The "Trust Gap", "social licence" and the rule of law

Giant PR firm, Edelman, does a global annual survey to gauge of the "trust" the public has in its institutions: 1) Government 2) Business 3) Media, and 4) NGOs.

The people surveyed are categorized into three groups:
1) Informed Public 2) General On-line Population, and 3) Mass Population (all population excluding Informed Public)

The results are published in the "Edelman Trust Baraometer".

2016 Edelman Trust Barometer  Widening Trust Gap
2017 Edelman Trust Barometer   An Implosion in Trust! (Brexit, Trump, immigration/refugee crisis?)

Interesting, considering recent events but one does wonder about the validity of the results as a measure of "trust". If it isn't trust that's actually being measured, what is it? It's worth reading this bit of skepticism: "Can You Trust The Data On Trust?"

The surveys show that the "Informed Public", which includes the elites that control the four institutions, have much higher "trust" in those institution than the general public (ie the definition of the "trust gap"). Hardly a surprising result.

With the advent of Internet, the general public is in a position to be better informed and less subject to control of the message by the elites (especially the legacy MSM).  A widening "trust gap" might be a natural consequence of this.  However, a potentially serious downside is a diminishing respect for the rule of law and the constitution.  For example, certain of the elites (Justin Trudeau for one) have been pushing the fuzzy notion of "social license" ("governments issue permits, communities grant permission").  In the case of pipeline approvals this suggests that decisions by lawfully appointed and mandated regulatory bodies (like the NEB) are subject to being overruled by vocal interest groups ("communities") who have no legal status. Mob rule is "permitted" to supplant the rule of law.  Not good!

Suzuki calls for "a war on cars"

there is no war on cars — but there should be:

... We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting back on car use, choosing fuel-efficient vehicles, joining a car pool or sharing program and reducing speed. ...

Hands up, how many think that Suzuki would actually do any of that himself?

Happy Ozone Day!

Today is "Ozone Day":

Rio+20 a miserable flop. Glad to hear it!

Peter Foster:

“[N]othing less than a disaster for the planet,” declared Nnimmo Bassey, Nigerian poet and chair of Friends of the Earth International. “[A]n epic failure,” claimed Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International executive director. ‘[A] colossal waste of time,” chimed in Jim Leape, international director-general of World Wildlife Fund.

An umbrella group of NGOs bemoaned the official text’s lack of mention of “planetary boundaries, tipping points or planetary carrying capacity,” the very shibboleth’s of radical environmentalism’s zero-sum thinking.

Significantly, the mother and father of sustainable development, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Maurice “Chairman Mo” Strong, carped — or should that be gro-aned and mo-aned — from the Rio sidelines.

... Canada should be justly proud of being in the vanguard of this return to balance both via its withdrawal from Kyoto and the environmental provisions of Bill C-38, which do not seek to trash safeguards — as alarmists have suggested — but to eliminate duplication, bureaucratic overreach, and the potential for sheer obstructionism.

Meanwhile, once again, Canada Awarded “Fossil of the Day” in Rio [makes me proud]:

... Environment Minister Peter Kent said the awards are politically motivated, and don't reflect Canada's commitment to promoting sustainable development at a global level. [I hope that means Canada's commitment to global "sustainable development" is non-existent]. ...

Kent agreed with the fossil-award nominators, however, that Canada does not want to discuss funding for the green economy. ... "... There are some countries that would like Rio to be a pledging conference for wealth transfer," the minister said. ...

"Earth Hour celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness..."

Earth Hour: A Dissent

by Ross McKitrick

Ross McKitrick,
Professor of Economics,
University of Guelph,

Image via Wikipedia


In 2009 I was asked by a journalist for my thoughts on the importance of Earth Hour.

Here is my response.

I abhor Earth Hour. Abundant, cheap electricity has been the greatest source of human liberation in the 20th century. Every material social advance in the 20th century depended on the proliferation of inexpensive and reliable electricity.

Giving women the freedom to work outside the home depended on the availability of electrical appliances that free up time from domestic chores. Getting children out of menial labour and into schools depended on the same thing, as well as the ability to provide safe indoor lighting for reading.

Development and provision of modern health care without electricity is absolutely impossible. The expansion of our food supply, and the promotion of hygiene and nutrition, depended on being able to irrigate fields, cook and refrigerate foods, and have a steady indoor supply of hot water.

Many of the world’s poor suffer brutal environmental conditions in their own homes because of the necessity of cooking over indoor fires that burn twigs and dung. This causes local deforestation and the proliferation of smoke- and parasite-related lung diseases.

