Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Adaptation, Development, Environment, Immigration, Standards of Living, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Sep 12th, 2018
It is obviously extremely hard to pin down a solid figure for how many people are going to be displaced due to the challenges posed by a warming planet. But virtually every publication I have read on the challenges of global warming rank the issue of “climate refugees” as both a serious political and economic […]
Posted in Central Planning, Disingenuous, Environment, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., You Can't Have it Both Ways on Sep 11th, 2018
If you look at the major risks to human health and well-being around the world, you will quickly come to realize that climate change ranks nowhere near the top of the list. For example, the WHO and various other estimates show that something like 10 million people per year die from easily curable infectious diseases […]
Posted in Environment, Government Gone Wild on Aug 19th, 2018
Here in the Sugarlands Visitor Center at the Great Smoky National Park we see: I love that there is a nearly empty collection box. The park tries to collect small amounts of fees by selling trail maps and wildflower and wildlife guides, but at $1 a pop that is probably barely enough to cover the […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Environment on May 14th, 2018
I just finished reading Peter Brannen’s interesting book on the five previous major mass extinctions that have struck planet Earth. It is, of course, a book that is very much intended to warn us that we are on our way to the sixth if we do not keep carbon dioxide levels low (CO2 ramp ups […]
Posted in Environment on May 2nd, 2018
In the 1950s, Enrico Fermi famously asked, “Where Are They?” And that question spurred a great deal of thought and interest in the idea of whether extra-terrestrial life exists, and if it does exist why hasn’t it reached us yet, and the implications for our civilization if in fact it has not. I just finished […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Environment on Apr 30th, 2018
In an otherwise very good and very important article on the threats to migratory shorebirds, the entire point is diminished by the obligatory implication of climate change. Now, of course, climate change is going to change the location and content of marshes, estuaries, shorelines, and more. And climate change will slowly change the timing of […]
Posted in Adaptation, Behavior, Environment on Dec 18th, 2017
Yes, I am now becoming an internet meme where basically anything and everything can be tied into climate change. I’d like to make a few short observations today. What happened to the climate change discussion? It really does seem to be low-level background noise. My advice to those people who are posting regularly about the […]
Posted in Environment, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Dec 12th, 2017
Solar powered picnic tables? Check. Solar powered trash cans? Check. Dedicated green blog? Check. Recycling cans everywhere? Check. Water bottle filling stations? Check. Stopping our snowblowers from leaking gas/oil all over the sidewalks and into our waterways? Ummmm …
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Environment on Nov 29th, 2017
A quote: When it comes to the environment, we are asking how we can maintain a healthy environment with our continuing human activity? Emissions projections U.S. Energy Information Administration predict that we will likely continue to pollute at an exponentially increasing rate as the years go on. But hey, it’s an actual link to the US government, so it […]
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Environment, ethical foundations, incentives, Institutions, Knowledge, Property Rights on Nov 19th, 2017
Before I proceed with this post, let’s get this out of the way. Here is a really cute elephant picture: And let me get the following out of the way: even though I understand the economics and arguments about why we may want to allow and perhaps even encourage hunting, I don’t like it at […]
