November 2007 Archives
NewsBusters:
Public Radio Judges "Green" Products Guilty of "Greenwashing"
- By Paul Detrick - When business goes green, interest
groups get mean.
National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" gave a report
November 30 on misleading "green" products, charging
companies with "The Six Sins of Greenwashing."
"You may have thought they were environmentally friendly just because
the product says so, but some environmentalists think you're being 'greenwashed,'"
said host Steve Inskeep. "Is one of the sins just lying, then,
basically?"
Scot Case of the environmental marketing firm TerraChoice
conveyed that "the biggest sin [they] found ... was called 'The
Sin of the Hidden Tradeoff' for products that promote a single issue
... but there are a wide variety of environmental considerations."
TerraChoice evaluated 1,018 retail products for their environmental
claims and only one was found to be without sin, while the rest were
guilty of offenses like "The Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils,"
"The Sin of Fibbing" and "The Sin of No Proof."
So, what's TerraChoice's solution?
According to Case, consumers should reward products that provide the
most accurate and useful information about how their products are eco-friendly.
No representatives for business were included in the report, although
Case was careful not to name the products outright. Nevertheless, he
was "absolutely shocked by some of the brand names that were committing
these sins," which came off the shelves of six big-box retailers.
(11/30/07)
AH HA!
Found
continent makes global warming haters scratch their round heads.
- By Molly Lower - LOS ANGELES - The search for Atlantis has long been
on humankind's agenda - right up there with the Holy Grail and that
Waldo guy. For ages, this legend has been relentlessly pursued by adventurers
and archaeologists, immortalized by the writings of Plato and the cinematic
super-genius of Disney, regarded by all modern civilizations as being
responsible for our way of life as we know it! This proverbial White
Rabbit has eluded us for millennia, feared to be lost to the waves of
time. But it has finally been nabbed. We are tumbling down the rabbit
hole, only to find that Atlantis was where we always thought it was
- Antarctica.
That's right, folks! It turns out the rumors are true! Under our noses
(and the rest of the globe) this whole time, Atlantis was buried under
one mile of ice and penguins. Not in that order. Historians are claiming
this is the greatest discovery for humanity since the concept of recycling.
More.
(11/29/07)
In case you've forgotton, or have
missed my link in the right-hand nav. table, here's a reminder from
the American Thinker. I'm a big fan of John's "warmlist"
and I've been known to send him a link now and then...Enjoy!
Everything
is Caused by Global Warming (600+ links) - Christopher Alleva -
Dr. John Brignell, a British engineering professor, runs a website called
numberwatch. He has compiled what has to be the most complete collection
of links to media stories ascribing the cause of everything under the
sun to global warming. He has already posted more than six-hundred links.
The site's stated mission is to expose all the "scares, scams,
junk, panics and flummery cooked up by the media, politicians, bureaucrats
and so-called scientists and others that try to confuse the public with
wrong numbers" Professor Brignell's motto is "Working to Combat
Math Hysteria."
This exercise is not merely a lark to show the abject absurdity of this
global warming nonsense. Brignell wrote a great book titled Sorry Wrong
Number, The Abuse of Measurement on this very subject.
Dr. Brignell is accepting additions to the list so if you have any send
them along. More.
(11/29/07)
From the JunkMan!
It's
the Sun, Stupid - By Steven Milloy - When the international global
warming alarm-ocracy gathers for its annual convention on the balmy
island of Bali next week, is there any chance that the delegates will
look up at the big yellow ball in the sky and ask, "Could it be
the Sun, stupid?"
New research suggests that would be a great question for them to consider.
A recent study
from the Journal of Geophysical Research (November 2007) reports that
the sun may have contributed 50 percent or more of the global warming
thought to have occurred since 1900.
Researchers from Duke University and the U.S. Army Research Office report
that climate appears to be insensitive to solar variation if you accept
the global temperature trend for the past 1,000 years as represented
by the so-called "hockey
stick" graph - which claims to show essentially unchanging
temperatures between from 1000 to 1900 and then a sharp uptick from
1900 to the present. But the hockey stick-graph has been relegated to
the ash heap of global
warming history.
Even the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
no longer mentions the graph in its reports. The researchers instead
used a temperature
reconstruction developed by Stockholm University researcher Ander
Moberg and others that shows more variation in pre-industrial temperatures.
Using Moberg's reconstruction, the researchers found that "the
climate is very sensitive to solar changes and a significant fraction
of the global warming that occurred during the last century should be
solar induced." Continued...
(11/29/07)
Finally,
something not caused by global warming - It's important that we
occasionally acknowledge good environmental news. Global warming is
becoming the Paris Hilton of environmental stories. Every time you pick
up a paper or turn on the television, if there's a story remotely related
to the environment, global warming will somehow be implicated. This
shouldn't be surprising. As much as we humans try to separate ourselves
from the natural world, we can't get away from it. Earth's air, water
and soils are all connected. So, if you change the composition of the
atmosphere - in this case, by increasing carbon dioxide levels by 30
per cent in the last 200 years - you're likely to see changes across
the board. And that ultimately affects us, too. Really, it's about time
global warming was covered thoroughly in the media.
But not every environmental issue can be attributed to global warming.
In spite of all the doom and gloom, there's some positive news out there,
too. You just have to look for it. More.
(11/29/07)
Well duh!
Ocean
Fertilization 'Fix' For Global Warming Discredited By New Research
- ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) -- Scientists have revealed an important
discovery that raises doubts concerning the viability of plans to fertilize
the ocean to solve global warming, a projected $100 billion venture.
Research performed at Stanford and Oregon State Universities suggests
that ocean fertilization may not be an effective method of reducing
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a major contributor to global warming.
Ocean fertilization, the process of adding iron or other nutrients to
the ocean to cause large algal blooms, has been proposed as a possible
solution to global warming because the growing algae absorb carbon dioxide
as they grow.
However, this process, which is analogous to adding fertilizer to a
lawn to help the grass grow, only reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
if the carbon incorporated into the algae sinks to deeper waters. This
process, which scientists call the "Biological Pump", has
been thought to be dependent on the abundance of algae in the top layers
of the ocean. The more algae in a bloom, the more carbon is transported,
or "pumped", from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. The
obvious continues... (11/29/07)
Global
warming and the UN a fraud, hoax and lie - The Earth has been seeing
significant rises and falls in both temperature and CO2 levels since
the dawn of time. It is ludicrous to think that man has control over
the climate on a large scale. If we could change the weather, wouldn't
we eliminate killer tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons and the like?
How many active volcanoes are there in the world right now? Those spew
billions of tons of pollutants (and CO2) every year, many times more
than man and industry combined.
By the way, the No. 1 greenhouse gas in concentration is water vapor.
The sun causes warming! If you check solar output against global temperature
measurements you will find that they follow the same path. The sun heats
us, and when it is hotter, it stands to reason that we get hotter too.
Some scientists need ongoing jobs so they create an ongoing crisis.
Most scientists are not on board with the global warming fraud.
There is the Petition Project, where more than 17,000 verified scientists
signed the following statement against the signing of the Kyoto Protocol:
www.oism.org/pproject/s33p37.htm.
The world will not end in 2020, as the UN infers. ~
Mark C. Corcoran (11/29/07)
Rethingking
environmentalism - If we want to fight global warming, we can't just
sit in the dark - By Laura Vanderkam - The post-environmental movement
took off in late 2004, when Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, green
movement veterans, published an essay called The Death of Environmentalism.
In the essay and the Break Through follow-up, they argued that the traditional
environmental approach - identify a pollutant, mobilize public opinion,
pass a law to stop it - was inadequate for dealing with global warming.
For starters, there's no one polluter to target. We're all sinners.
New online calculators are showing that an urban-dwelling, car-less
environmentalist will produce more planet-heating carbon dioxide by
taking an eco-vacation to the Australian outback than a guy who commutes
30 miles a day in an SUV. Sure, we can buy compact fluorescent light
bulbs, but does that matter when China is building a coal-fired power
plant every week? Article
begins... (11/29/07)
Cannon
questions man's link to warming - By Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake
Tribune - Rep. Chris Cannon said Wednesday that there is "no question
that we have global warming," but there is a big question about
how much is caused by humans.
He cautioned against sweeping government efforts to try to stop the
warming trend.
"I never, ever said we don't have global warming. The question
is whether it's caused by man or not and that is very, very unclear
when you get into the science," Cannon said in a meeting with The
Salt Lake Tribune editorial board. "The human cost of reducing
[greenhouse gases] is so high we need to be thoughtful about what we
do." More.
(11/29/07)
Global
Warming Shakedown Begins - INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY - Climate Change:
Al Gore was smiling like the proverbial cat that ate the canary following
his 45-minute talk Monday with President Bush. Does he know something
about U.S. global warming policy we don't? Find out. (11/27/07)
Opposition
steams at exclusion from global warming summit - By Mike De Souza,
CanWest News Service -
Opposition steams at exclusion from global warming summit
Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service - OTTAWA -- Opposition parties
are accusing the Harper government of excluding them from participating
at next month's United Nations climate change summit to muzzle
any criticism about its environmental policies.
Environment Minister John Baird is expected to negotiate with
elected officials from around the world at the conference in Bali,
Indonesia, to establish a framework for a new international climate
change treaty. The new deal, expected to be finalized by 2009,
would be designed to respond to the latest scientific evidence
about the impact of human activity and rising greenhouse gas emissions
on global warming.
|
|
photo:
University
of Tennessee
|
But opposition parties say Baird's decision to keep them out of Canada's
official delegation would muzzle the opinion of a majority of Canadians
who want the government to respect its binding targets under the Kyoto
Protocol and adopt stronger policies to crack down on industrial pollution.
"I think he's more worried about his ego than the air our kids
breathe," said NDP environment critic Nathan Cullen.
The government has invited provincial governments such as Quebec to
attend the conference at their own expense, but said that it wanted
to focus on getting results to fight climate change, instead of fighting
partisan battles. Whining
continues... (11/22/07)
Global
warming is a hippy myth - Chris Chapman (Letters, November 21) is
yet another who has bought into the-world-is-at-risk-from-global-warming
myth.
It's called nature, Chris.
All that stuff you think might be bad for our children and grandchildren.
We can do nothing about it, man, and it's been going on since the beginning
of time.
Don't mind all that guff the tree-hugging namby-pamby arty-farty knityourownmuesli
brigade tell you.
If, as you say, by the year 2030, the future of the world is "in
danger" from "global warming" and our offspring wish
to know what we didn't do about it before then, how about telling 'em
we were too busy living as best we could without the power to change
much -- except our socks and occasionally our minds.
The next morning they'll have forgotten the needless worry on waking
up to yet another lovely day of fun in the sun. Sorted.
~ ROBERT O'SULLIVAN BANTRY, CO CORK (11/22/07)
KUSI's
Coleman a climate lightning rod - By ROBERT KRIER - KUSI TV weatherman
John Coleman has quickly become a hero to global-warming naysayers.
To local climate scientists, he's proof that dinosaurs still live.
On Nov. 11, a blog called Icecap posted a commentary by Coleman in which
he called global warming "the
greatest scam in history." He said "manipulated science
has been accepted as fact" by "well-informed but very gullible
environmentally conscientious citizens."
The online Drudge Report picked up the piece, then Rush Limbaugh. Then
he was on conservative CNN commentator Glenn Beck's TV show.
Since then, Coleman says he has done about 20 radio interviews and been
contacted by newspapers from around the world. He says he has received
more than 500 e-mails, and about 90 percent of them have been positive.
"They say things like, 'I'm really glad you said this. I knew global
warming is a scam.' But some people are very upset at me." More.
(11/22/07)
Global
warming just a big scam - By BILL MELECH, Bismarck - What in the
world is going on? This global warming business is getting completely
out of hand.
An Associated Presspoll said that 87 percent of Americans believe in
global warming. How misleading and gullible can one get? Global warming
is a farce, a charade, nothing but a consensus, not based on scientific
fact, but on a "what if" or "a maybe."
At least half of the scientists say there is no such thing as global
warming, that it is nature. Who cares if the oceans rise 2 inches by
the year 2100, which is 93 years from now, as some wacko scientists
say.
When I lived in Los Angeles in 1955, I remember reports that in 15 to
20 years Los Angeles would be flooded, along with most of the west coast.
Lo and behold, it is still there.
If we want to go back to the stone age, we'll have city, county, state
and federal governments mandating so many rules and regulations, leading
to increases in taxes for everyone.
Of all the problems that may face our country, global warming should
not be one of them.
John Coleman, who founded the "Weather Channel," and who is
an expert lifelong scientist specializing on weather, interviewed recently
on the Glen Beck show, said that "global
warming is the greatest scam in history." In addition, he said
19,000 other scientists have signed a petition declaring "global
warming" as a false notion.
