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ICYMI: Shocker Court Ruling: Cut Carbon Emissions to Save Humanity From Climate Change
By Brent Gregston
For the first time ever, a court has ordered a government to protect its citizens from climate change. A court in the Netherlands has mandated carbon emissions cuts of 25% by 2020. Could a legal strategy work in the United States also—to finally drive meaningful action?
WHO
Mayors Flock to Vatican for Climate Declaration
Pope Francis continued his trailblazing tenure as “The People’s Pope” by hosting 60 mayors at a conference on climate change. The leaders signed a declaration stating “human-induced climate change is a scientific reality and its effective control is a moral imperative for humanity.” Former seminarian and current California Governor Jerry Brown spoke at the conference. He likened climate skeptics to “troglodytes.”
Trump Should Pull the Plug on His Bloviating Side Show
The Des Moines Register may be the most important newspaper of the presidential primary process. Only the Manchester Union-Leader in New Hampshire wields as much early influence in determining the outcome of a campaign. An endorsement is gold. A dismissal … not so much. But what happens when the editorial board goes so far as to demand a candidate leave the race? Thus far, Trump’s support is growing, in spite of the GOP establishment, admonitions from other candidates and this call for withdrawal by the editors of The Des Moines Register.
WHAT
‘Too Big To Fail’ Needs Competition
The American Spectator takes a decidedly conservative view of the unchecked consolidation of the banking industry. They prefer lower entry barriers for new banks. Surprisingly, folks on both sides of the aisle seem to agree that Dodd-Frank—which just turned five—failed to stop “too big to fail.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, conservatives don’t think the re-establishment of Glass-Steagall is the right way to deal with it. And neither does Hillary’s lead economic advisor.
Economic Growth Doesn’t Make a Wealthy Nation–Safety and Happiness Do
Economist Kate Raworth writes in Yes! Magazine about the mis-allocation of capital. The problem isn’t that we don’t invest enough in manufacturing, the financial sector or Wall Street. It’s that GDP, economic growth rates and the S&P 500 only account for part of what makes us wealthy. Failure to also invest in “well-being” merely creates a thin-veneer of wealth over a fundamentally poor society.
WHY
Self-Proclaimed Experts More Vulnerable to the Illusion of Knowledge
A new study published in Psychological Science shows that the more people think they know, the more willing they are to say they know things that are, in fact, not even real things. For example, when asked about made-up, totally non-existent financial terms, self-described financial experts were more likely to claim knowledge of them. In other words, beware of people who drink their own Kool-Aid. And FOX News.
NASA’s New Million-Mile View of Earth is a Stunner
The venerable space agency continues to deliver a whole-lotta bang for the buck. After wowing scientists with images of Pluto from its New Horizons probe, NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory just reminded everyone how beautiful and unlikely the planet Earth is as it floats in the black vacuum of space.
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