The Prosperity Link to Fossil Fuels

So what should we make of the chart below? Obviously that the world's standard of living and life expectancy is highly correlated with the exploitation of cheap energy from fossil fuels.



Should this not at the very least give pause to those hell-bent on reducing the further development of fossil fuels in the pursuit of global warming? The ability of mankind to control the earth's constantly changing climate by building windmills is, at best, debatable. Is it worth jeopardizing the continued improvement in the lives of billions of people around the globe? More practically, what do you think the odds are that the governments of nations like China, India and Indonesia are going to say to their people, "We're going to dampen the growth in living standards you've been experiencing because some wealthy liberals in the US and Europe think that they can control the climate"?

The Obama Recovery in Nine Charts

President Obama insists that he's responsible for the economic recovery of the last seven years. I think he can take pretty clear responsibility for a lot of these. [Thanks to Zero Hedge for charts].

Where There's Smoke. . . There's Money Being Burned

According to the Washington Post, the number of  annual fires occurring in the country has fallen in half of the last 30 years while the number of career firefighters employed has risen by more than half.

                           Number of  Fires Annually       Number of Career Firefighters    Fires per Firefighter

1985                                 2.4MM                                      225,000                                    10.6

2015                                 1.2MM                                      360,000                                      3.3

% Change                          -47%                                          +57%                                     -69%


Are the firefighters we are hiring today just wimps?  Can't handle the task anymore?

Two words: Government Unions. The International Association of Firefighters brags that it is "one of the most active lobbying organizations in the country". And local governments cave in because, after all, who wants to be against firefighters? Or puppies? Doesn't this sound pretty similar to the NEA's constant whine to reduce class sizes for teachers?

The next time you see firefighters responding to something, notice how many of them show up. Usually two or three times as many as are needed.  Because they have nothing else to do. And the statistics above show you why.