Many billions of dollars each year of our tax money will be going to
the scam, with no cost analysis. (11/21/07)
Global
warming is not about to unleash hell on us - Long-time
British chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, addressing the New
Zealand Business Round Table.
AS it is, the temperature projections (the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) does come up with in its fourth and latest
report range from a rise in the global average temperature by the year
2100 of 1.8C for its lowest emissions scenario to one of 4C for its
highest emissions scenario, with a mean increase of slightly under 3C.
The average annual temperature in Helsinki is less than 5C. That in
Singapore is in excess of 27C, a difference of more than 22C. If man
can cope with that, it is not immediately apparent why he should not
be able to adapt to a change of 3C when he is given 100 years in which
to do so.
Let us look at the gloomiest of the IPCC's economic development scenarios,
according to which living standards ... would rise, in the absence of
global warming, by 1 per cent a year in the developed world and by 2.3
per cent a year in the developing world. It can readily be calculated
- using, to repeat, a cost of global warming (based on the gloomiest
IPCC warning) of 3 per cent of GDP in the developed world and as much
as 10 per cent in the developing world - that the disaster facing the
planet is that our great-grandchildren in the developed world would,
in 100 years, be only 2.6 times as well off as we are today, instead
of 2.7 times; and that their contemporaries in the developing world
would be only 8.5 times as well off as people in the developing world
are today, instead of 9.5 times as well off. And this, remember, is
the IPCC's very worst case. Continued.
(11/21/07)
John McCain: too old, wrong side
of amnesty for illegal aliens, and-oh yeah, wrong side of global warming.
Fogeddaboudit!
New
McCain radio ad focuses on global warming, his change - CONCORD,
N.H. -- Sen. John McCain's new campaign radio ad focuses on his support
of efforts to curtail global warming, an area where he claims to differ
from his Republican rivals. He also uses the ad to remind New Hampshire
voters of his successful campaign in 2000, when he dominated the New
Hampshire primary before being defeated by then-Texas Gov. George Bush
in later primaries.
more stories like thisThe 60-second ad, titled "I Listened,"
began airing Wednesday in New Hampshire. More.
(11/21/07)
NewsBusters:
Global Warming for the Holidays: Have a Green Thanksgiving - By
Noel Sheppard - When this first appeared in my inbox, I thought it was
a joke from one of the many satirical websites on the Internet which
regularly lampoon the liberal bogeyman disaffectionately known as global
warming.
Then, I thought the good folks at the Washington
Times were having a little fun the day before Thanksgiving highlighting
tips to make your holiday more eco-friendly.
Sadly, a visit to the World Wildlife Fund's website proved that the
joke's on us as the largest multinational conservation organization
in the world offered
readers ten tips for a greener Thanksgiving: Read
on! (11/21/07)
Flip or flop?
NewsBusters:
Time Magazine on Drought, 2007 Versus 1974 - By Amy Ridenour...
Time magazine, November
26, 2007 (Michael Grunwald):
[Georgia's] drought was a natural event transformed into a natural disaster
by human folly. And while it's still hard to say whether global warming
caused any particular drought or flood or fire, it's going to cause
more of all of them.
Time magazine, June
24, 1974:
In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding
terribly to the toll of famine victims... Climatological Cassandras
are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations
they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age. (11/21/07)
Lions
vow to fight global warming with "carbon neutral" game
- By DAVID N. GOODMAN, The Associated Press - DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit
Lions say they'll take on the Green Bay Packers without warming the
globe, buying a stake in a replanted rain forest in Ecuador to offset
the up to 933 tons of carbon dioxide the Thanksgiving Day game is expected
to generate.
The Lions will follow the standards for greenhouse gas offsets laid
down by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, according to the environmental engineering
company handling Thursday's "green game" at Ford Field.
It may seem odd to plant trees in South America because of U.S. football
fans' tailpipe emissions, but there is strong logic to it, said Mike
Dolkowski, a partner in Carbon Credit Environmental Services Inc. More.
(11/21/07)
Alarmist Hyperbole of the Day:
Yeah yeah yeah, it's the end of the world thing again!
Global
Warming Action: A Good Economy Won't Help You When You're Dead -By
Eric Baerren - What is more important -- surviving or winning?
Increasingly, it appears that the White House's answer to this question
is that it is more concerned with winning than surviving. The most recent
evidence of this came late last week, in response to a United Nations
report that blasted inaction of global warming and warned of looming
climate-related catastrophes.
The president's reaction? A typical "Yeah, yeah, yeah," and
raising the specter of China and India. Drivel
continues. (11/19/07)
I keep hearing Republican pundits
saying "Why do liberals like Mike Huckabee so much?" Well
maybe this is one reason. This year, Hillary Clinton's success on the
campaign trail has taught us that the issues are not important to Democratic
voters. Instead, she has demonstrated that in order to get votes from
the left, you have to pander. So why shouldn't a Republican candidate
pander to the left?
Huckabee:
God wants us to fight global warming
The Republican presidential candidate believes it's
our biblical duty to stop climate change. - By Amanda Griscom
Little - Should you heart Huckabee? The jovial former Arkansas governor
famously shed 100 pounds in two years and became an outspoken health
and fitness advocate, and now he's focusing that can-do attitude on
a much weightier problem: America's beleaguered energy system.
"The first thing I will do as president is send Congress my comprehensive
plan for energy independence," he proclaims on his Web site. "We
will achieve energy independence by the end of my second term."
The goal may sound admirable, but even if it's achievable -- and many
experts doubt that it is -- Huckabee's plan for getting there is light
on specifics. Rather than spell out what steps he would take, he talks
of creating a market environment that encourages innovation, and he
praises just about every energy source you can think of -- nuclear,
"clean coal," wind, solar, hydrogen, biomass, biodiesel, corn-based
ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and other untapped domestic areas, and, yes, conservation too.
A conservative Republican and devout Christian, Huckabee believes he
has a biblical responsibility to protect God's planet from climate change,
even though he's not convinced that climate change is largely human-caused.
But mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions make him squeamish.
I called Huckabee up in Iowa to find out how his ideas are playing on
the campaign trail.
For more info on his platform and record, check out this Huckabee fact
sheet. So why shouldn't a Republican
candidate pander to the left? Well, theres that Republican Primary thing
that you have to get past first... More.
(11/19/07)
NewsBusters:
Global Warming Hysteria Could Make Gore Richest VP in History -
By Noel Sheppard - Is the press beginning to see through Al Gore's global
warming scam?
A brief article posted at Newsweek's website offers hope that the media
might finally be recognizing the former Vice President could be this
decade's Ken Lay. More.
(11/19/07)
Gore
Challenged Over Warming - Last month, professor Richard Lindzen
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spoke to the 350 students
at St. Marks School in Providence, R.I., on the science of global warming.
[...]
Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology in MIT's Department
of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences, has been pilloried as a
mouthpiece for oil companies who has somehow infiltrated one of the
country's leading science institutions.
Science is not knowledge, he told his audience. It is a method for determining
what is true, based on observation and theory. Given the sorry state
of science education in America, that may have been a revelation to
students even at this fine private school. More.
(11/19/07)
USHCN
in the "ass end of nowhere" - By Anthony Watts - There's
a USHCN station out there, in the "ass end of nowhere".
Apologist Eli Rabett (Joshua Halpern) recently lamented that in order
for dendrochronologists to update tree ring studies used in MBH98/99
(aka Mann's Hockey Stick) that they "have to drive out to the ass
end of nowhere". It's such an inconvenience for those that just
perform data wrangling in the office, instead of going out to get their
hands dirty, that a study used as the basis for legislation hasn't had
its data updated in almost 10 years! Watts
continues... (11/18/07)
NewsBusters:
UN Discusses Global Warming in Spain as Snow Pummels Switzerland
- By Noel Sheppard - Remember when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.)
traveled to Germany to discuss global warming with Chancellor Angela
Merkel and was hysterically
greeted with a late-season snowstorm that rocked Europe?
Well, as the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
met in Valencia, Spain, last week to contemplate the supposedly catastrophic
warming of the planet, Switzerland to the east received the most snow
for this early in the season since 1952.
You really can't make this stuff up.
Noel continues... (11/18/07)
NewsBusters:
ABC: Accept Global Warming or Violate 'Moral Imperative' - By Mark
Finkelstein - If you don't buy into a Goresque view of global warming,
you're not just wrong -- you're immoral. That was ABC's implication
this morning.
The notion came from Good Morning America co-anchor Bill Weir at the
end of his interview of Jim Gooch. The Dem state representative from
Kentucky recently had the audacity to hold hearings with witnesses who
cast doubt on global warming theories.
View video here.
(11/18/07)
Delay
In Autumn Color Caused By Increased Carbon Dioxide Not Global Warming
- ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2007) -- The delay in autumnal leaf coloration
and leaf fall in trees is caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide
(CO2) in the atmosphere and not by increased global temperatures, suggests
a new study by researchers at the University of Southampton.
So, if the trees are greener longer won't they remove more CO2,
hence reducing global warming...naturally? Na, it (climate change) CAN'T
be a natural process. Read the entire
article. (11/17/07)
Its the end of the world...again!
U.N.
report: Urgent action needed on 'severe' climate change - (CNN)
-- Climate change is "severe and so sweeping that only urgent,
global action" can head it off, a United Nations scientific panel
said in a report on global warming issued Saturday.
The report produced by the Nobel prize-winning panel warns of the devastating
impact for developing countries and the threat of species extinction
posed by the climate crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, presenting the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change report in Valencia, Spain, warned that some
of the effects of rising levels of greenhouse gases may already be irreversible.
The U.N. head said the situation was already "so severe and so
sweeping that only urgent, global action" could head off the crisis.
More.
(11/17/07)
Keep your hands off my meat!
Vegetarians
applaud global warming link - Hallelujah! Finally in a major media
outlet, The Morning Call on Nov. 12, we see an article showing the connections
between exercise and meat consumption with obesity, chronic disease
and global warming. Many scientists were quoted describing the importance
of exercise in alleviating all these problems, but to finally hear what
we in the environmental, sustainable-community and vegetarian movements
have known for a considerable amount of time, is most encouraging.
It is old news that meat- and dairy-eating lead to chronic disease.
But it's big news that they also contribute to global warming. Three
quarters of our corn and 90 percent of our soy go to feed cows, pigs
and chickens. Half of our agricultural land and at least half of our
water is used to grow crops to feed food animals. Methane from cows
is a greenhouse gas, and the carbon dioxide from burning fuel to grow
and ship crops as well as the animals, also produces greenhouse gas.
One of the most important contributions that each of us can make to
prevent the oncoming disaster of global warming is to minimize, if not
eliminate, our consumption of meat, especially beef and pork. Len
Frenkel ~ Upper Saucon Township (11/17/07)
Global
warming is doomsday drivel - When I read your front-page report
noting that competent men of science are daring to question the global
warming juggernaut, it was like a ray of sun breaking through an overcast
sky ("Skeptics raise doubts on
global warming," Sunday).
Thank you for letting your readers know there are dissenting voices
that refused to be herded into the "group think" of this doomsday
movement.
I hope I live long enough to see the day when this inflated and exaggerated
balloon of hot air is deflated by men and women of science and reported
by media spokesmen willing to stand up to the rumor mongers, politicians
and ecological extremists who are driving this runaway train.
People will then look back and laugh at the gullibility of the thought
leaders of our generation. ~ John Waddey,Sun City
West (11/17/07)
Cool
it on the global warming debate - The Nov. 8 column by Eric Sharp
("Heed global warnings")
was an example of dangerous journalism. He claimed to know that all
who dispute the Al Gore version of climate change are "either hopelessly
uninformed, in denial, or lying" -- or are mostly funded by groups
such as the fossil fuel industry.
But how well is Sharp informed? He did not give an example of any scientist.
Consider his statement: "We don't know if warming land temperatures
could increase the spread of existing plant diseases or foster the emergence
of new diseases." After saying that we don't know, he continued
with: "If that were to happen ... it would be a disaster of unprecedented
proportions."
This is an interesting construction of logic. First say we don't know
if this will cause a cataclysm, but if it does, it will be cataclysmic.
He should write about global warming with a lot less heat and a little
more light. William Margolin ~ Commerce Township
(11/17/07)
Get ready to bend over...
Global
warming's trillion dollar debate
UN scientists say climate change is happening faster than thought as
politicians head to Bali to hammer out Kyoto's successor - By Steve
Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer - NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Kyoto,
the far-reaching agreement reached in 1997 intended to reduce global
carbon emissions, is nothing compared to what could be coming next as
the world's governments confront the ecological damage from global warming
and debate what needs to be done to fix it.
