Steve Hayward has a long, but useful piece on Climaquiddick. He’s been reading a lot of the emails. While it’s not clear whether or not AGW is happening, it’s very clear at this point that the field has been completely discredited, even if those promoting it don’t realize it.
Category Archives: Media Criticism
Speaking Of Climate Change
…not to mention Jim Hansen. Is it the new Nazism? Thoughts over at AdamSmith.org.
Sixty-Five Years
…since the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge (the actual anniversary is on the sixteenth). And here’s how today’s media would have reported it.
More Climaquiddick
Crafty use of statistics, lack-of-transparency, wild projections about future calamity requiring government intervention now…Hmmmm.
If all of this is sounding familiar there’s a reason. Stefan Rahmstorf is one of the CRU e-mail clatch and a contributor to Real Climate. For instance, here is an e-mail in which he is desperately seeking help writing a reply to a critic.
Based on this alarmist study, Schwarzenegger and the State of California have put together…a…video which includes the Rahmstorf’s prediction of a 4 foot sea level rise by 2100 and images of San Francisco inundated by rising seas.
By the way, the California Energy Commission which is pushing this is the same group that outlawed future sales of my TV a few weeks ago. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about it since TVs don’t work well underwater anyway.
I’ll be OK. We’re a couple dozen feet above at least, with dunes between us and the beach a mile and a half away.
Climaquiddick Doesn’t Matter
Because there are so many better reasons to scuttle the nonsense in Copenhagen:
While it’s great fun — and entirely worthwhile — to make a big stink about Climategate, it would be a shame if people believed that Copenhagen’s inevitable failure hinged on this one scandal. Even if the CRU researchers were the model of scientific dispassion, these schemes are pointless. Indeed, even if global warming is the threat the alarmists claim it is, it makes no sense to waste trillions of dollars on “fixes” that will do little to fix the alleged problem.
I like the reference to Canada as the Richie Cunningham of the UN.
A Few Good Scientists
Temporary scientist Frank J. says that we can’t handle the truth:
Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to have scientific equipment on them to gather data, and that data studied by men with computers. Who’s going to do it? A layman like you? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for the global warming skeptics and curse the climatologists. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know — that the crushing of data contrary to global warming, while tragic, probably saved grant money. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to the layman, creates scientific consensus. You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk about on Twitter, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall studying those measurements you can’t even begin to comprehend.
I’m ashamed to have questioned such noble and selfless people.
How Stupid Does He Think We Are?
Does anyone really think that NASA PAO’s Mark Hess is “unfamiliar” with the British climate controversy? If so, he should be canned for rank incompetence. NASA (and of course Dr. Hansen) are starting to look as dirty as the CRU.
Islam Versus Islamism
An interesting post. I’d be happy to make the distinction, but as Cliff May notes, the Islamists are eager to blur it, so that they can be viewed as the “vanguard of the proletariat,” so to speak. And yes, the Fort Hood shooter wasn’t just a Muslim, but an Islamist. And if he’s insane, then so are millions of others.
The Snows Of Kilimanjaro
Don’t seem to be disappearing by the hand of man.
I’d almost feel sorry for that idiot Al Gore, if he wasn’t such a sanctimonious hypocritical carbon-belching schmuck.
[Early afternoon update]
As noted in comments, the former vice president has suddenly decided that he had better places to be than Copenhagen.
No Fools, They
India won’t sign any binding carbon reductions. They’d be crazy to, just when they’ve finally thrown off much of the socialism that has held them back for decades, and are finally bringing their people out of poverty, particularly when it’s based on flimsy science, and economic ignorance. The Warm-monger religion demands that they remain in poverty for the good of Gaia, but they’ll stick with their traditional beliefs, and fully bellies.
[Update a couple minutes later]
More from Shikha Dalmia:
The resulting emission cuts won’t even make a dent in global temperatures. India’s per capita energy consumption is 15 times less than America’s and half of China’s—the two biggest polluters. To be sure, President Obama is poised to pledge to cut U.S. carbon emissions 80% below 2005 by 2050 at Copenhagen. But it’s an empty promise because there is little to zero chance that he will be able to get Congress to go along. China too announced plans—modest by all accounts—to curb its emissions. So India will certainly face pressure at the conference to act, despite the fact that bigger polluters won’t.
But as a developing country, India can least afford to give up its right to consume as much energy as is necessary to deliver all Indians a living standard comparable to the one that rich countries take for granted. There is every reason to believe that the new License Raj will damage India’s economy every bit as much as the old one in the preliberalization days, when India’s growth rate remained stuck at around 2%. This would be unfortunate at any time, but especially now, when the West itself is in the middle of a huge rethinking on this issue.
Yup.