The real reason why so many German greens prefer Merkel

German Der Spiegel notes that almost half of the country's Green Party voters would like to see Angela Merkel continue as Chancellor:

According to a new survey, some 45 percent of Green Party voters would like to see Angela Merkel remain in the Chancellery following fall elections.

To be sure, 53 percent of those queried by the pollsters at Forsa on behalf of the business daily Handelsblatt said they would like to see a change at the top. But the high share of Merkel supporters shows that the Greens have left their rambunctious beginnings far behind.
On the one hand, that's not terribly surprising. Germany's 1968 generation, out of which the Greens were born, has aged and left radicalism far behind. The Green Party itself has likewise become more staid, and large swaths of the party belong to a similar upper middle class demographic that tends to vote for Merkel's Christian Democrats -- or, in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, the party to which Stücklen belonged.

Indeed, a study last September found that the Greens have some of the country's richest voters, along with the business-friendly Free Democrats. On average, they earn more than €2,500 per month ($40,000 per year). A majority of Green voters tend to live in big cities and are well educated. In short, they increasingly fall directly into that catchall category of being spiessig, Germany's take on bourgeois.

However, Der Spiegel misses the point. The main reason why so many German greenies prefer Merkel is the fact that the lady - and her formerly conservative CDU/CSU - has adopted most of the policies of the greens, including an absurd energy transition policy (Energiewende), which soon will seriously begin to hurt economic growth in the country.

Voting opened for sanctimonious "Best Green International Celebrity Award"

We now read that voting is has opened for the first "Best Green International Celebrity Award". A look at the shortlist of 15 nominees - which include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, supermodel Gisele Bündschen, and Sting - makes it clear that the award is in urgent need to be renamed to e.g. "Green Celebrity Hypocrite of the Year Award".

This is how the organizers choose to describe the award:

 The International Green Awards aims to raise the bar around the ‘cult of celebrity’ and the ‘green’ agenda as the world counts down to the COP 17 Conference in Durban and the crucial Rio Earth Summit in 2012. This new award will put the spotlight on those progressive individuals who are keen to harness the power of the media, challenge conventional thinking on the climate agenda and who are really ahead of the game by ‘doing their bit’ for the future of us all.
---
Through their media stature and public interest, celebrities are also in the unique position of promoting positive environmental messages, merely through their own example. Celebrities’ advocacy of ‘green’ lifestyles and vocalised support to the environment can generate widespread change, if even through audience’s imitation.

Here is our shortlist of the shortlist:

Leonardo DiCaprio
(organizers´presentation):

The highest paid actor in Hollywood is not one just to spend his money on luxury, but is in fact a strong advocate for environmental issues. This personal affinity towards the environment is acknowledged in his own aptly named “Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation” which supports efforts towards sustainability.
Personally, the actor lives in a solar panel covered home with water saving features, drives a hybrid car and flies commercial airlines instead of a private jet.

Reality check:

"It's time people stop talking about clean energy and climate change and start acting"
site

“The 35-year-old actor was also seen traveling through Johannesburg with socialite Paris Hilton. The twosome were flown from London by private jet to Johannesburg by a mysterious Malaysian millionaire so they could watch the World Cup.”

"Leonardo DiCaprio gets out of his car and boards a private jet with his pal Bradley Cooper on Thursday (April 21) in Los Angeles."

“Leonardo flew ‘commercial ‘ to the Cannes Film Festival and they lost his luggage,” said Leila. “He knows he shouldn’t probably fly private anymore.”
site

Leonardo DiCaprio is the first in line to receive the new $96,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sports car. This vehicle features 400 horsepower, 0 to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, "eco-friendly" leather seating, and your choice of oak, mahogany, or walnut inlays. The car was only possible due to $529 million in "stimulus money" courtesy of the Obama administration and US taxpayers.
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"Admiral LEONARDO DiCAPRIO invited a few Tinseltown chums for a jaunt on his multi-million-dollar yacht off the coast of Hawaii".
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"Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg can certainly afford some magnificent toys for himself, wife Kate Capshaw, and their kids. For Cannes, the directing icon was aboard his $200 million megayacht Seven Seas with fellow film figure Leonardo DiCaprio"
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Dicaprio´s huge mansion in LA probably uses more energy than ten ordinary houses - even if it has a few solar panels on its roof and an "energy efficient toilet" that cost Leonardo over $3,000

Gisele Bündschen

One of the world’s best known models, Gisele, walks more than just runways. Growing up in Brazil, she witnessed the beauty and destruction of the rainforests and the domino effect on surrounding communities.