The fourth and final UN report on climate change, due Saturday, is expected
to emphasize that the warming of the planet is "unequivocal"
and that humans are the main cause. That report will act as a blueprint
for the next crucial round of climate talks starting next month in Bali,
Indonesia. More.
(11/16/07)
Global
warming reports miss facts - The recent CNN report "Planet
in Peril" spent considerable time discussing shrinking Arctic sea
ice (which has shrunk and expanded many times in the past, so what's
so unusual about that?) but never mentioned that Antarctica last month
experienced the record maximum winter sea ice coverage since aerial
measurements started.
Also, NASA has confirmed that 1934 was the warmest year in the U.S.
over past 100 years. If Earth is supposed to be warming due to large
increases in mankind's usage of fossil fuels during the past 30 years,
why wasn't 2006 or 1998 warmer than 1934?
Another thing: Because of so many (nine) inaccuracies in Al Gore's film
"An Inconvenient Truth," an English court ruled that if the
film is to be shown in schools, it must contain a warning.
Global warming alarmists look more like English economist Thomas Malthus,
who predicted mass starvation 250 years ago. ~ Charles
Luger, Sarasota (11/15/07)
Legislators
hear global warming disputed - Called a myth of Gore, U.N., media
- By John ChevesFRANKFORT - Global warming is a myth concocted by former
Vice President Al Gore, the United Nations, Hollywood and the news media,
Kentucky lawmakers were told yesterday.
The interim joint Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held a
hearing to dispute the idea that the Earth is warming, at least in part
because of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere
produced by industrial activity. More.
(11/15/07)
Politicizing
Global Warming - The Nov. 12 editorial "Political
Heat, Global Warming" is a perfect illustration of how the
press politicizes global warming.
The editorial starts by criticizing the Bush administration for editing
an employee's testimony, implying a political motive. Two paragraphs
later, it quotes fragments of the removed text. There is no evidence
to support the comment, no literature references cited, no peer review
of the editorial. The words were chosen by The Courant's editors to
support their particular view not to inform or educate the public. Of
course, this is exactly what The Courant suggests that the Bush administration
did in the first place.
Creating political firestorms may win some elections, but it only delays
the consensus needed to address global warming. ~ Leonard Ulicny, Durham
(11/15/07)
NewsBusters:
Shocking Stanford Luncheon: 'Is Global Warming a Myth?' - By Noel
Sheppard - Don't weep for the youth of America, for about a week after
the Harvard Crimson published a shocking editorial antagonistic to Nobel
Laureate Al Gore, Stanford University held a luncheon entitled "Is
Global Warming a Myth?"
Adding to your likely surprise, the guest speaker was the world-renowned
global warming skeptic S. Frederick Singer. Noel
continues... (11/15/07)
Global
warming not to blame for warmer North Pole? - Boffins blame ocean currents
instead - By Lucy Sherriff - Recent dramatic changes in the Arctic
climate - melting sea ice, warmer ocean, green fields in place of icy
wilderness, etc - might not all be directly related to global warming.
The more clement Arctic climate of recent years could have been triggered
by shorter term circulation changes in the oceans and atmosphere.
According to a team of NASA scientists, decade-long variations in ocean
circulation, known as the Arctic Oscillation, have an effect on the
oceans' salinity. A very salty sea is heavier and circulates differently
than a less salty one, the team says. This can affect the temperature
of the water in the region and thus the local climate. More.
(11/15/07)
EXCELLENT! Believe it or not, the
best article of the day comes from right here in the land of fruits
and nuts! Hat tip to Debra Saunders of the... wait for it... San Francisco
Chronicle!
Global
warming plans more fantasy than science - By Debra J. Saunders,
San Francisco Chronicle - Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., delivered a
speech in the Senate last week in which she linked global warming to
the San Diego wildfires, Darfur, the imminent loss of the world's polar
bears and even a poor 14-year-old boy who died from "an infection
caused after swimming in Lake Havasu," because its water is warmer.
Forget arson. Forget genocide. Forget nature. There is no tragedy that
cannot be placed at the doorstep of global warming skeptics.
Oh, and there's no need to acknowledge the regulations or taxes necessary
to curb emissions by a substantial degree might damage economic growth.
According to Boxer, laws to curb greenhouse gases - this country would
have to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half over 12 years to meet
the latest international community goals - will do good things for the
American economy and create lots of jobs. It's Nostradamus science wedded
to Santa Claus economics.
It's rhetoric such as Boxer's - an odd combination of the-end-is-near
hysteria and overly rosy economic scenarios - that keeps me in the agnostic-skeptic
global warming camp. Ms.
Saunders continues... (11/14/07)
And another great piece from the
left coast. Two in one day!
A
scientist's take on global warming - By JEFFREY P. SCHAFFER - John
Stephens' piece on global warming ("From AmCan to Greenland, take
action on warming," Oct. 24) outdoes Al Gore's "Inconvenient
(Half) Truth" in hysteria.
Gore actually got quite a bit right, but his 20-foot sea level rise
due to rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet is far from reality,
and Stephens' 23-foot rise in two or three years is worse. At an April
2007 American Association of Geographers conference I attended, its
session on global warming produced estimates of only four to six inches
by 2100, and that included Greenland ice melting three times faster
than in the previous decade. Still, most would put the rise at one foot;
the extremists, at three feet.
My background in science started in 1961 at M.I.T., and then later,
at Berkeley. In addition to a full range of biological and geoscience
courses (double major), I had a rigorous course on meteorology (physics
of weather). Starting in 1972, when scientists were convinced global
cooling was about to destroy civilization, I began to make weather observations
in the Sierra Nevada (along with biological and geoscience observations).
Beginning in 1986 I became seriously interested in global warming, and
learned that the sea level would rise about 20 feet very rapidly due
to melting ice shelves and sea ice. However, as any science-literate
elementary school kid can tell you, when floating ice melts, it contracts;
there is no increase in volume, so no sea-level rise. After about 10
years with this impending doom scenario, scientists dropped it. I suppose
some elementary school kid told them about the "floating ice cubes"
class experiment.
Back in the late 1980s, I made two global warming predictions. The first
is that summers in the Bay Area would become cooler, windier and foggier,
and this has already happened. The second is that by 2100, the sea level
may drop a foot. How so? Easy. Greenland and other high-latitude lands
are likely to warm about 10 degrees Celsius, and hence the air will
be able to hold twice as much water vapor as it did before warming.
This leads to twice as many clouds and twice as much precipitation.
Thanks to satellite measurement, we can already observe parts of Greenland
and Antarctica that have snow accumulating faster than ice is melting.
As this trend accelerates, total snow accumulation should outpace total
ice melting, and then the sea level will drop.
What I did not foresee back then is that although many of us felt that
the Arctic Ocean would become ice-free in summer by about 2050, we did
not think of the consequences with regard to sea level. Last century,
as in past centuries, the polar region had a continental climate, which
sent extremely cold, dry air south. But as sea ice continues to shrink,
the polar region will shift increasingly to a maritime climate, which
will greatly increase the number of storms in Eurasia, North America
and Greenland. Snow could accumulate in Greenland (as well as in the
mountains of Alaska and Canada) at a much higher rate than I had predicted.
Mr. Stephens recommends one book. I'll recommend three. (Like me, none
of these books' authors doubts global warming.) The first is "Useless
Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can't Predict the Future,"
by Orrin Pilkey. An old field scientist like me, Pilkey believes in
detailed field work, not modeling, since models will always produce
the results you want. The second is "Cool
It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming,"
by Bjorn Lomborg. If you are concerned about polar bears, he says, stop
shooting them. (The hunting program is a way to control the bear's overpopulation
problem.) The third is "State
of Fear," a novel by Michael Crichton. Part fiction and part
science, he shows how environmental organizations such as the Sierra
Club create imaginary crises. Having been on the board of one organization
and observing others, I can vouch for this. A perceived crisis really
boosts your membership! For example, here is a global-warming quote
by Stanford University climatologist Stephen Schneider: "We need
to get some broad-based support to capture the public's imagination.
That of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have
to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and
make little mention of any doubts we might have."
(Schaffer is an instructor at Napa Valley College.)
(11/14/07)
UK
politician blames babies for global warming! - London, Nov 14: A
top British Liberal Democrat has proposed a solution to combat global
warming -- put a full stop on babies.
Chris Davies has warned that halting population growth, as an answer
to global warming, would prove to be far more efficient than trying
to cut pollution.
The North West England MEP added that families should be encouraged
to have no more than one child in an effort to combat climate change.
But he said he did not support "Chinese-like ideas of compulsion".
"What's the single most effective thing couples can do to play
a part in combating global warming? It is to have no more than one child,"
the Mirror quoted him, as saying.
Davies added that he wants his plan to be considered by the EU.
However, not all are convinced with Davies' theory.
Labour MP Sion Simon said: "This is a crazy idea."
Bureau Report with ANI input (11/14/07)
Sun
and global warming: A cosmic connection? - By Richard Black, Environment
correspondent, BBC News website
- In February 2007, depending on what newspaper you read, you might
have seen an article detailing a "controversial new theory"
of global warming.
The idea was that variations in cosmic rays penetrating the Earth's
atmosphere would change the amount of cloud cover, in turn changing
our planet's reflectivity, and so the temperature at its surface.
This, it was said, could be the reason why temperatures have been seen
to be varying so much over the Earth's history, and why they are rising
now.
The theory was detailed in a book, The
Chilling Stars, written by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark and
British science writer Nigel Calder, which appeared on the shelves a
week after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had
published its landmark report concluding it was more than 90% likely
that humankind's emissions of greenhouse gases were warming the planet.
Continued.
(11/14/07)
Absurdity of the day; from The Daily
Green, of course.
Bangladesh,
Global Warming and Islamic Extremism - Why Cyclone Sidr Should Matter
to the U.S. Media - By Dan Shapley - Bangladesh could be ground
zero for the geo-strategic fallout from global warming, if some of the
nation's best national security minds are right. And that makes Cyclone
Sidr a big glaring warning signal. Shockingly, it's a warning signal
that the major U.S. media is ignoring. That's
because it's a ridiculous assertion. Ground zero? Global warming fallout?
Give me a break! Absurdity
continues... (11/14/07)
Global
Warming, Subsidies Fuel a Nuclear Renaissance - By Cyrus Farivar
- A recent application to build the first American nuclear power plant
in nearly 30 years has the nuclear community aglow with talk of possible
industry resurgence.
In September 2007, NRG Energy filed a proposal with the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to build a nuclear power plant in Texas. Last month, NuStart,
a nuclear consortium, also filed an application. These represent the
leading edge of a wave of renewed interest in domestic nuclear energy.
"We are expecting an additional three (applications) before the
end of this calendar year," said Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesman,
who said another 16 applications, some for multiple power plants, are
likely by the end of 2009. "If all of these applications were approved,
we would end up with a total of 32 new reactors in the United States,"
Burnell said. More.
(11/14/07)
Busy day at NewsBusters...
NewsBusters:
Live Earth II: The Concert to Honor Nobel Laureate Al Gore - By
Noel Sheppard - The
torture never stops!
As if the failure of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts in July wasn't enough,
a musical fiesta is being prepared to honor the new Nobel Laureate after
he receives his Peace prize in December.
I don't know about you, but I can't wait!
More Gore... (11/14/07)
NewsBusters:
NASA Debunks Part of Global Warming Myth, Will Media Report It?
- By Noel Sheppard - Is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
filled with climate change deniers?
Such seems likely to be alleged by hysterical alarmists in the press
when and if they read a new study out of NASA which determined that
"not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years
are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming."
Goes quite counter to all the recent media reports, as well as assertions
by Nobel Laureate Al Gore, that low ice conditions in the Arctic are
all the fault of that despicable -- albeit essential to life and naturally
occurring! -- gas carbon dioxide.
Of course, it's quite unlikely many climate alarmists will even hear
about this study, for today's green media wouldn't want to do anything
that destroys their illusion that there's a scientific consensus regarding
this matter. Noel
continues... (11/14/07)
NewsBusters:
Laurie David Cries: Tim Russert Won't Mention Global Warming - By
Matthew Sheffield - Reading this HuffPo
entry from "Inconvenient Truth" producer Laurie David
and environmental activist Gene Karpinski, it's hard to not come up
with the impression that these two are a bunch of whiners.
Both are outraged (!) that NBC host and former Democratic strategist
Tim Russert is not as obsessed with global warming as they are.
