brian sussman

Not a Natural Disaster: The Los Angeles Fires

Both the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, and the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, are blaming the horrific fires in Southern California human-induced climate change. This is a bogus mantra designed to cover for the gross dereliction of duty employed by a myriad of elected officials at all levels of government in the Golden State.

As mentioned in my last post, the incredibly high winds experienced in Southern California were accurately forecast by the National Weather Service several days before they began. These winds are seasonal, blowing east to west, down the slopes of the nearby mountain ranges and towards the Pacific. As the winds rush down the mountainside, they manifest warm and extremely dry air. This is NOT a feature of so-called climate change. It’s a weather condition that has been around forever.

At this point in time, the only suspected and known cause for these fires is arson.

Now, let me diverge for a moment and speak to a subject I wrote about in my 2012 bestseller, Eco-Tyranny (WND Books).

In 2005, the FBI stated that America’s number one domestic terror threat was eco-terrorism. At that time the concern was focused on two radical environmental organizations, Earth Liberation Front and EarthFirst. Why should we think that such terror concerns would have evaporated since 2005?

In large measure, the leadership of these eco-radical orgs has been able to curry favor with liberal elected leaders and bureaucrats to see their goals accomplished within the construct of government. This is all easily accomplished through the doctrine of Sustainable Development.

Created by the United Nations in the 1983, Sustainable Development requires, as Al Gore has stated, “a wrenching transformation of society.” It seeks the near elimination of fossil fuels, the shuttering of all nuclear power plants, the tearing down of dams (they are declared “unnatural”), and—perhaps more germane to the situation in Los Angeles—moving the population from single family residential housing to stack-and-pack complexes in “Fifteen Minute Cities.”

Driving this Sustainable mentality is something also created by the UN: Social Equity.

Social Equity is not DEI. It declares that all species are equal. In other words, humans are no more important than termites. This is one of the reasons why farmers in the California’s Central Valley (one of the richest agricultural valleys in the world) can no longer get the water they need from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta. The environmentalists claim that using the water for crops endangers a 3-inch-long fish known as the Delta Smelt. Thousands of acres of farms have gone to weeds as a result of the delta water pouring out to sea.

Social equity also accused the homes on the Malibu coast of endangering the nests of the California Least Tern.

Also, I discovered this from a friend who is a municipal water consultant in California regarding that empty reservoir in Pacific Palisades that was supposed to be under repair: normally such maintenance takes thirty or fewer days. Instead, this critical reservoir had been bone-dry for the past TEN months. Perhaps Sustainable Development is why the elected officials and desk-jockeys in LA County decided it wasn’t a critical piece of infrastructure?

California is the wealthiest state in the nation. It possesses the highest overall tax base. It has the most restrictive environmental rules and regulations. It’s also a one-party state dominated by elected officials who have more in common with Marx than Madison.

You can blame this entire disaster on authoritarian office holders and monolithic public officials, all of whom are overpaid and promised a hefty pension to boot.

And, perhaps the arsonists are radical environmentalists.

Hope you’ll read my newest book, Climate Cult.  Just Click Here.

Thank you!

Live Upcoming Appearances!

I am honored to have been asked to speak at two significant gatherings on the San Francisco Peninsula in the coming days.

First, this Saturday (September 21), I will be speaking from a distinct Christian perspective on current events related to the upcoming elections, at Church of the Highlands in San Bruno.

The gathering will begin at 9:30am. Signed copies of my new book, Climate Cult: Exposing and Defeating Their War on Life, Liberty, and Property will be available for purchase.

Here’s a link to the church website with further info:
https://highlands.us/events-highlands/brian-sussman

The second appearance will be next Thursday (September 26) at the San Mateo Republican Club’s annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. I am honored to have been asked to be this excellent club’s guest speaker for the evening. This will be an opportunity to share information critical to this election cycle and provide our conservative troops with encouragement to get out the vote! The San Mateo GOP is also holding a VIP pre-dinner gathering (which includes a free copy of my new book), but you need to act fast on that as tickets are limited. Signed copies of Climate Cult will also be for available for purchase after the dinner.