Anyone who wants to see local conditions improve in the third world should realize the importance of access to cheap electricity from fossil-fuel based power generating stations. After all, that’s how the west developed.

The whole mentality around Earth Hour demonizes electricity. I cannot do that, instead I celebrate it and all that it has provided for humanity.

Earth Hour celebrates ignorance, poverty and backwardness. By repudiating the greatest engine of liberation it becomes an hour devoted to anti-humanism. It encourages the sanctimonious gesture of turning off trivial appliances for a trivial amount of time, in deference to some ill-defined abstraction called “the Earth,” all the while hypocritically retaining the real benefits of continuous, reliable electricity.

People who see virtue in doing without electricity should shut off their fridge, stove, microwave, computer, water heater, lights, TV and all other appliances for a month, not an hour. And pop down to the cardiac unit at the hospital and shut the power off there too.

I don’t want to go back to nature. Travel to a zone hit by earthquakes, floods and hurricanes to see what it’s like to go back to nature. For humans, living in “nature” meant a short life span marked by violence, disease and ignorance. People who work for the end of poverty and relief from disease are fighting against nature. I hope they leave their lights on.

Here in Ontario, through the use of pollution control technology and advanced engineering, our air quality has dramatically improved since the 1960s, despite the expansion of industry and the power supply.

If, after all this, we are going to take the view that the remaining air emissions outweigh all the benefits of electricity, and that we ought to be shamed into sitting in darkness for an hour, like naughty children who have been caught doing something bad, then we are setting up unspoiled nature as an absolute, transcendent ideal that obliterates all other ethical and humane obligations.

No thanks.

I like visiting nature but I don’t want to live there, and I refuse to accept the idea that civilization with all its tradeoffs is something to be ashamed of.

Ross McKitrick
Professor of Economics
University of Guelph

[Via]

The video.

"Earth Hour" eco-fascism on the wane

Peter Foster:

... Enthusiasm for the dim-bulb stunt appears to have waned in line with climate hysteria, although the WWF is doing its best to keep activism alive in the classroom, the cubicle and the corporate suite. ...
... The WWF has lots of great ideas ... kids: have a contest to see who can “raise the most funds for WWF.” ...
... climate is so, like, 2008. Although you would never know it from reading the mainstream media ...
... Meanwhile, the climate policy process is collapsing.
How often did President Barack Obama mention climate change during his recent “all-of-the-above” U.S. energy tour?” Not once. ...
... Britain is abandoning its plans to force corporations to report their greenhouse gas emissions ... (although the lights will still go out on Saturday Night at Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament).
... Poland has blocked new European Union emissions targets.
... Other East European members of the EU are increasingly inclined to block targets permanently.
... “climate policy is no longer a big item on the EU’s agenda and the climate mania is gradually coming to an end after almost 20 years.”
And with it, fortunately, ecofascist nonsense such as Earth Hour.

Good riddance to "Earth Hour".

Celebrate "Human Achievement".

FakeGate

Catching up on more climate hanky-panky (cribbed directly from FOS email):

FakeGate (James Delingpole's designation)

The possibly criminal misdeeds of Dr Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute and Chairman of the AGU’s Task Force on Scientific Ethics (sic!), in trying to undermine the reputation of the Heartland Institute, have been all over the blogosphere. Ken Gregory has summarised events on the Friends of Science website ... I am not going to add to that. If you are not up to date on the ethics boss having had his hand in the cookie jar (his arm, some say), you should consult the background at WUWT , or the dedicated site <http://fakegate.org/>.

Previous Heartland correspondence with Gleick is here.

Gleick’s revealing 2007 testimony for the US Senate is here.

DeSmogBlog, the HuffPost and ThinkProgress assisted in distributing the unchecked allegations and forged document.

An interesting record of the manipulations by DeSmogBlog propagandists is here.

Stephen Harper speaks at Davos

Interesting opening acknowledements:

... My greetings to Ambassador Santi,
To the governor of the Bank of Canada, known internationally as chair of the Financial Stability Board, Mark Carney,
To our hard-working minister of international trade, Ed Fast.
And to the best finance minister on the planet, Jim Flaherty....

The rest of it was good. He did an excellent job of blowing Canada's horn, saying in effect "...we're in good shape.  Look and learn." I just wish he wouldn't encourage the megalomaniacal WEF globalists by appearing at Davos.

More commentary.