Reality check:

"according to the Guiness Book Of Records, Gisele is the highest paid model in the world, and even has her own $50million private jet"
site

"One day after she was named the United Nations advocate for environmental awareness, Gisele Bundchen was snapped down in Marshfield taking flying lessons in a fuel-guzzling helicopter. Way to lower that carbon footprint, Mrs. Brady!om Brady’s bride, who has campaigned against Amazon deforestation and for sustainable development and even launched an environmentally friendly line of sandals, was spotted flying off in a gas-sucking Robinson R-44 chopper yesterday morning.Shoreline Aviation prez Keith Douglass confirmed that Bundchen has been talking helicopter-flying lessons for about a month at Marshfield Airport. Apparently, Mrs. 12 wants to shorten her commute between Massachusetts – where she and Tom have set up housekeeping for football season – and NYC, where Gisele has most of her modeling assignments.“She’s doing it for lots of reasons,” Douglass told the Track . “But mainly because of where she lives, she needs a helicopter…”In case you’re keeping track, according to infinitehealthresources.com, a one-hour helicopter ride emits a whopping 466 pounds of CO2 per passenger".
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"Recently some pictures have been released showing the couple as they inspect the progress on their new Los Angeles home. The multi-million dollar home looks to be as luxurious and extravagant as you would expect and the progress seems to be coming along quickly.

Ok I said multi-millions...but how many zeros?
How about 20,000,000 or $20M!!!!
The three-time Super Bowl wining QB is having the home built from the ground up and it clearly is going to be a palace.
Having their dream house constructed is a dream of the couple and money is the last issue. Brady is entering the final year of a six year and $60M and Bundchen reportedly made a cool $25M for modeling in the year 2010.
site

Cameron Diaz

Crowned ‘Queen of Green’ by Vogue magazine, Cameron Diaz is not just a pretty face to the green movement. Not looking to be just a poster girl for the environment, she actively tries to live sustainably, based on the simple premise of it being a ‘choice’ that anyone can make.

On the personal front, the actress claims to follow an eco-friendly lifestyle by using reused and recycled products that are beneficial to the environment. Cameron Diaz claims to use only energy-efficient home appliances and minimal essential lighting, besides using carbon neutral offsets for travelling.

Reality check:

"But as a smiling Cameron Diaz and A-Rod climbed aboard a private jet together yesterday it was clear their relationship was on track."
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"She packed for her flight in a practical, yet totally luxurious Bottega Veneta taupe tote bag which retails for $3,920 and is also available in Black"
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"And I travel so much - and that's something that I have just become so hyper-aware of, because a lot of people have a community that they live in their hometown - they travel a certain miles - a few miles in their day-to-day life. And in my life I've been fortunate enough to travel and extend those miles a little bit further and I feel like my community now, I really feel like it's global. Everyplace I go - everyone's the same! I go to Africa, and I just got back from Peru two days ago - and no matter what the culture is, everybody's doing the same thing.
--
And I see it everywhere I go - there's no exception. And that's really powerful. It's really powerful to see that we really are all the same. We all need the same things, we all require the same things and we all get it from the same place".
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"Hollywood beauty Cameron Diaz has splashed out $ 10 million on a sprawling mansion in Beverly
Hills.
The Charlie's Angels star who is reportedly dating baseball star Alex Rodriguez brought the house modelled on a English countryside mansion after she fell in love with it's decor.
And Diaz will be surrounded by friends and famous faces when she moves into her bachelorette pad.
Her neighbours included Nicole Kidman, Jessica Simpson and newlyweds Penelope Cruz and Javier Barden who live a stone's throw away, reported Daily Mail online.
The 37-year-old actress liked the mansion's wooden beams, gold-plated framed paintings and big comfortable sofas, which give off a cosy, cottage feel.
The 5,000 sq ft single storey house comes with a detached three bedroom guesthouse, a tennis court and swimming pool with hot tub."
site

Sting:

In recognition of his efforts towards the environment, a species of Colombian tree frog, Dendropsophus stingi was named after him.

Reality check:

"He maintains no fewer than four properties in the UK with his 'core' home the 800-acre Lake House estate in Wiltshire, which boasts 14 bedrooms and eight baths.
Earlier this year, a glimpse into Sting's daily routine at the mansion was provided by Jane Martin, 42, a cook who took the rock star and his wife Trudie Styler to an employment tribunal which awarded her £24,944 following her "shameful" dismissal from her job.
According to Ms Martin, Styler in particular had a "grandiose ego" and wanted to be treated "in a royal manner beyond her station as an actress".
Revealing some of the "fabulous" lifestyle of her former employers, Ms Martin said that "opulent extravagance reigned" at Lake House, and that there was "no regard to expense, cost or wastage" where food and drink were concerned.
The cook added that she had often been required to make an expensive rail and taxi journey between London and Salisbury just to prepare a soup and salad meal for the family, even though they also kept two housekeepers, two nannies and a butler on the premises.
But Sting's well-heeled lifestyle in the Wiltshire countryside is only one part of his worldwide empire.
This same paragon of self-denying minimalism who reminds us all not to squander our resources also owns a three-storey mansion in Highgate, North London, a townhouse in Westminster and what's described as a workman's cottage in the Lake District.
He also maintains a beach house in Malibu, California, and a 600-acre estate in Tuscany.
And when Sting performs in New York he goes home at night to a £1 million duplex on Manhattan's exclusive Upper East Side."
site

PS

The organizers of the Best Green International Celebrity Award suggest that the "audience"  imitate the "progressive" celebrity nominees. However, it is not an easy task to imitate the acquisition of e.g. a $20 million mansion or a 14 bedroom estate, or even a trip by private jet to Johannesburg, South Africa.

