The Understory » Direct action in the climate movement on the rise

The big actions, like the one my friend’s worked on at the C.I.A., are coming on the climate front, it’s only a matter of time. Maybe sooner than we think as 350.org founder Bill McKibben says- “It’ll happen. Keep your eyes open in D.C.,“

No drama, Obama? Sounds dramatic to me… | GreenTech Pastures | ZDNet.com

In today’s radio address, the President-elect specifically said he intends to add jobs in the greentech sector. Here’s the specific passage: “We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.” My italics.

Then he continued: “These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long. And they represent an early down payment on the type of reform my administration will bring to Washington — a government that spends wisely, focuses on what works, and puts the public interest ahead of the same special interests that have come to dominate our politics.

Green Obama’s official limo is a gas guzzler - Times Online

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to get a million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015. His own new presidential limousine will be far from green, however.

The Obamobile being prepared for the president-elect is said to be a monster gas-guzzler made by General Motors, the troubled car giant. It will look like a black Cadillac but is built like a tank. A spy photographer who tracks down future car models for magazines snatched pictures of the heavily disguised first-car-in-waiting when it was being road-tested last summer.

The armour-plated car, which has a raised roof, windows up to 5in thick, extra-strength tyres and a body made of steel, aluminium, titanium and ceramics, is thought to be based on a GMC 2500 truck that gets less than 10 miles to the gallon. Three cars are believed to be in production so that two can serve as decoys.

While security is paramount - the car is built to survive roadside bombs as well as gunfire - there are hybrid four-wheel drives on the market, such as Ford’s Mercury Mariner, which some critics believe could have been adapted for the president.

PIELKE and GREEN: The cure for carbon : Speakout : The Rocky Mountain News

With the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, debates over climate policy are going to get a much needed boost. The Obama plan for climate policy includes one very good idea - investment in new technologies and infrastructure - and one very bad one: cap-and-trade.

To understand why cap-and-trade is such a bad idea, we need only look to lessons from Europe's experiences.

Climate Research News » 23 Year Cycle of PDO Driven Global Cooling Ahead?

The new Jason oceanographic satellite shows a much larger than normal persistent Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Cooler PDO phases usually last 21 to 25 years, so we should be quite chilly as a planet until at least 2030, maybe longer.

These alternating natural climatic cycles defy the so-called “climate consensus” that human-emitted carbon dioxide was responsible totally for the recent cycle of global warming that began in the late 1970s and peaked in 1998.

The Earth’s previous warming phase from 1915 through 1939, which peaked in 1936 during the infamous Dust Bowl Days, was almost as warm as the recent cycle of global warming.

The last cooler cycle of global temperatures occurred from late 1939 to early 1976, peaking (or bottoming) in 1973.

In the past 10 years, especially the past couple of years, the Earth’s climate has begun to cool, even though CO2 emissions have soared on a worldwide scale. How many years of declining temperatures will it take to finally break up Al Gore’s ‘global warming consensus’? Only time will tell — probably when all the money runs out.

No, that's not the best word

Putting Global Warming Laggards on Trial | DeSmogBlog

Ballsy.

That is perhaps best word to describe a class action lawsuit filed this week in the International Criminal Court in The Hague in Holland against national governments refusing to act on reducing carbon emissions.

The suit was filed by climate activist Danny Bloom who is asking for "US$1 billion dollars in damages on behalf of future generations of human beings on Earth - if there are any"
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Back to Mr. Bloom. His lawsuit seems directly targeted towards such irresponsible nations like Canada that have refused to take this issue seriously. If he wins, Bloom is planning to donate the $1 billion in damages to the Nobel winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

CLIMATE CHANGE: Northward Ho?

BROOKLIN, Canada, Jan 2 (IPS) - Dan Bloom thinks it's time to figure out how to build self-sustaining cities in the polar regions because climate change will eventually make most of Earth uninhabitable.

These polar cities may be "humankind's only chance for survival if global warming really turns into a worldwide catastrophe in the far distant future," Bloom told IPS.

