent on China that it’s not funny. The good news is China wants to sell their products to us, and we want to buy them.
We get products we want at low prices, and they get Dollars that lose 5% to 10% of purchasing power each year. Is that a bad deal?
I don’t care about down or up votes.
I don’t vote on other comments.
They bias the comment.
Truth is not a popularity contest.
‘We get products we want at low prices, and they get Dollars that lose 5% to 10% of purchasing power each year. Is that a bad deal?’
At face value, no. The only concern I have, given that I think Ricardo et al were correct to believe that mutually beneficial trade would occur given comparative or even absolute advantages in the terms of trade, is that none of these ‘advantages’ considered those that might arise from the stupidity of a regulatory state that actually prohibits the productive use of resources.
Trump wasn’t bothered so much that Germans bought gas from Russia, rather that they bought it from Russia rather than the USA, yet expected the USA to station large garrisons to protect Germany from Russia.
russia couldnt give a flying rats whatsit about germany
nato IS a threat to russia- pity Trump didnt pull the pin on it
bidet and gang are all as senile as he is
NATO is not and never has been a threat to Russia. The threat has always been in the other direction.
We have two sides with opposite stories. A ways above is the claim that Germany has been paying in rubles since April but Russia still isn’t delivering the product. Here we have the claim that Germany refuses to pay in rubles so the product isn’t being delivered. Both can’t be true.
‘Both can’t be true.’
Maybe it’s none of the above. I’m no expert, but it’s also possible that even though Germany may now be willing to pay in rubles, Russia’s production has already been committed to other parties. If that’s true, then the Germans and the other ‘unfriendly’ countries are screwed.
German companies are increasingly refusing to pay in rubles as soon as they can find another supplier. they have already cut imports from Russia by 50% with the goal of 100% as sonn as possible.
and they can enjoy the cold and dark and their shut down factories
German companies are rejecting payments in rubles as fast as they can find alternative suppliers. They have already reduced imports from Russia by over 50% and their goal is 100% as soon as alternative suppliers can be found. The goal is no payments in rubles ever again. They are more than halfway toward that goal. This can’t be done immediately. Russian gas is available for rubles but many companies are already refusing to pay rubles — they have found other sources in other nations.
So your argument is that Trump didn’t warn Germany that they were becoming dependent on Russian supply is that Germany is in trouble now because they are unwilling to buy Russia gas?
Yup. That makes sense.
That is like saying the Biden didn’t have Covid cause he was isolated after testing positive to a Covid test. Well done.
Boycotting Russian gas purchases must reduce the Russian supply of gas — they don’t have storage capacity for all the gas they are able to produce. Cutting the Russian gas supply is driving up global gas prices.
There was, nor is there, a problem with Europe or anyone else trading with Russia, despite the cautionary words of President Trump. Gas and oil for products like cars was a mutual benefit. Regrettably Germany and France failed to get Ukraine to implement the Minsk Agreement which would have resolved the situation in the Donbass area of eastern Ukraine. A problem based on ultra-nationalistic animosity towards ethnic Russians which was unleashed following the 2014 overthrow of the elected Ukrainian government of Viktor Yanukovych. The first decision following that event being to outlaw the Russian language, a problem of major proportions for the people of eastern Ukraine given that they are largely ethnic Russian and that is their native tongue. This and the subsequent bias in the actions of the Kiev government motivated the civil war which after eight years of fighting saw Russian intervention and the crude attempts by the west to cause the economic collapse of Russia, a spectacular own goal, especially for Europe.
German companies are refusing to buy gas with rubles as fast as they can find alternate sources. They have already cut Russian imports by over 50% and plan to cut them by 100%. The main problem is the lack of LNG facilities.
So the refusal to pay in rubles — to buy Russian gas — may take until 2024 to accomplish. Meanwhile, Russian gas via pipeline has to be less expensive than LNG by ships, which burn diesel fuel to cross the ocean.
Germany is forced to burn more coal, which they have plenty of, but that’s not “green”. Unfortunately, the low water level in the Rhine River is a big problem for coal barges, so more coal will have to be shipped by train, interfering with passenger train service to some extent.
