The historical victory of Geert Wilders of the PVV (Party for Freedom) in the Dutch General Elections of November 22nd was primarily linked to the theme of immigration. But let’s not forget that the PVV has also been a climate sceptic party for many years now. The party doesn’t want money-consuming climate plans (i.e. CO2 reduction). Here’s what the party manifesto says about climate change and climate policy:
“For decades now, we have been frightened by predictions of climate change doom. And although the projected disaster scenarios – about the world coming to an end – grew more extreme over the years, none of them ever become true.
We should stop being scared. The Netherlands is a smart country: we have the best water engineers in the world. Many years ago, our Delta Commissioner said we live in the safest delta in the world, we are well protected and there is no reason for panic.
The climate always changes and has been changing for centuries. When circumstances change, we adapt to them. We do that through sensible water management, by raising dikes when necessary and by giving rivers more space. But we should stop the hysterical reduction of CO2, an action we, a small country, wrongly think can ‘save’ the climate.
The Netherlands is responsible for less than half of a percent of the total global emission of CO2. In answer to questions of the PVV, the Minister (of Climate) admitted that his climate program with 122 measures, would only lead to a reduction of global warming by 0,000036 degrees. The amount of CO2 that The Netherlands avoids emitting with these measures, is compensated by the amount that China emits in less than one day. And the cost of all this is 28 billion euros! This has nothing to do with reality, it is all about climate ideology and delusions of grandeur.
And for this unaffordable insanity, we should change our entire way of living: our coal-fired power plants are being closed, while there are hundreds of them built in Asia as we speak. Our houses will no longer use natural gas, at the cost of tens of thousands of euros, while natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel. Our country is being crammed with dismal wind turbines, while local residents literally get sick because of them. They want us to use heat pumps and electric cars, while our power grid – that used to be one of the most reliable in the world – can’t cope with demand. We must fly less, eat less meat; it never stops.
The PVV says: there is no way we are going to do that! The Climate Law, the Climate Agreement and all the other climate measures will go directly to the paper shredder. No more wasting of billions of euros for pointless climate hobbies, but more money for our people.
The energy bill has risen to record highs over the past few years. Many hundreds of thousands of people live in energy poverty. This year, the average energy bill will rise by many hundreds of euros. More than half of that is due to higher taxes! The Dutch energy tax on natural gas, is amongst the highest in all Europe. The Dutch are being squeezed. That’s why the PVV wants to lower the energy tax and VAT on energy.”
Five years ago, FvD (Forum for Democracy) won the local (Provincial) elections, with climate as an important theme. This year BBB (Farmer-Citizen Movement) won the Provincial Elections with their critical views on nitrogen. There are enough clues that lots of citizens have had enough of the unrelenting nagging about climate and nitrogen fertilizer, despite the massive media support of climate alarmism day after day.
There is no climate emergency
Clintel is a thinktank and is not connected to any political party. Nor have we had any involvement in party manifestos. That doesn’t mean we can’t largely agree with what the PVV has written in her party manifesto on climate and climate policy.
We state in our World Climate Declaration (now signed globally by more than 1850 scientists and experts, including two Nobel Prize winners) that there is no climate emergency, even if one acknowledges that CO2 has caused most of the warming since 1850. If there is no climate emergency, there is no need for panic in climate policy.
For years, we have been saying that the current climate policy is unfeasible and unaffordable, like Marcel Crok wrote in 2018 in the Dutch magazine Elsevier (article in Dutch). Back then, the number of 0,0003 degrees of reduction in global warming had already appeared, as a result of a 50% reduction of CO2 in The Netherlands.
The electorate has now also voted against unfeasible and unaffordable climate policies. So, it’s time for a government that stops overly ambitious climate policies. Better half-turned than completely gone astray. It’s also about time that the media adopts a more open attitude towards other views on the climate, like those of Clintel.
In his most passionate speech of the whole election campaign, Frans Timmermans (leader of the Labour Party) said, after the results were announced, that The Netherlands will abandon nobody. This advice should especially be applied to the parties on the left. They will have to become more understanding of other views on climate, on nitrogen, and on immigration. Only if they abandon their position of moral superiority will they have any chance of success in the future. Yet, in their speeches on November 22nd, there were no signs of this.