Bloom isn't a scientist or any other kind of expert. A U.S. citizen in his late fifties living in Taiwan teaching English, he's lived all over the world as a reporter-editor, teacher-translator and author. And now Bloom wants to shake people out their everyday indifference to the great emergency of our age: climate change.

November snows all over the CSIRO | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

THE BIG FEED: Al Gore Lied...and Whales Died

The whales took Al Gore at his word. They did not expect there to be ice. And they paid the price.

Eleanor Duckwall's Spotlight: Hanson: Ten Random, Politically-incorrect Thoughts

This upcoming generation knows instead not to judge anyone by absolute standards (but not why so); to remember to say that its own Western culture is no different from, or indeed far worse than, the alternatives; that race, class, and gender are, well, important in some vague sense; that global warming is manmade and very soon will kill us all; that we must have hope and change of some undefined sort; that AIDs is no more a homosexual- than a heterosexual-prone disease; and that the following things and people for some reason must be bad, or at least must in public company be said to be bad (in no particular order): Wal-Mart, cowboys, the Vietnam War, oil companies, coal plants, nuclear power, George Bush, chemicals, leather, guns, states like Utah and Kansas, Sarah Palin, vans and SUVs.

Heroic Climate Scientist Saves Ice-Trapped Whales With Statistics - [Cuffy Meigs]

As the narwhals gasped for oxygen like Vilos Cohaagen's goldfish, NASA's Dr. James E. Hansen swooped in with a new spreadsheet on Arctic ice thickness. Copy-pasting cell E13 to E12, Hansen replaced the current month's ice thickness with last month's --- and the narwhals swam to safety!

Or not...

"Weapons of Mass Destruction" and "Climate Change"

I was once a believer that the world is warming and humanity is doomed if we don't stop our greenhouse gas emmisions. Then I began studying climate change professionally, and found that, even if the earth's temperature rose a couple degrees over the past hundred years, that is insignificant compared to changes of ten or twenty degrees in a few decades, which have happened naturally during the earth's long history. A couple degrees change over a hundred years time is extremely stable, and there is no reason to call it a "crisis" which is definitely "man-made," without real proof, enough to convince someone skeptical.
Like I said, I think it's a good thing to reduce pollution sometimes, just like it's a good thing to remove a dictator sometimes. It's the reason "why" that bothers me. Obama has a lot of good characteristics, and he'll probably end up to be an okay president, with some inevitable disappointment, but I feel the "Man-Made Climate Change" threat will be remembered in a similar way to Saddam's supposed "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

Untapped Riches: Greenland Braces for Independence and Wealth

Normal is a word that applies to very little near the Polar Circle. The island, 85 percent of it covered in ice, is six times as big as Germany. The harsh living conditions are extremely demanding on the population of roughly 57,000, of which 89 percent are Inuit.
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...Greenland's greatest treasure lies on the ocean floor off the coast, at depths of up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet).

Seismological analyses have pinpointed enormous oil reserves, especially off the west coast. EU governments estimate that Greenland's reserves total at least 110 billion tons. Two smaller fields west of Nuuk, with reserves of about 2 billion tons, are believed to contain as much oil as the amount produced in the North Sea over the last 40 years.
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Ironically, while the world worries about climate change, global warming is triggering great hopes in Greenland. If the Arctic waters were truly ice-free in the summer in five to 10 years, which would be significantly sooner than previously feared, this could be good for Greenland -- at least economically.
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According to calculations by Mininnguaq Kleist, the head of Greenland's equivalent of the German chancellery, if oil revenues exceed 6.5 billion kroner (about €1 billion or $1.28 billion), the island will have practically bought its freedom. When that happens, it will "no longer be up to Denmark to decide on our independence," says Kleist.

Climate Progress » Blog Archive » NBC nixes TV’s only global climate change show during “Green Week”

But the real farce for NBC is that in the middle of their greenwashing exercise they fired the Weather Channel’s Environmental Unit! You cannot make this stuff up.
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Irony can be so damn ironic.

Cullen is great. I believe she had the only regular show on any network devoted to global warming.

