Tag: Global Warming

National Park Quietly Removed Warning That Glaciers ‘Will All Be Gone’ by 2020 After Years of Heavy Snowfall

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by Michael Bastasch   The National Park Service (NPS) quietly removed a visitor center sign saying the glaciers at Glacier National Park would disappear by 2020 due to climate change. As it turns out, higher-than-average snowfall in recent years upended computer model projections from the early 2000s that NPS based its claim glaciers “will all be gone by the year 2020,” federal officials said. “Glacier retreat in Glacier National Park speeds up and slows down with fluctuations in the local climate,” the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors Glacier National Park, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Those signs were based on the observation prior to 2010 that glaciers were shrinking more quickly than a computer model predicted they would,” USGS said. “Subsequently, larger than average snowfall over several winters slowed down that retreat rate and the 2020 date used in the NPS display does not apply anymore.” NPS updated signs at the St. Mary Visitor Center glacier exhibit over the winter. Sign changes meant the display warning glaciers would all disappear by 2020 now says: “When they completely disappear, however, will depend on how and when we act.” The total area of Glacier National Park covered in its iconic…

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Minneapolis Official Calls for End to Car Ownership

Anthony Gockowski

  Sam Rockwell, president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, suggested in a recent op-ed for The Star Tribune that in order “to save the planet, we have to get over cars.” “The way we live our lives is how we got into this climate catastrophe in the first place. Of course we have to change. And that means driving less, not just switching which model sedan we buy. It means transforming how our personal needs relate to stewardship of our Earth and our communities,” Rockwell said in the article. He was responding to a May 20 article published in The Star Tribune that “paints a picture of an electric-vehicle-filled world,” which he doesn’t think would be enough. Rockwell pointed to Minneapolis’ “2040 Plan,” which explains that “even with the adoption of electric cars, a 38% reduction in passenger miles traveled by automobile is needed.” “If we are obliged to reduce car travel—and perhaps even ownership—does that mean we’re stuck with Jordan’s ‘dreary post-apocalyptic future’? Only if you believe Paris, Vancouver, and New York fit that description. These communities and many others are built around comprehensive transit systems,” Rockwell continued. “Success of these systems, and the dense land uses that support…

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Environmentalists Say Imprisoned Felons Should Be Able to Vote Because of Global Warming

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by Michael Bastasch   Environmentalists joined the far-left campaign to give voting rights to incarcerated felons, arguing felon voting is crucial to fighting global warming. “Until each and every one of them have their voting rights restored, the movement for climate justice — and every progressive cause — will be severely disadvantaged,” Sabelo Narasimhan, digital campaign manager for 350.org, wrote in an email to supporters sent Monday. The group is now part of the effort, championed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, to allow millions of incarcerated felons to vote. Currently, only Maine and Vermont allow imprisoned felons to vote. 350.org is a far-left environmental group founded by activist Bill McKibben, a staunch Sanders supporter who once called former President Barack Obama a “climate denier” for allowing an oil company to explore for Arctic oil. “An assault on our democracy and the right to vote directly affects how we address the current climate crisis. When people can’t vote, fossil fuel billionaires win,” Narasimhan wrote in the email. The email directs supporters to sign onto a letter to Congress, demanding felons be allowed to vote while incarcerated. The online letter is supported by 350.org and other groups, including Common Cause, the Hip…

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Minneapolis Wants to Ban New Drive-Thru Windows to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Anthony Gockowski

  Minneapolis wants to ban all new drive-thru windows citywide in order to cut down on carbon emissions produced by idling cars. The City Planning Commission has been considering a drive-thru ban since 2017, but the idea didn’t really start to come to fruition until the 2018 conversations surrounding the “Minneapolis 2040” comprehensive city plan. Now, according to a report prepared by the planning commission, a new ordinance wants to take language included in the comprehensive city plan and “expand the prohibition of new drive-through facilities to all zoning districts citywide.” “A text amendment that specifically addresses regulations is timely given the number of proposals for new drive-through facilities that have been considered by the City Planning Commission in the last few years and the undesirable impacts these uses have,” the report states. “Said impacts include noise, extended idling, proliferation of curb cuts, conflicts with pedestrians, and traffic generation.” The report lists seven pending proposals to build new drive-thru windows within city limits for businesses such as banks, pharmacies, coffee shops, and fast-food restaurants. Some, however, think the ban would have an adverse impact on the most vulnerable residents, such as the elderly and disabled, or even parents with young…

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Al Gore to Address Harvard University Seniors at Class Day Celebration on May 29

Jason M. Reynolds

  Calling Al Gore a “dedicated public servant” and other superlatives, The Harvard Gazette announced the former vice president will address graduating seniors on May 29 as part of the annual Class Day celebration, the day before Harvard University’s 368th commencement. Gore is a 1969 Harvard alumnus. In the lengthy laudatory article, the publication quoted the speaker selection committee co-chair: “It is an absolute honor to be able to welcome Al Gore as our Class Day speaker,” said Cleanna Crabill ’19, program marshal and co-chair of the speaker selection committee. “For more than four decades of service he has modeled leadership based on civic duty, commitment to the public good, and a persistent, forward-looking vision. What’s more, he has shown us the necessity of being a proactive citizen of the planet. We are unbelievably excited to have a speaker who has consistently challenged the moral imagination and continues the call to action for the most imminent issues of our future.” The story mentions Gore’s “leadership” and environmental activism. The Harvard Gazette failed to mention Gore’s misfires in environmental activism. In December 2018, The Tennessee Star reported on the city of Georgetown, Texas, which Gore profiled in his “An Inconvenient Sequel” for…

