Decline of the Empire

Talking About Global Warming Makes People's Heads Explode!

"Finally, here's a useful subject," I thought when I saw the Marketplace story Climate Change — how to talk about bad news. Maybe these guys could give me some useful advice

And the story's subtitle?

Talking about global warming makes people's heads explode.  It's a tough subject.

Here's the audio. I will quote the story itself (a rough transcript) below.

 

Screw You, Louie

Every morning I wake up (at least so far ). Every morning I turn on NPR, I make some coffee and I peruse the internet. And every morning the Human Condition is exactly the same as it was the day before.

And so it was again yesterday when I learned about Louie Psihoyos' new movie project "6" [hat tip, reader Alex]. I suppose the title stands for "sixth extinction". Louie founded the Ocean Preservation Society, which makes documentaries about saving animal life the oceans.

Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) is a non-profit organization that creates film, photography and media, inspiring people to save the oceans. Founded in 2005 by renowned photographer and avid diver Louie Psihoyos [pictured below], OPS is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, conveniently between two oceans...

I lived in Boulder, Colorado for 14 years. You can believe me when I say that Boulder is the delusional fantasy capital of the world. Boulder is "conveniently" nowhere near the ocean...

Self-Delusion Is Not A Substitute For Actual Thought

It appears that I've "underestimated" activist Naomi Klein. I last demolished her delusional views in my essay Confusion In The Twilight Zone, but her new missive Climate change is the fight of our lives – yet we can hardly bear to look at it is so over-the-top that I need to reconsider my position.

Before I look at her epic self-delusion, let's take a brief look at the facts (up to 2010). I'm talking about carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂).

Source

Things have gotten worse since 2010, and the EIA now reports that U.S. emissions grew in 2013, the first increase since 2010. Still, a modest 2% increase in the U.S. is nothing compared to what we've seen in China, India and "other non-OECD" (light blue, graph above).

There are only two possible responses to this data—growing despair or utter self-delusion.

It's "Official" — Wealthy Special Interests Run The United States

... the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy
   — Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page [study cited below]

There’s got to be a difference between these two men, or else we’re all part of a cruel, cruel joke
   — Stephen Colbert, upon being asked whether anything meaningful separated Barack Obama from Mitt Romney

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Some stories write themselves.

By All Means, Study The Problem

A Google News search reveals that Obama's 2015 budget includes a much-needed Boost in Ocean Funding. And the best news of all is that there has been a 150% increase in funding for ocean acidification research.

Ocean Acidification Research Funding Sees a Big Increase—

Notably, the president’s budget would provide a much-needed $15 million for ocean acidification research, an increase of $9 million. As the ocean absorbs the carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide is changing the chemistry of the ocean and adversely impacting marine life. This is already having serious economic effects on shellfish growers and others who make their living from the sea. This money would help us better understand the problem and devise solutions that protect coastal economies.

Oh, hang on, wait a minute... Uhmm... $15 million total for ocean acidification research.

Getting A Handle On Precisely How Screwed We Are

Wealth, as Mr. Hobbes says, is power
   — Adam Smith

I love this kind of stuff. I've got time on my hands, so I was perusing the latest wealth/income inequality data. There's been a flurry of activity on this front, especially after the publication of Thomas Piketty's Capital In The Twenty-first Century.

Long story short, denizens of Flatland, especially economists, love to measure shit. Based on recent work by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, both of UC-Berkeley, those happy House of Debt guys Atif Mian (Princeton) and Amir Sufi (University of Chicago) wrote a post called Measuring Wealth Inequality. Before I ridicule them, let's be clear what we're talking about. Consider this graph from Saez and Zucman.

If We Can Dream It, We Can Build It!

Being a weird guy, I was delighted by yesterday's edition of the Diane Rehm Show, which included Elizabeth Kolbert talking about the Sixth Extinction.

Unfortunately, Diane was trying to swim in the Deep End of the Pool, so she was way out of her depth. Thus the show was called "Bringing Extinct Species Back To Life"—the de-extinction fantasy/stunt/sideshow—and thus Diane also included delusional fantasist Ryan Phelan in the discussion. Ms. Phelan is the executive director of Revive and Restore, which advances "genetic rescue for endangered and extinct species."

Life Without Filters

I started the day in my usual way. I made some coffee (gotta have it), turned on National Propaganda Radio, and started browsing the intertubes, starting at Tim Iacono's site. Tim is kind enough to put up a list of economy/finance links everyday.

Within 15 minutes of getting out of bed, I had learned (from Matt Taibbi) that "white collar" criminals (bankers) are above the law (the Holder Memo).

I learned that there is a bug in the SSL (https) protocol which protects secure transactions online.  It's called the "heart bleed" bug, and the Business Insider told me to assume I've been affected.

Since the vulnerability has been in OpenSSL for approximately two years and utilizing it leaves no trace, assume that your accounts may be compromised. You should change passwords immediately, especially for services where privacy or security are major concerns.

I was reading The Economist during my morning bowel movement — these activities seem to go together — and was reminded that August will be the 100th anniversary of the first shots fired in World War I. The Economist informed me that "around 25,000 books and scholarly articles have been written [about the war] since 1918."

Finally, I learned that there was a "stabbing spree" at a local high school this morning and at least 20 students were wounded.

I hadn't been out of bed more than 15 minutes.

JFC! — Homo Sapiens Is Clearly An Evolutionary Dead End

The other day I noted the end of climate "exceptionalism" in the latest IPCC report (5th Assessment) on the impacts of climate change. But I didn't know the half of it when I wrote that.

As The Dude said, new shit has come to light.

 

All The President's Bankers

Here's a funny video (in a dark kind of way) from The Daily Ticker.

Lauren Lyster interviews Nomi Prins, author of Nomi Prins, author of the new book All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power.

"She tells The Daily Ticker in the video below that the relationship between bankers and presidents is historic and runs deep."

No kidding.

Listen for the discussion about whether there's been any "progress" in stifling the cozy relationship between bankers and politicians over the last hundred years or so.

And have a nice weekend.