One final point — if you go to www.nbc.com/Green you’ll see “Jay Leno’s Garage” touting a bunch of green cars, including a natural gas vehicle, an electric (Tesla), a plug in, and 2 fuel cell vehicles. Now, forget the FCVs and forget the fact that most people couldn’t real buy or use any of those cars, at least they tried, sort of.

But if you actually go to Jay Leno’s Garage (click here), you’ll see the Porsche 911, the Aston Martin DBS, the 1989 Bentley Turbo, the 2002 Corvette Z06….

’nuff said.

AFP: New Senate to get major global warming bill

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate will take up two sweeping global warming bills in January, in the latest sign that Barack Obama's election could quickly reverse years of US footdragging on climate change.
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Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, said one bill would combat harmful gas emissions by providing 15 billion dollars a year to spur clean energy innovation and the development of advanced biofuels.

The other piece of legislation will direct the US Environmental Protection Agency to set up a cap-and-trade system to stem greenhouse gas emissions.
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Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar meanwhile said she would be the committee's representative at the Poland talks.

She said she would tell other world leaders at the conference, which Obama will not attend, "that there is a new cop in town."

"We are moving forward on climate change, and there is going to be a difference with these past eight years of inaction with this administration."

Allegedly powerful warming blanket of CO2 goes AWOL again

Fresh arctic air will spread over the East today, leading to more lake-effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes. Record lows will be challenged across the South tonight.

A reinforcing shot of chilly air is pouring across the eastern half of the nation in the wake of a cold front. The cold will keep high temperatures below freezing over the interior Northeast and 10 to 20 degrees below normal across the South today.

Solar despair

It is the news that must cause some greens to despair, while for global warming sceptics it is causing ill-concealed glee. Solar panels, for years promoted as the environmentally-friendly way to heat water and cut greenhouse gases, are in the frame for actually making global warming worse. The shocking news has been revealed in recent research into a gas called nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), with a global warming potential of 17,000 times the power of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

CO2sceptics News Blog | UK: COLDER THAN SIBERIA: THE BIG FREEZE ARRIVES IN BRITAIN

Helen Chivers, of the Met Office, said: “It will be unbearably cold. Although the temperature will be about 1C(33F), the wind-chill factor will make it more like minus 5C.”

The bitingly cold winds are set to continue bringing misery into the middle of next week. But the Met Office warned that the heaviest snow could fall tomorrow almost anywhere.

Will Obama be able to talk Italy back into CO2 hysteria?

GREENPEACE: Emperor Berlusconi fiddles as the climate "burns" - 7thSpace Interactive

ROME, Italy — This morning a Mercedes Benz, a BMW and a Volkswagen, driven by a group of “climate barbarians”, entered the Circus Maximus in Rome [1] led by the new “Emperor Nero” (Berlusconi). Greenpeace activists, wearing ancient Roman dress blocked the symbolic convoy, unrolling banners reading: “QUO VADIS, BERLUSCONI?” and “VADE RETRO CO2! INQUINATORES NON PREVALEBUNT” - Where are you going, Berlusconi? Go back CO2! Polluters will not prevail!

Greenpeace is protesting the Berlusconi government’s decision to side with German carmakers in watering down the EU’s first ever CO2 standard for cars. The Italian government is threatening to block the whole Energy and Climate Package unless the legislation is emptied of its content.

But what about our grandchildren?!

This just in: Despite his alleged fear of CO2, Obama still chooses to eat beef!

CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama grabbed his lunch to go Friday and artfully dodged a question about the auto industry woes he'll inherit.

"We got the corned beef," Obama said as he made his way around the counter at Manny's deli. Asked by a reporter what he thought about the auto industry, he responded with a smile: "I got the corned beef."

2007: PETA Media Center: PETA TO AL GORE: YOU CAN’T BE A MEAT-EATING ENVIRONMENTALIST

"The single best thing that any of us can do to for our health, for animals, and for the environment is to go vegetarian," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "The best and easiest way for Mr. Gore to show his critics that he’s truly committed to fighting global warming is to kick his meat habit immediately."