We knew that regarding climate policy “the shore will stop the ship” at some point. In ten years’ time, we might conclude that in The Netherlands, that point was November 22nd 2023.
Hopefully this means the end of the underhanded anti-farmer idiocy as well. !
No more cow-towing to unelected EU bureaucrats. !
While that may be a good idea. It would mean a Dutch Exit from EU which isnt going to happen.
You forget Wilders party only got 23.5% of the vote and under the european proportional parliaments is 37 Mps out of 150.
Do the math
He has a has a lot of other minor party support and will probably form government.
Duker may well be correct. Don’t get carried away.
Other commentators still think there is a high likelihood that the usual suspects will remain in power with a coalition united by keeping Wilders out.
Michael,
you may well be right, but that would cause a lot of unrest and with unknown reactions. The farmers were and are angry with the establishment, and who can blame them. If a coalition tries to contuinue with business as usual I would expect a lot of trouble.
..and so far the march of the climastorbatory Ballsonchicks has not bothered to take notice of any farmer, citizen or protestor, other than having them prosecuted as terrorists.
Bet you ten dollars: Who’s gonna get depressed and suicide first, the ‘right-wing populist’ in Holland, or the one in Argentina?
Not just the farmers. Everyone has to eat. When they see food prices are going to soar and that they will become reliant on food imports, they begin to re-evaluate their beliefs.
If they’re smart enough. That won’t happen in the USA. We traded our educators for indoctrinators decades ago.
The other main parties have 69 seats compared to PVV’s 37. They have said they will not work with PVV. If they work together they only require 7 more seats to reach a majority. PVV require 39 and a coalition of the 7 next highest parties. An 8 party government is not a recipe for stability.
People will exit the EU before they exit a safe comfortable life voluntarily. The tide is turning.
Having the largest percentage of votes, he gets to create a coalition. Do you not see that two things will work toward changing the thinking of other parties? 1) they will want to share in governing and there will be a competition between the other parties to be as attractive to Wilder’s as they can. Note also, there are other parties on the right who don’t have to compromise much -e.g.
pro farmers parties. 2) those who inflicted the pain on the economy and destruction of the Dutch way of life will see a chance to make a safe exit. There are worries in UK, France and Germany that the “Dream” is turning into a nightmare. The UK PM is already watering down policy on climate. Thet see other countries- Italy, Slovakia, choosing parties to reverse the climate and immigration policies. They see that the Democrats in the US about to topple.
The only avenue forward is, gracefully or otherwise, walking back a set-up that won’t work.
I believe any group can form a coalition at any time. Having a large support base might raise your chances of finding allies, but in most cases, alliances work to maintain the status quo.
I once again remind everyone of the stated Bolshevik strategy of fielding “suitable candidates who can speak on conservative issues”. These days, walking like a duck, and quacking like a duck, somehow magically turns you into a duck, with all the rights, privileges and subsidies of an anatidus specimen.
Please let this be the beginning of a trend.
Don’t forget climate skeptic Milei in Argentina.
Separated at birth?
Well the only big difference is you can understand most of what Javier says when he’s speaking English. Bernard allegedly also speaks English.
You mean like Biden and Harris.
I feel the late, great Ken Dodd is a better fit.
Seemingly good news out of Argentina too, and wanna be Weltführer Klaus Schwab is no longer flying under the radar.
Weltführer?
You owe me a keyboard.
I hope it was milk.
It’s possible. The rise of traditional -Non “Woke “ sentiment hopefully means this tiny ..less tha 1 % of the population will be introduced to S Squared. (Ask a vet )
Would prefer to introduce the woke scum to the S-bend !!
From history, countries do not stay with any policy indefinitely. I hope the green blob loses power before it causes even more damage.
After more than 30 years of alarmism and failed predictions, the people are finally starting to wake up.
https://twitter.com/KDJRadioShow/status/1727949377556160627
That’s the kind of woke I can get behind!
As I understand it, his chances of forming a government are nil. The left and the greens will probably patch some unholy coalition together.