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UN Warns Of Imminent Ecological Catastrophe, Just Like They Did In 1982

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by Michael Bastach   The United Nations is out with another alarming report, claiming that one million species, more than ever before, are threatened with imminent extinction if drastic actions aren’t taken. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s similar warning to one given by the head of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) nearly four decades ago. In 1982, UNEP executive director Mostafa Tolba warned U.N. delegates from 100 countries that “on almost every front, there has been a marked deterioration in the quality of our shared environment.” Tolba continued, warning that unless governments acted immediately, “by the turn of the century, an environmental catastrophe which will witness devastation as complete, as irreversible as any nuclear holocaust.” Of course, like today, governments weren’t doing enough to stave off the ecological equivalent of nuclear war. But while the 1982 dire prediction made headlines, it’s failure to come true did not. Bjorn Lomborg, environmental policy expert and author, highlighted the 1982 Reuters article on Twitter as hysteria over the new U.N. report swept social media. Lomborg, no skeptic of global warming, pointed out the UNEP was wrong in the 1980s as today’s apocalyptic predictions are likely wrong as well. And here, from 1982, where the…

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House Democrats Introduce ‘Minnesota Green New Deal’ Written By High School Students

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota lawmakers have officially introduced a state level “Green New Deal” that was inspired in large part by youth-activist organizations. In fact, when introducing his bill Wednesday, Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis) said it was the “first time” he’s ever “witnessed high school students actually writing a bill.” Hornstein was joined at a Wednesday press conference by a handful of student activists with the climate group “MN Can’t Wait,” according to MPR News. The bill itself, officially titled “Minnesota Green New Deal Act,” calls for making the state’s electricity 100 percent carbon-free by 2030. It would also place a “construction moratorium” on allowing state agencies to issue permits to “construct a facility to transport, store, or process coal, crude oil or its derivative products, propane, or natural gas.” “The commission is prohibited from issuing a certificate of need to construct an electric generating plant powered by coal, products refined from crude oil, or natural gas,” the bill adds. Hornstein’s legislation would also establish a “Climate Change Advisory Council” that would “provide recommendations to improve Minnesota state government operations, functions, and policies to identify groups and individuals in need of assistance in adapting to climate change and develop programs to assist those…

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REPORT: 50 Percent Renewable Energy Mandate Would Cost Minnesota $80 Billion by 2050

Anthony Gockowski

A shocking new report from the Center of the American Experiment found that a 50 percent renewable energy mandate would cost $80.2 billion in Minnesota alone by the year 2050. Minnesota’s current renewable energy mandate, or REM, requires that 25 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2025, but some Democratic lawmakers would like to see that number raised to 50 percent by 2030. Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) recently proposed making Minnesota 100 percent carbon-free by 2050. The Center of the American Experiment’s report chose to focus on the 50 percent by 2030 figure since research has shown that “using wind, solar and batteries to achieve 100 percent of electricity generations would be exponentially more expensive than a 50 percent renewable benchmark.” It’s important to note that Walz’s proposal calls for 100 percent carbon-free energy, rather than strictly renewable energy, meaning sources like nuclear energy could still be used heavily. The report’s first finding states that a 50 percent REM would “increase electricity costs by $80.2 billion to meet mandated renewable energy goals and maintain this electric system through 2050.” The report, titled “Doubling Down on Failure,” further finds that a 50 percent REM would “destroy 20,950…

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Commentary: Here Are Five Hysterical Environmentalist Claims in Modern History

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by Jarret Stepman   Peddlers of the Green New Deal know that the only way for their radical agenda to become reality is if Americans buy into the wildest claims of climate extremists. It’s clear that some of the most enthusiastic supporters of this radical agenda are young people. This was on full display in the now viral video of a meeting between Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and a group of children from the Sunrise Movement. This is how @SenFeinstein reacted to children asking her to support the #GreenNewDeal resolution — with smugness + disrespect. This is a fight for our generation's survival. Her reaction is why young people desperately want new leadership in Congress. pic.twitter.com/0zAkaxruMI — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) February 22, 2019 Perhaps children and young Americans are more likely to buy into the extreme environmentalist doomsaying due to the fact that they weren’t around for the laughably wrong predictions of the past that never came true. Panics over looming environmental and climate apocalypse have been with us for a long time. Thomas Malthus famously predicted in his 1798 book “An Essay on the Principle of Population” that population growth would overtake food supply and mass starvation would…

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Commentary: Where Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Get Her Sweet Potatoes?