UN says eat less meat to curb global warming | Environment | The Observer

People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer

June 2008: Despite Obama's alleged fear of CO2, he admits that he's smoked cigarettes recently

ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Senator Barack Obama told reporters in St. Louis today that he has fallen off the wagon and smoked cigarettes in the last few months.

Did this expose anyone to dangerous secondhand smoke?

And they'd no doubt agree to massive CO2 cuts if someone would just ask?

The Associated Press: Correction: Africa climate change story

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — In a Nov. 20 story about African negotiations on global warming, The Associated Press erroneously reported that China refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. China has signed and ratified the pact, but like other developing nations was not asked to reduce its emissions under the 1997 protocol.

Carbon trader bummed out over fading CO2 hysteria in New Zealand

Scoop: NZ now a joke in Europe, says carbon trader

New Zealand now a joke in Europe, says carbon trader

A leading New Zealand carbon trader says international markets can no longer take New Zealand seriously, carbon trading has come to a standstill and experts are warning business not to think carbon pricing has gone away.

Specialist news service Carbon News (www.carbonnews.co.nz) this morning reports broker Nigel Brunel, of OMF Financial, as saying New Zealand is “a bit of a joke in Europe at the moment” following the National-Act agreement to suspend the emissions trading scheme.

After carefully adjusting his tinfoil hat, Hansen writes a letter to Obama

Here (PDF).

Myths about energy threaten future of nation: IOGA exec - Carmi, IL - The Carmi Times

Fossil fuels are not ruining the environment, the world is not running out of oil and the U.S. can never be energy independent.
Brad Richards, executive vice president of the Mt. Vernon-based Illinois Oil & Gas Association, took issue Thursday in Carmi with "three myths that threaten our country."
And in a program of that name, Richards told members and guests of the Kiwanis Club of Carmi that Americans need to focus on reality and not rhetoric as they address their energy needs.
Introduced by Carmi oilman Chris Mitchell, Richards said fossil fuels such as crude oil, natural gas and coal "underpin modern society" and are vital to food production, transportation, healthcare and virtually any other aspect of modern life.
Speaking at the club's weekly meeting at The Hickory Stick, he said some environmentalists say global warming is a consequence of the burning of fossil fuels and that the Earth is in peril.
Not so, said Richards...

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Climate focus 'good news for species'

Climate change could actually benefit some of the world's most endangered species, says Conservation International president Russell Mittermeier. In this week's Green Room, he explains that conservationists should capitalise on the worldwide attention being given to global warming.
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Climate change could be the best thing that ever happened to the amazing array of animal and plant species that make up the Earth's biodiversity.

Don't get me wrong; climate change is the most serious environmental threat we have ever encountered, and it is already taking a terrible toll on species, as well as people, all over the world.

The silver lining is that climate change has triggered a universal wake-up call that we all hear, and are beginning to heed.

Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Pit Stop: Ethanol Battles Roar Into the Indy 500

Next May, the iconic Indy 500 will be fueled by Brazilian ethanol, which has sparked a heated response from U.S. Renewable Fuels Association boss Bob Dinneen...

World Climate Report » Hurricane History Lessons

Here we go again – hurricane season has come to an end and yet another year has failed to produce the widespread pain and suffering that can reinforce the claim that the buildup of greenhouse gases is the root cause of all the damage.
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The bottom line is that claims that hurricanes are increasing due to global warming are questionable, if not laughable given the enormous amount of evidence that at the very least suggests this is a very complex question.

Australian Climate Madness: Rudd still clueless on climate

Glad to see that Rudd's still obsessed with controlling the climate, despite the world entering a recession the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1920s. He has chosen the APEC conference to pontificate on climate change, as if the last 8 years of global cooling have completely escaped him...