Here’s the link for tickets (location information will be disclosed upon purchase, it is a convenient address):
https://smgop.org/events/smgop-annual-lincoln-reagan-dinner-2024

Another Climate Scam Exposed, But Will California Fall For It?

This article was posted at American Thinker:

This past weekend, a news article in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Mercury News warned, “As summer approaches and temperatures soar, one of the most dangerous places for Bay Area students might actually be the playground.”

The reporter wasn’t concerned about school kids being confronted by criminal elements while on their summer break. Instead, the column served as a promotional pitch for the climate change agenda. A national non-profit is seeking $1 billion from the California legislature to construct “green playgrounds” on school campuses. The remodeled play areas are described as being essential in the fight against climate change, while simultaneously improving student achievement in the classroom.  This appeal for government funding comes from the Trust for Public Land, even though California is broke. Governor Gavin Newsom has gone from boasting of a $97 billion budget surplus two years ago, to confessing that his state now has a deficit of some $45 billion.

However, the Trust is not dissuaded by the financial shortfall. They know the Democrats who run the Golden State are beholden to a cause that defies logic, fiscal or otherwise: climate change. The California legislature has over $40 billion to spend on climate initiatives in the coming budgetary year and they are always on the hunt to support their green comrades.

One of the Trust’s specialties is retrofitting school playgrounds. Their literature claims doing so helps bridge the “nationwide gap in academic achievement between white and black students.” They also contend their work reduces the effects of “heat islands” on inner city schools.

I investigate unfounded claims like these in my new book, Climate Cult: Exposing and Defeating Their War on Life, Liberty, and Property. Besides planting flowers, trees, and often sod on the school grounds (all of which require costly and extensive ongoing maintenance), these play area transformations include pricy brightly colored rubber surfaces and artificial turf, which may not get quite as quite as hot as the asphalt and old thick dark rubber play surfaces but still significantly warms when exposed to direct sunlight. In addition, new playground structures are also constructed. Never mind that the slides, ramps, and steeples consist of dense plastic made from petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels.

Then there are the “heat islands” the Trust implies are somehow harmful to learning. It’s too bad these climate activists don’t care that a significant percentage of the earth’s temperature readings are recorded on comparable heat islands associated with airport tarmacs, firehouse parking lots, and other heat absorbing infrastructure. These anthropogenic microclimates produce wildly inflated temperature readings that are all thrown into the daily mix, causing Earth’s weather to appear hotter than ever.

You see, environmental non-profits like the Trust for Public Land really aren’t concerned about the climate. Instead, their first priority is taking care of their own, and very well I might add.  For example, the Trust’s 2023 annual financial statement reported total revenues of $294 million, while operating expenses (salaries, rent, insurance, etc.) totaled nearly $293 million. Meantime, they sit on a stock portfolio worth over $151 million. The Trust even provides a retirement plan available to employees who work more than 20-hours per week. Who knew that a degree in Social and Environmental Justice could pan out so well?

Second, these groups make sure construction work for their various projects is carried out by organized labor whenever possible; unions serve the climate agenda as key stakeholders to better secure government funding and thus redistribute wealth.

Third, these orgs appease individuals who have been drawn into the climate cult by providing a method to atone for their sinful carbon footprints with very green donations. Cash, real estate, and endowments are all eagerly accepted.

Junk Science, Delusion, and California’s “Green” Energy Grid

For nearly seventy years—since the 1960’s—California has been the epicenter of a radical philosophy that holds capitalism, wealth, property rights, and conservatism as enemies of the people. This progressive ideology gave birth to the modern environmental movement, which the uncompromising green extremists have used as a sledgehammer to attack lifestyles that they conclude are harming the planet. Ultimately, the broadminded thinkers have concocted environmental laws and policies designed to ultimately control of the rest of us whom they declare to be “lesser-minded.”

To accomplish this, one of their key goals is to limit the flow of inexpensive energy available to the masses, thereby eventually forcing people to make lifestyle changes that are more congruent with their climate agenda, which demonizes fossil fuels and calls for the end of “Big Oil.” They want us to reduce our personal carbon footprint, downsize our homes, become dependent on mass transit, and herd us into cities where we can be better observed, better controlled,  and better regulated.