Germans don’t want coal, nuclear power and fracking. They have to import gas from somewhere but are trying to cut off their former main gas supplier of Russia as fast as possible. What else can they do besides burning coal? Burn trees?
60% are not in energy poverty
The title is a lie.
60% is a prediction, not reality.
We don’t know the current percentage
because the author never provided the data.
We are told
“A year ago, according to the Sparkasse wealth barometer, only 15 percent were unable to put money away.”
We don’t know if a year ago was August 2021, or the average for 2021, because the author never specified.
Is that you, Nick? 🥸
Maybe he picked up Grifff’s brain by mistake?
Really funny
Did you not play Robin Hood?
No he’s impersonating someone who played Robin Hood – see Lewis v Averay!
Brilliant comment
I’m just concerned that our resident Nick-picker’s role is being usurped, Richard.
There are established processes for resolving these situations.
After all, we don’t want accusations of “splitter!”
Nick pickers is funny
I slammed Nick the Stroker in the weather station siting thread, and agreed with him in another thread. So what?
R. Greene
Knitpickers of Michigan Executive
and Executive Washroom Attendant.
We have no idea if the current percentage is anywhere close to 60% or if the 60% forecast is reasonable.
We have predictions of a horrible climate in 100 years, and a wonderful climate now.
Skip the predictions, just present the facts.
“Remind me, didn’t something really bad happen last time Germany experienced high inflation and a cost of living crisis?”
The French have nukes this time. Maybe the Germans will kick Liechtenstein around until they feel better.
This time it will be the French and German governments against their own citizens.
This time they may not need to send in the tanks, they might be able to do it via the EU.
As the Reichsminister for energy might say
Kanonen oder Windmühlen
I get so tired of economic arguments in favor of fuel sanity. All the economic pain would be worth it if the climate change lies were true. The twentieth-century definition of science as “the assumption that experts can be wrong (Einstein)” taught us very differently. Paleontology /geology taught us that a “climate optimum” was higher temperatures than today. Up to 6 degrees Celcius warmer produced more abundance and variety of life than today.
And photosynthesis told us that carbon dioxide fueled all life. Greenhouses use 1100 ppm CO2 as the most cost-effective CO2 level. The effort to reduce CO2 is an effort to kill every living thing.
We have many different scientific backgrounds in this site. Mine is in Life Sciences, agriculture and physiology. I know that carbon dioxide is not merely essential if we are to have anything to eat, but also for animal and human health. It is the primary stimulus to breathe (oxygen need is second) and must balance blood pH very precisely. A dozen years ago, I did a literature search on “hypercapnia” (too much CO2) and related terms with various species of animals. There was almost nothing on whole animal well-being. About all I could find was that CO2 was about 2% (20 000 ppm) in rodent burrows, but about 8% in the burrows of naked mole rats–which live much longer than any other rodents.
Today, Bill Gates is buying up tremendous amounts of farmland in America’s Midwest. A pipeline is being built to capture carbon dioxide from the air and sequester it deep underground so no living thing can be built from the carbon. That is a threat of magnitude. We will starve–many of us to death–if we do not face the agricultural consequences of climate lies.
Europe is currently once again feeling the agricultural impact of climate change… this is the fifth summer running in the UK with a heatwave…
If it isn’t climate change, why are fires, droughts, new temperature records, flash floods, damaging rainstorms, truly colossal rain events now so frequent across Europe?
These events are weather, not climate, and are no more frequent nor intense than in the past. This has been pointed out to you many times, but you persist in lying.
Moden Climate “Science” A, B, C’s
(A) Bad weather = climate
(B) Good weather = weather
(C) The future climate can only get worse.
This is the worst EU heatwave,
since the last worst EU heat wave.
For the US, some inconvenient data:
COMING CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS PROPAGANDA IS SO EFFECTIVE THAT IT PREVENTS MOST PEOPLE FROM ENJOYING TODAY’S WONDERFUL CLIMATE.
U.S. HURRICANES MAKING LANDFALL HAVE BEEN IN A DOWNTREND SINCE THE LATE 1800s.
