Great climate change news for German gourmets: Truffles made in Germany

                                       Truffles hunting demontration with a pig

Great climate change news from Germany and Switzerland: A Swiss climatologist has found truffles in Germany:

Truffles, a luxury delicacy in French and Italian cuisine, may soon be adding flavour to blander dishes, as it migrates further north amid climate change, a Swiss scientist said Friday.

Ulf Buentgen, a climatologist, told AFP that a rise in average temperature observed during 20^th century may be shifting the natural habitat of the delicacy about 100 kilometres north, from France and Italy to Germany.

During an expedition in southern Germany last year with a specially-trained Italian truffle-scenting dog, the climatologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich found some two kilograms of Burgundy truffles.

Buentgen, who ate the truffles, explained that such finds had rarely been reported, but could be explained by climate change, “which translates in an an isothermal upward shift of around 100 miles (110km).”

The preliminary finding has led to a more extensive ongoing study, which has so far turned up a further 210 sites with truffles since last summer in eastern Switzerland and Germany.

The find could prove lucrative for northern European states as the much sought-after warty fungi used to flavour up anything from pasta dishes to sausages can fetch up to 1,000 euros (1,432 dollars) a piece.

In November 2010, Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho reportedly paid $330,000 for two white truffles weighing a total of about 1.3 kilograms during an auction in Macau, matching the price he paid two years earlier for a single 1.5 kilogram specimen.

Read the entire article here

PS

Hopefully the Swiss climatologist, who ate the truffles, enjoyed his lunch. He could, of course, have made another choice - to have a Big Mac, sell the truffles to Mr. Ho and buy a Rolls Royce convertible.

Former Greenpeace boss now a big player in the doomsday business

Throughout the history of mankind, doomsday prophecies have fascinated people. In this age of fast communications and world wide audiences clever manipulators - think of Al Gore  - have realized that scaremongering is a huge business opportunity.

One of the newest entrants into the exclusive club of top doomsday entrepreneurs is Australian Paul Gilding, former head of Greenpeace International.

Gilding, whose "merits" include being arrested five times,  now has a private consultancy with several major companies "from BHP Billiton to Dupont" as his customers. (Business contracts are now clearly much more appealing than Greenpeace stunts for this former activist ).

Lucrative book contracts offer another business bonanza for climate change scaremongerers, which is why Gilding has written  a book, "The Great Disruption". The former activist is now busy touting his literary "masterpiece" to warmist mainstream media, most of which willingly agree to spread his message of gloom.

Recently the NYT climate change hypocrite Thomas Friedman did his best to to promote Gilding´s book:

“One of those who has been warning me of [a coming crisis] for a long time is Paul Gilding, the Australian environmental business expert. He has a name for this moment-when both Mother Nature and Father Greed have hit the wall at once-’The Great Disruption.’ “

Reuters is the next one to promote the book:

Gilding, author of a new book "The Great Disruption", has a simple message: We have left it too late to avoid serious impact from climate change and ecological damage after trying to drive global economic growth far beyond system and resource capacity.
As a consequence, we risk an environmental crash, triggering a sudden collapse in the global economy, and need to be ready to respond to the ensuing "social and economic hurricane", he says.
"If you thought the financial situation in 2008 was a crisis, and if you thought climate change was a cultural, economic and political challenge, then hold on for the ride," writes Gilding, a former head of Greenpeace International.
"We are about to witness humanity deal with its biggest crisis ever, something that will shake it to the core -- the end of economic growth," added the 52 - year-old Australian, who as an activist was arrested five times during protests.
---

He sees a series of ecological, social and economic shocks driven by climate change, including extreme weather, melting polar regions and agricultural output changes boosting prices.
Financial markets will see big drops, while the resulting economic and political crises will be massive in scale and last for decades.
--
So what are we supposed to do? Gilding says the stark view that it's too late now to avoid a crisis at first caused him despair -- he recalls breaking down sobbing during a 2007 presentation on the issue to a business audience in New York.

However, after 2007 things have improved for Gilding. No more sobbing and breakdowns for the  hard working business entrepreneur. There is money to make in the doomsday business.

