Free Republic

The global cooling, warming, or climate change movement, whatever it is called nowadays, was not born as the result of immaculate conception. It was conceived in the early 1960s in Paris, France, as a sinister plot to contain American expansionism, as the Europeans called it at the time. Undamaged by the war, America was the dominant economic and political power, producing more than 50 percent of the world’s output. France, on the other hand, defeated and humiliated in the Second World War, was in ruins. General Charles de Gaulle, then president of France, was obsessed with Napoleon’s greatness and the...

As the smoke settles from fires at the close of the year, it serves as a stark reminder of the raging wildfires that have plagued California and the rest of the American West. But how do such wildfires start in the first place? In the United States, 84 percent of the 1.5 million wildfires reported from 1992 to 2012 were human-caused, while 16 percent were sparked by a lightning strike However, ignition is only the beginning. And because of climate change, dry conditions are lasting longer and, in turn, causing longer fire seasons. Though it's been a record-breaking year in...

In a year that featured catastrophic hurricanes and historic wildfires, 2018 could close out as one of the quietest and least-deadly years for tornadoes in United States history. “2018 is running near the minimum in terms of number of tornadoes recorded in modern times,” said Dr. Patrick Marsh, a warning coordination meteorologist at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. As of Dec. 29, there have been 991 tornadoes across the United States in 2018. This is noticeably lower than the average of 1,287 and only slightly higher than the record low of 897 tornadoes, set in 2014. One reason behind the near-record...

The Closing of the American Mind was Allan Bloom's groundbreaking critique of "absolute understanding" in academia and the way that it undermines critical thinking. If Bloom were with us today, we could imagine him writing a sequel devoted to the way the climate change industry has sought to silence dissent. Chuck Todd gave a stunning example of the phenomenon this morning in his introduction of a Meet the Press special edition on climate change. Todd quite literally announced that dissent would not be tolerated. Here was Todd: "Just as important as what we are going to do this hour is...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s plan for a new “Climate Cris” panel didn’t go over well with all of her political allies, particularly staffers for newly elected Ne w York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The California Democrat, who is poised regain her House Speaker role in the near year, championed a new “Select Committee on the Climate Crisis” on Friday, but her younger and more progressive counterparts were not impressed. “This committee, if it turns out that the rumors about it are true, sounds about as useful as a screen door on a submarine,” said Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Rep.-elect...

The climate crisis industry claims 24/7/365 that fossil fuel emissions are causing unprecedented temperature, climate and weather changes that pose existential threats to human civilization and our planet. The only solution, Climate Crisis, Inc. insists, is to eliminate the oil, coal and natural gas that provide 80% of the energy that makes US and global, cpossible. Failing that, CCI demands steadily increasing taxes on carbon-based fuels and carbon dioxide emissions. However, as France’s Yellow Vest protests and the latest climate confab in Poland demonstrated, the world does not accept CCI’s assertions. Countries worldwide are expanding their fossil fuel use, and families are...

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 The cult of Marxism has to get stronger and more stringent for people to do what is against their own good. We have an economy which is getting better by the day and people still want to turn back to the economic malaise of Barack Hussein thanks to the worship of Global Warming. You see it especially well in the media as each and every talking head tries to outdo each other as they preach their...

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are preparing to take control of the lower chamber next week by forming a new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis -- but some members of the caucus aren't happy. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the caucus' choice for the next speaker of the House, today announced the appointment of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to lead the select panel. "She will bring great experience, energy and urgency to the existential threat of the climate crisis," Pelosi said in a statement. "This committee will be critical to...

Democrats will soon take control of the U.S. House and are vowing to put climate change on the agenda. Some are calling for a "green new deal," while others support a growing push for a tax on carbon.

The Washington Post reports that, with just a few days left in the year, 2018 will be the first year with no violent tornadoes since records began to be kept in 1950.  This year is also vying to be a record for lowest number of fatalities from tornadoes. It has been predicted that, due to climate change, storms would become more frequent and more violent.  In the United States, this appears not to be the case – and not just for this year. This year's goose-egg may seem to fit a recent pattern. In simple terms, there have been downtrends in...