Yes
But the point is they are now the largest party, that means something.
If the left doubles down they likely lose even more support.
Left and Greens already in a coalition and they got 15% combined, maybe find other partys that make another 15% but thats only 30% of the MPs
The existing governing coalition is already centre- conservative which goes to show where the Dutch are. But Wilders is a no no for the largest partys
His chances of forming a government are far from ‘nil’ but he’ll likely need to break the ‘big party’ deadlock of the other 3 main parties. If they form a coalition to squeeze him out then their chances of getting anything through parliament after that is reduced greatly and the public that voted for Wilders will not take kindly to this perceived slap in the face. No – their best bet might be to do a ‘liberal democrat’ style coalition with 2 main parties as the main player but including Wilders PVV as a disposable ‘junior partner’; promise much and deliver nothing.
A’la the Liberals under Trudeau and the NDP, promise much give nothing and the NDP rolls over for a tummy scratch
I’m still trying to digest the Primer on atmospheric physics and that dust up in the comments on Willis’s article( which when you remove the unpleasantness did stimulate me to study again)
This is indeed an incredibly complex system we deal with here. And we are fortunate to have some heavy hitters show up with some very in-depth physics on the subject. MSM has really done a disservice to humanity by overlooking the complexity.
“…still trying to digest the Primer on atmospheric physics…”
_________________________________________________
You don’t need to have an in depth understanding of lots of issues and still make reasonable and correct decisions. Simple arithmetic and a good hard look at the weather records plus a skeptical view of what you’re being told by the media should lead the way. News papers have always been biased some leaned right and some left. Today nearly all news outlets are controlled by the left.
All I gotta do is look out the window- it’s freezing and I see no emergency, or crisis, or disaster- other than it’s too dam cold and I’m considering moving to Florida, or Texas, or Arizona, or….. Argentina.
Or just use your common sense – CO2 in the atmosphere is tiny (4 one hundredths of 1%) and the vast majority of it is naturally occurring which means that the man made amount of CO2 in the atmosphere doesn’t even amount to a trace amount – so even if we could remove that trace amount it wouldn’t change the composition of the atmosphere in any way and certainly wouldn’t affect the weather or the earth’s climate
Future will tell if this win can be capitalized but every win is still a win.
>>even if one acknowledges that CO2 has caused most of the warming since 1850
How would you know that?
Ah yes, it is a suggested projection of some computer models of which we know they have a very bad track record in the past.
So, while everyone should be open to that possibility, this statements is far from certain!
Estimations of how much warmth CO2 adds to the Earth’s atmosphere are guesses, not established facts.
It’s good to keep pointing this out.
Story tip
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/more-than-half-of-edmontons-60-million-electric-bus-fleet-not-roadworthy/wcm/3f20ad19-fc80-4a52-8f44-4689a44bd7ca/amp/
This is what happens when politicians have too much money to throw around.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/08/07/proterra-jennifer-granholm-conflict-interest-bankruptcy/
Crony Capitalism at its finest.
Dems through and through.
No surprise that the Lefties are describing the winners as “Extreme Right Wing”. I think the truth is closer to “moderately Centrist”!
I agree that Wilders is just moderately centrist in that his heterodoxies are on immigration (anti-muslim transformation of his country), nexit (loss of autonomy), and climate realism, but not traditional on any social/moral issues (pro-LGBTQ) or for the most part economics (other than opposition to wasting money on green piety that could be ‘better’ spent on social programs).
Milei is, on the other hand, eclectic but substantially right-wing even from a US perspective, looking to take a chainsaw to the state apparatus (eliminate half of the ministries), eliminate the central bank & adopt the US dollar, opposed to abortion, climate skeptical, critical of the current pope.
Strictly from a climate realism perspective, it’s encouraging to see people with diverse views on economics, morality, and liberty finding common ground opposing climate communism.