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by Jeffrey A. Tucker   Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was trying to explain to me that the world is going to melt, we are all doing to die, and probably we shouldn’t be having any more children, but I was distracted by the dinner she was preparing on camera. She was carefully cutting sweet potatoes before putting them in the oven. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SUDG7FIFK8 She put salt and pepper on them. Salt was once so rare that it was regarded as money. Ever try to go a day with zero salt? Nothing tastes right. That was the history of humanity for about 150,000 years. Then we figured out how to produce and distribute salt to every table in the world. Now we throw around salt like it is nothing, and even complain that everything is too salty. Nice problem. Sweet potatoes are not easy to cut, so she was using a large steel knife, made of a substance that only became commercially viable in the late 19th century. It took generations of metallurgists to figure out how to make steel reliably and affordably. Before steel, there were bodies of water you could not cross without a boat because no one knew how to make…

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Commentary: Mass Immigration and Climate Change Doublethink

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by Quentin Borges-Silva   Doublethink, as articulated by George Orwell in 1984, “means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” Unfortunately, the modern left takes Orwell’s book not as the warning it was intended to be, but as an instruction manual. Perhaps nowhere else is doublethink more readily apparent than in the absurdly conflicted intersection of leftist environmentalism – think of it as ecological conservation with a pagan streak – and support for mass immigration. Climate change true believers have perfect faith in the notion that the human contribution of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is the primary driver of global warming, and that only by drastically reducing that contribution can we avoid apocalyptic climate tragedy on a global scale. But when a grand imam of the Climate Change faith, Michael Mann, is called “A Disgrace to the Profession” and many other unflattering things by dozens of his equally credentialed peers, perhaps they are onto something. When recipients of tens of millions of dollars in federal climate research grants ask the Department of Justice to arrest, prosecute, and imprison those who question their data quality, analysis, and conclusions, it’s a fair bet they’re up to something,…

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Cory Booker Compares Green New Deal to Fighting Nazi Germany

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by Chris White   Democratic Sen. Cory Booker appeared to compare adopting the so-called Green New Deal with fighting the Nazi regime. “Our planet is in peril, and we need to be bold,” Booker said at a Friday campaign event in Iowa. There are a lot of people who are critical of the deal. Critics claim “it’s too impractical, and it’s too expensive.” “And when the planet has been in peril in the past, who came forward to save Earth … from the scourge of Nazis and totalitarian regimes?” Booker asked rhetorically. “We came forward.” “We came forward with the Marshal Plan,” he added, referring to a U.S. program concocted during the 1940s to rebuild parts of German and other European countries bombed out during World War II. The GND, which was introduced Thursday by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calls for a “10-year national mobilizations” toward a series of goals aimed at fighting global warming. A separate fact sheet published online claims the plan would “mobilize every aspect of American society on a scale not seen since World War 2.” Ocasio-Cortez’s original concept received support from Booker and other potential presidential candidates. The updated version, however, which was rolled out Thursday…

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Evidence Mounts Against Climate Prediction That Inspired ‘Day After Tomorrow’ Disaster Flick

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by Michael Bastasch   New evidence casts further doubt on model-based predictions that global warming could halt the Gulf Stream currents as part of an alarming scenario that inspired the 2004 disaster film, “The Day After Tomorrow.” For years, scientists warned global warming could halt the Atlantic’s “conveyor belt” and foment extreme weather and raise sea levels from North America to Europe. That prediction is based on climate models that, the new study found, may be analyzing the wrong thing. “Some of these models are producing five times the amount of Labrador Sea water they should be producing, based on observations,” lead author Susan Lozier, a professor at Duke University, told The Washington Post Friday. Lozier’s study found that climate models overestimate the role of the Labrador Sea west of Greenland in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The study found the Nordic Sea east of Greenland played a dominant role in the AMOC. Lozier led an international effort to measure AMOC in the North Atlantic. Scientists from 16 organizations launched the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) in 2014, and now released data collected during the first 21 months of operations. Some researchers cautioned that 21 months…

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FAKE NEWS: Headline-Grabbing Ocean Warming Study is Full of ‘Factual Errors and Misleading Statements,’ Scientist Says

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by Michael Bastach   Another major headline-grabbing climate study suggesting oceans have warmed faster than previously thought is full of “factual errors and misleading statements,” according to independent scientist Nic Lewis. Lewis challenged the climate paper’s central arguments that more recent estimates of ocean heat content (OHC) are higher than those cited in the United Nations’ 2014 climate report which vindicated climate models thought to be showing too much warming. “It is therefore misleading to claim that the warming is larger over the 1971–2010 period than reported in [the U.N.’s 2014 climate report],” Lewis wrote in an article published Monday on climate scientist Judith Curry’s blog. Lewis claims the ocean warming paper gets its alarming results from an improper treatment of the U.N.’s 2014 report, and that ocean heat content trends were “significantly smaller” than climate model estimates from 2005 to 2017. Lewis’ post challenging the study also included a response from lead author Lijing Cheng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Cheng argued the conclusions he and his co-authors came to were “sound.” “If the alternative analysis method proposed by Nic Lewis is used, the change is not quite as dramatic as implied in some of the associated press releases,” Cheng…

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The Climate Paper Most Widely Covered by the Media in 2018 was Actually a Call for Global Socialism

