Forget aliens, scary climate change data is the latest coverup for governments

Plus, Vanguard takes the ESG exit ramp in Texas

In today’s edition:

— Governments are increasingly obscuring harsh climate data amid concern about energy security

— Vanuard settles a costly but baseless ESG nuisance suit out of Texas

— What history tells us about how cities survive climate change — or don’t

— Do whales have legal rights? A curious spate of natural rights laws are setting precedent in New Zealand

— World oil output set to rise this year

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the International Space Station. Photo: NASA.

Conspiracy theorists had a field day recently when President Donald Trump started talking about what the U.S. government knew — or didn’t know — about unidentified flying objects and aliens.

But what governments know about the potential damage from climate change and might not be telling us seems a bit more real after recent headlines out of the UK.

The British Labour Party government was pilloried last month for releasing a toned down report about the national security and environmental implications of climate change after it came out that the original version was much worse and might have been held back for being too negative.

The biodiversity and ecosystem report’s original draft had basically said that evidence showed almost every major eco-structure was on a path toward collapse. But the government held it back, reportedly in consultation with UK intelligence.

Similar reports have been withheld in places such as Australia and America, where the White House even attempted to rewrite scientific reports to obscure any threat from global warming.

Much of this can be chalked up to governments becoming more timid about acknowledging climate realities in the face of political opposition focused on high energy prices.

In the UK, a critical local election last week was won by the Green Party without it even attempting to use climate change as an issue. And in Italy, politicians are attacking one of Europe’s few successes in addressing global warming — a unified carbon market to drive companies toward renewable energy — as harmful and unnecessary.

Political opposition is one thing. Deliberate blocking of crucial evidence is quite another. Otherwise investors, and everybody else, are simply flying blind.

If you have ideas or suggestions for us, contact me directly at
dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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Tuesday’s subscriber insights

Vanguard takes the climate exit ramp