THE NETHERLANDS WAS GROSSLY OVERCROWDED, WITH 8 MILLION, WHEN I LEFT IN 1955. NOW IT HAS 17 MILLION, PLUS 7 MILLION CARS
AMSTERDAM, WHICH USED TO BE PLEASANT TO VISIT, HAS BECOME A CRIME, DRUG, PROSTITUTION INFESTED HELLHOLE, WITH ILLEGAL, UNVETTED, UNSKILLED, UNEDUCATED, CULTURALLY-DIFFERENT PEOPLE WALKING IN FROM ALL OVER
HOW TO REVERSE THOSE TRENDS TO MAKE THE NETHERLANDS GREAT AGAIN WILL BE A MAJOR CHALLENGE
Did you really need to shout?
I think the term “far-right” is about all the analysis the corporate press can muster right now. Pretty pathetic actually.
“far-right”
A disbeliever
An heretic
Malcontent
Sceptic
Generally disagreeable
Will not conform
I noticed that the MSM and the Dutch left parties have written him off as ‘anti-islamic’ for his immigration views. They don’t care what tactics they use to try to cancel him – they’re scared of their own people, and so they should be after what they’ve done! I just hope it spreads now.
The Dutch electoral system means that they will always be in a state of coalition, unfortunately he will have to give away too many things to get the outcome most people desire. However, if the Dutch people become tired of the other parties blocking change then the next election may see a landslide in his favour. The political colour of the Continent is quickly changing from red to blue. Let’s hope he doesn’t do a Boris and throw away his mandate.
Meanwhile…. The U.K. is sinking
“””This week, bizarre new research by the Museum of London sparked mockery and confusion after it concluded that black women were the group worst affected by the Black Death in 14th-century London.
It stated that their apparently inflated chances of death from plague were the result of the ‘devastating effects’ of ‘pre-modern structural racism’.”””
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12789127/How-earth-Black-Death-prove-Britain-racist-14th-century-Thats-incendiary-claim-Museum-London-examined-just-dozen-skeletons-cemetery.html
I’m surprised to learn that there were ANY black women in 1300s London. Although if you watch any recent ‘historical’ drama made in the UK, you would conclude that white people were recent immigrants to the island.
Advertising has us all in mixed marriages – across the LG part of the spectrum. It’s patent nonsense.
A vivid example of group-think. Like a flock of starlings in flight, the agencies all decided to represent black people at the same time. Suddenly the ~13% black population is represented as if it’s 83% of the population.
In advertising it is mildly interesting—amusing even. I imagine it will relax into something realistic in a few years.
Unfortunately the damage done responding to the “climate emergency” mass hysteria won’t go away when we return to our senses. That is for keeps.
Group think? It feels more like Nazional Sozialism …
Then there’s the play, Hamilton, on Broadway, showing America’s founding fathers as all or mostly black.
It’s re-writing history, or should I say shading it.
And in violation of US laws, the advertisements for actors clearly stated
“people of color only”.
No action by any equal rights group within the DOJ.
Everyone involved in the DOJ up to those appointed by politicians MUST BE FIRED, and go after their law licenses also.
In Shakespeare’s time, it was just not done for women to appear on stage. Men and boys, pretending to be women. It was the law.
So now we have a new law, that won’t allow White people on stage.
Next, we’ll cover their faces in public, and not allow them to interfere in higher pursuits, such as government, education, trade and religion.
Then we can screw them every time they bend over to mop the floor.
There has been a frantic rush to prove the UK as more racist than it actually is, or has been, ever since BLM moved across the pond. Academics are tripping over themselves to publish these articles, presumably in a nutty belief that if they say it then they won’t be racist. It’s just bizarre – we have had different cultures in this country going back to before the Romans and little or no evidence of persecution in much of that time, unlike many other countries.
And yes, there have been small numbers of black people in this country since at least the Roman period; more came in the Tudor period and more recently but that should surely indicate a lack of racism that they were accepted into the country not the reverse.
I love it. Between the PVV victory and Milei winning in Argentina, the heads of the western press are exploding all over the place.
It’s good to see that Dutch voters are sick of being scammed by climate alarmism. Chances are good that we’ll see the same reaction in next year’s US election and in a number of other countries shortly after that as voters realize the whole climate crisis is nothing more than a gimmick to raise taxes and impose unnecessary new laws and restrictions on them.