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by Michael Bastasch   The most popular climate paper of 2018 called for “collective human action” to keep global warming from turning Earth into a “hothouse,” according to media tracking data. The so-called “Hothouse Earth” paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in August, sparked a wave of alarming media coverage the planet was “dangerously close” to reaching “unstoppable” warming. “The paper was the fifth most talked-about of all journal papers published last year,” and the most talked about paper related to global warming, according to the website Carbon Brief. “It was the subject of 460 news stories in 326 outlets, including the Guardian, BBC News, Sky News, New Scientist, Al Jazeera and the Sydney Morning Herald. Links to the paper were also included in 5,392 tweets and 34 Facebook posts,” Carbon Brief reported Tuesday. Carbon Brief ranked climate papers based on data from Altmetric, a group that tracks papers mentioned in “news articles and blogs and shared on social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Reddit.” The paper, co-authored by a group of prominent scientists, called for a “deep transformation based on a fundamental reorientation of human values, equity, behavior, institutions, economies, and…

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EPA Climate Model Shows ‘Green New Deal’ Would Avert a ‘Barely Detectable’ Amount of Global Warming

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by Michael Bastasch   Democrats are increasingly lining up behind New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s call for a “Green New Deal,” but few, if any, have talked about its actual impact on global warming. Even if all the Green New Deal’s goals were achieved, it would have a negligible, and likely immeasurable, impact on projected global warming, according to climate model simulation provided by a libertarian think tank. “I seriously think the effect would — at best — be barely detectable in the climate record,” Patrick Michaels, a climatologist with the Cato Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Cato developed its own “Carbon Tax Temperature-Savings Calculator” to estimate the amount of warming that might be averted through reducing greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide. The carbon calculator is based on the so-called “MAGICC” climate model simulator, developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. So, how much warming would a “Green New Deal” avert by the end of the century? Slightly under 0.14 degrees Celsius, according to Cato’s temperature calculator. “The year-to-year variation is very close to the total amount of warming that would be ‘saved’ by 2100, according to EPA’s own…

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Satellites Show 2018 Was the Sixth-Warmest Year on Record and Climate Models Are Still Off

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by Michael Bastasch   Satellite-derived global temperature data shows 2018 was the sixth warmest year on record in decades, according to the two prominent datasets. Satellite data compiled by the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) scientists showed the global average temperature was 0.23 degrees Celsius above average compared to the past four decades. “The 2018 globally averaged temperature anomaly, adjusted for the number of days in each month, is +0.23 deg. [Celsius], making 2018 the 6th warmest year in the now-40 year satellite record of global lower tropospheric temperature variations,” UAH scientist Roy Spencer wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “The linear temperature trend of the global average lower tropospheric temperature anomalies from January 1979 through December 2018 remains” 0.13 degrees Celsius per decade, Spencer wrote. Satellite data compiled by the Santa Rosa, California-based Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) also showed 2018 was the sixth-warmest year on record going back to 1979. Satellites measure temperatures in the lower few miles of the atmosphere while weather stations and buoys are often used to measure temperatures at the Earth’s surface. Both satellite and surface temperature data shows warming trends at the low end of what climate models predicted. RSS data, for example, shows temperatures…

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2018 Saw a Global Revolt Against Climate Change Policies

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by Michael Bastasch   Despite increasingly apocalyptic warnings from U.N. officials, 2018 has seen a number of high-profile defeats for policies aimed at fighting global warming. Politicians and voters pushed back at attempts to raise energy prices as part of the climate crusade. It started in June with election of Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ontario residents overwhelmingly voted Ford’s conservative coalition into power on a platform that included axing the Canadian province’s cap-and-trade program. Ford said his first priority upon taking office would be to “cancel the Liberal cap-and-trade carbon tax.” Ford then joined a legal challenge led by Saskatchewan against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policy of a central government-imposed carbon tax on provinces that don’t have their own. Carbon tax opponents called Trudeau’s plan an attempt to “use the new tax to further redistribute income, which will increase the costs of this tax to the economy.” Roughly ten thousand miles away in Australia another revolt was brewing. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saw his power base crumble within days of failing to pass a bill aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Turnbull’s so-called National Energy Guarantee to reduce energy sector emissions was opposed by a group of conservative members of…

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‘Climate Alarmism,’ ‘Propaganda’ Fill US Agency Websites, Report Finds

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by Tim Pearce   Multiple federal agencies are pushing agenda-driven climate science on their websites, according to The Heartland Institute. The Trump administration has taken a public stance supporting fossil fuels and questioning the scientific “consensus” of climate change research. Parts of federal websites should be overhauled or taken down completely to conform to the administration’s stance on climate change and fossil fuel energy production, Heartland says. Trump administration agencies continue to push “climate alarmism” and publish “propaganda” on their websites despite President Donald Trump’s position on climate change and the use of fossil fuels, according to The Heartland Institute. Heartland researchers audited the websites of federal agencies for information that seemed to contradict the public stance of President Donald Trump and his administration’s agenda to expand American energy production, including fossil fuel production. Heartland researchers found numerous examples of federal agencies pushing an anti-fossil fuel narrative, according to sections of a draft report obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Federal executive branch websites are littered with political propaganda instead of objective science,” Heartland senior environment and energy policy fellow James Taylor said in a statement to TheDCNF. “To the extent scientific issues are discussed, they are presented in a…