Counting cost of pennies from Kevin | Daily Telegraph Piers Akerman Blog

Signing Kyoto has done nothing but underscore the certainty that Labor’s insistence climate change is man-made will increase unemployment beyond the levels expected from the global financial mess.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s modelling, on which the overblown, apocalyptic Garnaut report is based, has been shot to pieces. [Via Australian Climate Madness]

NC Media Watch: Is KVMR moving to the center?

Recently President Elect Obama gave a video presentation to the Governor's Climate Conference which I blogged on here. Following this video Brian Bahouth, KVMR New Director, interviewed Dr Robert Balling to give some balance to the discussion. Audio file of the interview is here (click on Discussion about Climate Change with Dr. Robert Balling Jr. and listeners.. to get the audio file) I will admit, I was surprised that KVMR would be giving balance to this global warming story. Congratulations to Brian and KVMR!

Weather Channel nixes “Forecast Earth”, possibly Cullen « Watts Up With That?

I’ve been following this story since yesterday, but the details kept being somewhat nebulous. Since WaPo has it, I’ve decided it is safe to consider reasonably accurate now. It looks like TWC has ditched their entire environmental unit, and possibly also host Heidi Cullen...

NASA Study Confirms Climatic Impact of Weather Station Relocation « The Unbearable Nakedness of CLIMATE CHANGE

Perhaps there is a good reason why the study below is not mentioned in Watts Up With That or at surfacestations.org. Perhaps it’s just me unable to use Google properly. Or for some reason I am the first one making the connection.

So in full glare of all my ignorance I point to this Poster Presentation at the 16th Applied Climatology Conference, American Meteorological Society, Jan. 14-18, 2007, San Antonio, TX (joint with the 14th Symposium on Meteorological Observations and Instrumentation):

Patzert, W.C., S. LaDochy, J. K. Willis, and T. Mardirosian, 2007: Will the real Los Angeles stand up: Impacts of a station move on climate records (and record weather) (short Abstract) (long Abstract)
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Moving a weather station away from the city resulted in cooler, drier, and less extreme weather. And in a “discontinuity in the records”. That appears to vindicate all the work done by Anthony Watts and surfacestations indeed.

Only 98 Months Until the End of the World « The Air Vent

Just a silly post, sometimes it’s good to point out the extremist viewpoint just to see how far they have gone. I did a post on this site when they declared “conservatively” that we have 100 months until global warming doom well after Nov we will be at 97 so feel free to sell your stock and party like it’s 1999.

The link is here but it is guaranteed to steal a couple of IQ points from you if you read it so be warned.

In the Tank for Kyoto, Inc. - Chris Horner - Planet Gore on National Review Online

OK, folks, the push is now on to buck up the Kyoto talks and incoming Energy & Commerce chairman Henry Waxman as he prepares what will surely prove to be the 2009 equivalent of the 1993 BTU-tax overreach...

The Reference Frame: Barack Obama and climate change

Just a note--Lubos Motl has added a "listen now" feature to the posts on his blog. For example, at the link above, there is a "listen now" button--if you click it, you can listen to the post or download an MP3...

Naive students get sucked into the CO2 scam « It’s Getting "Hot" In Here

Jeff was honored to be asked to participate in the conference as an informational resource person. It was clear to him that the same energy that students brought to the table to sustain the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the early days of the environmental movement is alive and well and ready to take its place as a vital part of a larger coalition addressing climate change. “One thing we can be pretty sure of,” he said. “The future will be in good hands.”

Word.

Over 200 whales trapped in Canadian ice - Breaking News - World - Breaking News

At least 200 narwhal whales in Canada's Arctic, trapped by winter ice and facing starvation or suffocation, must be culled, officials say.

Symbolism Is Selectively Important - Henry Payne - Planet Gore on National Review Online

“Symbolism is important,” a Wharton Business school professor told ABC News reporter Brian Ross. Ross ambushed the executives of GM, Ford, and Chryler after their Capitol Hill hearings demanding an explanation for their modes of transportation.

Yet the record shows that ABC News has not done a single story on Al Gore’s use of private jets (much less his 10,000 square foot home) as he criss-crosses the globe to preach about the evils of carbon fuels. No outraged professors. No ambushes.

