Tuesday, January 19, 2010

climate scandals: TERIs finances questioned

jan 18th, 2010

i don't know if there is a concerted attack, but rajendra pachauri and IPCC appear increasingly embattled based on allegations of financial impropriety and business conflicts of interest. maybe all this will make cap-and-trade disappear, and the more sensible straight carbon tax come back into contention.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7005963/Taxpayers-millions-paid-to-Indian-institute-run-by-UN-climate-chief.html

i still believe there is global warming and climate change, just based on the amount of carbon being dumped into the air, and also observed changes in flora and weather patterns. but the series of scandals (starting with the leaked emails from britain) are making me wonder if there is a gigantic scam going on as well, to enrich the likes of goldman sachs and others involved in cap-and-trade.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

>>>"but the series of scandals (starting with the leaked emails from britain) are making me wonder if there is a gigantic scam going on as well, to enrich the likes of goldman sachs and others involved in cap-and-trade.
"

Only begining to wonder ?

Has capitalists done anything but serve their interest ?

Not only capitalists, communists, christians, muslims, every such western construct has only tried to serve its own interests.

The day they do something good for environment would be the day pigs fly.

Arvind said...

the global warming claim is based on pseudo-scientific claims. it is nothing more than a hoax. what has happened now is that the internet has allowed ordinary people to express their opinions. that is why you see huge attacks on established nonsense and nonsensical establishments.

a few years back, the same crowd claimed there would be an ice age.

Ghost Writer said...

I have never had much respect for Pachauri - the guy rails against eco-destruction but has (based on press report) - two cars registered to his name. gandhi was wrong about many things - but right about one thing - you have to be the change you want to see in the world.

i generally have more respect for doers than for people who write 'reports' while sitting on 'government panels'.
I believe in decentralised, individual based response to global warming. Baba Amte and his tree huggers are worth more than snake oil salesmen like Pachauri.

why dont they put some true, red blooded IIT engineer types on the climate change file? engineers have a habit of creating solutions as opposed to looking only at the problem (and siding with China). jairam ramesh talks a good talk - but we really need a nandan nilekani of climate change in india. pity we dont seem to have any

Arvind said...

The Chipko movement was not led by Baba Amte, but by Sundarlal Bahuguna. Also, that movement was not about conserving forests. That is a common misconception. It was about asserting property rights. Those who protested did so because the government wanted to give the forests to some contractors. The protestors too cut down trees. Their point was that it was their forest and the trees were theirs to cut.

Ghost Writer said...

@ Arvind,
i used the term tree hugger in generic sense - as opposed to the specific chipo movement. i did not know the property aspect of the movement though - that is news to me. but that is because I must have read leftist (hence romantic) accounts of the movement.
but my original point was about kartas (do-ers) vs. kursti-pakartas(chair seekers). pachauri is the latter - does not matter how many panels you head. you cannot effect change by mere talk