MAJOR US TORNADOES HAVE BEEN IN A DOWNTREND SINCE THE 1950s.
US HEAT WAVES, DROUGHTS AND FOREST FIRE ACRES BURNED PEAKED IN THE 1930s.
THE 1930s STILL HAVE THE MOST US STATE MAXIMUM HEAT RECORDS OF ANY DECADE, BY FAR.
The decline of land falling hurricanes.
It is called weather .
Would you rather have an ice age ?
Last summer was wet and cool
https://www.heart.co.uk/lifestyle/summer-wettest-worst-10-years/
He lives right there, and the fool already forgot how cool and wet it was.
LOL
Most places get heat waves every summer. That’s why they call it summer.
The fact that nothing unusual is happening still counts as proof that global warming is happening.
when a heatwave is as little as 3 days? its NOT really a heatwave
when it doesnt rain for a month or two?
thats NOT a drought
Perhaps it’s because you are sinners who did not repent 🙂
I feel sure if you go net zero tomorrow Griff you can fix it … that means no more posting or you get what you deserve.
How dare you bring real science to a politics argument.
In politics, CO2 causes every problem in the world
In science, CO2 is the staff of almost all life on Earth.
To reduce CO2 is to reduce plants available for human and animal food.
Who does that?
Only leftists.
Basic biology teaches that biological growth or activity increases with temperature up to some optimum and then begins to decline. That optimum is widely dependent on the particular species of bacteria, plant, animal, etc., but in general warm is good and warmer is better. As a generality, at 14 -15C average temperature, the earth is far below optimum for growth, so there is ZERO risk of earth becoming uninhabitable from a relatively mild rise of 1, 2, 4 or 8C. Yes, large and rapid changes (either warmer or cooler) would detrimentally affect some biota and their ranges, but it would benefit others. But such changes have happened naturally throughout the history of earth and have brought us to today.
How can anyone claim that today’s temperature(s) is(are) “optimum?” What is the optimum temperature? I would lean toward even warmer than now, but that is a matter of debate. An Inuit climate activist in the Chicago area 14,000 years ago could have said, “I like the climate just the way it is,” as he shivered in the icy cold. A naked sweating climate activist Melanesian islander today could likewise say the same. Based on where people go to vacation or retire, I’d generally say most want warmer. New Yorkers voluntarily choose +12 to 15C “climate change to retire in Florida.
And the problem could disappear if the German government was more concerned about the German people then the corrupt oligarchs in the Ukraine.
Cheaper to fight Russian aggression in someone elses country, than wait until they are firing missiles and artillery at your cities. Putin told us in 2005 the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a great geopolitical tragedy, Ukraine is just the beginning of his ambition.
I believe Crimea was the start.
Regardless, Putin has the ambition to get the band back together. A horrible screeching, head-banging band that spreads misery and poverty to all but the elites.
China is far more dangerous than Russia to the interests of regular people. CCP has already woven tentacles into academia and many institutions of the U.S.A., while owning the current U.S. Executive branch and most of Congress.
Politicians say lots of things that never happen/
It is very common.
The corrupt oligarchs and leaders are in Russia, not the Ukraine.
Ukraine is the same as Russia when it comes to corruption. The idiot media in the west think that Ukraine is a democracy but all opposition has been shut down by the dictator Zelensky. Yes, some of you will whine annoyingly that the country is at war. So did the US impose a dictatorship in 1941, or even 1917? Were the funds of opposition parties stolen? Did Britain do the same or did we not have a national government during the wars?
Wilson had the Anti-sedition laws to silence opposition in WWI. Anti-sabotage laws were instituted in WW2 and are still on the books ready for liberal interpretation. Coincidently, FDR and Wilson were democrats.
Republicans are not without flaw. Nixon took the country off the gold standard allowing for great expansion of the military/scientific industrial complex through the printing of fiat money with a loose backing of GDP. He also thought that bringing China into the world economy would soften the dictatorship and make way for them to become more democratic. We see how well that worked out.