The lie they have activated to move forward their plans involves a compound necessary for life: carbon dioxide (CO2). They contend CO2 is a pollutant stemming from the use of gas and oil products required to create energy. While it’s true that carbon dioxide is a heat-absorbing greenhouse gas that is emitted whenever fossil fuels are used, it is not accurate to claim such usage is causing global warming or climate change. In my upcoming book, Climate Cult, I discuss this in very easy to understand terms. Suffice it to say, without greenhouse gases where you live would likely see temperature swings of 100-degrees between night and day.

Actually, where you live would be unlivable.

Additionally, CO2 is a requisite for all plant life. In fact, the more CO2, the more plants are able to thrive. But these are facts that get in the way of the climate agenda.

In their quest bring forth what Al Gore has described as “a wrenching transformation of society,” for the past several decades lawmakers in California have been putting in place aggressive moves towards renewable electricity production—solar and wind—thereby eventually killing Big Oil. While doing so, they frequently tout the state’s nation-leading electric efficiency and its supposed reduction in CO2 emissions. But what they don’t tell you is that Californian’s are paying the highest prices for electricity in the contiguous United States and that the energy grid in the Golden State is hanging by a thread.

While there are a myriad of laws and policies that have made California’s retail consumer electric prices totally out of line with the rest of the country, I’ll boil it down to just a few.

WATCH BRIAN TALK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE IN HIS LATEST PODCAST

First, despite being a state with some of the country’s most abundant natural gas reserves, California has made the decision to eventually curtail the use of those resources. There are only three natural gas plants left operating in the state and the legislature has plans to shutter than all.  However, there is a huge disconnect with reality that the environmental community doesn’t want you to know about.  California has led the way in government subsidized solar and wind arrays; it’s the only way the bureaucrats have been able to get renewable generation—which is very costly by the kilowatt—to market.  Problem is, solar only works on a sunny day well after sunrise and well before sunset. Wind turbines only create electricity when the wind is blowing just right, not too fast or too slow. When conditions are not perfect, the grid has to be powered by another source. The go-to is natural gas. Yes, there is nuclear and hydropower in California, but both combined make up less than 20-percent of total electricity output, and the environmentalists want to see those sources come to an end as well. In fact, perhaps in an effort to appear moderate and save face under his watch, Governor Newsome actually pushed to extend the usage of California’s last remaining nuclear plant for another five years.

California’s electricity production is very much dependent on natural gas, which now has to be imported from other states, and that’s very expensive, not to mention fiscally stupid. In fact, California is the nation’s biggest importer of electricity. In the past, this meant bringing in a lot of coal-fired power from Arizona and Utah. But a law passed in 2006 alongside the state’s more famous AB 32—the Global Warming Solutions Act—effectively banned reupping contracts from traditional out-of-state coal-powered generating companies.

As a result, something known as “electron laundering” has arisen to fill the gap. This occurs, for example, when California, in its hunt for green electrons to power their grid, pays British Columbian for hydropower. The Canadians are more than happy to sell hydropower as they backfill their own power needs with coal power from Washington State and Alberta. It’s a shell game. California gets higher-priced power that they can claim to be “green,” while the Canadians get American greenbacks to fund their socialized health care system. But it’s even more devious. To maintain the green mirage, California authorities created a category of imported power called “Unspecified Sources of Power” that provide about 10 percent of the state’s electrical needs. The “Unspecified Sources” are coal.

Meantime, all the legislators continue to make the phony claim that California is leading the way to a carbon-free, “net zero,” energy grid.

BRIAN’S PODCASTS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON ALL AUDIO PLATFORMS

Another big reason for the sky-high monthly utility bills has to do with the many rooftop solar arrays. Because the electricity generated by the panels is free to the user (with any excess fed back to the grid), the user doesn’t receive a bill each month that automatically includes additional fees for “fixed costs” which include maintenance, generation, transmission, and distribution as well as public programs like wildfire mitigation. When households adopt solar, they’re not paying their fair share, while they still rely on the state’s electric grid for much of their power consumption. This is another reason for the grid’s higher electricity prices in California.

