Thoughts on the Paris climate summit

Delusional zealots, power-seekers, and leaders of various nations who feel obliged to attend so that they can try to prevent their countries from bearing the cost of whatever is agreed to are all flying in now and checking into their hotels.

And re: those national leaders thinking about the cost: I'll bet a few of them, even if they can't admit it publicly, know that incurring it is utterly pointless:

A new peer-reviewed paper by Dr. Bjorn Lomborg published in the Global Policy journal measures the actual impact of all significant climate promises made ahead of the Paris climate summit.

Governments have publicly outlined their post-2020 climate commitments in the build-up to the December’s meeting. These promises are known as “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs).

Dr. Lomborg’s research reveals:

• The climate impact of all Paris INDC promises is minuscule: if we measure the impact of every nation fulfilling every promise by 2030, the total temperature reduction will be 0.048°C (0.086°F) by 2100.
• Even if we assume that these promises would be extended for another 70 years, there is still little impact: if every nation fulfills every promise by 2030, and continues to fulfill these promises faithfully until the end of the century, and there is no ‘CO₂ leakage’ to non-committed nations, the entirety of the Paris promises will reduce temperature rises by just 0.17°C (0.306°F) by 2100.
• US climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by 0.031°C (0.057°F) by 2100.
• EU climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by 0.053°C (0.096°F) by 2100.
• China climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by 0.048°C (0.086°F) by 2100.
• The rest of the world’s climate policies, in the most optimistic circumstances, fully achieved and adhered to throughout the century, will reduce global temperatures by 0.036°C (0.064°F) by 2100.

And consider the complete failure of previous pow-wows of this sort, going back to Kyoto.

So there will be tense, round-the-clock meetings in Paris, with the world's media breathlessly reporting each minute signal of the remote possibility of a breakthrough.

Some kind of document - certainly not anything that's legally binding according to the laws of the participating nations - will eventually be hammered out.

The Most Equal Comrade will bring his copy of it back to post-America. By that time, Congress will know enough of the details that those legislators with a lick of sense and at least of modicum of devotion to freedom will insist that it be considered a treaty and voted on.

The MEC will say it's not a treaty and come up with some cockamamie term for it and forge ahead with imposing its obligations on this sad, deteriorating, gravely imperiled nation.

There will be more measures along the lines of prosecuting Exxon for its atmospheric research not drawing regime-approved conclusions,  of outfits like the Children's Trust Fund, which gets kids to file lawsuits against the government to force action on climate change, of imposition of the Next Generation of Science Standards in schools, to make sure that those kids are good and indoctrinated, of astronomically costly EPA ozone regulations , of presidential task forces issuing reports on how communities across post-America can / should / will be forced to "prepare for climate change," of the Union of Concerned Scientists proposing a National Food Policy.

And meanwhile, Iran will be cheating on the nuke "deal," ISIS will be finalizing plans for a catastrophic attack on post-America, tensions between NATO and Russia will continue to build, China will continue its South China Sea aggression, and most of the post-American cattle-masses will distract themselves with sports and entertainment obsessions.

Sound like a dire scenario?

Then fight. Speak up. Argue. Vote. Attend rallies. Persuade your fellow citizens.

It is very late in the day.