What's even funnier (unintentionally of course) is that David and Karpinski
frame their outrage around the recent NBC Universal PR campaign "Green
Is Universal," which was nothing more than a corporate-driven
shillfest designed to drum up interest in parent company General Electric's
non-fossil fuel offerings. (So much for the left-wing lie about corporate
"conservatism.")
Tim Russert's real sin was that he didn't parrot the company line like
a good liberal media hack. The arrogance is stunning. A billion-dollar
media empire devotes an entire week to promoting their pet issue and
yet it's still not enough for David and Karpinski. Whine excerpt is
past the jump: Story
continues... (11/14/07)
Another example of the idiotic hypocrisy
of the environut mentality. After all, it's all about what you say,
not what you do...
ASU's
global warming skeptic says he's "green" - The Arizona
Republic - Arizona State University climatologist Robert Balling attended
the premiere of Al Gore's global-warming documentary, "An Inconvenient
Truth."
He served on the United Nations' climate-change panel and studies how
drought and warmer temperatures will affect the West.
He bikes to work and eats organic food.
But environmentalists hate him.
Balling, 54, has spoken and written extensively against the widely held
scientific view that the documented rise in global temperatures is the
result of human activity and that serious consequences will result.
Even if humans are warming the planet by causing the buildup of greenhouse
gases, he says, the doomsday scenarios forecast by many climate scientists
may never happen.
His views have elicited outrage from environmentalists and scorn from
some fellow scientists. Article
continues... (11/13/07)
So this is where the global warming
"science" is going?
Less
men = less global warming - It's science, so it's must be true.
New
Scientist reports that a Swedish government scientist has found
that men are, on the whole, far greater contributors to global warming
than women.
The study, "gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development,"
found that because women travel less than men, measured in person-kilometres
per car, plane, boat and motorcycle, women cause considerably fewer
carbon dioxide emissions than men.
Even further, the study notes, 60% of car emissions in Sweden are created
by the 10% of drivers who use roads the most, and that men account for
three-quarters of car driving in Sweden. (11/13/07)
I've had enough
of these lefty complaints about White House censorship. So here's what
I say to all you warmist alarmists...
Political
Heat, Global Warming - Why did the White House cut by half the congressional
testimony on global warming drafted by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?
Editor raises hand, "I know, I know! Because she injected conjecture,
and her own unsubstantiated opinions into her "scientific"
testimony.
Six of the 12 pages were deleted from Ms. Gerberding's draft
because they did not "comport with the science," Dana Perino,
the president's press secretary, said recently. There was no censoring,
she said; the changes were necessary to match the science in a U.N.
report on global warming.
If that is so, the White House should not object to releasing the full
draft submitted by Ms. Gerberding for its vetting. Let the public and
the experts then assess the importance of the deletions.
Good question. By that logic, the White House should give a forum to
anyone with an opposing opinion that does not "comport with
the science in a U.N. report on global warming." Anyone got Lindzen's
phone number?
Besides, you can't keep a secret in Washington. Portions
of the original text have already been leaked. One excised part had
Ms. Gerberding warning that "CDC considers climate change a serious
health concern." She warned of possible respiratory problems, the
spread of diseases, and food and water shortages for some people. "Catastrophic
weather events such as heat waves and hurricanes are expected to become
more frequent, severe and costly," the draft version also said.
Those statements, however, don't square with the administration's
more relaxed approach toward global warming. That's
because those "statements" are not supported by any evidence
-- even the psudo-science of the U.N. It continues to argue
that the problems can be addressed voluntarily by individual nations.
Well, why not address a percieved
problem with a percieved solution? The left does it all the time. Have
any tax increases EVER solved the problem for which they were raised?
Despite the deletions, Ms. Gerberding said she was "absolutely
happy" with her testimony and insisted she doesn't "let people
put words in my mouth, and I stand for science." Well, she also
has a top job to think about before complaining that she was muzzled.
This isn't the first time the administration has been suspected of shutting
up officials. For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was accused
earlier this year of censoring its polar bear experts on the subject
of climate change. That's probably
because the polar bears are not in any danger. Unless you consider a
five-fold population increase in the last five decades a "danger".
In the 1960's they were down to less than 5000 globally. Now their numbers
are approaching 25000. Why you ask? Because we quit shooting them. That's
science for ya.
Releasing the uncut Gerberding statement would restore a
measure of the government's credibility and serve the public's right
to know their public servants' thoughts about global warming. Releasing
the uncut Gerberding statement would only encourage every alarmist nutcase
with a worthless diploma and no common sense to demand to be heard.
(11/13/07)
Take
action on global warming scam - By DON SNYDER - Writer John Stephens
wants everyone to take action on global warming ("From AmCan to
Greenland, take action on warming," Oct. 24) because of a global
warming book he found scary.
Perhaps this subject is scary to those who read only what associate
editor for Time, Michael Lemonick, has to say. I remember when Time
was also responsible for the coming ice age scare. But now we have Al
Gore and his trophy of a Nobel Peace Prize to make things more frightening.
I guess it was expected since all Nobel Peace Prizes go to individuals
promoting internationalism.
The promoters of global warming are now very carefully changing the
wording to "climate change" to cover any weather condition.
But currently, the big scare is all the carbon dioxide (CO2) we humans
generate that raises the temperature and melts the Arctic ice causing
enormous flooding.
CO2 is a normal byproduct of a lot of natural chemical reactions all
over the face of the earth. All decomposition, such as the leaves you
rake up for the compost pile to volcanic action, produces CO2. In Cameroon,
West Africa, Lake Nyos sits inside the crater of a dormant volcano.
In 1986 a landslide into the lake triggered CO2 gas to bubble up to
the surface and over the rim of the mountain. Roughly 1,700 village
people in the lower region died because of suffocation from the CO2.
There are several thousand volcanoes on this planet, with a number under
the sea, generating CO2.
Volcanoes also produce toxic gasses such as SO2 (sulfur dioxide). Volcano
Nyiragongo in the Congo, not far from the border with Rwanda, produces
50,000 tons of SO2 a day, the primary cause of acid rain. That's more
than the amount produced by all power plants, factories and cars in
the United States.
Global warming of our troposphere comes from around 95 percent water
vapor and only around 5 percent CO2. The big claim about CO2 having
an effect comes from "climate models."
Snyder continues... (11/13/07)
NewsBusters:
SanFran Chronicle: Only The 'Informed' Believe in Global Warming
- By Warner Todd Huston - The San Francisco Chronicle decided to pat
Californians on the back last week for how much "better informed"
Golden Staters are on the supposed dire threat of global warming. With
their headline joyously proclaiming, "Californians
better informed on global warming threat, poll finds," the
SF Chron handed out the party hats, blew their celebratory horns and
lined up little Al Gore statuettes to hand out at the awards banquet.
And how is it that their poll "found" this startling fact?
Why it's because our friends in California believe, man! It's not because
Californians are any better informed, that they know all the facts,
it's just that they accept Al Gore's claim that the "debate is
over" despite any evidence or lack thereof. They really, really
believe man.
Californians are more likely than the rest of the
nation to see global warming as a threat, but also are more optimistic
that greenhouse gases can be cut while creating jobs and expanding the
economy, according to a Field Poll released Friday.
See, they are "better informed" because they are "more
likely" to see global warming "as a threat." It's not
because they have any more facts or science backing up this "informed"
position. It's cuz they "get it," baby.
The SFChron goes
on with their elation: (11/13/07)
Nukes
or Deadly Storms? - Is nuclear power the answer to global warming?
It provides lots of reliable electricity while producing almost none
of the greenhouse gases that pour out of the smokestacks of coal and
gas-fired power plants. And it takes up very little land, compared to
the construction of wind turbines -- another form of relatively clean
energy.
These are questions that Marylanders need to tackle, because Constellation
Energy is discussing the construction of a new nuclear reactor at its
Calvert Cliffs plant in Southern Maryland (shown above). That 1970's
era plant today produces about a quarter of the state's electricity,
which could increase to nearly half if Constellation and the federal
government give their okay. Meanwhile, more than 150 wind turbines,
each about 40 stories tall, have been proposed off the beaches of Ocean
City, Md., and in the scenic mountains of Western Maryland.
Which makes more sense for fighting global warming? A single new nuclear
reactor at Calvert Cliffs wouldn't consume an additional acre of land,
but would provide about as much electricity as about 1,000 wind turbines.
Article
continues. (11/13/07)
Far out man... Without a doubt,
this is the wierdest article on global warming I have ever seen.
Global
Warming caused fundamentally from a negative consciousness rather than
Greenhouse gases - By Peter Tremblay - Redressing the Global Warming
catastrophe, requires humanity to appreciate critically the root cause
of Global Warming. Unfortunately, environmental activists and other
concerned human beings have absorbed apparent "half-truths"
on Global Warming. As a result, human beings who are critically concerned
about Global Warming, and who want to save our planet Earth from destruction,
do not have the kind off overall appreciation of the Global Warming
problem, that is required to do something about it. It
gets even stranger...
(11/13/07)
Excellent!
Irving
C. Sheldon Jr.: Science vs politics: Challenging the global-warming
hysteria - IRVING C. SHELDON Jr. - SOUTHBORO, Mass. -- LAST MONTH,
Prof. Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spoke
to the 350 students at St. Marks School on the science of global warming.
With his large glasses and unruly hair, he could have been a professor
from central casting. While he was being introduced by the headmaster,
he leaned casually against the wall of the wood-paneled, three-level
auditorium -- a little shocking at a prep school, where not long ago
bad posture could get the odd fifth-quintilian the boot.
The students had been called together because last year, they had viewed
Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth. The movie -- which won an Oscar
and helped lead to Gore's being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- has
been praised for describing in dramatic terms the consequences of the
unchecked accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, chiefly
carbon dioxide from the burning of coal and oil by the world's industrialized
economies. The movie predicts the melting of the Greenland ice sheet
and the rise of sea levels by as much as 20 feet, increasingly violent
weather patterns and droughts that will kill millions.
To the school's credit, it asked Professor Lindzen, a critic of some
of the extreme claims of global warming apostles, to give his views.
Lindzen has been a minor affliction to those, like Gore, who maintain
that the science on global warming is settled and the debate is over.
Mr. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology in MIT's Department
of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences, has been pilloried as a
mouthpiece for oil companies who has somehow infiltrated one of the
country's leading science institutions. Continued.
(11/13/07)
UN
Official: If You're Not Trying To Stop Global Warming You're A Criminal
- And so it begins...
VALENCIA, Spain - The U.N.'s
top climate official warned policymakers and scientists trying to hammer
out a landmark report on climate change that ignoring the urgency of
global warming would be "criminally irresponsible."
Yvo de Boer's comments came at the opening of a weeklong conference
that will complete a concise guide on the state of global warming and
what can be done to stop the Earth from overheating. It is the fourth
and last report issued this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace prize.
Got that? If you don't buy into the war on climate change, if you don't
line up to follow each and every life-controlling regulation Al Gore's
legions dream up from what kind of car you can drive to what size of
house you can live in, you're a criminal.
Sure it's just a bit of hyperbole, but this is how totalitarianism
gets started. They find a common enemy (for Hitler it was the Jews,
for communists it's always been the capitalists or the rich) and then
the recruit everyone into the struggle against that enemy. And then
they case those who don't want to struggle as traitors or...criminals.
It's dangerous stuff, this sort of rhetoric, but the global warming
zealots are charging forward with it full speed. All based on theories
about anthropomorphic global warming that are anything but settled.
(11/13/07)
Must read article of the day! A
special hat tip to NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard for this one.
NewsBusters:
Global Warming Plot Thickens: Gore Joins Venture Capital Group -
By Noel Sheppard - *****Update: Media Matters
shill doesn't like this post, and is responded to at end of article.
The financial scam involved in advancing climate alarmism got even more
obvious Monday - to folks outside of the media, that is! - when Nobel
Laureate Al Gore joined "Silicon Valley's most prestigious venture
capital firm to guide investments that help combat global warming."
As reported by the Associated Press (emphasis added, h/t NBer Wildcatter
1980): "Gore, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last month for his
work on climate change, joins Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
as it and dozens of other venture firms expand into so-called 'clean-tech'
investments worldwide."
Media that have continually ignored the financial aspects of this con
will certainly not see the exquisitely delicious irony in the following
announcement from the same article: Noel
continues... (11/13/07)
CO2
Science: Hurricanes (Global and/or General) -- Summary - Although
some climate models suggest the intensity and frequency of tropical
cyclones may be significantly reduced in response to global warming
(Bengtsson et al., 1996), thus implying a "decrease in the global
total number of tropical cyclones on doubling CO2," as noted by
Sugi et al. (2002), most of them suggest otherwise, as noted by Free
et al. (2004), who state that "increases in hurricane intensity
are expected to result from increases in sea surface temperature and
decreases in tropopause-level temperature accompanying greenhouse warming
(Emanuel, 1987; Henderson-Sellers et al., 1998; Knutson et al., 1998)."