The U.S. has been corrupted since before the ink dried on the Constitution. It’s not as bad as other countries but, it is getting worse.
The corruptocrats barely hide it now and sometimes even advertise it. The U.S. is descending into madness along with the rest of the western world.
Ask those of Japanese decent whose property was stolen and who spent YEARS in internment camps in California.
We won that war. That’s the last war we have won, come to think of it.
That was the last war the USA was in – it’s not declared war since 1942.
yeah all opposition parties banned and all media under govt control
oh so democratic isnt it?
mega billions handed to a tinpot dictator
media saturation to support said regime
We’re talking about Ukraine, not Russia.
Also in the Legacy Media of the U.S., Leadership of the Democratic Party, and in the White House. Example: all three called it the “Inflation Reduction Act” until it passed and then it suddenly is the “Climate Health Act.” When it is just a grab bag of everything that they could think of to stuff in. They lie about what it is to get their corrupt legislation through.
standard operating procedure
The oligarchs and leaders are in the US. Russia’s are CHUMP CHAINGE compared to OURS. According to Forbes the highest ranking billionaire from Russia is # 97 with 17 B!
The next is # 137, and only 8 of the 197 of 10 B or more are Russian.
Without Zuckerbe0g, Gate, Bezos, Buffet, Bloomberg, etc. Biden would have never “won” the 2020 election. All 5 within the top 15 richest in the world.
News now declares that Gates “lobbied” Manchin to vote for the 400 billion in green new deal spending.
Manchin knows he is out in 2024, so was primed to be bought off to secure his life of leisure. Biden bought his earlier votes by giving his wife a high paying job. It took real money to buy him off this time, and Gates has real money.
But what the oligarchs really wanted was the 87,000 IRS agents, to be able to get information of their adversaries. No doubt THEIR tax returns will NEVER be leaked.
The only solution to the US disaster is the Fair Tax and the total elimination of the income tax and IRS, followed by the elimination of the FED and all federal bank “insurance” to get the government out of everyone’s finances. All of these devices are less than 110 years old in the US.
Make them actually get a warrant per the 4th amendment, as opposed to the federal government getting your financial info through quasi government agencies that you MUST voluntarily surrender your information to.
No they are in Ukraine too.
Now what was Obama doing there 🤔
yeah where did -elensky get the millions and the os homes from as a comic and actor of little fame?
If Russia were to stop at conquering the Ukraine, you might have a point.
I should note that the Ukrainian people have no desire to place themselves back under the iron boot of Russia.
Sooner or later Putin will ask for Alaska.
Maybe we can bargain with Putin to take California in place of Alaska.
if YOU paid him enough ..nah hes NOT that daft
If Putin wants Alaska back, he will have to pay us $7.2 million plus 154 years’ worth of interest (compounded)….
Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868) | National Archives
“In 1866 the Russian government offered to sell the territory of Alaska to the United States. Secretary of State William H. Seward, enthusiastic about the prospects of American Expansion, negotiated the deal for the Americans. Edouard de Stoeckl, Russian minister to the United States, negotiated for the Russians. On March 30, 1867, the two parties agreed that the United States would pay Russia $7.2 million for the territory of Alaska.”
My suggestion is that we don’t sell.
The Ukrainian people that left their country during this crisis have no desire to place themselves back under the iron boot of Zelensky either. I had no idea that men of service age were forbidden to leave the country during the crisis – so much for ‘volunteers’.
So you aren’t concerned about a tyranny invading a democratic neighbour for trumped up reasons, bombing its civilians and committing war crimes?
Do you have a problem with other trolls taking your space in a site that you routinely claim not to be a part of even though you are here daily? The Russians, Chinese, and Iranians might take issue with that.
You can’t talk we warned you about the problems of becoming dependent on other countries and you were fine with it. You even went as far as telling us HVDC interconnectors all over Europe was the way forward and made you an advanced country. All of Europe looks pretty clever now don’t they 🙂
You will own nothing and you will be happy…looks like the Germans and everyone in the EU and England are the crash test DUMMIES.
The people should be able to sue the government for negligence of power supply?