Although the doomsday prophecy is the one that is supposed to sell his book, Gilding obviously has realized that his consultancy business would suffer, unless there is a happy ending:

But despite the turmoil and geopolitical strife he says we could face he is optimistic that humanity will quickly respond once it wakes up to the scale of the threat.

Read the entire article here

PS

Obvious airlines and coal companies are not among Gilding´s customers:

Among a series of measures, he foresees the closure of 1,000 dirty coal power plants within five years and the building of huge wind and solar farms. He suggests half the world's aircraft might have to be stranded to cut emissions.

"A good day" at the UN Security Council?

The UN Security Council´s deliberations yesterday were another example of the almost complete uselessness of the institution. After a lenghty debate, initiated by the "climate security superpower" Germany - a country not willing to increase its real defense spending within NATO - the Security Council managed to agree on a meaningless statement:

The Security Council "expressed "concern that possible adverse effects of climate change may, in the long run, aggravate certain existing threats to international peace and security."

It also asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to include information on possible climate change impacts in his regular reports on world troublespots.
Western diplomats said the fact that any statement was agreed was an advance on the last council debate on the issue in 2007. "This was a good day today for climate security," German Ambassador Peter Wittig told reporters.

Sadly, also Obama´s UN ambassador Susan Rice contributed to the "climate security" hype:

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington strongly believed the council "has an essential responsibility to address the clear-cut peace and security implications of a changing climate," and should "start now."

This blog seldom praises Russia for anything. However, even if Russia finally agreed to the meaningless SC statement, what the Russian ambassador Alexander Pankin said, makes sense:

But Russian envoy Alexander Pankin said Moscow was "skeptical" about attempts to put the implications of climate change on the council's agenda, which is defined as dealing with threats to international peace and security.
"We believe that involving the Security Council in a regular review of the issue of climate change will not bring any added value whatsoever and will merely lead to further increased politicization of this issue and increased disagreements between countries," he said.

Read the entire article here

US Congress to focus on EU´s plans to lift China arms embargo

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is taking steps in order to prevent the European Union from lifting its ban on arms sales to communist China. The EU´s "foreign minister", baroness Ashton, supported by France and Spain, has recently been busy promoting the lifting of the ban:

A new bill urging the EU and its member states to keep an arms embargo against China has been introduced to the US Congress.
Sponsored by US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the bill is in response to moves by some prominent European nations to lift the embargo.
“Lifting this embargo would pose a grave threat to Taiwan,” said Coen Blaauw, an official with the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).
“The prospect of EU-made submarines and missiles being sold to China is very disturbing. Additionally, some of the European weapons are based on US technology and could be used against US forces if Washington defends Taiwan should China stage an invasion,” Blaauw said.
“The Taiwan Strait continues to be one of the major flashpoints in the world and a conflict in the region will ultimately involve US forces. Lifting the ban will be bad for Taiwan and bad for the US,” Blaauw said.
The bill has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where Ros-Lehtinen is expected to ensure that it is given a hearing soon.
A European arms embargo was introduced against China following the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.
However, Spain recently said it wants to “eliminate any inconvenience in relationships between the EU and China” and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has recommended lifting the embargo to develop stronger foreign policy and security ties with Beijing.
According to the bill, China’s military buildup remains “shrouded in secrecy” and challenges the US and its allies, “particularly Taiwan.”
“The People’s Republic of China has been engaged in an extensive military buildup in its air, naval, land and outer space systems, including the deployment of approximately 1,600 short and medium-range ballistic missiles near the Taiwan Strait,” it says.
Weapons sales from Europe, the bill says, would encourage China to settle longstanding territorial disputes in the region “by the threat or use of military force.”