Apparently symbolism isn’t so important when you're green.

NC Media Watch: Sierra Club to take control of Big 3 auto companies

“In their public statements, proponents describe the bailout as an attempt to save jobs, American manufacturing and the middle-class way of life. But look closely and you can see that what's really going on is an attempt to use taxpayer money to remake Detroit in the image of the modern environmental movement. Given a choice between greens and blue-collar workers, Congress puts the greens first.”

UK: Conservative climate change sceptics speak out again

There are still some hardy Conservative critics of conventional climate change wisdom in the House of Commons. On Wednesday Mr Lilley introduced a debate on the Stern Review in Westminster Hall...

Alarmist Michael E. Schlesinger weighs in

Little Love for the Big Three - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com

As shown in the U.S. Congress yesterday and the day before, Christmas has come early this year. There and then The 3 Unwise Men - Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest — the CEO’s of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — testified before Congress, having traveled in their individual 3 Private Chariots from their 3 individual Lairs in the Most Beautiful City on Planet Stupid, ‘Ugly-Is-We.’

“Let Them Eat Cake,” said The 3 Unwise Men, “but Give Us $25 Billion because of Our Unwise and Foolhardy Leadership of the Foot-dragging, Non-competitive, Outmoded Automobile Companies that tooth-and-nail fought against higher mileage standards, worshiping at the foot of God SUV, long may S/He/It Reign.

Should Ms Rodgers be the next UN secretary-general, or should she just start as Obama's new EPA chief?

GORE LIED - Al Gore lied about anthropogenic global warming

Monica Rodgers is a self-described "pioneer in the green movement".

Monica:

I woke up this morning and thought, what am I going to do today? I thought, I'm gonna go shopping. Yay for me! I love shopping. And then I thought about the polar bears...."

CQ Politics | CQ Transcripts: Speaker Nancy Pelosi Holds a News Conference

...In terms of the timing of climate change legislation, we would be working closely with the Obama legislation -- excuse me -- the Obama- to-be administration on the nature and timing of it.

But many decisions have to be made about it yet. We know what our principles are that need to be followed. They have been established largely through the work of the select committee. But then there are some decisions in terms of implementation, and we want to do it right, and we want to do it in a bipartisan way, and we want to do it working with a new president of the United States.

But if the science has been settled since 1992, why haven't Pelosi et al already made their decisions by now?

"Only an insignificant fraction of scientists deny the global warming
crisis. The time for debate is over. The science is settled."

So said Al Gore ... in 1992.

Surprise Drop in Power Use Delivers Jolt to Utilities - WSJ.com

An unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn't a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could reflect a permanent shift in consumption that will require sweeping change in their industry.
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American Electric Power Co., which owns utilities operating in 11 states, saw total electricity consumption drop 3.3% in the same period from the prior year. Among residential customers, the drop was 7.2%. However, milder weather played a role.
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Power companies are also questioning the reliability of the weather-adjustment models they use to harmonize fluctuating sales from quarter to quarter. "It's more art than science," says Bill Johnson, Chief Executive of Progress Energy Inc., Raleigh, N.C.

Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : Boxer’s Rebellion: Senator Lays Down 'Streamlined' Green Gauntlet

Citing New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, himself the author of a climate-change bill, The Vine figures simplicity might hold the keys to success next time around: “By contrast, Bingaman just wants to get the carbon-trading market established first, in a ‘streamlined’ bill, and worry about all the other stuff separately.”

But establishing economy-wide limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, and a market to trade those emissions rights, is a rather complex task in its own right.

Latvian sand could help protect Arctic ice, "experts" say

Riga - When the European Commission told European Union member states they needed to do more to combat climate change and protect the polar ice Thursday, it may not have realized help could soon be at hand from an unlikely source - Latvian sand.

At the Baltic Economic Forum held in the Latvian capital, Riga, recently, experts discussed a new technology that could play a big part in controlling climate change. As a happy by-product, it could also generate large amounts of cash for the small Baltic nation that is currently in recession.

