The Impact of Climate Policies

The opening quote from sustainability czar Shana Weber — “… I so believe in the practices of civil disagreement and questioning” — buoyed my hopes. Yet PAW’s Climate Issue raised no questioning of existential climate threats, despite evidence that climate models have “pervasive warming bias” per NASA/NOAA collaborators John Christy, Roy Spencer, et al. (American Geophysical Union’s Earth and Space Science, September 2020 issue). There was no mention of cold killing more people than heat (“Climate and health: mortality attributable to heat and cold,” The Lancet, May 20, 2015) or CO2 increasing crop yields (CO2Coalition.org).

To PAW’s premise that one “may be apathetic or even terrified about climate change,” there is another group. Many are terrified of climate doomsdayists’ harmful policies upon our economies and our poor. Those in the world huddled around charcoal fires are serving a (short) life sentence.  Insufficient attention was given to conflict mineral mining, labor and environmental harm in the manufacturing of renewable equipment, skyrocketing energy costs per Europe’s experience, geopolitical instability (Russia/Ukraine/China), and the impact of renewables on wildlife.

Princeton can afford renewables, but most on this planet can’t. Even our university has expensive gas turbine backup for its renewables. In the long-term, nuclear power is backed by smart people such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Nuclear power is not intermittent and is safe. See Mike Shellenberger’s TEDx talks.

 At Reunions come hear Dr. Patrick Moore, former president of Greenpeace Canada, Princeton’s Dr. William Happer *64, and others at Lewis Library room 138, May 27 at 11 a.m. Or view via Zoom and the University’s Media Central Live site.