Read the entire article here

The Heritage Foundation´s Sally McNamara and Walter Lohman warned about Cathrine Ashton´s activities already in January:

It has been revealed that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton is pushing for the lifting of the EU’s 1989-imposed arms embargo on China. EU leaders failed to reach agreement on the issue at their summit in Brussels in December, but Lady Ashton is reported to be working closely with France and Spain to take the issue forward this year, describing the embargo as “a major impediment” to intensifying relations between Brussels and Beijing.[1]

British Prime Minister David Cameron rightly opposes lifting the ban on both security and human rights grounds. It is vital that Cameron work closely with his European allies—including Poland and the Czech Republic—to block Lady Ashton’s initiative and make clear that he will use Britain’s veto power if necessary. The new chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–FL), should also make clear that a lifting of the embargo would fundamentally weaken the transatlantic alliance.
A Violation of Human Rights and Breaking Faith with an Ally

The EU’s ban on arms sales to China was imposed on human rights grounds in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square massacre. Not much has changed since in the area of human rights. In 2010, The Heritage Foundation conducted an extensive examination of every annual State Department human rights report since the massacre and found the situation over that time “not improving and occasionally worsening.”[2]

China wants the embargo lifted for two reasons. First, the Chinese do not believe that as a major world power they should be held accountable for their internal policies. Second, by accessing European defense technologies and reverse engineering those products, Beijing can improve its technological expertise, expand its military capacity, and increase defense sales. China is developing its armed forces rapidly, and Beijing has little intention of leaving itself dependent on foreign sources for key weapons in the long term.

And at whom is China’s weapons buildup directed? Last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen said out loud what many analysts have long observed: “Many of these capabilities seem to be focused very specifically on the United States.”[3] It is inconceivable that the EU would directly assist in the development of forces in the Pacific intended to undermine America’s historical mission to safeguard peace, prosperity, and security in East Asia, an area of the world where it has tens of thousands of troops and its Pacific Fleet in harms way.

Lifting the embargo would also represent a contravention of several elements of the EU’s Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. The voluntary agreement—already blatantly disregarded by France, which announced that it will sell its Mistral assault ships to Russia—includes a commitment to “prevent the export of equipment which might be used for internal repression or international aggression or contribute to regional instability” and to take into account the risks posed to friends, allies, or other member states from arms sales.

Read the entire article here

The Winner of the Euro song competition: The Euro Crisis Song

I must admit that the Guardian is not my favourite daily, but this one they got almost right:

Al Gore´s new car

Al Gore must  be a very disappointed man these days. Along with Colin Powell and 3000 other "environmentalists" he will still have to wait for the car of their dreams, the Fisker Karma, while Hollywood eco-fighter Leanardo DiCaprio jumps the queue:

The man largely credited with turning the Toyota Prius into a bonafide celebrity is about to add a bit more green to his garage.

Fisker Motors announced last week that Leonardo DiCaprio will be the first to receive keys to a 2011 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid – an honor that places him ahead of more than 3,000 others, including Al Gore and Colin Powell.



It is easy to understand why Al Gore wants to lay his hands on this car

This is how the manufacturer describes DiCaprio´s contribution to the project:

The Karma was inspired in part by actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as Prince Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.  DiCaprio's role came when he was seen by Henrik Fisker arriving at the Academy Awards in a fuel-efficient Toyota Prius, even though he could be driving something much more opulent.   His Royal Highness Prince Albert commented to Fisker and Koehler that he would like to drive a fuel-efficient luxury car, having seen the Fisker Tramanto, a high-performance coachbuilt car based on the Mercedes-Benz SL500.  

(There is no mention about the royal environmentalist Albert also jumping the queue, but Al Gore better be prepared for another disappointment)

This is why the $100K vehicle, capable of running for up to 50 miles on its lithium-ion battery pack, must be the ideal car for the world´s first carbon billionaire Gore:

Two rear-mounted electric traction motors, mid-mounted lithium ion battery pack and front/mid-mounted range-extending gasoline engine/generator set
Battery: 20 kWh, 180 kW lithium ion w/Nanophosphate™ technology (A123 Systems)
Range extending Engine/Generator Set: 2.0-liter, 260hp, low-emission, four-cylinder direct fuel-injection w/ turbocharger (GM Ecotec®) and 175 kW generator
Traction Motors: 403 hp (300 kW) total [2 x 201.5 hp (150 kW)]