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Paris Climate Accord Backers Won’t Say if They Support Ban on Private Jets

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by Michael Bastasch and Chris White   Big businesses largely came out in support of the Paris Agreement on global warming, but most contacted by The Daily Caller News Foundation were silent on whether they would give up flying private jets. TheDCNF wanted to test the commitment of big companies, foundations and outspoken activists who back the Paris accord. The question: Would you support a ban on private jet travel to help stem global warming? Most companies and individuals TheDCNF reached out to did not respond, including Facebook, Apple, Google and other companies that often tout their “green image.” Not even former Vice President Al Gore, the father of climate activism, responded to TheDCNF’s question. In fact, all but two of the 26 corporations were silent when asked by TheDCNF if they would support a ban on private jets to help cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with what the United Nations says is needed to meet the Paris accord. TheDCNF asked a total of 31 companies, foundations and individuals if they would support a private jet ban. To keep projected global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, the main goal of the Paris accord, the U.N. says emissions need to…

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The Paris Climate Agreement is ‘Dead,’ Declares Former Top UN Delegate

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by Michael Bastasch   Saudi Arabia’s former lead delegate to United Nations climate talks said the Paris agreement to fight global warming is “dead,” ending what he called a “big conspiracy the world created.” Mohammed Salim Al Sabban, also a former adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, celebrated what he called the unofficial “death” of the Paris accord. “Are you still following the dead Paris Agreement?” Al Sabban tweeted in response to former New York Times write Andrew Revkin. “They will go from one meeting to another forever till it’s officially announced its death. Don’t be selective when you attack the Saudi UNFCCC position. It is unfair,” Al Sabban wrote. Revkin was commenting on news that the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait refused to “welcome” the findings of a U.N. climate report released in October. The report said carbon dioxide emissions would need to decline 45 percent by 2030 to avoid warming greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Nice hearing from you Mr.Revkin. It has been long time.Are you still following the dead Paris Agreement?They will go from one meeting to another forever till it’s officially announced its death. Don’t be selective when you attack the…

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Commentary: The Green Agenda Burns to Ashes in Paris

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by Jarrett Stepman   A riot is an ugly thing. The anarchical mayhem in the streets of Paris in recent days paint a picture of a fractured society with deep-seated problems—a breakdown of the fragile yet essential rule of law. – 70% of French voters believe democracy doesn't work well in France– Only 11% trust political parties– 24% trust the media– 63% of young French were ready for a large-scale revolt The gilets jaunes protests were almost inevitable https://t.co/hGrlVTsnyJ pic.twitter.com/cPcaybyNfl — Bloomberg Opinion (@opinion) December 3, 2018 While we’ve come to expect such things in France, there are specific reasons why these protests have erupted in the last month. The “climate” agenda, peddled as a means to save the planet and reduce inequality, is being exposed in France as an agenda inherently at odds with the interests of middle- and working-class people. Last year, a wide range of American and international media, celebrities, and activists excoriated President Donald Trump for pulling the United States out of the international Paris climate agreement. Trump said in 2017 that he would put “no other consideration before the well-being of American citizens” and that he would reject an agreement that would force taxpayers to…

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Ocasio-Cortez Sees Global Warming as Way to Push Social and Racial Agenda

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by Michael Bastasch   Democratic Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the “Green New Deal” plan she supports would be used to achieve liberal “economic, social and racial justice” goals along with fighting global warming. “We can use the transition to 100 percent energy as the vehicle to truly deliver and establish economic, social and racial justice in the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a Tuesday panel discussion alongside Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and environmental activist Bill McKibben. The soon-to-be New York representative has spent her time in Washington, D.C. promoting a “Green New Deal” to transition the U.S. to 100 percent green energy. Ocasio-Cortez even joined protesters occupying House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office in support of the plan. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest person elected to Congress, is calling for a climate change revolution alongside potential 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/0oxh0g0etl — The Guardian (@guardian) December 5, 2018 Pelosi wants to bring global warming to the forefront when Democrats take control of the House in 2018, but Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and a handful of other Democrats want to go even further. While light on details, proponents said the “Green New Deal” could create millions of jobs in…

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Macron Bails on Climate Summit as France Melts Down Over High Gas Taxes

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by Chris White   French President Emmanuel Macron made his way back to France Sunday as protesters turn the streets of Paris upside down over sky-high gas taxes designed to fight global warming. Officials are considering declaring a state of emergency to deal with the unrest. Macron returned from his trip in Argentina to chaos in the streets as so-called “yellow jacket” demonstrators continued protesting against taxes and Macron’s perceived indifference toward everyday citizens. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe canceled plans to attend a climate change summit in Poland. One person died outside Paris during the weekend’s protests, bringing the number of casualties to three. More than 260 people were arrested, including 133 in Paris, according to police reports. More than 412 people were arrested nationwide. Christophe Castaner, France’s interior minister, told reporters Sunday he would not rule out the president’s declaring a state of emergency. Macron has emergency powers that were expanded after terrorist attacks roiled the country in 2015 — it is not yet clear if he will exercised those powers. Saturday and Sunday’s protests drew roughly 136,000 people, slightly down from the 166,000 who gathered in late November, the Interior Ministry said in a press statement. Politicians and police officials believe the situation was…