The New York Times loves to tell us the sacrifices we should make in the name of warmist predictions of doom, but wants to exempt itself and its wealthy readers from them when it comes to carbon generated by private jets. Private jets – the cherished perk of the ruling class -- may be the Achilles Heel of their campaign to control carbon emissions in the name of global warming. Make no mistake: the forces pushing carbon (and therefore energy use) regulation upon us are politically potent only because of the support of powerful interests who want all the...

At least nine homeless people have died across Germany due to low temperatures since October, the German body that tracks homelessness (BAGW) said on Monday. “We know of nine people who died at night for no fault of their own,” Werena Rosenke, the association’s managing director told the newspaper Rheinische Post. “In some cases, forensic medical examinations are still ongoing, but we assume that the victims had no dwelling and froze to death due to low temperatures.” Four of the deaths were reported in the port city of Hamburg, two in Düsseldorf and one each in Cologne, Essen and the...

**SNIP** Climate activists expressed disappointment. "Without a mandate to create a plan and a requirement that its members don't take fossil fuel money, we are deeply concerned that this committee will be just another of the many committees we've seen failing our generation our entire lives," said Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's spokeswoman. The push reflects the increasing power and visibility of liberals on Capitol Hill. Poised to be the largest of the values-based caucuses next year, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has already received a jolt of energy from members such as Ocasio-Cortez, whose political celebrity and regular posts to...

President Obama forcefully told West Point graduates Wednesday that the U.S. must lead on climate change, just days before the administration is expected to announce the cornerstone of his climate legacy. Obama railed against climate change skeptics, saying they make it harder for nations to cooperate in the fight against global warming. "We can’t call on others to make commitments to combat climate change if so many of our political leaders deny that it is taking place," Obama said on Wednesday. "You see, American influence is always stronger when we lead by example. We cannot exempt ourselves from the rules...

In early November, gale-force winds whipped a brush fire into an inferno that nearly consumed the town of Paradise, California, and killed at least 86 people. By the second morning, I could smell the fire from one foot outside my door in Berkeley, some 130 miles from the flames. Within a week, my eyes and throat stung even when I was indoors. Air quality maps warned that the soot-filled air blanketing the Bay Area had reached “very unhealthy” levels. For days, nearly everyone wore masks as they walked their dogs, rode the train, and carried out errands. Most of those...

When principles meet economics, principles lose. That is the lesson coming from three prominent setbacks to policies intended to target climate change. These sobering results remind us how little people are willing to pay for professed principles ... and ominously how much government is required in order to make them do so. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC Poll, “two-thirds of Americans believe action is needed to address global climate change and a record high 45 percent believe that the problem is serious enough to merit action immediately.” The poll “also found that 52 percent of American adults believe...

Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord, June 1, 2017 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. I would like to begin by addressing the terrorist attack in Manila. We’re closely monitoring the situation, and I will continue to give updates if anything happens during this period of time. But it is really very sad as to what’s going on throughout the world with terror. Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of those affected. Before we discuss the Paris Accord, I’d like to begin with an update on our tremendous — absolutely tremendous —...

Democrats are lining up to support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal.” The proposal could be the largest expansion of government since the Great Society or New Deal. Ocasio-Cortez’s plan could cost tens of trillions of dollars. Democrats are increasingly lining up to support a “Green New Deal,” which, while vague on details, could end up being the largest expansion of government in decades. As it stands, the “Green New Deal” is more aspirational than actual policy. Indeed, it takes its name from the New Deal of the 1930s, and its main backer, incoming Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, compared...

COP 24 just concluded in Poland. Nearly 23,000 climate saviors attended this 24th annual climate carnival.Every year, plane-loads of concerned busybodies fly to some interesting new location to spend tax dollars on a well stocked 12-day holiday.Few delegates arrived by bicycle or solar-powered plane – a fleet of at least 100 commercial, private, and charter aircraft brought them at a cost estimated at U.S. $57M. When the costs of hotels, ground transport, food, entertainment, air-conditioning, and office services are added, the bill is likely to top $500M.

When the U.N. released its latest climate report in October, it warned that without “unprecedented” action, catastrophic conditions could arrive by 2040. For Amy Jordan, 40, of Salt Lake City, a mother of three teenage children, the report caused a “crisis.” “The emotional reaction of my kids was severe,” she told NBC News. “There was a lot of crying. They told me, 'We know what’s coming, and it’s going to be really rough.’ “ She struggled too, because there wasn't much she could do for them. “I want to have hope, but the reports are showing that this isn’t going...