Electric vehicles (EV) pose another problem.  Despite the propaganda, these vehicles generally suck in electricity from the grid that is derived primarily from natural gas.  Thanks to government subsidies and a massive PR campaign, as more drivers switch to an EV, and as the politicians in Sacramento continue their warpath against natural gas, the grid’s capacity will continue to be stretched, leading to higher prices, rolling black outs, and forced lifestyle adjustments. On hot summer days, California is already seeing electronic signs above the highways urging EV owners to charge their vehicles after the peak evening energy hours have concluded. And this is happening with only 3 percent of the vehicles on the road being electric–just wait until new gasoline powered vehicles are prevented from being sold in California in 2035—per the law.

But wait there’s more. While Bidenflation is taking a big bite out of the working family’s bank account, California is set to employ another electricity rate hike in 2024.

Biggest Climate Lie of 2023

The big climate story for 2023 is also one of the biggest pseudo-science lies to ever be perpetrated on humanity. According to numerous recent news reports, 2023 is “virtually certain” to go down in the record book as the hottest 12-month period in the past 125,000 years.

Virtually certain.

Where does this prognostication originate? From a batch of scientists in Europe. Says the Reuters news agency: “This year is virtually certain to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said [in November] after data showed last month was the world’s hottest October in that period.”

In my upcoming book, Climate Cult, I illustrate how ridiculous statements like this pass for facts, when they are actually purposeful barbs of disinformation.

First off, Earth’s actual, complete, temperature record only extends back to 1979, when we first began monitoring the atmosphere via satellite. That means there have been 124,956 years unaccounted for. Apart from the satellite record, most of the planet’s thermometers have been installed since the 1980’s. Not too long. The most reliable, widespread temperature gauges recording daily high and low readings are housed in the United States and have been in place since the mid to late 19th century. These records, from the U.S. Historical Climatology Network, point to the 1930’s as experiencing the hottest weather since the Industrial Revolution and the associated use of fossil fuels for energy. Temperature records in other parts of the world are largely unreliable, primarily due to wars, political upheaval, and various disasters.

So, where are the European Union scientists getting this from? Was there a pre-Adamic race jotting down daily temperatures on the walls of caves sthat the rest of us don’t know about?

The writer of the Reuters’ article also insists, “The heat is a result of continued greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, combined with the emergence this year of the El Nino weather pattern, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.”

Note to Reuters: greenhouse gases are a necessary feature for the survival of all living species and organisms.  Without these heat absorbing gases, Earth would be void of life. Second, the “greenhouse gas emissions” you are referring to are, of course, carbon dioxide, which is a compound required for the survival of the plant kingdom, without which Earth would be uninhabitable. Of the miniscule amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (.04 percent), at the most—4 percent—is created by “human activity.” Hardly scary.

Also, the El Nino weather pattern is driven by periodic ocean currents that remain a mystery. And those currents (like water vapor and even cloud cover) cannot be factored into the highly touted climate models used to predict the planet’s impending doom.

What we do know about past climate is that it was once much warmer than today. We know this from observation. For example, in the Swiss Alps and the Andes Mountains in South America, looking upwards at the peaks one can easily discern dead tree stumps above the current tree line, extending an average of 1,500 feet beyond current growth. In other words, at one point the climate was so warm that trees could flourish at significantly higher elevations. That’s just one example defying the climate lies.

Those drawn in to the climate cult have been duped by the wild claims made by activists parading as scientists, leftist politicians, stakeholders looking for emotion-based funding, early investors in so-called “green” technologies who are looking to make a financial killing, and members of the media who hate America.

As I will reveal in Climate Cult, the climate change agenda has nothing to do with caring for the environment. Instead, it is a plan to dismantle and obliterate the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The book will be out next year, just in time for Earth Day, April 22nd.

Meantime, to stay up to date with the latest climate news and previews from the book, make sure you subscribe to my video and audio podcasts. Just search for Brian Sussman Show on YouTube, Rumble, or any place where you listen to podcasts. By subscribing you’ll get a simple notification whenever I post something new.