Hence, it is important to see what the world of nature has to say about
the issue. (11/13/07)
From "The Spoof" (satire)
BaBa
Booey's Breath Linked to Global Warming - By Ryan Splan - "We
are constantly studying new issues that perpetuate the onset of Global
Warming, and my team of researchers may have stumbled onto another link
that will bring us one step closer into finding out even more information
regarding Global Warming." States Dr. Ivan Stefansky, PhD, a professor
of Atmospheric and Climate Change at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"And, because of this constant drive and this hunger to know more
about Global Warming, we have discovered that BaBa Booey's breath may
in fact cause an influx of gas emissions faster than any other negative
hazard that has been reported to date." From
the beginning... (11/12/07)
UN
official warns of ignoring warming - By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press
Writer - VALENCIA, Spain - The U.N.'s top climate official warned policymakers
and scientists trying to hammer out a landmark report on climate change
that ignoring the urgency of global warming would be "criminally
irresponsible."
Yvo de Boer's comments came at the opening of a weeklong conference
that will complete a concise guide on the state of global warming and
what can be done to stop the Earth from overheating. It is the fourth
and last report issued this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace prize.
Environmentalists and authors of the report expected tense discussions
on what to include and leave out of the document, which is a synthesis
of thousands of scientific papers. A summary of about 25 pages will
be negotiated line-by-line this week, then adopted by consensus. More.
(11/12/07)
But according to information in the New York Times, Clinton campaign
aides had in fact prompted her to call on the plant.
At 10:51 AM ET this morning, MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall interviewed Hillary
campaign co-chair Tom Vilsack, the former Dem governor of Iowa.
TAMRON HALL: Senator Clinton herself said she knew nothing about this
and promised it would not happen again...
TOM VILSACK: Obviously Hillary Clinton does not condone the planting
of questions; she did not know that this young person had been given
that question.
View video here.
Vilsack elaborated on his answer later in the interview...
(11/12/07)
NewsBusters:
Conspiratorial Wink of the Hillary Plant - By Mark Finkelstein
- UPDATE, see below: Shuster says "watch
the wink."
Sometimes, the smallest gestures are the most significant
...
Have a look at the freeze-frame. It shows the moment at which
the young woman in Iowa this weekend is retaking her seat after
posing that planted question to Hillary about climate change.
|
|
photo courtesy of NewsBusters
|
As you'll see, she's flashing someone a conspiratorial wink and smile.
"Morning Joe" rolled the video of the moment at 6:43 and 7:01
AM ET today and MSNBC has been replaying throughout the day.
But for a driver's license and a wink, was a nomination was lost?
Video: Real
(648 KB) or Windows
(716 KB), plus MP3
(112 KB)
The video is a bit grainy but the wink is very visible when seen in
TV quality. Hopefully MSNBC will post the clip.
Discussing the controversy on today's "Morning Joe," Mika
Brzezinski tried floating the know-nothing defense on Hillary's behalf.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: OK, does she know about -- you guys, Pat [Buchanan]
and Joe, help me out here. She's in on this?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I hope so.
BRZEZINSKI: I mean, come on. No, no, no!
UPDATE | 11-12 4:05 PM ET:
Here's a brief, higher-quality video clip of the moment, making the
wink and smile easier to see.
UPDATE | 11-12 5:40 PM ET:
I don't imagine that David Shuster is a huge fan of this blog, but perhaps
he does read it. At 5:38 PM ET, during his report on this afternoon's
Hardball, Shuster played a specially-edited clip of the moment, zeroing
in on the young woman's face, and invited viewers to "watch the
wink."
NewsBusters:
A Global Temperature Chart Not in Gore's Movie - By Noel Sheppard
- So, you think today's temperatures are out of the ordinary?
Nobel Laureate Al Gore does, and strongly made the case in his schlockumentary
"An Inconvenient Truth" with all kinds of neat slides and
graphs.
Of course, despite incessant claims of a consensus concerning this premise,
not everyone agrees.
In fact, climatologist Cliff Harris and meteorologist Randy Mann, who,
amongst other things, run a website called Long
Range Weather, have created an absolutely marvelous long-term global
temperature chart that wasn't in Gore's movie, and every climate alarmist
in the media desperately hopes you never see it: (11/12/07)
Photo Source: Long
Range Weather
Unfortunately, to configure the picture in the space available, the
text inside is a tad illegible. Those interested in viewing a larger
more readable image should go here.
That said, it's great stuff, wouldn't you agree? And, so is this article
by Harris and Mann entitled "Could This Cycle 'Global Warming'
Finally Be Winding Down?" Noel
continues... (11/12/07)
Global
Warming Is The New AIDS - By Dave Gibson on Nov 12, 07 - Just as
AIDS was the first politically correct disease, global warming is the
first politically correct weather forecast. Both have been advertised
as catastrophic events which will spell the end of civilization as we
know it. However, in reality it is only the left trying to frighten
us into furthering their twisted agenda. By attempting to "mainstream"
AIDS, they have tried to legitimize homosexual behavior and by convincing
us that we can somehow "save the planet" by using less energy,
they hope to thwart development and eventually destroy capitalism.
During the 1980's and '90's, Americans were bombarded by the leftist
media with images of emaciated men dying of AIDS. The term "AIDS
epidemic" became a constant phrase in the American lexicon. Despite
all of the fear mongering, AIDS remains a very low threat to the health
of the vast majority of Americans. It is still almost exclusively a
disease of homosexuals and IV drug users.
In 2003, the Center for Disease Control reported 17,011 Americans died
of AIDS. By that same year, the total number of American deaths attributed
to the AIDS virus was 550,394. While that number seems large, it becomes
much less impressive when you consider that during the year 2001, there
were 553,400 U.S. deaths due to cancer alone. More.
(11/12/07)
Ridiculous rubbish of the day...
Global
warming splits Christmas tree - How
about an alternative headline? "Bolt of Lightning from Al Gore's
Arse Splits Christmas Tree" - Christmas will be coming
a little late to Belfast this year after a mini global warming disaster
struck the city's Christmas tree.
The 45ft Norway Spruce tree from Parkanaur near Dungannon, was cut down
last week.
However, it quickly began to split in two.
A council spokesman said: "The wet summer and unseasonally dry
autumn had a devastating effect on the tree but we hope to source another
immediately.''
Time's running out for the council though, the big switch on of the
Christmas tree lights is due to take place on Tuesday, November 20.
About 15,000 people are expected to attend. What
a bunch of crap! (11/12/07)
Skeptics
raise doubts on global warming - By Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona
Republic - Do you believe in global warming? Most climate scientists
cringe at the question. Why not just ask whether you believe in gravity,
they argue. The planet has warmed, and evidence points, at least in
part, to human activities. The debate among these scientists ended years
ago.
But it hasn't ended everywhere.
As scientists gather in Spain this week to ratify the last in a yearlong
series of climate reports, the widening spotlight on the issue will
again bleed onto a small chorus of skeptics. Their goal: seed the discussion
with enough doubt to keep the debate alive.
"Has the globe warmed? It's almost stupid to deny that it's warmed
in some ways over the last 100 years," said Warren Meyer, a Phoenix
engineer who wrote a book and made a video chipping away at the conventional
wisdom of climate change.
"Where the problem comes in," he said, "is when people
oversimplify and try to say that other things are settled, like the
magnitude of warming or the government action that's needed. There are
lots of interesting questions that are a long, long way from being settled."
More.
(11/11/07)
Unholy
writ: Skeptic debunks climate change apologists - The Oklahoman
Editorial - PITY that the writers strike doesn't extend to the authors
of reports on global warming, to news stories about those reports and
to the sermons penned by Al Gore, the high priest of climate change.
Perhaps a break from writing would give them more time to read.
We suggest they start with "Cool
It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming"
by Scandinavian scholar Bjorn Lomborg. "Skeptical" as he may
be, Lomborg is no doubter of global warming: "That humanity has
caused a substantial rise in atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels over
the past centuries, thereby contributing to global warming, is beyond
debate."
The key word in this discussion is "debate." Let's have some!
Let's leave the pews of the First Church of Climate Change long enough
to sort fact from fiction and the rational from the emotional. Continued.
(11/11/07)
Global
warming's true remedies Taxes,
taxes and more taxes, of course... - By Agus Budiman, Jakarta
- ...Taxes on fossil fuels would be an option, but it will raise fuel
prices. Will politicians, for the sake of controlling global-warming,
dare to impose such measures if people resist? I don't think so. Politicians
must take heroic action to win public sympathy and secure their current
position -- or prepare for their fate in the next succession. Read
the entire article. (11/11/07)
Excellent ,as always...
NewsBusters:
Think Progress Takes Climate Alarmism to Absurd Degrees - By Noel
Sheppard - On Thursday, NewsBuster Amy Ridenour reported
the hysterical protestations of the liberal blog Think Progress concerning
conservative websites like ours having the unmitigated audacity to share
with readers the global
warming skepticism of The Weather Channel founder John Coleman.
Noel
continues... (11/10/07)
Global
warming: Don't look now - James Delingpole reviews Scared
to Death: from BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares are Costing Us
the Earth by Christopher Booker and Richard North - Imagine
you could travel back to Britain in 1998.
One of the amusing things you might do there - in between buying
heavily into property and cheap gold - would be to pooh-pooh all
those ridiculous panic-mongers wittering on about the Millennium
Bug.
"It's just another of those modish, silly scares that never
actually come to anything," you could declare with a knowledgeable
chuckle on Newsnight and the Today programme.
No one would take you seriously, though. Why should they, when the
prime minister himself - presumably with access to much better expert
advice than you - had declared the Millennium Bug "one of the
most serious problems facing British business and the global economy
today. Its impact cannot be overestimated"?
But had the world listened to you instead of to Tony Blair, it might
have been spared the estimated $300 billion it spent trying to solve
this non-existent problem. |
|
Scared
to Death:
From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares are Costing Us the Earth
Christopher Booker and Richard North
|
Add to that the many more billions squandered in the past two decades
because of similarly groundless scares over dioxins, Mad Cow Disease,
leaded petrol, asbestos, Listeria and salmonella, and you begin to understand
the aggrieved tone of Christopher Booker and Richard North in their
rather terrifying book, Scared to Death. Continued.
(11/10/07)
NewsBusters:
"Manmade Global Warming Myth" Shockingly Refuted by ABC Affiliate
- By Noel Sheppard - You'd better strap yourself in tightly before proceeding,
for the following story
and video
will likely shock you more than anything you've seen in quite some time.
On Thursday, in the middle of NBC's "Green is Universal" campaign,
an ABC affiliate in Tyler, Texas, broadcast a segment during one of
its news programs focusing exclusively on positions skeptical of man's
role in climate change.
In fact, one of the meteorologists involved actually referred to this
whole issue as "the manmade global warming myth."
During the piece, not only did the two anchors express a viewpoint contrary
to the current media meme, but also the reporter, Molly Reuter, and
the station's three meteorologists, unanimously spoke against the view
held by Nobel Laureate Al Gore and his sycophant devotees (video
available here): (11/10/07)
Global
companies unite to promote market-based methods of fighting global warming
- WASHINGTON - Forty-six of the world's biggest corporations on Friday
laid out their plan for reducing global warming, putting an emphasis
on market-based ways to cut emissions. But
is it really market-based? Read
on... (11/09/07)
NewsBusters:
Why Did 'Green Week' Go Out With Travelogue Whimper? - By Mark Finkelstein
- "Green Week" at "Today" came in with an Al Gore
roar but went out with a travelogue whimper. What happened?
On Monday, "Today" kicked off Green Week with an Al Gore interview
in which he proclaimed there was no
room for dissenting voices on global warming. Over at MSNBC the
same day, an NBC environmental "correspondent" urged
viewers to vote for candidates with an environmentalist agenda.
But this morning, "Green Week" at "Today" went out
on a mysteriously innocuous note. Gone, at least during the crucial
first-half hour, was the environmentalist crusading, replaced by little
more than a travelogue. Instead of global warming, the focus was Ann
Curry's personal accomplishment in Antarctica. More.
(11/09/07)
Today's raving idiot...
Column:
Exposing the truth of the global warming 'myth' - By Matt Eldridge,
CT Regular Columnist - One of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated, believed
by millions of Americans who have been duped by faulty science used
to advance political agendas threatens this nation's very existence.
This hoax has diverted millions, if not billions, of dollars from tackling
the real issues, and as a result has threatened our national security
and cheapened the political discourse.