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Ocasio-Cortez, Activists Occupy Nancy Pelosi’s Office And Demand A Green New Deal

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by Michael Bastash   A group of young environmental activists occupied House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office with a list of demands, including one that Democrats support what they’re calling a “Green New Deal.” Activists began their “sit in” at Pelosi’s Capitol Hill office on Tuesday morning, wearing matching t-shirts and holding yellow signs with slogans such as, “We have twelve years. What’s your plan?” The sit in is part of the Sunrise Movement’s plan to create an “army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs,” according to the group’s Twitter bio. The group is demanding Democrats back their petition to rapidly “green” the economy to fight global warming. BREAKING: we’ve begun a sit in inside @NancyPelosi’s office because @HouseDemocrats have failed our generation time and time again. They offer us a death sentence. We demand a #GreenNewDeal. https://t.co/uSgzfQmLQu pic.twitter.com/eVM92i5hub — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) November 13, 2018 “How is @NancyPelosi going to respond to the young people occupying her office for a #GreenNewDeal right now?” Sunrise Movement tweeted on Tuesday. This summer, a GOP candidate called 18-year-old Rose #youngandnaive for demanding he refuse fossil fuel money. How is @NancyPelosi going to respond to…

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Jerry Brown Blames Those Who Deny Global Warming for Deadly Wildfires

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by Michael Bastasch   California Gov. Jerry Brown said “those who deny” man-made global warming are “definitely contributing” to the deadly, devastating wildfires forcing thousands of residents out of their homes. Brown made the comments during a Sunday press conference where he warned that global warming created a “new abnormal” for the state, including fueling deadly wildfires. The Democrat said better forest management was only a partial solution to the problem. “Managing the forests in every way we can does not stop climate change, and those who deny that are definitely contributing to the tragedies that we’re now witnessing, and will continue to witness in the coming years,” Brown said. “The chickens are coming home to roost. This is real here,” Brown said before saying he wanted people to “pull together” to tackle the problem. Three major fires scorched more than 200,000 acres, mostly in Northern California, since Thursday, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters only contained about one-quarter of raging infernos, which left at least 31 dead. The 111,000-acre Camp Fire became the most destructive in state history, destroying more than 6,800 structures and displacing tens of thousands of people. The fire spread quickly due to bone-dry conditions and fast-moving…

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Trump Called Out the ‘Political Agenda’ Surrounding Global Warming; Scientists and the Media Aren’t Happy

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by Michael Bastasch   President Donald Trump pushed back on suggestions from “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl that Hurricane Michael was somehow proof of man-made global warming, also claiming that climate scientists have a political agenda. Early in the interview, Stahl said he’s fantasized “the hurricane situations” changed Trump’s mind on man-made global warming. “What an impact that would make,” Stahl said. Trump responded, “They say that we had hurricanes that were far worse than what we just had with Michael.” Stahl pressed Trump on what he mean by “they,” and the president responded with “people.” “60 Minutes” put its interview of Trump in the context of Hurricane Michael, which they claimed “comes on the heels of a series of super storms: Florence in the Carolinas, Maria in Puerto Rico, Harvey in Texas.” Yet, Trump’s point is correct — the U.S. has seen more powerful, destructive storms than Hurricane Michael, which hit the Florida panhandle on Wednesday. Michael made landfall just below Category 5 strength, putting it in the top four strongest storms to hit the continental U.S. Meteorologist Philip Klotzbach noted in The Washington Post that Michael’s strength ranked “behind only the three Category 5 hurricane landfalls in the…

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A New Report Details How Nonprofits Are Funneling Millions To Democratic Governors To Further Their Global Warming Agenda

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by Michael Bastach   California Governor Jerry Brown’s upcoming global warming activist summit is part of an effort to funnels millions of dollars from nonprofits to state politicians to advance a liberal climate agenda, according to a new report. Brown’s so-called “Global Climate Action Summit” begins on Wednesday, and is sure to garner media attention. Its list of speakers includes former Vice President Al Gore, actor Alec Baldwin and former Secretary of State John Kerry. Indeed, the whole point of the summit is to give politicians and activists a platform on global warming ahead of the November elections. However, Competitive Enterprise senior fellow Chris Horner wants people to remember one thing about the summit: “this is what activist government for hire looks like, and how it is brought about.” “Open record productions reveal that this summit is part of a major climate industry that funnels donor money through nonprofit organizations to staff up politicians’ offices,” Horner wrote in a new report published Tuesday. And what an industry it is, Horner’s report reveals. Democratic state governors hope to mobilize $50 million by 2020 from nonprofits towards promoting liberal climate policies, including meeting the goals of the Paris climate accord. This is…

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Thousands March Through The Streets To Protest ‘Climate Crisis’