"The end of green ideology"

"Within this new geopolitical framework, green ideology will survive like a cult or a recipe for economic suicide"


In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, western media have been full of articles about the growing influence of the "green" parties and NGOs - particularly in Germany. However, it is not at all likely that the present temporary success of the greenies will last for very long. On the contrary, the renowned French economist, philosopher and author Guy Sorman thinks that the shale gas revolution and small nuclear power plants will change the overall situation in favour of the western democratic countries and lead to the end of the green ideology:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government was the first to overreact by deciding to close down all nuclear reactors in the coming years – a radical move driven by domestic politics. Merkel's government does not include Germany's Greens, but the Green ideology has become a widely shared national creed in Germany. Indeed, one can relate popular hostility toward nuclear energy to Germany's traditional romantic cult of nature, not to science.

Germany's nuclear plants will be replaced by more thermal plants, implying a large increase in German carbon emissions – so much for Green concern with global warming! And so much for intellectual honesty, because a Germany without nuclear power of its own will be compelled to buy it from France, which has no intention of closing its nuclear plants.

In the US, the ideological aftershock is closer to Germany's than to France's: the US may not be overly prone to romanticism, but a cult of nature remains part of the American psyche. This may go some way toward explaining why the Democrats, who control the presidency and the Senate, are so committed to so-called alternative energies.

President Barack Obama's administration has thrown billions of dollars at wind, solar, ethanol, and other alternative-energy resources. Now the Fukushima tragedy is being used to justify continuing these economically dubious programs. We can bet that none of these alternative energies will easily replace oil, gas, and nuclear power in the foreseeable future.

At market prices, without public subsidies, a unit of energy produced by solar or wind in the US costs five times more than a unit produced by oil, gas, or nuclear plants. Moreover, supporters of alternative energies systematically downplay their negative environmental impact. A wind turbine requires 50 tons of steel and half a square mile of ground space. If California were to rely on solar power for its electricity consumption, the entire state would have to be covered with photovoltaic cells.

The great irony of the current situation is that real innovation and entrepreneurial activity, without government support, is taking place in the field of energy generation, such as in the creation of miniaturized nuclear reactors. The most promising breakthrough may well be the discovery of huge reserves of shale gas all over the planet.

Indeed, thanks to the new techniques in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, shale gas may well become the dominant energy resource of the future. Shale gas could thus reduce dependency on OPEC oil and gas while reducing carbon emission. Gas generates ten times less carbon than biomass or ethanol, which ecologists so heavily promote.

Beyond Fukushima, future energy supplies will most likely rely more and more on miniaturized nuclear plants and shale gas – a mix capable of responding to a rapidly urbanizing world population's growing demand for electricity.

Such a renewed energy balance would impact the current global balance of power. Shale gas is abundant in Europe and North America, in contrast to oil and gas. Thus, the energy of tomorrow could well reinforce the world's democracies and weaken its most repressive regimes, where most oil is to be found nowadays. Within this new geopolitical framework, green ideology will survive like a cult or a recipe for economic suicide.

Read the entire article here

PS

It is interesting to note, that you can read professor Sorman´s outstanding article in the China Daily, not in any of the major English language western newspapers. No, a sober, realistic and positive analysis like this, is not welcome in the politically correct mainstream media, which are more than happy to publish every piece of rubbish, written by ignorant enviro-fundamentalist scaremongerers. 

The end of the green ideology will, as an added bonus, also lead to the end of the global warming religion. One must only hope that this happens sooner rather than later, in order to avoid the wasting of the huge sums of money that many of the present western governments now are planning to use in order to fight imaginary human-induced warming.     

When news is no news

One does not have to agree with every word that the American Military Historian and columnist Victor Davis Hanson writes in his new column, but at least to NNoN much of it rings true, like e.g.:

 Chinese Roguery. China’s Communist Party predicates foreign policy on mercantilism — period. Note that Chinese foreign relations favor thugs, especially those with oil or the propensity to do others harm. Most of the world’s bad actors — Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Zimbabwe — are Chinese partners. Yes, almost anywhere there is a crisis, a Chinese diplomat is somewhere in the vicinity. In all the praise of the Chinese miracle and envy of its industry, gleaming airports, and solar panels, few note that to the degree that a nation’s people is unfree and without a say in its governance, that it has natural resources to exploit, and that its government is an enemy of Western-style freedom, so too China will be there in the background. Few care. Maybe it’s all the cash; maybe those old stale Mao suits still win a pass from the liberal media.

The Implosion of the Green Movement. Two years ago Al Gore was considered a Nostradamus. This was to be our moment when the seas were to recede. But today? The Volt may well become a boondoggle. Cap and trade is doomed. Al Gore is discredited. Few trust academics to conduct honest climate research. The U.S. is finding huge deposits of natural gas in a way that seemed unimaginable a few years ago. Even Obama wants to build nuclear power plants, or so he says. Yet we read almost nothing about the crackup of Green evangelicalism.

http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/all-the-news-that-is-unfit-to-print/?singlepage=true