Book Review
“The Predatory Delay Diaries” by Terrence Loomis, published by Prismaprint, Blenheim. Price $25 plus postage. Available from http://www.terrenceloomis.ac.nz/latest-publication.html or by e mail to <loomistm@yahoo.com> Reviewed by Tony Orman
I’m not a climate change proponent or a denier for the simple reason as seems to me, no one that I’m aware, has distinguished between natural climate change and people-influenced climate change.
So my confused state on the subject, seems not a bad position to delve into this book.
Author Dr. Terrence Loomis among other qualifications was a Professor of Development studies at Waikato University and a senior policy advisor to successive National and Labour governments.
He is emphatic “The climate crisis is worse than previously thought, according to scientists.” And significantly points out “One hundred fossil fuel companies are responsible for over 70 percent of the world’s runaway emissions.”
Eye opening is the way the author exposes the mercenary manipulative manner of the powerful corporate companies. The sub-title of the book puts it in a nutshell – “The petroleum industry’s survival campaign to slow New Zealand’s transition to a low carbon economy.”
Governments and politicians come under scrutiny. Current Energy Minister Labour’s Megan Woods gets caned for procrastinating. Former National’ energy spokesman Jonathan Young is similarly disciplined. PM Jacinda Ardern moves too slowly for political reasons.
“The Prime Minister no doubt has political concerns around a potential backlash from the electorate and businesses if the government moves too quickly—.”
So the corporate spin and lobbying intermingled with political jockeying delays any positive, meaningful action.
“The dilemma for government is not whether to intervene in the economy; they do that all the time. It’s whether the crisis is becoming so critical that they are forced to contemplate measures that are not only electorally risky but run directly contrary to the corporate interests of fossil fuel companies —- the sort of thing that was done with Big Tobacco to combat lung cancer.”
The book is an intriguing read, exposing the cut and thrust of corporate and political parrying.
Outdoor recreation and environmental issues have always been beset by corporate and political agendas. You may disagree with global warming but you’ll benefit from the book’ exposure of the spun propaganda by the corporates and politicians’ involvement. Corporates play it hard, fast and calculating and actively lobbying using “professional” spin doctors. It’s no arena for boys.
Remember the Trout Farming battle and Save Manapouri? Well some may not have even been born when they were fought in the 1970s. But believe me, back then -50 years ago – they were about corporate power and influence and lobbying of politicians. Nothing’s changed.
Anglers and hunters must not be deluded. They need to realise the shonky sophisticated spin doctors and that they knocking on politicians’ doors all the time on behalf of corporate clients.
Politics in the outdoors/environment is nothing more than cause and effect.
Anglers and hunters must not be deluded. They need to realise the shonky sophisticated spin doctors and that they knocking on politicians’ doors all the time on behalf of corporate clients.
Politics in the outdoors/environment is nothing more than cause and effect.
It’s not the author’s fault but acronyms have annoyingly become paramount in today’s English and I had to keep referring back to a page listing acronyms used. To me acronyms are journalistic laziness. That cavil aside, this book is strongly recommended.
Seems to me, the word “predator” in the title is very apt. The corporates prey for private profit on anything of the public’s from rivers (e.g. corporate dairying) to lakes, fish and game resources, the total environment.
Pity the Green New Deal and Gullible Warming fanatics are not facing reality
It’s far worse than that Greg:
Britain is facing a bleak winter of soaring energy costs, with gas prices rising by a staggering 37 per cent in a single day and pushing more energy firms to the brink of collapse while the National Grid warned of electricity shortages as the country faces its worst crisis since the first Covid outbreak last year.
https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2021/10/gwpf-newsletter-uk-and-eu-face-harsh.html?m=1
I believe Tony Orman has hit at least one nail on the head when he remarks that no one —— although a lot of people, especially in the “green” camp, make a heck of a noise about it —— no one seems to be distinguishing between natural and man-made climate change. Of course the climate is changing, and has over thousands and thousands of years, with no help from mankind. Is it disastrously warming at the moment? Well, I do not believe that is clearly so yet and I am angered by selective “evidence” I have seen published, using only the yearly figures that support that claim and ignoring the whole story. Is mankind actually causing any climate change? When I see the stuff pouring out of smokestacks, especially in some parts of India and China, I cannot doubt that this amount of pollution must have an effect. And I would need to add to that the extraordinary amount of pollution poured into the upper atmosphere by big commercial passenger and freight aircraft and military aircraft. But are even these huge amounts of pollution really so critical? You throw your hands up and start to yell at me? Well, look at the evidence of what has happened with some natural events not so long ago in the world’s history. Take for instance when Krakatoa in Indonesia blew up. The amount of muck flung high into our atmosphere circulated around our planet at a high altitude and actually caused an artificial “winter” of some bitterness and taking about three years to disperse. Has any man-made pollution ever been able to compete with that? And that was only one of a number of big events, equally effective, that have happened in human historical time. Measure the amount of “hothouse” carbon dioxide gas in our atmosphere today. Is it really so bad? We can measure times in the history of our little planet when the CO2 level was miles higher and —— isn’t it surprising —— life on earth went on in a very busy and successful way. But you are still troubled; you are anxious to get rid of this nasty CO2, even through a certain level of this gas is absolutely essential to life on earth. Okay, then what about we start with something really effective. Don’t bother about piffling petrol and diesel-driven cars and trucks, or even all those gushing industrial chimneys in China and India, but really get down to some of the even bigger polluters. Let us instead stop all the high-flying international passenger and freight and military aircraft. That would really affect man-made atmospheric pollution big time. What? That is totally out of the question, you say? Now, I am not saying that even the flight of thousands of high-flying aircraft is going to effect the world’s climate anywhere near as badly as a natural event such as Krackatoa but I am saying that the continuing use of these aircraft is doing hugely more than all the cars and trucks, so why are we all sucked in to rushing out and buying a battery-electric car and all the other frantic but foolishly useless gestures?
I am extremely bored by countless people reinforcing the notion of anthropogenic climate change, primarily based on what celebrities with no relevant knowledge espouse from David Bechham to David Attenborough.
When you have read the 4 IPCC reports then and only then do you really have any credible voice and a more critical appreciation of the politics of the climate change industry.
People keep complaining about the greedy corporations that exploit our finite natural resources to make and sell more stuff to become richer.
They seldom consider that the detrimental consequences of this “rape and pillage” would cease if the rest of us stopped buying so much.
Our consumerism model of unending “economic growth” is sustained by people “buying things they do not need, with money they do not have, to impress people that do not care”.
Buying new things generate increased levels of Dopamine, Serotonin and Endorphins that give us pleasure.
This experience is transient, so people repeat the behavior that generates the feeling of pleasure.
The result is an addiction to these chemicals and the behaviors that generate them.
The people that produce and market the stuff we excessively consume and waste are like the drug dealers who supply other “junkies” but they are allowed to do so legally because people in governments want the revenue that this excessive consumption, debt and addiction generates.
The proposed “solution” for the climate change “crisis” is replacing products that we already have with newer ones that are promoted as being “green”.
Seems like a way of enabling the “drug dealers” and their friends in governments to continue to profit from the consumers addiction to shopping and also justify it as “saving the planet”.
It might be more sensible and effective to recognize and deal with the addiction but that is very unlikely.