That would put a firecracker up the GREENS and leftist mps.
On the plus side, the net zero stupidity could be quietly abandoned by the political classes.
Exactly. The leaders aren’t fools, they are executing thier plan
In Germany, and other PR countries, you don’t get the government you voted for because it has to be cobbled together in most cases as no party wins a clear majority. And if PR wasn’t bad enough, some systems have an alternative vote where you have a number of votes to be cast in a preferential order. The problem with this is that while it looks good and people vote – demos – the second part of the word – kratos – is nowhere to be seen.
FPTP countries are suffering from party list syndrome though: narrow cliques control who gets to stand for the main parties in winnable seats. Think Cameron A list and Momentum control of Labour in the UK.
To answer the question literally:
No, something very good happened last time Germany experienced high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis. Ludwig Erhart, as Germany’s first post-WW2 finance minister (even before the restoration of full German sovereignty in the western sectors), instituted radically sound monetary and regulatory reforms that led in very short order to West Germany’s Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle). The western occupiers were dubious at first, but they allowed it, and the results spoke loudly.
Among other things, it saved West Germany from communism (promoted by radical parties and elements in trade unions) and solidified support for democracy, sound money, and a (classically) liberal political culture.
The time before that: Yes, something very bad happened.
The Germans have followed the priests of Mother Gaia into the abys just as they followed Der Führer.
We’re following the piper and we dance beneath the moon.
The final order by the Fuhrer was not obeyed which was to self destruct all industry to keep it from the invaders. Hopefully they will do the same in saving what they can this time around, amid the policy rubble and nearby invaders.
These prices are going to hurt
Beside the pressure from their dictatorial gubmint & high energy costs, Dutch farmers are having a dry summer, too, as are farmers in France & Germany, among others. That will increase costs even more but should garner more support for them as people won’t take cheap food for granted, as they have in the past. Reality bites!
Yes, the impact of climate change is finally obvious across Europe after this summer (and other recent summers)
Ha ha: there is ZERO (net zero if you prefer) statistical evidence for such a statement – sorry if that overtaxes your mathematical understanding.
Maybe they will take the time to learn something about weather, climate, and advocacy agendas in between gathering scraps of wood to burn and roots to throw in the soup pot.
So. . .
Do we bomb China’s thousands of coal fired power plants?
Nothing the Europeans can go will lower atmospheric CO2.
It’s so obvious that weather, that is no different from weather that has been happening for thousands of years, this time is being caused by CO2.
Because that’s what the models reveal.
WRONG.. There is absolutely nothing untoward about the climate or the weather.
UK has been lucky enough to have a decent summer for the last few years..
ENJOY IT…. or go huddle in your padded basement with your FF powered air-con.
What climate change theory are you referring to? Certainly not the one that says warming causes more evaporation which causes more water vapor in the atmosphere which causes more rain. So it must be the one that says warming causes less evaporation that causes less water vapor in the atmosphere that causes less rain.
China isn’t going to play ball …. send in the Griff. The planet needs you Griff go save us.
I can’t find an exact explanation on the internet for why Spain (and Turkey’s) MHE is so much lower in the Image. Im from the other side of the Pond not so familiar with Europe. Thanks . Maybe a price cap?
Germany doesn’t have primaries, all candidates (they actually do have districts where they are elected) are selected by the party. That’s the root of all evil. Some are elected via the party list, some directly in the district, but in both cases you have to go through the party. Donald Trump would have no chance in Germany.
Much the same in the UK despite our FPTP system. Voters will never be allowed anywhere near real choices. {Look at the stitch-up by MPs over who conservative party members are allowed to choose between.}
The problems are entirely down to Putin’s actions over gas: green policy has nothing to do with this (except for ensuring 50% of electricity does not rely on gas and providing cheaper electricity to millions with solar panels)
And Germany had already cut its so called green levy by 43%
Putin’s actions are all because of the green policies of idiots in the EU.
Germany was up sh1t creek with its self-inflicted bastardized / compromised power supply situation before Putin got aggro.
Ask the Germans who have been sweating over their next electricity bill for years now.
