Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Swedish homeowners could face thousands in fees for municipal “climate action”

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 13 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
According to Romina Pourmokhtari, Minister for Climate and Environment, municipalities will not be able to charge land and property owners "any amount".
2 minute read

A new report suggests that Swedish property owners may be required to finance municipalities’ “climate adaptation measures”, with costs potentially reaching tens of thousands of EUR.

The proposal, which has been submitted to Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari (L), gives municipalities the right to, for example, build flood defenses to protect “matters of public interest” – and then charge property owners who are considered to benefit from the measure.

The investigator Johan Hjalmarsson himself points out that the term “public interest” is deliberately broad and vaguely worded.

– It could be buildings such as municipal buildings and schools, but it doesn’t have to be. There will need to be a municipal connection, but it doesn’t have to be a municipal facility, he told state television.

However, for the fee to apply, there must be a “significant risk” of damage from a specific natural event, and this risk must be eliminated by the measure. A property owner’s total fee may not exceed 10 percent of the market value of the property.

“Cannot charge whatever fees they want”

Liberal Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari claims that the proposal is about dealing with the direct consequences of the alleged climate crisis:

– In the same way that we have great respect and a strong desire to defend property rights in Sweden, with property rights come not only freedoms but also obligations. This is an example of the real consequences of climate change. Not in the future, but today, and that must be taken into account, she asserts.

She further promises that municipalities “cannot charge whatever fees they want”.

– Whether the government will implement this or not is something we cannot say today, she continues, describing the proposals as “interesting”.

Not all coastlines can be protected

The report also proposes that the state take responsibility for protecting certain coastlines from flooding through physical barriers, and Hjalmarsson admits that this will require prioritizing and choosing what to protect and which communities to leave exposed to the elements.

– But this is not something that will change overnight; the costs can be spread out over many years.

He argues that the need is urgent and that he has “met many municipalities that see the need for a decision from the state now”.

Maximum temperatures in nursing homes

The report also highlights the need to introduce maximum temperatures in premises for particularly vulnerable groups, such as the elderly.

– Heat waves are already a major problem for the elderly in our society. So I think it’s very important that these issues are brought to light and that we discuss what we can do, says Pourmokhtari.

For municipalities, this could mean a requirement to install air conditioning in nursing homes.

– If requirements are the way forward, this is something the government will need to look at. But action will be needed, and too little is being done today, adds the minister.

The investigator’s report will now be prepared by the Government Offices and sent out for consultation in accordance with standard procedures.

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Swedish young bulls receive feed supplement to reduce methane emissions

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published today 7:23
– By Editorial Staff
Anna Hessle from SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) admits herself that it becomes a bit strange
2 minute read

Swedish young bulls are receiving a new feed supplement to reduce their methane emissions. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is currently testing the product in Skara, Sweden.

In Skara, researchers are investigating whether a new feed additive can reduce young bulls’ methane emissions and make the animals more “environmentally friendly”. The feed supplement is manufactured in Sweden and is reportedly significantly cheaper than other alternatives available on the market.

Anna Hessle from SLU acknowledges that the climate discussion has gotten the “wrong focus” but still hopes for good results.

It has become somewhat the case that ruminants have been portrayed as climate villains, even though I personally perhaps think that’s a bit of the wrong focus since it’s really about us having to reduce our fossil fuel emissions, she tells tax-funded Radio Sweden (SR) and continues:

But then the industry can show its good will by trying to reduce emissions even if one might bluntly think that the problems lie elsewhere.

British anger against Arla

The food industry, particularly regarding dairy cows, has long been singled out and accused of being a so-called environmental villain. Recently, the feed supplement Bovaer was developed, with help from financing by billionaire Bill Gates, which is also supposed to reduce cows’ methane emissions by making them fart and burp less.

Danish-Swedish dairy company Arla, for example, began giving it to British cows last year, which led to very harsh criticism from the public and many calls to boycott the company. Bovaer is also used for Swedish cows, but currently to a lesser extent than in the United Kingdom.

When the bulls are slaughtered at the beginning of next year, the project in Skara will be evaluated, but results are already visible when measuring methane emissions in the animals’ exhaled air.

That can be seen in the preliminary data we’ve received, says Hessle.

Norwegian party leader wants to expel Greta Thunberg

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 19 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Norwegian Progress Party politician Sylvi Listhaug has grown tired of Greta Thunberg "repeatedly" returning to Norway to participate in climate activist actions.
2 minute read

Climate activist protests at Norway’s largest oil refinery have triggered harsh criticism from opposition leader Sylvi Listhaug, who is now demanding that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg be expelled from the country.