Motor Trend magazine´s description: the dual electric motors (coupled to act like one) shovel a nice 403 hp and a naughty 981 lb-ft of torque to the single-speed gear reduction. Technically, that's more torque than a Bugatti Veyron (This is a feature that Gore - who is used to fast travelling by private jets - must like)

And the big battery is not the only environmentally correct feature. This list of interior and exterior details and options should make all celebrity environmentalists salivate:

• Certified Sunken Wood™ sourced from the bottom of Lake Michigan; White Oak, pure grain finished naturally 
• Certified Fallen Wood™ sourced from old growth felled by California storms; Mahogany, pure grain finished naturally 
• Certified Rescued Wood™ sourced from California wildfires - Walnut, pure grain finished naturally 
• Animal-free execution that sets the benchmark for responsible luxury 
• Premium EcoSuede™ interior reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 80% during the recycling process
• Incremental features unique to EcoChic™Interior Materials
• Available Diamond Dust Paint with 35% - 55% recycled glass flake 
• EcoLucent™ transparent battery column and door inserts made from 40% post-industrial recycled content 
• Chrome-free, semi-aniline premium 'Bridge of Weir Low Carbon Leather TM'  interior prepared in 100% energy self-sustaining facility that sources hides from suppliers that abide by the Five Freedoms of humane animal treatment 
• Incremental features unique to EcoSport™ 
• Carpet backing made from recycled post consumer materials
• Wing wood substrate made with recyclable post consumer pine fiber 
• Seating foam made from soy-based bio fiber
• Eco-Enzo™  windshield wipers from certified crashed and recycled Ferraris (just a joke)

The almost endless list of climate correct extras makes one expect that the owners also are made of recycled stuff. While it may take a while before we are there, environmentally conscious  drivers will at least be able to by a solar powered bikini for their lady passenger...

It is not difficult to imagine the exhilarating feeling, when Gore on a balmy summer evening drives the Karma from his nine bathroom ocean view mansion to Malibu beach for a midnight swim with a lady companion - convinced that he is saving the world from catastrophic global warming at the same time ...

PS

Whatever one may think about the whole project, the people behind the Karma are at least to be congratulated for surviving the enormous paper work (most of which is the direct result of people like Gore) required for this eco-beauty to hit the market:

Because the Karma will be sold the world over, Fisker engineered the car to be compliant with all applicable regulations for crash, emissions and homologation in the US, Canada, the EU, Japan, China, GCC (Middle East) and Russia. The 840 rules, at an average of 54 pages each, encompass 43,000 pages and require the submission of an additional 30,000 pages of documents and images. Together they would fill 70 three-inch ring binders. Stacked atop each other these binders would reach more than 11 feet high.

More info on the Karma here

EU chief climate alarmist Hedegaard sides with the climate-industrial complex

It is not surprising that the European Union´s chief climate alarmist Connie Hedegaard has sent this message of congratulations to the Australian government:

On the occasion of the announcement of a carbon price by the Australian Government, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said:

''Congratulations to Australia for its commitment to pricing carbon emissions and introducing a domestic cap-and-trade scheme from July 2015. Our experience in Europe is that our emissions trading system has led our most forward thinking industries to some very creative and innovative ways of working, that help reduce emissions and cut costs. This creativity is also developing the skills and experience in the industries of the future. We look forward to Australia embarking on the same route and make a carbon market the core of its policy response to the climate challenge''.

Hedegaard is, of course, right about the "very creative and innovative ways of working" when it comes to cap-and-trade in Europe. Here are some examples of this "creativity":

In addition to over-allocation, windfall profits and the more fundamental problems with the EU ETS, other scandals have taken centre stage recently. In 2010, reports of more sophisticated forms of corruption have demonstrated that when 'buying' and 'selling' a sham commodity, the possibilities for fraud are endless.

"Carousel" fraud:

'Carousel fraud', which was widespread in 2010, involves claiming value-added tax (VAT) refunds from international carbon trades. The traders import the "goods" or allowances tax-free from markets in other countries and sell them on to domestic buyers, charging the VAT which was never passed on to the treasuries. The result is a quick and difficult-to-trace profit. Part of the problem is that trading in the ETS happens over several different registries making transactions and 'authentic' allowances difficult to verify. The European investigation continues, at the time of writing, with a suspected €5 billion carbon trading tax cost, across at least 11 countries.