I'm talking of course about global warming, or more specifically, about
the community of global warming skeptics who have gone out of their
way to ignore mounting scientific evidence which even one of the densest
presidents in U.S. history has come to accept as fact. Rant
continues. (11/09/07)
Black
Ops PR in Global Warming Hoax? - By James Lewis - Rush Limbaugh
was hoaxed today by a very slick and superficially plausible Global
Warming fraud. This resembles the kind of Black PR operation we have
just been warning
about. The trick is to plant a plausible story that fits a conservative
theme, in this case skepticism about anthropogenic GlobWarm.
The hoax looks very professional. A fraudulent scientific journal was
created on the web, called the "Journal
of Geoclimatic Studies." The journal is fake, the article claiming
to disprove the popular Global Warming meme is fake, the Editorial Board
is fake, and the authors are faked.
The key to this fraud is its professionalism. All the visible features
of the hoax are superficially possible. They do not stand up to deeper
examination, but the hoaxers succeeded in fooling Rush for some minutes
before he caught it.
The Left is bound to trumpet their momentary success as a proof that
the GlobWarm skeptics are wrong.
Two possibilities. One is a bunch of smart grad students at MIT or Caltech.
That's the innocent explanation, and we can all have a good laugh.
The other possibility is a very slick dirty trick from the Left.
It could be hard to distinguish between the two, since college students
also tend to be Leftist True Believers. We will probably find out more
in the coming days. The web allows a lot of back-tracing.
We have previously warned about likely Black PR in the blogosphere.
It is possible that others have been planted. We will undoubtedly see
other Black PR ops as the election season heats up. James
Lewis blogs at dangeroustimes.wordpress.com/
(11/08/07)
First-Ever
Survey of IPCC Scientists Undermines Alleged 'Consensus' on Global Warming;
Poll Exposes Disagreement and Confusion Among United Nations Scientists
- WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Is there really a "consensus"
on global warming among the scientists participating in the United Nations'
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)? To find out, DemandDebate.com
conducted the first-ever survey of the U.S. scientists who participated
in the most recent IPCC report.
"Our results indicate that the notion of a meaningful scientific
consensus on global warming is ludicrous," said Steve Milloy, DemandDebate.com's
executive director.
During the month of October, DemandDebate.com polled each of the 345
U.S. scientists listed as contributing authors and reviewers of the
IPCC's "Climate Change 2007: The Physical Basis" with a six-question
survey on climate change. Fifty-four IPCC scientists completed the survey,
including several of the most prominent global warming alarmists and
several IPCC lead authors.
Less than 50% of the respondents said that an increase in global temperature
of 1-degree Celsius is flatly undesirable. Half of the respondents said
that such a temperature increase is either desirable, desirable for
some but undesirable for others or too difficult to assess.
"Among survey respondents, then, there's no consensus on desirability
of 1-degree Celsius of global warming -- twice the level of warming
that occurred during the 20th century," observed Milloy.
When asked about the ideal climate, only 14% said that the ideal climate
was cooler than the present climate. Sixty-one percent said that there
is no such thing as an ideal climate.
"So if there's no agreement on what the target climate should be,
what precisely is the point of taking action on global warming? What
is the climatic goal at which we are aiming?," Milloy asked.
Another notable result is that an astounding 20% of those surveyed said
that human activity is the principal driver of climate change.
"So was there no climate change before mankind?" Milloy asked.
"And if there was natural climate change before man, why not now
also?" he added. Forty-four percent didn't think that the current
global climate was unprecedentedly warm.
"The survey results indicate that when asked routine questions
about the climatic role of manmade CO2, the IPCC scientists responded
for the most part with the Pavlovian manmade-CO2-is-bad view seemingly
demanded of them by the IPCC," Milloy noted. "But when you
ask questions that are off the IPCC script, the supposed consensus seems
to readily fall apart," concluded Milloy. The survey report is
on the web at: DemandDebate.com
(11/08/07)
New on the Blog
MUST READ!
Weather
Channel Founder: Global Warming 'Greatest Scam in History' - Intro
by Joe D'Aleo, Icecap, CCM - I was privileged to work with John
Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel in the year before it became
a reality and then for the first of the 6 years I was fortunate to be
the Director of Meteorology. No one worked harder than John to make
The Weather Channel a reality and to make sure the staffing, the information
and technology was the very best possible at that time. John currently
works with KUSI in San Diego. He posts regularly. I am very pleased
to present his latest insightful post.
By John Coleman
It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and
highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly
scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long
term scientific data to create an allusion of rapid global warming.
Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the
circle to support and broaden the "research" to further enhance
the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government
steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon
they claimed to be a consensus...
Read the entire article
and post your reactions here.
(11/08/07)
Are
men to blame for global warming? - EVEN climate change cannot escape
the gender wars. Now Swedish men are being blamed for having a disproportionately
large impact on global warming.
The finger is squarely pointed at men in "A study on gender equality
as a prerequisite for sustainable development" by Gerd Johnsson-Latham
of the Swedish Ministry of Sustainable Development. She concludes: "The
fact that women travel less than men, measured in person-kilometres
per car, plane, boat and motorcycle - means that women cause considerably
fewer carbon dioxide emissions than men, and thus considerably less
climate change." She notes that 60 per cent of car emissions are
created by the 10 per cent of drivers who use roads the most, and that
men account for three-quarters of car driving in Sweden.
Women do not escape censure, however. The report notes that in Sweden,
women spend four times as much as men on consumer goods and - in a further
dig at men, albeit unintended - 20 times as much on hygiene products.
(11/08/07)
Andrew
Bolt: Warming to debate the art of hypocrisy - THE telling thing
about the global warming faith is that it's preached almost entirely
by hypocrites. As you're about to see in tropical technicolour next
month.
You see, more often than not a global warming prophet is a frequent
flyer who's just stepped out of business class to demand you cut the
very gases he's just blasted out the back of his jet.
Or her jet, of course. I'm thinking here of Laurie David, a producer
of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, the indoctrination tape for the
warming faithful which demands we Use Less to save the world from choking
on our filthy emissions.
As it turned out, Use Less David was not quite so eager to Use Less
herself, confessing: "Yes, I take a private plane on holiday a
couple of times a year."
But she had the proper attitude: "I feel horribly guilty about
it." And since global warming is more about how you feel than what
you'll do, that made it all right.
Until this week I thought David -- or Gore, who uses more electricity
each month in just one of his three homes than the average American
family uses in a year -- couldn't be beaten for the title of Grand Hypocrite
of the Warming Faith.
Until this week they'd beaten off even the most shameless of challengers,
including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who attends celebrity global
warming conferences to debate ways to make suburban types dim their
lights, despite having a wide-body Boeing 767-200 for his private plane.
More...
(11/08/07)
Raving idiot
of the day...Eric Sharp
Heed
global warnings - Don't let political ideology blind nation to growing
threats of climate change - BY ERIC SHARP - Recently, a right-wing talk
show host was foaming at the mouth because former Vice President Al
Gore got the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. According
to that host, global warming is part of a liberal plot that eventually
will lead to socialized medicine, which seemed a bit of a stretch.
But if you care about our natural resources, it's critical that you
also understand that the threat global warming presents to our state,
nation and world has nothing to do with political ideology.
Anyone who says that global warming is disputed by scientists is either
hopelessly uninformed, in denial or lying. The tiny minority of scientists
who still dispute the causes of it are funded mostly by groups such
as the fossil fuel industry that face huge financial costs from cleaning
up their acts.
If you learned you had cancer, whom would you listen to -- doctors who
are experts in cancer treatment and are backed up by thousands of researchers
around the world, or a radio jaw jockey who may never have taken a science
course after the ninth grade and makes his living touting a political
agenda for people who sell products that cause cancer? The
planet doesn't have cancer. It doesn't have a fever. It's not sick.
This guy is as full of shit as a Christmas turkey. This is just another
alarmist article in a steady diet of warming nonsense delivered daily
by the dullards in the mainstream media. Not once in his lengthy lambaste,
does Sharp cite any science. He only attacks the "jaw jockey"
messenger. He claims that any scientist that doesn't agree with his
conclusion that man-made climate change spells certain doom is funded
by oil companies, but names none. He calls any criticism of Al Gore's
ridiculous movie "nitpicking" by "neo-Flat Earthers".
Just look at these two paragraphs:
Gore's movie about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth,"
isn't perfect. While I believe that global warming is a fact, Gore made
some assumptions of fact that aren't supported by the scientific research,
at least not yet. Now that's got
to be the understatement of the year!
But people who seize on these points to nitpick Gore are neo-Flat Earthers
who either fail to understand or choose to ignore the truth of his basic
premises -- that world climate is changing at a pace never seen before,
that we humans are a major source of the greenhouse gasses that are
accelerating the changes, and that we better start learning about how
to live with them.
Think about that. The entire premise of Al Gore's movie has been
exposed as fraudulent, but it's just nitpicking. Sharp
rants on... (11/08/07)
Global
warming: horror fiction or real challenge? - MOSCOW. (Sergei Golubchikov
for RIA Novosti) - Natural calamities are getting ever more frequent.
Many scientists and political activists blame them on industry. The
World Bank calls every nation to donate 1% of its gross domestic product
to fight global warming.
Green activism brought Al Gore the Nobel Peace Prize. But are the environmental
alarmists right?
Environmental phobias go hand in hand with technological civilization.
Anxiety over climate change is carried too far, to my mind. Anxiety
easily turns to panic, forcing the world into hasty, and possibly wrong,
steps. The Kyoto Protocol, for instance, was ratified even before the
link between global warming and the concentration of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere had been proved. Signatories to Kyoto pledge to reduce
carbon dioxide emission by a collective average of 5% below 1990 levels
by 2012.
But is the gas so bad? It is no poison, and plants need it as much as
we humans need our daily bread. At present it makes up a mere 0.037%
of the atmosphere. Greater concentrations cause plant life to flourish-especially
forests, the greatest absorbers of greenhouse gases. More.
(11/08/07)
Oh brother...
Global
warming 'cure' found by scientists - By Charles Clover, Environment
Editor - A "technical fix" that could stop global warming
by taking billions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and
save the coral reefs from being destroyed by acidification has been
developed by scientists.
The process could be used on an industrial scale to remove excess carbon
dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuels from the atmosphere in
"a matter of decades rather than millennia," according to
researchers from Harvard and Penn State universities.
The process relies on speeding up a process that happens naturally,
whereby carbon dioxide dissolved in sea water breaks down volcanic rock
and soils to make alkaline carbonic salts.
The water flows into the ocean and increases its alkalinity. Sea water
containing more alkali can absorb more carbon, so more carbon from the
atmosphere is "locked up" and becomes harmless bottom sediments,
according to the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Researchers estimate that it would take a cube of volcanic rock 10 kilometres
across to return the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's
atmosphere to pre-industrial levels. Continued.
(11/07/07)
NewsBusters:
MSNBC.com Misquotes Evangelical Leader on Global Warming - By Warner
Todd Huston - Here is a perfect example of why no one can trust the
MSM. They can't even get a quote in context without spinning it to their
own desired ends by leaving out parts of the quote, materially changing
its meaning. More.
(11/07/07)
It's the message that's the problem,
not the messenger. Democrats love to use "victims" to sell
their message, especially children. Then they cry foul at any criticism.
We've seen it with immigration, SCHIP, and now global warming. Last
week Hillary Clinton even victimized herself for her inability to answer
a simple question by playing the gender card. These people have absolutely
no shame!
Limbaugh
said Yup'ik teen's testimony made him 'want to puke' - ME
TOO! By The Associated Press - ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Talk
radio host Rush Limbaugh criticized the testimony of a Yup'ik Eskimo
teen who spoke to Congress this week about the vagaries of global warming.
Limbaugh told listeners that the testimony from Charlee Lockwood, 18,
was a case of exploitation by Democrats.
He said her emotional testimony in front of a U.S. House committee on
global warming made him "really want to puke. I just want to throw
up."
"It's the Democrats exploiting a young child, ladies and gentlemen,
for the advancement of a political issue that will grow the size of
government and increase their control over everyone," Limbaugh
told listeners.
Lockwood was among 5,000 teens and young adults who lobbied lawmakers
this week on energy and climate issues. Ten other young people from
Alaska attended the event, through Alaska Youth for Environmental Action.
Lockwood told lawmakers about the effects of global warming on her village,
including fewer fish each year at the family's summer fish camp and
less fruit at their favorite berry-picking spots.
Critics of Limbaugh's comments said the conservative talk show host
should have refrained from attacking a young person who has embraced
public activism. No one has proven
that young Lockwood's delima is the result of anything other than natural
occuring environmental changes. Just as mankind has had to do throughout
history, the people in that region must now adapt to the changes.
