Screaming “climate change” on the left or “diabolical global conspiracy” on the right seems to be the default response to every disaster or crisis in the news these days. With the rash of wildfires in Canada this summer, left-wing media ranted in unison about “climate change,” at the top of their lungs, while some in the right-wing media, especially on right-wing social media, ranted about an assortment of conspiracy theories, like the government set the fires, or it was part of the evil globalist plan and other such theories with no proof to back any of them.
Here’s a June 11, 2023 NY Post story, Canada’s wildfires are a reminder climate warriors have it all wrong, and in light of the recent wildfires in Maui, I think this information is worth considering:
“Indeed, the main stage-setter (as in California’s 2020 wildfires) looks to be forest mismanagement in the name of environmentalism.
Imagining that “natural” is always better, greens have pushed to stop controlled burns that clear out brush and debris and so make it less likely fires grow uncontrollable.
In a 2020 paper, scientists warned of a shortage of funding for Canadian forest-fire control, and in 2021 the Globe and Mail called for more small, controlled burns to avoid runaway blazes.
But Canada’s leaders bowed to enviro sentiment, ignoring the science.
Ironically, that’s led to fires spewing millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere.”
https://nypost.com/2023/06/11/canadas-wildfires-are-a-reminder-climate-warriors-have-it-all-wrong/
Here’s a June 8, 2023 story, Wildfire smoke: Canada blamed for forestry underfunding and mismanagement, from the Washington Examiner, offering more details of forest mismanagement:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/wildfire-smoke-canada-blamed-for-forestry-underfunding-and-mismanagement“This trend is also only expected to increase, the report notes, since costs for fire protection in Canada have risen by an average of $150 million per decade since the 1970s, when data collection began.
But by many accounts, Canada’s leaders are not doing enough to respond to the rising crisis.
In the fire-prone area of Alberta, residents complained about the province’s decision to ax their firefighting crews, as part of a broader budget cut — noting that these teams could have been instrumental in helping extinguish the current fires.
“We could have been difference-makers” in stopping some of the fires, which began in Alberta in early May, Jordan Erlandson, a former member of the aerial firefighting crew, told the Calgary City News.
“Wildfire management agencies in Canada are at a tipping point,” the editorial board of Canada’s Globe and Mail wrote in 2021, urging the country to conduct more prescribed burns and forest thinning. “Presuppression and suppression costs are increasing but program budgets are not.””
Poor management and environmentalist-driven policies leading to disastrous environmental outcomes seem to have played a large role in the devastating wildfires, along with, “And conditions across the country are drier. Data from the Canada Drought Monitor shows the 10 provinces experiencing the worst wildfires to date are all experiencing abnormal dryness, or “moderate to severe drought” conditions.” according to the Washington Examiner story.
Both sides have a bit right – the unusually dry weather and the bad forestry management driven by global environmentalist extremism appear to have contributed to the large number of wildfires in Canada
The crazy conspiracy theories now seem as much a fixture on right-wing media as the left’s climate change hysteria and we’d all probably be better off if we didn’t leap into buying into all this drama.
There were also wildfires in Greece in the news and a few days ago Fox News reported: Greek authorities arrest 79 ‘arsonist scum’ in connection with devastating wildfires. The article didn’t include more information on these ‘arsonist scum’ as Greece’s Civil Protection Minister, Vassilis Kiklias, called them, so it’s not clear if they were a part of some organized group or acting alone.
I’m still sticking with my theory that where the influential “globalist” big idea people pose a threat is with getting governments to sign onto crazy policies and international agreements. Certainly, as we found out during the pandemic, those policies can lead to miserable and deadly outcomes, but another part of the equation with the globalist big idea people is just like with all the “central planner” big idea people before them – their ideas invariably don’t work and their ranks are filled with a whole lot of incompetent nincompoops.
At least in America, we are still allowed to speak out and challenge the groupthink, “majority opinion,” and the “experts.” I know that free speech is a very good thing for me, as someone who often holds unpopular opinions. We should all be paying attention to the “hate speech” laws spreading in Western democracies, because that’s a very disturbing trend and one we should speak out against here in America, if we value our personal liberties.
I’ll be doing a book report blog post soon on a dystopian novel from the 1960s I’m reading. It’s about “global governance” and “central planners” run amok. This novel actually influenced American history in a way and until recently I had never even heard of this novel or this bit of history. I don’t want to spoil this story, so when I finish reading it, I’ll tell you more.
libertybelle diaries 