All Entries in the "Development" Category

Where is the green worker?

Perhaps the most pernicious and pervasive gimmick of recent years is that of “green growth.”  “We need not renounce our worldly goods,” we are told, “green is also good for business and millions of jobs will be created by putting technology at the service of a better environment.”
Tremendous news: but where are the jobs and [...]

And Now For the Good News

by Einar Du Rietz
How splendid in this often pessimist debate, to get the chance to present some good news!
According to the global health statistics from WHO, things are going in the right direction, in some cases remarkably well. Since 1990, infant mortality has decreased by 30 percent. Malnutrition is going down, access to drinking water has [...]

Allègre con brio: last stance at the OK Corral

Former government minister Claude Allègre is once more to be hailed for fighting the “consensus”, as his recent book is high on the best-seller lists.
Yes, discussion is possible; no, scientific progress is not a matter of international voting to find the truth. (This would be comparable to letting the dictatorship countries vote on human [...]

CFACT Responds to Connie Hedegaard

Anyone who tells you that restricting prosperity and redistributing wealth will alter the climate is selling something.
CRAIG RUCKER
EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard today posed the question, “can the U.S. afford not to have ambitious legislation that paves the way for a more energy-efficient future?”
CFACT Executive Director Craig [...]

For Lucy (should I find her)

The recent decision by the French government to scrap the CO2 tax was welcome news: it was from the outset mostly a complicated design to satisfy two major interests, quite removed from any environmental concern.

Lights On – Caviar Out

by Einar Du Rietz
The campaign is on again with expensive ad’s for Earth Hour, and local politicians have been forced for months to defend their decisions on shutting of the lights on central buildings, or not.
In the midst of the IPCC debacle, the activists and politicians pretend that shutting out the lights for one hour [...]

The Pandit, the pundits and the bandits

The IPCC got another knock
recently, perhaps from an unexpected corner. In its 2007 report, the predictions for the Himalayan glaciers indicated that they would entirely disappear by 2035.
In late 2009, at the request of his government, the Indian geologist V.K. Rania (retired) looked into this, and concluded in a White Paper that glaciers (in [...]

This is not an Avatar

It remains to be seen whether Copenhagen was indeed a watershed; but at least the French mainstream media seem less apologetic in past months. It is comforting for instance to read the columns by Claude Allègre in the weekly Le Point. (He was sacked from competitor L’Express in 2008, presumably for speaking out against the [...]

Climate Policy’s Third World Threat

Barun Mitra and Manuel de Araujo Address CFACT’s International Climate Eco-Summit (I.C.E.) in Copenhagen

Thanks to Jody Clarke and the Atlas Foundation for their sponsorship of Barun Mitra’s and Manuel de Araujo’s Presentations in Copenhagen.

Water seeks its own level: here comes that sinking feeling

What’s the difference between the climate jamboree and the Titanic? At least the latter had an orchestra. Numerous groups are eager to grab the headlines in Copenhagen; the smaller you are, the more original the initiatives. But dressing up as a polar bear is a tiresome business. Better try for direct appeal to bleeding hearts [...]

Pascal’s Wager, Gore’s Wages

“- Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?
- Supposing it didn’t, said Pooh after careful thought.”
(The House at Pooh Corner)
The Economist in its special report argued that the world needs a new climate treaty as an “insurance policy against a catastrophe that may never happen”. A curious statement, especially in [...]

Monsanto, mon amour

In truth, there is no such thing as absolute safety; but this fundamental human need may explain the excessive search for certainty in particular as the world seems awash with a constant flow of disconcerting events.
It seems obvious then to assume that risk is the opposite of safety. But it isn’t: as inaction also entails [...]

Reversing the burden of spoof

by Jacob Arfwedson
One of the less endearing features of government supporters is their general disdain for democracy when eventually popular vote goes against their designs. The legitimacy of consent suddenly becomes irrelevant and a downright nuisance. In Europe, we experienced this in the constitutional negotiations: first with the Maastricht Treaty, and more recently with [...]

CFACT's Field Trip to Mexico

CFACT recently completed a development project in Valle Verde, Mexico.  CFACT partnered with a coalition of relief organizations to provide local residents with solar panels, recycled laptops, and basic computer training.

Still Feeding the World

The great Norman Borlaug Died September 12, 2009
By PAUL DRIESSEN (Washington)
Norman Borlaug just turned 94 – and is still going strong
During the “Eat This” segment of their docu-comedy series BS, Penn Jillette beat Teller in a round of their “Greatest Person in History” card game. Penn needed just one card: Norman Borlaug.
This Iowa [...]