(11/07/07)
NewsBusters:
John Stossel: "Don't Look to Government to Cool Down the Planet"
- By Noel Sheppard - As NewsBusters reported, ABC's John Stossel bravely
presented a skeptical view of manmade global warming on the October
19 installment of "20/20."
As a follow-up, Stossel published an op-ed at Townhall Tuesday that
should be must-reading for alarmist media members and policy makers
around the country.
Marvelously titled "Don't Look to Government to Cool Down the Planet,"
the article summarized much of what Stossel presented weeks prior on
"20/20," while challenging the closed-minded to allow for
greater scientific discussion and debate before hasty and capricious
policy decisions are enacted that will harm the economy as they do nothing
to solve the so-called problem: Noel
continues... (11/07/07)
Excellent!
Big
media see only green on global warming - By Bill Steigerwald - Al
Gore hasn't secretly bought every mainstream media news outlet, has
he?
Then why do so few journalists even pretend anymore to play fair, straight
and skeptical on global warming?
This swing to subjective journalism on environmental issues began decades
ago. But it reached a tipping point in 2001, when both U.S. News &
World Report and Time jettisoned all pretense of objectivity and cranked
out sensationalized cover stories about the various apocalypses that
anthropogenic global warming was certain to bring to our tender planet.
Since then, most mainstream journalists effectively have decreed that
the global warming debate is over, that man's fossil-fuel burning is
the primary culprit and that anyone who doesn't parrot the James Hansen-Laurie
David party line that humans are in deep and imminent trouble is in
bed with ExxonMobil or is the moral and intellectual equivalent of a
Holocaust denier.
Today you rarely see or hear a skeptical peep on catastrophic global
warming from CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington
Post, Newsweek or the already-know-it-alls at The New Yorker. More.
(11/07/07)
Global
warming 'not linked' to typhoons - By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
- A study of intense typhoons in the Pacific has failed to show a link
with global warming, instead revealing that their number waxes and wanes
naturally over the decades.
Even in the Atlantic, where these intense storms are called hurricanes,
climate experts have not formed a consensus, with many - but by no means
all - believing hurricanes have become stronger and longer-lasting over
the past 30 years due to a rise in sea surface temperatures, possibly
as a result of global warming.
An approaching typhoon causes severe weather in Dongtou, eastern China
Today, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical
and Engineering Sciences, a study of typhoons is published by Prof Johnny
Chan, City University of Hong Kong.
A major conclusion of his study is that global warming apparently is
not related to the frequency of intense typhoons. More.
(11/07/07)
Why
bother? Global warming is a lost cause - According to the California
Air Resources Board, the blazes raging from Santa Barbara County to
the Mexico border will send some 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere, plus 200,000 tons of methane and nitrous oxide.
Richard Bode, chief of the Air Resources Board's emissions-inventory
branch, said that the emissions are "equal to what 440,000 cars
would pump into the atmosphere in a year."
To put this catastrophe into perspective, Des Moines would need to have
all motor vehicles inside its city limits remain idle for one year to
negate the California wildfire's toxic output. And this California disaster
is equal to only .5 percent of its total carbon dioxide output for the
year.
Routinely, the natural emissions spewed into our air are overlooked
by those who choose to kneel upon the altar of global warming. In 1883,
a volcanic eruption on Krakatoa caused a volcanic-ash dust veil that
circled the globe and created spectacular atmospheric effects, acting
as a solar-radiation filter. It lowered global temperatures by as much
as 1.2 degree Celsius. Temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.
Regular, large, natural occurrences dwarf any and all attempts by man
to try to influence our temperatures or our atmosphere in the smallest
way.
What can man do to make the tiniest bit of difference in the overall
big picture of so-called global warming? We can simply sit back and
watch as it unfolds. ~ Joe Wells, Des Moines. (11/07/07)
Excellent!
The
western appetite for biofuels is causing starvation in the poor world
- Developing nations are being pushed to grow crops for ethanol, rather
than food, all thanks to political expediency - By George Monbiot -
It doesn't get madder than this. Swaziland is in the grip of a famine
and receiving emergency food aid. Forty per cent of its people are facing
acute food shortages. So what has the government decided to export?
Biofuel made from one of its staple crops, cassava. The government has
allocated several thousand hectares of farmland to ethanol production
in the district of Lavumisa, which happens to be the place worst hit
by drought. It would surely be quicker and more humane to refine the
Swazi people and put them in our tanks. Doubtless a team of development
consultants is already doing the sums. Continued.
(11/06/07)
NewsBusters:
Harvard Paper Calls Al Gore a Hypocrite - By Noel Sheppard - As
a global warming obsessed media have been fawning of Nobel Laureate
Al Gore in a fashion that is almost sick-making, it was rather surprising
to see a column by the Harvard Crimson's editorial page editor mocking
the former Vice President's hypocrisy concerning climate change.
After all, though the Global Warmingist-in-Chief certainly talks the
talk, he far from walks it.
Such was remarkably pointed out by Peter W. Tilton Monday evening in
an article wonderfully titled "Gore and 'Green' Goonies" More...
(11/06/07)
NewsBusters:
Scarborough: 'Green Week' Counter-Revolutionary? - By Mark Finkelstein
- Will Joe Scarborough be sent to NBC's environmentalist re-education
camp and subjected to an endless loop of "An Inconvenient Truth"?
The "Morning Joe" host gave a number of hints today that he
is less-than-thrilled by the doctrinaire environmentalism the network
is imposing on viewers and employees alike during its "Green Week."
Scarborough's very first words were a not-overly-subtle dig at the seemingly
endless greenery.
View video here.
(11/06/07)
Quote Of The Day
"It is baby boomers. I mean and let's be totally honest --
this country will be a much better place when the last baby boomer has
gone to the grave and beyond, do you agree? -- It will be. No more lectures
about Woodstock and RFK and JFK and your stupid elections from the late
'60s -- early '70s. We're not interested. This will be a better country,
won't it be?" ~ Tucker Carleson (10/30/07)
Source
Yes! And with that in mind...
Role
of Egoism clouds moral and scientific view of global warming - Andrew
Zaleski - Hollister and getting drunk. This was the best opinion and
answer I could put together up for my writing professor upon his asking
how I would define the general culture at Loyola. I couldn't even put
a coherent sentence together. I just blurted out the two things that
came directly to mind in that moment, and at the time, that's what came
out. Perhaps even more perplexing is the thought that the clothing store,
Hollister, and the act of surrendering oneself to alcohol could be related
to global warming. It seems irrelevent. But before you think this column
is too off-base and would only be wasting your time, hear me out.
Dr. Paul Morgan from West Chester University visited Loyola College's
campus last Monday to give what some people might have considered another
boring lecture on another boring topic, global warming. More...
(11/06/07)
Thinking
about global warming - There's an old joke about a chicken and a
pig who are walking together to a church breakfast.
The pig turns to the chicken and says, "You're bringing the eggs,
and that's an offering. But I'm bringing the bacon, and that's a sacrifice
because it's coming out of my hide."
In theological terms, an offering is money you donate out of your surplus,
while a sacrifice involves going without something else that is important
in order to contribute.
I thought about that principle and how it might apply to the environment
on Saturday as I contemplated the topic of global warming. More.
(11/06/07)
Democrats
and Global Warming - By Michael van der Galiën - The Washington
Post has a fascinating article (below)
up about climate change and Democrats. Many people probably assume that
this is an issue they "own," and that they should exploit
it during the campaign. Most Democratic candidates agree and pander
to the base about it. The top three - all three - talk about global
warming and have plans to do something about it. There is, however,
a problem: their proposals could (would?) cost Americans a lot of money,
at least in the short run. In the
short run? History has shown us that once a tax is imposed, it is almost
never repealed. Does anyone that walks upright actually believe that
that "green solutions" and "carbon taxes" will only
cost us in the short run? Give me a break! Continued.
(11/06/07)
Climate
Is a Risky Issue for Democrats
Candidates Back Costly Proposals - By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post
Staff Writer - All of the leading Democratic contenders for the presidency
are committed to a set of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that would
change the way Americans light their homes, fuel their automobiles and
do their jobs, costing billions of dollars in the short term but potentially,
the candidates say, saving even more in the decades to follow.
Former senator John Edwards (N.C.), who from the outset has made global
warming one of the three pillars of his campaign, explains his ambitious
plan to Democratic primary voters in terms of sacrifice.
"I know what presidential candidates are supposed to do; they roll
in here every four years and they promise you this, they promise you
that. What I'm going to do is tell you the truth," Edwards says
at nearly every campaign stop. "It won't be easy, but it is time
for a president who asks Americans to be patriotic about something other
than war." This is the kind
of crap that prevents the Edwards Campaign from being taken seriously
by either party. More.
(11/06/07)
CBS's
Smith to Bloomberg: 'Manhattan Will Be Underwater by 2050' - By
Kyle Drennen - On Monday's CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry
Smith interviewed New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The liberal
mayor has followed in the footsteps of Al Gore and implored the government
to take action to address an impending environmental crisis, saying
"We need to do something now." To match Bloomberg's alarmist
rhetoric, Smith added "Manhattan will be underwater by 2050."
Amusingly, even Bloomberg thought that assertion went too far, "There's
a -- I don't know that Manhattan will be underwater, but certainly the
environment's going to be a lot worse that we leave our children."
Smith also pressed Bloomberg on a possible 2008 presidential run. More.
(11/06/07)
Proposal
to fix Pacific with 'urea' dump - By Charles Clover, Environment
Editor - Proposals to dump large quantities of nitrogen-rich chemical
in the Pacific as a quick fix for climate change have emerged at a UN
treaty meeting in London.
Governments meeting to discuss whether the oceans should be used for
experiments aimed at "fixing" carbon from the atmosphere heard
that an Australian company is planning to dump 500 tons of industrially-produced
urea - a substance that naturally occurs in urine - into the sea between
Philippines and Borneo.
The meeting of members of the London Convention, the UN treaty on dumping
at sea, heard that Ocean Nourishment Corporation of Sydney was in discussion
with the Philippines government to pump nitrogen-rich water into the
sea to stimulate algal blooms.
The idea is to pump the urea into barren areas of the ocean on the edge
of the continental shelf to stimulate the growth of plant plankton.
Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide from sea water. Fish eat them and
when they die some fall to the bottom, potentially removing carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere. More.
(11/05/07)
Cirrus
Disappearance: Warming Might Thin Heat-trapping Clouds - ScienceDaily
-- The widely accepted (albeit unproven) theory that manmade global
warming will accelerate itself by creating more heat-trapping clouds
is challenged this month in new research from The University of Alabama
in Huntsville.
Instead of creating more clouds, individual tropical warming cycles
that served as proxies for global warming saw a decrease in the coverage
of heat-trapping cirrus clouds, says Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research
scientist in UAHuntsville's Earth System Science Center.
That was not what he expected to find. Continued.
(11/05/07)
Gore
Wins Global Warming Nobel, Invents the Internet, and Cures Cancer
- The Nobel Committee must not be reading my blog.
They awarded Al Gore the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the
"struggle against climate change"; as reported in MSNBC's
"Gore, U.N. climate panel win Nobel Peace Prize", and elsewhere.
I have no beef with the award going for global warming advocacy, and
I think Gore's co-Nobelaureate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) is a fine selection. As I have said before, whether Global
Warming is real or not, there are compelling reasons to become a carbon-neutral,
sustainable civilization. Greenhouse gas emissions are a significant
issue worthy of the global recognition a Nobel Prize proffers. More.
(11/05/07)
Global
Warming Causes Carbon Dioxide - Erroneous Scientific consensus stifles
progress - By Tom Scheffelin, California Air Resources Board -- The
constant barrage of articles, movies, legislation and quasi-religious
fervor surrounding global warming made me wonder what naturally causes
the earth's climate to periodically change. Why should one care? If
we allow science to become politicized, then we are lost (Michael Crichton).
When government policy is based on the misinformation of the few, the
many will suffer.
Engineering and science must be above reproach to support societal decisions.
The erroneous scientific consensus regarding global warming is a tool
to eliminate necessary debate and stifles future scientific progress.
I highly recommend one read all of Michael Crichton's speeches on his
website, but especially "Science Policy in the 21st Century."
Why is the global warming hoax perpetuated? Newspapers and magazines
sell. Researchers win grants. Government environmental regulators will
keep staff busy -- forever. Nonprofits that are unable to accomplish
their goals through normal means push misguided global warming legislation.
Finally, environmental raiders want to plunder our nation's wealth through
emission trading schemes.
Cyclic global warming is normal and must occur no matter what anyone
does or does not do. The most frequent global climate cycle is caused
by the ocean's response to the orbits of the earth and moon. More.
