Bill Nye

…the climate huckster guy:

Admittedly, climate science is complex. There might be perfectly reasonable scientific justifications for what’s happening on the tornado front. Although, surely, there are just as likely interesting scientific arguments that challenge The Science Guy’s chilling and reckless assertions meant only to scare you into adopting leftist economic policy, not to teach you anything. Nye’s “science” is, at the very least, arguable.

But that’s not the reason Nye is dishonest. Or, at least, not the only reason. His biggest lie—and he makes these sorts of claims all the time—is that people are increasingly suffering because of global warming, and thus by extension they are suffering because of the use of fossil fuels.

This is simply untrue. Life, by nearly any quantifiable measurement, is better today for more people than it has ever been. One of the externalities in the spike of comfort and health is that more people are emitting carbon into the air. Fewer people are suffering. On top of the huge, if inadvertent, moral benefits of oil, gas, and coal, we should add that far fewer people are dying from drastic weather events—or any weather, actually.

These charlatans shouldn’t be surprised that people don’t take them seriously.

37 thoughts on “Bill Nye”

  1. Life, by nearly any quantifiable measurement, is better today for more people than it has ever been.

    This is true. Meanwhile, 75% of Trump voters say that life in the U.S. has gotten worse for people like them over the last 50 years.

    1. Stretch much Jim? “People are increasingly suffering because of global warming” really has nothing to do with Trump.
      Try yoga instead.

      1. It’s interesting that so many Americans think things are getting worse for them, when quantifiable measures show things getting better overall. Maybe it’s the difference between subjective experience and quantifiable measures, maybe it’s the difference between this subset of Americans and the world overall, maybe it’s both and/or something else.

        1. See, Jim, you wouldn’t get this, being a servile type yourself, but many of us in the pro-freedom camp (among which are probably many Trump supporters–even if The Donald’s devotion to individual liberty seems iffy at best) think things are getting worse because the State keeps growing in power and we keep getting nudged further along the Road to Serfdom.

          1. I find it hard to believe that Trump’s supporters are primarily interested in restraining the power of government. Trump’s statements on the subject are, like his statements on most subjects, all over the map. He certainly favors government power when it advances his personal interests (e.g. eminent domain).

            On the other hand, only 21% of Trump supporters say they think that Obama was born in the U.S. So maybe the other 79% just aren’t particularly in touch with reality.

          2. Hillary thinks there are aliens among us controlling government and their secret base is Area 51.

            How many Democrats still think Bush lied us into Iraq and that 9/11 was an either an inside job or done by Jews?

          3. Hillary thinks there are aliens among us controlling government and their secret base is Area 51.

            Uh, no.

            How many Democrats still think Bush lied us into Iraq

            He did — the bipartisan Senate intelligence committee concluded as much.

            9/11 was an either an inside job or done by Jews

            No prominent Democrat officeholder or candidate believes that.

          1. That was updated, Clinton was refering to the legacy of Republican obstructionism.

            “*Update: An aide to Bill Clinton says the legacy he was referring to was Republicans’ obstructionism.

            “When Republicans controlled the White House, their trickle-down approach drove our economy to the brink of a collapse. After President Obama was elected, Republicans made it their number one goal to block him at every turn,” spokesman Angel Urena said in a statement. “That unprecedented obstruction these last eight years is their legacy, and the American people should reject it by electing Hillary Clinton to build on President Obama’s success so we can all grow and succeed together.””

        2. Well,

          People are paying more for health insurance.
          Fewer people are working.
          The cost of living has gone up in food, housing, health care and education. Energy is down but democrats want to raise it through regulation of fracking.
          The Middle East is more dangerous now than it has been in decades; Iran is an up and coming nuclear threat and China and Russia are playing loose with their militaries.
          There is no end to the immigration games that the dems and the us chamber of crony capitalism are playing,
          Islam is a threat.

          This is what people are saying that is worse than it used to be. I’m sorry you’re too far in your ivory tower to see that. Come to the real world Jim and see it like the peasants do.

          1. People are paying more for health insurance.

            True.

            Fewer people are working.

            There are more working-age people working than 50 years ago, both in absolute numbers and as a fraction of the population (about 80% vs. 70% in 1966).

