Editor’s note: This piece was originally published by the Acton Institute over a decade ago. Many years later, this piece still provides a poignant reflection on economics, socialism, environmentalism, and Christian ethics. During the summer of 1980, I met weekly for breakfast, prayer, and study with a minister friend of mine. A warm-hearted, intelligent man, […]
Recovering the Moral Foundations of Economics Learn More »
In the last few weeks various media have reported that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the world’s largest coral reef system, is experiencing a “sixth mass bleaching” that threatens lasting devastation. NPR, CNN, and The Guardian, with many others, all told essentially the same story. But actual experts on the GBR challenge the narrative. In
Claim: Great Barrier Reef Devastated by Manmade Warming Learn More »
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just released its latest big report, this one titled Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change (a mere 2,913 pages). Practically nobody will ever read it. (I confess haven’t.) Its Technical Summary is just 142 pages. (No, haven’t read that yet, either.) Its Summary for Policymakers
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, speculate that an increase in global average temperature of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit could cause heat waves that would boost hospitalizations for hyponatremia (insufficient amount of salt in the bloodstream to sustain proper body electrical function) by 6.3%, and warming of 3.6 degrees F would boost hospitalizations by
Does Climate Change Threaten a Surge in Low-Salt Hospitalizations? Learn More »
When it comes to addressing the crisis of our rapidly warming planet, the February 28th, 2022 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forcefully concluded that time is running out: “Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation,” the world’s scientists wrote, “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window
House Members Wrong Not Just on Priorities But also on Facts about Climate Change Learn More »
In 1920, to protect American shipping from foreign competition, Congress passed the Merchant Marine Act, also known as the Jones Act. Section 27 requires that ships carrying goods from one US port to another be built and flagged in the US and owned and crewed mostly by Americans. While they can make sense in terms
Hundred-Year-Old Mistake Comes Back to Bite US Learn More »
Regardless how stringent climate policies are, or how rapidly we move from internal combustion to electric vehicles, increasing battery needs around the world presage a huge increase in demand for cobalt. Right now, as Ronald Stein and Todd Royal demonstrate in their book Clean Energy Exploitations, most of the world’s cobalt comes from mines with
New Cobalt Mine in Idaho Could Start a Trend Good for People and the Planet Learn More »
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere has risen from about 280 to about 417 parts per million. Most scientists studying the issue think most of the increase has come from burning fossil fuels. Some people, however, question that. For instance, one person wrote to us: From a
Do Fossil Fuels Really Account for CO2 Added to the Atmosphere? Learn More »
There’s a major winter storm brewing for New England and, possibly, the mid-Atlantic states’ coastal regions. It could dump two feet of snow on Boston and New York City, similar amounts in surrounding areas, and over three feet in some places. It could also bring Category 1 hurricane-force winds (74–95 mph). Newsmax titled its report
Must Media Exaggerate Scary Weather By Extra Scary Language? Learn More »
That’s the mentality behind a letter calling on public relations and advertising firms to drop clients whose messaging displeases scientists upset that the whole world hasn’t yet embraced their views on global warming. The letter, signed by over 450 “scientists who study and communicate the realities of climate change,” complains that some fossil fuel firms
Can’t Refute ’em? Shut ’em Up! Learn More »