(11/05/07)
NewsBusters:
Al Gore, Comedian: Media's Global-Warming Coverage Too Balanced
- By Mark Finkelstein - Quick -- somebody check. Did Al Gore win his
Nobel prize for "peace," or did it perhaps come in a new Nobel
category: comedy? You really have to wonder in the wake of his side-splitting
appearance on this morning's "Today." Al, that inveterate
card, actually claimed that the MSM's coverage of global warming is
... too balanced. More.
(11/05/07)
Fizzling
2007 hurricane season stokes warming debate - No,
what stokes "warming debate" is continued nonsensical articles
like this. By ERIC BERGER - With less than a month left in
the hurricane season, and the remnants of Hurricane Noel dissipating
off the New England coastline, it appears this season could end up as
something of a bust. [...]
But according to a statistic that scientists use to gauge the overall
strength of a season, the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, overall
activity for this year almost certainly will come in below average,
perhaps by as much as 50 percent. Only a major hurricane could change
that now. [...]
But scientists who believe global warming is having a measurable effect
on hurricanes say climate change is more apt to influence the intensity
of systems, rather than the overall number.
"Two Category 5s in a slow year argues in favor of the climate
change hypothesis, as the per-storm intensification rate was quite high
this year," said James Elsner, a Florida State University hurricane
scientist who believes global warming is affecting storm activity. So
you see, even a hurricane season that turns out to be a "bust"
is still due to global warming. (11/05/07)
Whither
the revered scientist?
Down the tubes, the public seems to think, in the face of market pressures,
bungled crises, ethical lapses - By Peter Calamai - After two days of
provocative ideas and spirited exchanges at an international gathering
recently in Toronto, British museum curator Robert Bud neatly summed
up the collective wisdom.
"The scientists are terrified."
This widespread angst among scientists has been sparked by evidence
that the traditional social compact between science and the public has
been irrevocably sundered. Put bluntly, much of the public no longer
implicitly trusts either scientists or their pronouncements about everything
from climate change to the safety of children's vaccines.
And that matters, not just because of the call on taxpayers to fund
increasingly costly research, but also because the impact of science
and technology on our lives seems to mount by the minute. More.
(11/04/07)
NewsBusters:
Global Warming Tutorial Media Should be Required to Watch - By Noel
Sheppard - While media members fawn over Hollywood productions about
manmade global warming such as Al Gore's schlockumentary "An Inconvenient
Truth" and Leonardo DiCaprio's box office disaster "The Eleventh
Hour," they should take time out of their busy propagandist schedules
to view a lecture that Australian research professor Bob Carter recently
gave.
In fact, it should be required viewing for any member of the press who
wants to report about climate change, for it more thoroughly and concisely
explains the science refuting the current alarmism than anything to
date. More.
(11/04/07)
The
deceit behind global warming - By Christopher Booker and Richard
North - No one can deny that in recent years the need to "save
the planet" from global warming has become one of the most pervasive
issues of our time. As Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, Sir David
King, claimed in 2004, it poses "a far greater threat to the world
than international terrorism", warning that by the end of this
century the only habitable continent left will be Antarctica.
Government
told to aim higher with emissions targets
Antarctic
ice sheets may grow
Hempleman-Adams'
experience of climate change | Video
Inevitably, many people have been bemused by this somewhat one-sided
debate, imagining that if so many experts are agreed, then there must
be something in it. But if we set the story of how this fear was promoted
in the context of other scares before it, the parallels which emerge
might leave any honest believer in global warming feeling uncomfortable.
More.
(11/03/07)
NBC's
green campaign is enough to make you see red - By Tom Jicha - NBC
is going green this week. Given the free fall the network's ratings
are in, maybe NBC should be more concerned with going black. Then again,
this might explain its attention-seeking "Green Is Universal"
stunt, a week of programming dominated by environmental themes.
You have to wonder if NBC is driven as much by guilt as altruism. Show
business is gluttonous when it comes to the use of energy.
If you've never seen a sound stage, imagine a facility about the size
of the Bank Atlantic Center, requiring round-the-clock heating and cooling
to safeguard electronic equipment. Then imagine a few dozen of these.
That would be one major studio. There are several spread around Los
Angeles. More.
(11/02/07)
Gingrich's
solutions beat Gore's doom rhetoric - By James P. Pinkerton
- Al Gore and Newt Gingrich are very different figures, but they
are both going through a similar process: They are becoming elder
statesmen.
And how does one become an elder statesman, anyway? It's an easy,
two-step process: First, have something important to say and be
tireless in saying it. Second, stop running for president, because
then people will let their guard down; they will listen to the
substance of your message, not worry about tracking your upward
political mobility.
Oh, and a third thing: Optimism sells better than pessimism. So
while the former Democratic vice president is getting most of
the glory, worldwide, with his message of profound eco-repentance,
it's the former Republican House speaker's message of practical
problem-solving that is ultimately going to play better in America.
|
|
A
Contract With The Earth
Newt Gingrich
&
Terry L. Maple
|
"Global
Warming" as Pathological Science - By James Lewis - Trofimko
Lysenko is not a household name; but it should be, because he was the
model for all the Politically Correct "science" in the last
hundred years. Lysenko was Stalin's favorite agricultural "scientist,"
peddling the myth that crops could be just trained into growing bigger
and better. You didn't have to breed better plants over generations,
as farmers have been doing for ages. It was a fantasy of the all-powerful
Soviet State. Lysenko sold Stalin on that fraud in plant genetics, and
Stalin told Soviet scientists to fall into line --- in spite of the
fact that nobody really believed it. Hundreds of thousands of peasants
starved during Stalin's famines, in good part because of fraudulent
science.
There is such a thing as pathological science. Science becomes unhealthy
when its only real question --- "what is true?" --- is sabotaged
by vested interests, by ideological Commissars, or even by grant-swinging
scientists. Today's Global Warming campaign is endangering real, honest
science. Global Warming superstition has become an international power
grab, and good science suffers as a result. (11/02/07)
Bjorn
Lomborg: A better way to spend Kyoto's trillions - Kyoto will save
about 140,000 malaria deaths over the century. At one-60th the cost,
we can tackle malaria directly and save 85-million deaths.
The debate about global warming is about our generational mission. What
do we want to achieve over the next 40 years?
Global warming is happening; the consequences are important and mostly
negative. It will cause more heat deaths, an increase in sea level,
possibly more intense hurricanes, and more flooding. It will give rise
to more malaria, starvation and poverty. It is therefore not surprising
that a vast array of environmental organizations, pundits and world
leaders have concluded that we must act to fix global warming.
The problem with this analysis is that it overlooks a simple but important
fact. Cutting CO2 - even substantially - will not matter much for the
problems on this list. From polar bears to water scarcity, as I have
shown in this book, we can do relatively little with climate policies
and a lot more with social policies.
If we claim that our concern lies with people dying from climate effects,
as in the European heat wave in 2003, we have to ask ourselves why we
are primarily thinking about implementing expensive CO2 cuts, which
at best leave future communities warming slightly less quickly, still
causing ever more heat deaths. Moreover, as warming will indeed prevent
even more cold deaths, we have to ask why we are thinking about an expensive
policy that will actually leave more people dead. Continued.
(11/02/07)
How
Global Warming Activism Hurts the Poor - By Mark D. Tooley - The
National Religious Partnership on the Environment (NRPE) organized Mainline
Protestants, Roman Catholics, Evangelicals and Jews in a special statement
to the U.S. Congress pleading for a joint crusade against Global Warming
and poverty.
The Religious Left prefers to deny that reducing global economic growth,
even if it could affect the climate, is no way to help the poor.
Instead, the Religious Left wraps its Global Warming agenda in the mantle
of caring for the poor. The NRPE's November 1 press conference emphasized
that a hotter planet will cause the poor to suffer the most. Although
not stressed in the press conference, the NRPE wants government subsidizes
for poorer Americans to compensate for the increased energy and transportation
costs that will inevitably result from Global Warming regulation.
At least the Religious Left is tacitly admitting there will be an actual
cost to all of its proposed climate change regulation. But worry not!
An expanded welfare state can compensate the poor for their expenses.
The NRPE appeal to the U.S. Congress insisted that the "needs of
people in poverty must be a central priority as you and your colleagues
develop legislation to address the critical challenge of global climate
change."
Ironically, it is indeed the poor who will suffer the most from the
hundreds of billions of dollars in additional taxation and increased
regulation that Global Warming activists demand for saving The Planet.
Continued.
(11/01/07)
My
Nobel Moment - By JOHN R. CHRISTY - I've had a lot of fun recently
with my tiny (and unofficial) slice of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded
to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But, though
I was one of thousands of IPCC participants, I don't think I will add
"0.0001 Nobel Laureate" to my resume.
The other half of the prize was awarded to former Vice President Al
Gore, whose carbon footprint would stomp my neighborhood flat. But that's
another story.Large icebergs in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Winter
sea ice around the continent set a record maximum last month.
Both halves of the award honor promoting the message that Earth's temperature
is rising due to human-based emissions of greenhouse gases. The Nobel
committee praises Mr. Gore and the IPCC for alerting us to a potential
catastrophe and for spurring us to a carbonless economy.
I'm sure the majority (but not all) of my IPCC colleagues cringe when
I say this, but I see neither the developing catastrophe nor the smoking
gun proving that human activity is to blame for most of the warming
we see. Rather, I see a reliance on climate models (useful but never
"proof") and the coincidence that changes in carbon dioxide
and global temperatures have loose similarity over time. More.
(11/01/07)
Blue-blooded
and green - It's no coincidence that many leading greens are privileged:
the upper classes have long harboured a fear and loathing of modern
society.
The Global Warming Survival Handbook is one of those silly, cartoon-packed
books that implores readers to change their behaviour in order to save
the planet. It warns us that - thanks to that pesky Industrial Revolution
- planet Earth is "burning" and the consequences could be
"catastrophic", including "rising seas, searing temperatures,
killer storms, drought, plague and pestilence". But don't worry
- you can help save the planet by living a meeker, simpler, more austere
life. More.
(11/01/07)
Emirates
airline executive rubbishes Gore's climate film - SINGAPORE (AFP)
-- A top executive of Dubai-based carrier Emirates on Thursday rubbished
Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary on climate
change, saying he did not believe the film's scientific theory on global
warming.
"Don't talk to me about global warming... I just do not buy it
whatsoever," Maurice Flanagan, Emirates executive vice chairman,
said at a regional aviation conference in Singapore.
"Al Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth' is absolute rubbish," added
Flanagan, who said he had watched the documentary three times.
The 2006 documentary, which won former US vice president Gore the Nobel
Peace Prize last month, details scientific theory about global warming
and its impact.
The aviation industry has been listed by some as among the main contributors
of carbon dioxide emissions which are blamed for global warming. (11/01/07)
Bad
news? Blame it on Bush and global warming! - ON SUNDAY, former Gov.
Jeanne Shaheen showed that Democrats are so crazed with Bush hatred
that they will blame even natural disasters on the President.
"Those wildfires are the direct result of the failure of this administration
to do something about global warming," Shaheen said, referring
to the wildfires in California.
Oh, Jeanne. If only you read the newspapers.
Last Thursday, three days before Shaheen's jaw-dropping comment, the
Los Angeles Times reported: "Global warming not a factor in wildfires."
"In Southern California, hillsides were ripe for fire because big
rains two years ago allowed vegetation to flourish, then severe drought
during the last year dried it out," the Times reported.
Global warming might make wildfire more common in California in the
future if it extends the dry season, causes more drought and raises
the speed of the Santa Ana winds. But none of that has been shown to
have occurred at this point, the paper reported.
Shaheen blamed the fires not just on global warming, but specifically
on the warming that has occurred in the past six years. She's not alone
in politicizing these tragic events. Sens. Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer
have also blamed the fires on global warming.
Shaheen has been campaigning only a few weeks and already she's stooped
so low as to blame deadly fires (some set by arson) on President Bush.
That's just awful. If this is how she intends to conduct her campaign,
Granite Staters are in for a really, really long mud season. (11/01/07)
Fires
Spew Tons of Global Warming Gas - By SETH BORENSTEIN - WASHINGTON
(AP) -- In one week, Southern California's wildfires spewed the same
amount of carbon dioxide -- the primary global warming gas -- as the
state's power plants and vehicles did, scientists figure.
A new study by two Colorado researchers shows that U.S. wildfires pump
a significant amount of the greenhouse gas into the air each year, more
than the state of Pennsylvania does. It raises questions about how
useful it is to plant trees to offset rising carbon dioxide emissions
and soothe environmental consciences. More.
(11/01/07)
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