            The Middle East is more dangerous now than it has been in decades

            The Middle East isn’t particularly dangerous to us. It is dangerous to its inhabitants, but that’s been true for decades.

            Iran is an up and coming nuclear threat

            They have a fraction of the nuclear facilities that they had just a year ago, and are newly subject to intrusive inspections. At the moment they are a diminishing threat. It’s true, though, that Pakistan and North Korea are greater nuclear dangers than they were 50 years ago.

            China and Russia are playing loose with their militaries

            They pose a much, much smaller threat to us and the rest of the world than they did 50 years ago.

          2. The Middle East isn’t particularly dangerous to us. It is dangerous to its inhabitants, but that’s been true for decades.

            It is much more dangerous to its inhabitants than it has been for decades. Ask the Yazidis, and Iraqi Christians, among others.

          3. There are more working-age people working than 50 years ago, both in absolute numbers and as a fraction of the population (about 80% vs. 70% in 1966).

            No. You’ve seen the statistics of the labor force participation rate a dozen times. We’re back to the Carter years for working-age people unemployed.

            The Middle East isn’t particularly dangerous to us. It is dangerous to its inhabitants, but that’s been true for decades.

            Really? The way Syria brings in a fight between Turkey and Russia? You’re aware of our NATO obligations, aren’t you?

            They have a fraction of the nuclear facilities that they had just a year ago, and are newly subject to intrusive inspections.

            The inspections are worthless, as you know. And they’ve broken the treaty already, so why are you so hellbent on trusting them?

            It’s true, though, that Pakistan and North Korea are greater nuclear dangers than they were 50 years ago.

            Why is North Korea a greater threat? Your side. Bill Clinton, et al PROMISED us that they would never use the tech to build a bomb.

            You were wrong.

            And so why should we believe Iran now? Cupcakes and lollipops?

          4. It is much more dangerous to its inhabitants than it has been for decades. Ask the Yazidis, and Iraqi Christians, among others.

            Ohh, but they’re Christian.

            Jim only does his pearl clutching for Muslims.

          5. There are more working-age people working than 50 years ago

            Good luck with that message for people looking for jobs in this decade. No wonder Hillary’s barely holding on against Bernie. Most of his support are from 20 somethings, and Hillary supporters are telling them how great things are than 50 years ago.

          6. No wonder Hillary’s barely holding on against Bernie.

            Bernie has been running down the Obama economy like Obama ran down Bush. He is far harsher than any of the Republicans have been.

            Hillary has been running as Obama’s third term and the Obama economy has been pretty good for rich people and Democrat cronies. Obama gave trillions of dollars to big banks for free and kneecapped interest rates to protect his donors. Everyone else? Not so much.

            The economy is doing so well the Obama administration is talking about going negative with the interest rates…

          7. More ominously, the suicide rate continues to set records–not merely in the US, but in all Western nations–year after year.

            It’s true, we are surrounded by unprecedented material wealth that would have left a Carnegie or a Rockefeller of the 19th Century agog.

            So, why are so many people in such despair? Why do they react to the Shiny Future of Progress by eating a gun, if everything is so great? There’s no louder way a person can say “no” and reject the present and the future. And for those who aren’t killing themselves–well, why does it seem like half the population is on antidepressants and the other half are on prescription painkillers? If everything’s so wonderful, why is everyone anesthetizing themselves and shuffling through the 21st Century like zombies?

            Possibly related: life expectancy is down for whites in America under the Obama administration, for the first time in history.

        3. It is possible for there to be less deaths from weather and still see a person’s personal circumstances worse than they were 8 years ago.

          When we look at the big picture, that the populace of Earth is doing better than before, that’s because a lot of the Earth’s populace started at a very low spot. Now, maybe some Americans aren’t living in shacks with dirt floors, which would mean they are better off than some of Earth’s inhabitants, but that doesn’t mean the Americans in question are better off than they were 8 years ago.

          Its also rather ironic that the Earth’s inhabitants are doing better than ever thanks to capitalism and abundant fossil fuels while Democrats are actively trying to kill both. Jim says, stop complaining, things are better than ever, and people respond, we are complaining because you are trying to kill the things that made it this way.

          Sanders has captured the sentiment of things are not as good as they should be on the left, even if he wants to make things worse with his policies. Right now, it looks like the totalitarian socialist is getting systematically abused by a totalitarian fascist who rigged the outcome but who knows how the Democrat primary will play out?