New EU regulations have tightened up VAT regulation, making this form of fraud more difficult. However, registries are lax and inconsistent across EU states. When the allowances enter the registries, their authenticity is nearly impossible to determine.

More fundamentally, many registries neglect to carry out any checks on the applicants that seek to open a trading account. The Danish registry, for example, failed to administer checks over the course of two years and was found to be filled with fraudulent companies and false names. Over 90% of the account holders in the Danish system were deleted last year.

Carbon offset fraud:

Carbon offsets are another fundamental problem with carbon trading. The EU ETS is the biggest buyer of credits issued through the UN-backed Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). By using offsets to meet emissions reductions targets, the purpose of capping emissions becomes obsolete. Companies can simply buy credits to pollute from so-called emissions reduction projects in the South, thereby eliminating the need to reduce pollution at source and, as extensive research has shown, exacerbate social and environmental problems for communities in the South.3

Offsets are rife with corruption from the ground up, from the projects to the companies that implement them all the way to double counting on the market. Offsets enable companies and governments in the North to continue polluting while exacerbating harmful development in the South.

Fake registries:

Other fraud in the market includes the creation of fake registries. The wide-spread 'phishing attacks' were prompted by e-mails to thousands of firms around the globe, including New Zealand, Norway and Australia, with the hardest hit countries being Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The attack closed down registries in at least 13 countries while fraudulent transactions were conducted.

The scam involved emails promoting the fake registry and prompted users to log on to their website and reveal user identification codes to carbon trading registries. The 'phishers' would then use this information to carry out transactions in the registries. It is estimated that over €3 million were netted in phishing scams in February 2010.7

Hacking and selling on the "spot" market:

Possibly the most costly scandal has been hacking into computer systems and selling the allowances on the 'spot' market – the trade for permits in return for cash payments, which is estimated to account for 10−25% of the total market. Spot trading allows permits to be sold for cash. The spot market increased 450% over 2008 which totalled 1.4 billion tonnes in 2008. Spot volumes in the first half of 2009 increased 75-fold from 2008.8

European countries have called for a central register to control the CO2 certificate trades earlier than the 2013 planned date. However, the proposed central registry would link to emerging markets in other OECD countries. The market is rife with loopholes and ways to sidestep responsibilities. Global linking would increase, rather than reduce, the complexity and potential for fraudulent trading, because it would involve exchanges of permits that are subjected to different financial and environmental rules.

Read the entire article here

Of course, Connie Hedegaard knows the truth about the EU´s cap-and-trade fraud and she also knows that the EU ETS has not reduced emissions in Europe.

The question is then: Why is Hedegaard still continuing here cap-and-trade crusade?

Maybe for the simle reason that the interests of the climate-industrial complex (to which some of the most "polluting" energy companies now belong) in reality are the number one priority for her - much more important than actual CO2 reductions.

This is what another Dane, Bjørn Lomborg wrote about the climate-industrial complex alredy in 2009:

Naturally, many CEOs are genuinely concerned about global warming. But many of the most vocal stand to profit from carbon regulations. The term used by economists for their behavior is "rent-seeking."
The world's largest wind-turbine manufacturer, Copenhagen Climate Council member Vestas, urges governments to invest heavily in the wind market. It sponsors CNN's "Climate in Peril" segment, increasing support for policies that would increase Vestas's earnings. A fellow council member, Mr. Gore's green investment firm Generation Investment Management, warns of a significant risk to the U.S. economy unless a price is quickly placed on carbon.

The cozy corporate-climate relationship was pioneered by Enron, which bought up renewable energy companies and credit-trading outfits while boasting of its relationship with green interest groups. When the Kyoto Protocol was signed, an internal memo was sent within Enron that stated, "If implemented, [the Kyoto Protocol] will do more to promote Enron's business than almost any other regulatory business."