Davin News Server

For two decades and more, the political position of the climate alarm cult in 
the U.S. and Europe has only seemed to strengthen with time. In the U.S., the 
Obama and Biden Administrations have both pushed huge regulatory initiatives to 
restrict use of fossil fuels (with only some modest roll-backs during Trump's 
four years); some of the most sweeping restrictions got pushed through just a 
week ago. Meanwhile, blue states like California and New York have enacted 
ever-more-extreme restrictions by statute. In Europe, there has been a near 
all-party political consensus in favor of the "net zero" agenda, notably 
including even the mainstream conservative parties in the largest countries 
like the UK and Germany. 

I have long said that sooner or later a combination of physical reality and 
cost would stop the "net zero" juggernaut in its tracks. Indeed, that has begun 
to happen, particularly in Europe. Elections for the European Parliament are 
coming up in about a month, with climate skeptic candidates and parties looking 
to score substantial gains. 

So how is the left reacting? So far, the official talking point seems to be to 
belittle the resistance to fossil fuel restrictions as some kind of scheme of 
the "far right." The "far right," we are told, are those nefarious people who 
dare to stand up for maintaining the living standards of the working stiffs 
against those who would impoverish us all in the quixotic drive to reduce 
carbon emissions. Somehow, seemingly independent news organization put out 
articles using the exact same words and phrases. Here are a couple of recent 
examples.

In the Washington Post on May 1, the headline is "How car bans and heat pump 
rules drive voters to the far right." Subheadline: "Studies show that as energy 
prices rise, so do right-wing movements against green policies." Excerpt:

A ... backlash is happening all over Europe, as far-right parties position 
themselves in opposition to green policies. In Germany, a law that would have 
required homeowners to install heat pumps galvanized the far-right Alternative 
for Germany party, or AfD, giving it a boost. Farmers have rolled tractors into 
Paris to protest E.U. agricultural rules, and drivers in Italy and Britain have 
protested attempts to ban gas-guzzling cars from city centers... .

Th[e] resurgence of the right could slow down the green transition in Europe, 
... as climate policies increasingly touch citizens' lives... . "This has 
really expanded the coalition of the far right," said Erik Voeten, a professor 
of geopolitics at Georgetown University and the author of the new study on the 
Netherlands. 

The Post's writer, Shannon Osaka, seems genuinely surprised that the common 
people of Europe would place any value on maintaining their standard of living:

[C]hanges to driving, home heating and farming are beginning to affect 
individual Europeans - sparking criticism and anger. "What's happening as we 
accelerate the pace of the transition is we're now starting to get into sectors 
that inevitably touch on people's lives," said Luke Shore, strategy director 
for Project Tempo, a nonprofit research organization that is assessing how 
climate policies affect voting patterns in Europe. "We've reached the point at 
which it's becoming personal - and for that reason, it's also becoming more 
political." The problem, researchers say, occurs when individual consumers feel 
that the cost of the energy transition is being borne on their shoulders - 
rather than on governments and corporations.

Who could ever have guessed that this might happen? As an example of crazy "far 
right" lunacy, the Post cites this line from the manifesto of the Party for 
Freedom in the Netherlands:

"Energy is a basic need, but climate madness has turned it into a very 
expensive luxury item."

I mean, how could you get any more extreme "far right" than that?

In a very similar vein, we have a piece from the Guardian on April 30, with the 
headline, "How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in 
Germany." Again, the gist is that this is just coming from extremists that you 
don't need to pay any attention to. Excerpt:

At the marches held in Görlitz, a stronghold of the far right on the Polish 
border, and other towns across Germany every Monday night, supporters of [the 
Alternative for Germany and Free Saxony] parties vent their fury at 
immigration, coronavirus restrictions and military aid to Ukraine. But one 
group bears the brunt of the blame. "The Greens are our main enemy," said 
Jankus, describing the AfD as a party of freedom and the Greens as a party of 
bans. "We don't want to tell people how to heat their homes. We don't want to 
tell people what kind of engine should be in their car."

Freedom - there's a really lunatic "far right" idea. Rather than trying to 
explain to the readers why there is something wrong with support of "freedom," 
the Guardian instead veers off into characterizing these "far right" 
demonstrators as really, really bad people:

[Green] party speaker Carolin Renner said she and her colleagues had had death 
threats screamed in their faces, white-pride stickers stuck to their door and a 
daily barrage of hateful comments posted on their social media channels. 
Shortly before Christmas, protesters dumped horse manure in front of the 
Greens' office in nearby Zittau.