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by Jason Hopkins   Thousands of environmental activists participated in marches around the world Saturday, calling on their governments to end fossil fuel production and embrace renewable energy. Dubbed the “Rise for Climate” movement, thousands of environmentalists took to the streets to demand an end to the fossil fuel industry, claiming it is fueling a “climate crisis.” Around 820 demonstrations took place in 91 different counties, according to the Rise for Climate website. Led in large part by 350.0rg, the worldwide marches were orchestrated by other environmental groups, including the World Wildlife Fund, Climate Action Network and GreenFaith. Protest organizers are demanding a “swift” and “just” transition to 100 percent renewable energy, which would include solar and wind technology. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time, it is a crisis of democracy, justice and human rights,” May Boeve, the executive director of 350.org, said in a prepared statement. “The climate movement is made stronger by its sister movements: for human rights, economic justice, democracy, and much more. This weekend Rise for Climate will demonstrate the growing strength and diversity of the climate movement.” Demonstrations took place in San Francisco; Paris; Sydney; Bogota, Colombia and numerous other cities around the world. "The people gonna…

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Analysis: Why NYT’s Latest Attempt To Scare Readers About Global Warming Is A ‘Waste Of Time’

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by Michael Bastasch  – The New York Times teamed up with climate scientists to produce a graphic purporting to show an increase in hot days.  – However, it’s not actually showing that, but instead TheNYT’s graphic shows an average based on climate models.  – When compared to the observed temperature record, TheNYT’s graphic doesn’t match up. Another week, another New York Times feature trying to get its readers worried about how much the world could warm in the future. This time TheNYT partnered with the Climate Impact Lab, which is “a group of climate scientists, economists and data analysts from the Rhodium Group, the University of Chicago, Rutgers University and the University of California, Berkeley,” the paper noted. TheNYT and Climate Impact Lab created a graphic that’s supposed to show readers how many more days at or above 90 degrees they could expect today in their home town from when they were born — their data only goes back to 1960, though. The question is: how accurate is TheNYT’s representation of the change in days at of above 90 degrees? Well, at least for U.S. cities, it seems to be misleading. “This is [a] waste of time,” quipped Dr. Ryan Maue, a Cato…

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The SAT Is Feeding Students Solar Industry Propaganda

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by James D. Agresti   The famed SAT, or Scholastic Assessment Test, is a college readiness exam taken by more than 1.6 million students per year. In May of 2018, the College Board, which owns and operates the SAT, required test takers to read an article that claims: the cost of solar energy installations “fell by more than 50 percent between 2010 and 2013.” “solar power is now competitive with other energy sources in many markets.” solar energy is a “ray of sunshine for the U.S. economy.” This article appeared in the reading portion of the exam, which supposedly uses “authentic texts selected from high-quality” sources. Yet, all of the assertions above are rooted in solar industry propaganda that is at odds with the facts. Moreover, this disinformation misleads students in ways that can cause serious harm. Cost Declines In contrast to the SAT’s claim that the cost of solar installations fell by more than 50% from 2010 to 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports that “system prices of residential and commercial PV [photovoltaic solar] systems declined 6%–12% per year, on average, from 1998–2014….” This amounts to a decrease during 2010 to 2013 of 17%…

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‘This Is Not Science:’ Scientist Rips Into The Latest Attempt To Blame Wildfires On Global Warming

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Cliff Mass

by Michael Bastasch    – The Associated Press claims that “science says” global warming increases the area of western U.S. land scorched by wildfires every year.  – Climate scientist Cliff Mass noted AP’s simple correlation is not “science” and misses other key drivers of fires.  – It’s similar to another report from early August also attempting to link wildfires to global warming. The Associated Press is out with an analysis claiming that “science says” the amount of western U.S. land scorched by wildfires every year increases as temperatures go up. However, while those things are true, simply correlating two data trends is not “science,” as AP writer Seth Borenstein claims. And one expert says the simple correlation is meant to suggest a strong relationship between global warming and western wildfires that might not be there. “This is not science,” University of Washington climate scientist Cliff Mass told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The AP’s analysis found the “five years with the most acres burned since 1983 averaged 63.4 degrees from April to September,” which is “1.2 degrees warmer than average and 2.4 degrees hotter than the years with the least acres burned.” Since 1999, “10 years have had more than 10,000 square miles…

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Princeton Physicist Points Out The Obvious: The ‘Climate Denier’ Label Is Meant To Cast ‘Me As A Nazi Apologist’

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by Michael Bastach   Some scientists and activists no longer want their critics to be called “skeptics,” but Princeton University Physicist William Happer said “climate denier” is meant to denigrate those critical of claims of catastrophic man-made global warming. The term “denier” is “designed to cast me and others like me as a Nazi apologist,” Happer told The Washington Post. Happer believes global warming, on net, will be beneficial to mankind from enhanced plant growth from carbon dioxide emissions. “Any honest scientist should be a skeptic, most of all, a skeptic of his (or her) own scientific work, and the work of others,” Happer told WaPo via email. President Donald Trump considered Happer as a candidate to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy or even sit on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “If you insist on categorizing me as anything other than an honest scientist (and somewhat immodestly, a very good one) … you might call me a scientist who is persuaded that doubling or tripling CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere will be a major benefit to life on Earth,” Happer wrote, according to WaPo’s Friday report. However, Texas Tech University Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe implored WaPo not to apply the…

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Watchdog Group Launches Website Exposing Intimate Aspects Of Enviro-Led Climate Litigation

