LOOSE ENDS (197)

LOOSE ENDS (197)

BY STEVEN HAYWARD IN LOOSE ENDS

Lately I’ve been saying “Things are going to get worse before they get worse,” and while I still think that is true, today the stars have aligned to bring us a bunch of cheering news.

• Starting with a strike today by 1,000 New York Times employees, which can only improve the product. One of the striking employees is Nicole Hannah-Jones, impresario of the egregious 1619 Project, but how can you tell, since she hasn’t written an article for the Times for more than two years. I’ve heard of a “sit down” strike and “quiet quitting” before, but this seems to break new ground. So if she goes “back to work” tomorrow, how will the Times know?

• Leftists have been handwringing for a while now about whether the “climate crisis” means that they shouldn’t have children, because more people are bad for the planet, “what kind of world would we be bringing kids into?”, etc. Like this recent story from the Bezos Bulletin:

Of course, we heard this same question during the Cold War and the “arms race,” i.e., how could you think of having children when there are so many nuclear bombs around? Now, I am wholeheartedly in favor of liberals not reproducing themselves; it will make our job easier in the future. But the good news is growing:

Huge Wave of Liberal Men are Getting Vasectomies to Protest Overturning Roe 

A large Planned Parenthood affiliate has been doing more sterilizations on men this fall since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.

Dr. Grace Shih, director of vasectomy services for Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, told KIRO 7 News that they have seen a 34-percent increase since the June abortion ruling, according to Fox News. Shih said one man told her that he believed having a vasectomy was an “act of love.” Others apparently never want to have children. . .

Why these men are choosing to never have children is not clear.

It’s clear enough to me why these “men” don’t want to have kids, and as I say, we should be supportive of this leftist impulse.

• The whole ESG  (“Environment, Social & Governance”) investment fad, which, as I explained elsewhere, is just the latest trendy label for an old leftist attempt to suborn capitalism, is showing signs of hitting the wall already:

Vanguard Quits Net-Zero Group, Marking Biggest Defection Yet

Vanguard Group Inc. is walking out of the world’s largest climate-finance alliance, marking the coalition’s biggest defection to date as US Republicans step up their threats against firms deemed hostile toward the fossil-fuel industry.

Vanguard’s decision followed a “considerable period of review,” according to a company statement Wednesday. Withdrawing from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which is a sub-unit of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, “will help provide the clarity our investors desire” about everything from the role of index funds, to financial risks in the context of climate change, the firm said.

Meanwhile:

Green groups furious as new coalmine in Cumbria is approved

Michael Gove has approved the first deep coalmine in 30 years, despite calls from environmental activists and Labour to turn down the project.

The levelling-up secretary’s planning approval for the mine in Cumbria comes after two years of opposition. Critics said that it would increase emissions and 85 per cent of the coking coal would be exported to produce steel.

And more good news, this time out of Germany. I missed this story when our pal Robert Bryce reported it back in late October, but it’s still cheery news:

The Iron Law Of Electricity Strikes Again: Germany Re-Opens Five Lignite-Fired Power Plants

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany was reopening five power plants that burn lignite, a low-rank coal. Germany’s return to lignite demonstrates, yet again, the Iron Law of Electricity, which says that people, businesses, and governments will do whatever they have to do to get the electricity they need.

Indeed, Germany’s move back to lignite is chock-full of contradictions, including one that belongs in the “you can’t make this up” column.

The Iron Law of Electricity is so powerful that the utility RWE is dismantling the Keyenberg wind project in the western part of the country to, wait for it… make more room for the expansion of the Garzweiler mine. Lignite from Garzweiler fuels the Neurath C power plant, which is one of the power plants being brought back online. A spokesperson for RWE told the Guardian newspaper that “We realize this comes across as paradoxical.”

• Finally (for this morning anyway), another bit of cheery news (from Mother Jones no less!) that will darken the day of every environmental doomster:

SCIENTISTS SAY THIS NEW WHEAT CAN WITHSTAND EXTREME HEAT AND DROUGHT

A new drought-tolerant variety of durum wheat has been created as part of an international breeding program to boost climate resilience in the food system by increasing crop diversity. . .

 https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/12/loose-ends-197.php