          It’s funny because socialists are famous for rigging elections but they can’t beat a Democrat at this game.

          1. Clinton is “rigging” the outcome by getting more votes. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

          2. by getting more votes.

            Superdelegates don’t count as the people voting. Considering how the DNC has been waging war against Bernie, how could it not be rigged? Heck, Democrats only allowed 3-4 candidates to run and only those they thought wouldn’t threaten Hillary.

            Its a fake campaign, right out of the DPRK, USSR, or Iran. But I guess that’s why Democrats love those countries so much.

          3. Superdelegates don’t count as the people voting.

            Clinton is winning votes, states, pledged delegates, and superdelegates. She’s winning across the board.

            Democrats only allowed 3-4 candidates to run

            Huh? You don’t need the party’s permission to run. People like Biden didn’t run because they didn’t think they could beat Clinton.

    2. You might want to distinguish between life being better today than the state of our nation and the economy.

      1. What distinction would you draw? Don’t we judge the state of the nation and economy based on whether life is better or worse?

        1. We’re talking about life-expectancy, the environment, the availability of food getting better.

          This is different from what I showed you above.

          One of these things is not like the other.

          1. One of these things is not like the other.

            How so? They’re all things that affect quality of life, some of them positively and some negatively. On balance life has been getting better, but Trump voters overwhelmingly think it’s getting worse — that’s what’s curious.

        2. Don’t we judge the state of the nation

          It’s one thing to note how much better life is than during the neolithic and another to claim Obama is responsible. Obama didn’t invent iphones, the internet, fracking, or the defibrillator.

          Obama has been a foreign policy disaster, ushering in sex slavery, genocide and mass torture on scales unseen since the middle ages. He has irresponsible withdrawn from some countries while starting unilateral wars of choice in others. Then he tries to re-engage in the countries he abandoned only to see indigenous peoples not trust him.

          We are fighting wars in about 5 countries and Obama hasn’t gone to congress to get approval for any of them. Before you blame congress, remember Obama is the Commander in Chief not congress.

          Domestically, Obama isn’t much better. He spread institutional racism across the country, devastated industries, and destroyed the health care system. He treats the Presidency like its a cable TV show and has ruled through the persecution of dissidents, abusing the rule of law like Bill Clinton abuses women, and by being a bully using hateful rhetoric to motivate and distract his base from his performance.

  2. Planetary scientist John S. Lewis says models predict more warming in higher latitudes. Therefore temperature gradient gets milder which makes for milder weather. He also notes the IPCC doesn’t endorse the notion that weather will grow more extreme.

    If you haven’t heard of Dr. Lewis, he’s the guy that wrote Mining The Sky as well as Rain of Iron and Ice. He’s inspired folks from Planetary Resources as well as Deep Space Industries.

  3. There are innumerable charts that show the correlations between energy consumption and GDP. However, if you point them out usually the first thing you get accused of is being a shill for — BIG OIL! I’m still waiting for my big oil advocate paycheck to arrive any day now….

    Humans have lone used renewable sources as their primary means of energy production. Starting with solar, which is the burning of wood which is grown with the power of the sun. Water in the form of irrigation and canals to power food production and transportation. Dams to power mills for woodworks and textile production. Finally, windmills have been around forever for grinding grain and pumping water. The problem is the huge shortfall in energy production that these sources still even provide to this day which were made up for on the backs of beast and burden and enslaved men and women. It wasn’t until we figured out how to harness the power of petroleum that we were able to relocate our source of energy far underground were it is largely out of site and out of mind. But now we have the Obama administration which wants to return the U.S. back to a per capita output of CO2 emissions comparable to the 1910’s. There would be no way to meet that goal with out a return to the standard of living to something closer to the 1910’s as well. Not to mention that the whole exercise would beg the question as to what benefit all of that would end up having for the environment.

    1. US 2015 CO2 emissions from electricity generation are down to the level they were in 1993. That’s over twenty years of economic and population growth, without addition emissions. It’s not only possible to decouple CO2 emissions from economic growth, we’re already doing it.

  4. So you endorse “fracking” as a means of recovering the necessary amount of natural gas that made this possible?

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