Monday’s blockade at Equinor Mongstad outside Bergen, Norway, gathered approximately 200 demonstrators from the widely media-covered group Extinction Rebellion. The activists blocked roads to the refinery, which is the country’s largest and primarily produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug launches a fierce attack against Thunberg in a podcast with Bergen newspaper Bergens Tidende. She is upset that the Swedish activist repeatedly travels to Norway to participate in protests and actions, and believes that enough is enough.

Listhaug, who often profiles herself as a tough law-and-order politician, believes that Thunberg’s repeated demonstrations constitute a serious problem requiring drastic measures.

— I believe she should be expelled, says Listhaug, who even describes Thunberg as a “Swedish gang criminal”.

Thunberg, who temporarily left the demonstration to return on Tuesday, explained the action’s purpose in a press release:

“We are here because there is no future in oil. Fossil fuels lead to death and destruction”, it states.

“Breaks the rules of the game”

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre tries to navigate between fundamental rights and practical consequences. In Bergen newspaper Bergensavisen, he emphasizes that Norway stands firm on freedom of expression and demonstration, but simultaneously signals that the activists’ methods are unacceptable when they prevent ordinary people from getting to work.

— It breaks the rules of the game. There are people going to work and they shouldn’t have to experience insecurity with that, the prime minister emphasizes.

The view of Thunberg among European leaders has changed markedly since she was celebrated as a teenager at summits around the world.

After she expanded her activism to include criticism of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and other political issues, she has increasingly begun to be regarded as a disruptive element and an “extremist” who must be stopped or restricted – a sharp contrast to how she was previously portrayed as a hero and role model for young Europeans.

Swedish climate extremists who blocked ambulance acquitted by Supreme Court

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 11 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Police remove the road blockade in August 2022.
2 minute read

A nearly three-year legal process concluded this week when all activists from Restore Wetlands (Återställ Våtmarker) were acquitted for blocking the E4 motorway in August 2022, which in addition to causing long traffic jams also delayed an ambulance on an emergency call.

According to Sweden’s Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen), the road blockade was not comparable to the threats against vital societal interests required by law for a conviction of sabotage, and therefore acquitted all participants in the climate alarmist group’s action. The Supreme Court particularly emphasized the importance of freedom of demonstration and freedom of expression in a ruling that will serve as guidance for how civil disobedience should be punished, which in practice opens the door for more motorway blockades.

The legal situation has been unclear regarding what constitutes a serious disruption or obstruction in these cases. It’s good that we now have clear guidance from the Supreme Court on how prosecutions for sabotage should be assessed in the future, says Chief Prosecutor Katarina Johansson Welin in the Supreme Court’s press release.

The group itself describes its action as an “act of love”.

Victory! Today we celebrate that the sabotage charge has been shot down for the last time. In my heart, I have always known that I acted exactly right. To sit peacefully and openly on a motorway and demand that emissions decrease is among the strongest acts of love for our children and for life that you can do, and we did exactly that, says one of those acquitted in the climate group’s press release.

Green Party economist: Good that fewer children are born in Sweden

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 11 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Green Party politician Lennart Olsen sees children as an unnecessary burden on the economy and the environment.
2 minute read

That fewer children are born in Sweden is only good for the environment, argues Green Party (Miljöpartiet) politician Lennart Olsen. Children and young people also cost more than older people, who can still work at higher ages if the pension age is raised, he adds.

Olsen writes in a debate article in the Bonnier publication Dagens Nyheter that people should view positively the fact that Swedes are not reproducing themselves.

“What’s needed here is a reversed perspective, where lower birth rates and eventually decreasing population should be welcomed to reduce the exploitation of the earth’s ecosystems“.

The Green Party member believes that the Swedish government’s investigation aimed at proposing measures to raise the very low birth rates in Sweden is “misguided”. He argues that the state can save money from fewer children being born.

“For the state’s and municipal sector’s economy, children and young people are a much greater expense than the elderly. This is because virtually all people between 0 and 20 years old cost a lot of money in the form of preschool, school, higher education, parental insurance, child allowance and more“, Olsen explains his thesis and argues that older people also won’t need as much pension if the retirement age is raised further.

Above all, the Green Party economist sees the possibility that fewer Swedish children will lead to a better climate in the long term.

“The positive effects of such a development can then also take effect and lead to reduced pressure on the earth’s ecosystems“, writes Olsen.

Olsen represents a so-called neo-Malthusian line, an ideological movement that strives for reduced population and strongly influences the climate alarmist movement.

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