Despite the characterizations, the article contains no actual example of 
anything described as a "death threat" or a "hateful comment." We'll just have 
to take the word of the Green Party spokesperson.

Well, the European elections are just about a month away at this point. The 
climate skeptic parties are expected to make some noticeable gains. However, 
the actual mandatory requirements for most people to ditch the gas-powered car 
for an electric one, or to buy a heat pump to heat their home, have not yet 
kicked in. When that happens, perhaps we will see a real political tornado. 

=====

May:

Heavy May Snow Hits the Sierra Nevada

Concordia Below -70C (-94F) for 10-Days

Cooling In The Tropical Pacific

Vostok's Coldest April Since 1999

Global Temperature Expected To Fall In May

Tonga Eruption Responsible For Toasty 2023 (nyah nyah!)

Missing Spring In Jackson, WY

Cool Summer Forecast For Much Of The Northern Hemisphere

Record May Cold Sweeps India

Rare April Cold Hits Antarctica (-112F)

Heavy Spring Snow Traps 1,000 Vehicles In Northern India

Wild Swings In New Jersey

The Wind Didn't Blow As Hard In 2023

April:

(An end of snow) Avalanche Hits Kashmir
Mid-May Frosts Forecast For Europe
Prairies Plantings To See Snow Delay
UK Breaks Long-Standing Cold Record
Heavy Spring Snow Sweeps Northern India
Antarctica To -77C (-106.6F)
Another Meter Of Snow Hits The Alps
Europe's Crop Losses Worsen - "The Biggest Disaster Of The Last 100 Years"
Frost Damage Reported From France To Ukraine
Growers In Canada And Northeast Also Suffer
Australia To Shiver Into May, Defying BoM Predictions 
Record Cold Strikes Northern Ontario
Rare April Snow Continues Across Europe
Europe Breaks Historic Low Temperature Records As Rare Spring Snow Falls on 
Major Cities
Norwegian Ski Resort on For Bumper Summer Season
Europe Freezes
No Spring In Sight For Much of Russia
Temperatures Are Falling Globally
Feet of Spring Snow Pound Colorado
U.S. Braces For Record April Cold
Socal's Back-To-Back Bumper Snow Seasons
Cold And Snow To Persist Into May Across Europe
Scabbard on For Cold April
Switzerland's Snow Matches Historic 1974-75 Season
Heavy Snow Slams Northwestern Iran
Europe Braces For Spring Freeze
Another Three Avalanche Deaths In The Alps
Indian State Suffers Coldest April Day on Record
Today's Arctic Sea Ice Extent Matches 1996
Snow Remains In Northern India
54 Spots
NZ's Record-Cold March
Rare April Snow Hits Bay Area
More Snow For Midwest/New
Scandinavia Extends Historic Cold Spell, As Europe Sets Snow Records
Feet Of Spring Snow Pound Colorado
Southern Cal's Back-To-Back Bumper Snow Seasons
Svalbard On For Cold April
Indian State Suffers Coldest April Day On Record
The Arctic Was Warmer In The 1920s
Germany Regrets Disbanding Nuclear Plants, It Was A "Mistake"
Yukon Snowpack Breaks Records
Early Snows Hit Australia's Ski Fields
It's Still Snowing On Kilimanjaro... Al Gore Was Wrong (as usual)
Alyeska Exceeds 700 Inches
Rare April Snow Hits Boise
Montreal's Snowiest April Since 2010
Clearing Crews Reach Baralacha
Antarctica At -75.8C (-104.4F)
Alta Posts Rare Back-To-Back 600+ Inch Winters
Indian Army Rescues 80 Trapped By Spring Snowfall
Remarkable Antarctic Sea Ice Recovery
April Nor'Easter Drops Feet Of Snow
600,000 Lose Power As 'Spring' Storm Batters Quebec
Avalanche Hits Helicopter In The Alps, Killing 3
Scandinavia Breaks Historic Low Temperature Stretch
New Zealand's Record-Cold March
Rare April Snow To Dust Bay Area Peaks
More Snow For The Midwest/Northeast
Scandinavia Extends Spell Of Historic April Cold, As Europe's Mountain Snow 
reaks Records
Sweden Sets Coldest April Temperature
Swiss Avalanche Kills 3
Utah Snowpack At 132%, California Defies The 'Experts'
Anchorage Only 6.3" Away From All-Time Record
Colder-Than-Average March At Vostok
Antarctica Dips Below -100F
"Significant Spring Snowstorm" Takes Aim At Canada/Northern US
April Snow Builds Across Europe's Higher Elevations