Sure Europe just needs more renewable energy that will fix them right up 🙂
I noticed that BoJo, on his gladhanding trip to Ukraine has also endorsed your lie, Griffy, calling high gas prices ‘Putin’s evil’ – it’s a convenient lie, easy to trot out and fit’s well into the current narrative. Unfortunately, unless fracking is started and gas production is seriously ramped up then the politicians will be caught out in this lie, questions will be asked why gas production wasn’t increased to counter Gazprom and why, only after the invasion of Ukraine, did the UK stop the sale of North Sea gas fields to Gazprom, why not before? Your lie will unravel Griffy.
Hey griff I see from your comment ” except for ensuring 50% of electricity does not rely on gas and providing cheaper electricity to millions with solar panels” that you are implicitly acknowledging that wind power does not provide cheap electricity.
Well done.
Ha ha ha! PR is NOT to blame – I mean, just look at the state of the UK (or US or Australia).
The problem is careerist (and sociopathic/psychopathic) politicians. The false ‘democracy’ has never allowed the voter to change anything important to the politician+super-wealthy class.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I remember when San Francisco was seemingly switching every election between district and proportional representation. Neither made any difference. Corruption is corruption whichever way you slice it.
When politicians stop attending free steak dinners will be the start of corruption free government.
Do many folks get the Net Zero emails from GWPF…
Quote from today’s:““The catastrophe is already there,” Thierry Bros, a professor in international energy at Sciences Po in Paris, said. “I think the major question is when EU leaders are going to wake up.”
Here at MailChimp
Politicians have a proven track record of not thinking ahead and being unaware of the consequences of their actions. When the wheels fall off completely, they will all look perplexed and exclaim: “well who could have foreseen that!” and do the only thing they have been conditioned to do – react to public outcry.
The Germans are in Canada now ‘securing’ an energy supply for 2025…or not.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/canada-germany-hydrogen-partnership-nl-1.6559787 The project was publicly announced in March and the Enviro assessment process started so anyone familiar with the process here knows it will take years.
A People in poverty are a People that can be easily enslaved.
The nightmare we are living in only ends when WE say it ends.The politicians are in on the scam to enslave all of humanity. They obviously haven’t watched James Bond movies where traitors are always double crossed.
Click your heels together and say-I don’t buy it, I don’t buy it, I don’t buy it.Just stop swallowing all the bovine excrement like a dung beetle. Ask questions and do a bit of research. When a narrative does not add up, it must be questioned. It is up to us to get others to ask questions.
Cheap, reliable energy is what “powers” our civilization. Without it, we will rapidly revert to previous ages which supported vastly fewer humans. Perhaps we will revert to the stone age, an era that supported around 7 million humans, not 7 billion.
I have no sympathy for Europe. They brought this upon themselves with their green agenda. I see the same idiocy coming to Canada and the US.
This was completely predictable, and I’m not referring to Russian gas and oil. The entire conversion from fossil/nuclear fuel to unreliable renewables was/is stupid of the highest order.
You Get What You Vote For.
Sorry, no sympathy.
The author reports that, “As long as politicians retain their grip on party leadership, they never have to worry about being personally voted out of office. Even worse, party leaders can arbitrarily destroy the careers of mavericks or anyone who votes against the party line by simply bumping them down the list, without the need for a formal dismissal or expulsion….
….Both Germany and the Netherlands operate forms of government mostly based on proportional representation”.
Comment: The democrat party operates the same way in the U.S. The membership meets in Caucus and the leadership tells everyone how to vote. Representatives from swing state’s, those leaning a little right, receive authorization to vote against select bills as long as their vote isn’t required.
When someone votes for their State Representative or Senator that elected officials views, opinions and the needs of his constituents are not a consideration in legislation. Every democrat vote anywhere is simply a vote for Nancy Pelosi in the House, Chuck Schumer in the Senate. The other members and just a number. The Majority Party chairs all the committees and consequently what is brought to the floor for vote. The Chairs get explicit instructions from Nancy and Chuck as to what and when Bills are considered in committee, Everyone except Nancy and Chuck could otherwise stay home.