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by Chris White   A Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group is launching an online archive giving the public a sneak-peek at how state attorneys general and activists conspired to engage in climate litigation against energy companies. ClimateLitigationWatch will publish documents involving court cases against the energy industry. The group’s website also offers the first searchable database of records showing activists and politicians working hand-in-glove on litigation aimed at throttling oil producers. The project, which the Government Accountability & Oversight (GAO) kick-started, will also release profiles of the people involved in the litigation, along with trading cards detailing their role in current cases. AGs Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Eric Schneiderman of News York will almost certainly be included in the profiles — both of whom are at the center of the lawsuits. Schneiderman’s decision to resign Monday following reports he physically abused four women could diminish New York’s involvement in the cases. His successor could potentially continue where Schneiderman left off or lead the probes into a different direction. “We’re not going to get into the science debate and other arguments. We’ll just show the public the documents, so you can decide,” Christopher Horner, one of the key figures spearheading the ClimateLitigationWatch project, told The…

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Study: Climate Change ‘Skeptics’ Are More Eco-Friendly Than ‘Alarmists’

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by Jason Hopkins   A recently released study suggests those less concerned with climate change practice more eco-friendly habits than those who are more alarmed about the issue. In an April study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, University of Michigan psychology graduate student Michael Hall researched the behavioral differences between people who hold varying degrees of concern toward climate change. Hall, over the course of one year, examined 600 different Americans who “regularly reported their climate change beliefs, pro-environmental behavior, and other climate-change related measures.” The report divided subjects into three groups: “Highly Concerned,” “Cautiously Worried” and “Skeptical.” Additionally, the report measured how frequently subjects participated in “green” behavior: using public transportation, purchasing environmentally friendly products, using reusable shopping bags, and recycling. Unsurprisingly, Americans in the “skeptical” category were most opposed to enacting government regulations to address climate change. Those in the “Highly Concerned” category were much more in favor of government intervention. A surprising find in the study, however, was these same skeptics were “most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors.” Hall and his colleagues found these behaviors to be consistent throughout the year. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons for someone to be strongly supportive of environmental…

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Trump Takes Apart Another Favorite Tool Enviros Use To Push Climate Crusades

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by Chris White   The Trump administration released a new set of regulatory guidelines all-but destroying activists’ ability to cajole and browbeat retirement pension funds into taking up green energy investments. The Labor Department issued a warning Monday to managers of retirement funds to avoid using politically motivated investment strategies to tackle environmental issues. Several retirement funds have used exotic techniques during the past several years to submit proposals designed to push political campaigns. Using resources to promote so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) proposals is a violation of a pension fund’s fiduciary duty unless the proposal can financially improve the company’s value. If the shareholder cannot demonstrably prove the proposal’s financial benefit, then pension recipients can sue the retirement fund for mishandling their money. “Fiduciaries (including investment managers) may not routinely incur significant plan expenses to pay for the costs of shareholder resolutions or special shareholder meetings, or to initiate or actively sponsor proxy fights on environmental or social issues,” a DOL press statement on the rule change notes. The new guidance rule comes as reports consistently warn about the real-world consequences of forcing pensions to take up green activist agendas. A report published in July 2017 suggested public pension funds…

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Author of The Book ‘Gosnell’ Pens New Play ‘$18 Billion Prize’ Exposing the Climate Change Fraud

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by CHQ Staff   Regular CHQ readers will recognize the name Phelim McAleer from the Gosnell book and movie about now-imprisoned abortionist and murderer Dr. Kermit Gosnell or the Ferguson Play. Mr. McAleer tells stories that the establishment and the mainstream media want to ignore, so we thought we’d tell CHQ readers about his latest play and how you can help get it on the stage. McAleer’s new play exposes how environmentalists carried out the world’s biggest fraud, how the media and Hollywood helped promote the fraud, and how they almost got away with it. The play, The $18-Billion Prize, will open at the Phoenix Theater in San Francisco on May 19th and run until June 3rd. McAleer co-wrote the play with Jonathan Leaf and it tells the story of a lawsuit, led by New York lawyer Steven Donziger, against the Chevron oil company. The lawsuit alleged Chevron destroyed the rainforest in Ecuador and poisoned the natives. It was successful, and an Ecuadorian court awarded the plaintiffs a staggering $18 billion. Yes, BILLION. This was the biggest ever award in a civil court, but it was ALSO the biggest fraud in history. Haven’t heard about it? Funny, but not surprising, says McAleer,…

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Marc Morano, ClimateDepot.com Founder, Fights Climate Change Alarmists with Humor

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Global warming skeptic Marc Morano, founder of ClimateDepot.com, is a marked man in climate change circles. While many scientists, academics and personalities sound the alarm over what they see as the cataclysmic threat posed by a warming planet, Mr. Morano takes the opposite approach: The sky isn’t falling. The doom-and-gloom forecasts are wrong. And he isn’t…

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FOUND: 1.5 Million Penguins Discovered on Remote Antarctic Islands

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A thriving “hotspot” of 1.5 million Adelie penguins, a species fast declining in parts of the world, has been discovered on remote islands off the Antarctic Peninsula, surprised scientists said Friday. The first bird census of the Danger Islands unearthed over 750,000 Adelie breeding pairs, more than the rest of the area combined, the team reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

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