In advance of #COP27, Naomi Klein hosted a webinar on "Egypt's Carceral Climate Summit" along with Bill McKibben of 350.org and some other colleagues. In the webinar, Klein and McKibben tried to tie together political freedom, human rights, and climate change. They advocated for climate youth who would be attending COP27 in Egypt, to do public protests on behalf of people jailed during or after the Arab Spring, which Klein framed as a pro-democracy event. Klein wrote a long piece for The Intercept, which she referred to in her presentation, claiming that having a climate conference in Egypt is a 'moral failing.' In this detailed review, Michelle Stirling, Communications Manager for Friends of Science Society, explains that according to research by NECSI - New England Complex Systems Institute - the "Arab Spring" was actually driven by a huge spike in world food prices. Thus the true 'moral failing' is US climate policies on food-to-fuel ethanol which drove millions of people into poverty and hunger, sparking civil unrest around the world. The issue was and is exacerbated in the Middle East North Africa region (MENA) where youth unemployment is sky high and many people work in the 'informal' economy - with no job security or pensions. However, Egypt has many regional and domestic challenges to address - so their laws and policies are different than those in Western nations. In particular, Michelle warns youth climate activists to be careful to follow the law in Egypt as the consequences of protesting without a permit can be severe. The new 'coal' for climate activists is natural gas, and Egypt happens to be a key supplier of natural gas to the world - a world which desperately needs this supply. Michelle points out that climate activists and climate-obsessed nations are really just modern day colonialists, using climate policies and climate finance as the levers of domination. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_uYb5YXjk

Canada plans to introduce "Just Transition" legislation in 2023, as part of the climate commitment to the Paris Agreement. But 'transition' to what?? Michelle Stirling, Communications Manager for Friends of Science walks through the inconvenient facts for climate activists, showing that magical thinking on energy will not change reality. The world runs on oil, natural gas, and coal. Despite billions of dollars in subsidies to renewables, wind and solar barely figure in Canada's energy mix. Creating more wind and solar means using...more oil, gas and coal. Likewise, NetZero targets cannot be met as there is an insufficient supply chain of critical minerals. Simon Michaux's study for Geological Survey if Finland shows it would take hundreds...thousands of years to mine the necessary minerals ( requiring LOTS of fossil fuels, too!) Despite claims of catastrophe if we delay 'climate action,' the Parliamentary Budget Officer's recent study shows there would be nominal economic impact if we did NOTHING to meet Paris climate targets. However, the cost of compliance and spending on ideological green schemes would be a huge burden in our economy and a diversion of good money from practical adaptation needs or public services. The climate emergency is over. We DO have time. Please help us - share this message. Please donate or join us: www.friendsofscience.org ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=670NbEXl2Y0