A Note About Deferring To Experts « 9 Numbers

By definition, the work of the IPCC represents the global scientific consensus on the issue of climate change.

Why California Cannot Afford to Delay in Global Warming Reduction Actions—Naysayers Are Just Plain Wrong About Economics as They Were About Science - California Progress Report

Dr. James Fine
Economist and Policy Scientist
Environmental Defense Fund

[Editor’s note: This is the testimony given by Dr. Fine at the California Air Resources Board hearing on implementing the landmark AB32 passed in 2006 to reduce greenhouse gases in California and reduce global warming.]
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Unfortunately, the skeptics who used to deny that global warming is real are now calling for a delay in fighting it. It’s a tired and dishonest message. Regardless of whether you believe the more optimistic or the more pessimistic studies, the findings hardly differ. In fact, the range of findings generally falls within the uncertainty inherent in economic models. Don’t be fooled: delay is not a wise option.

How Aggressively Will the New Administration Address Global Warming? - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

Very, it would seem.

This isn’t exactly a surprise. Obama campaigned hard on the subject.
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If this administration gets its hands dirty with energy and climate issues — and it looks as if it sure plans to — we are in for a very interesting four years, to say the least. If nothing else, it will be nice to hear some policy arguments that incorporate lots of economic and scientific material.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Obama’s AG choice: Regulate Internet communication

Danny Glover at Eyeblast reveals a nine-year-old NPR interview with Eric Holder regarding how the government needs to regulate Internet communications.
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Anyone want to guess what form those “reasonable restrictions” might be? Perhaps, say, regulating content in the blogosphere? I’m guessing that will be Target One for the Holder-run DoJ.

Why would Ontario Power Generation buy solar electricity at 42 cents/kwh and sell it for maybe 4.8 cents/kwh?

City going solar as part of green plan | Online Pioneer Plus

“The exact cost [of the solar panels and installation] is $43,396.33 plus GST. The exact amount of money from MECF is $11,361. The solar panels should produce approximately $3,440 of income per year,” said Carr-Braint.
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“This is a perfect opportunity for us to put Belleville on the map as being one of the first communities with a municipal solar power system,” he said.
Ontario Power Generation will purchase the energy produced from these solar panels at 42 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Nov 21, 2008: Ontario Power Generation reports 2008 third quarter financial results

OPG average sales price 4.8 [cents/kWh]

Among Republicans, a Debate Over the Party’s Road Map Back to Power - NYTimes.com

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, scoffed at calls for the Republicans to move left, which he said had followed Republican defeats in 1964, 1976 and 1992. And he suggested that some calls to update conservatism — by taking global warming more seriously, for instance — were essentially disguised calls to move the party to the left.

“They will be cheerfully ignored,” Mr. Norquist said.

Morano roundup: ‘Planet Has Cooled Since Bush Took Office’ – Scientists Continue Dissenting...

Washington DC - The bad news for global warming alarmists just keeps rolling in. Below is a very small sampling of very inconvenient developments for Gore, the United Nations, and the mainstream media...

AccuWeather.com News & Blogs: You Think It's Cold Now...

PAST 24 HOURS HAVE BEEN INTERESTING TO SAY THE LEAST... THE NEXT SIX WEEKS WILL BE EVEN COLDER...

I was not trying to rip on the NOAA long range, but when you issue forecasts without any real detail, it's hard not to be confused. In any case, we do know that the month of December in much of the East is going to be very cold. Even the models are now showing extremely cold weather for the first week of December. When I say extreme, I mean temps across the Great Lakes and Northeast in the Teens with the Major cities like DC to NYC in the low 30s. The question then becomes, can we get any snowstorms out of the cold pattern? The answer is Yes...

WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |Temperatures in Montgomery reach record low

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -- Montgomery sank to an all-time low today. The temperature in the city reached a record setting 22 degree Fahrenheit which surpassed the previous record by a single degree.

The coldest ever recorded temperature for the city of Montgomery was 23 degrees Fahrenheit set 105 years ago in 1903.

Warning Signs: How Bad Laws Get Enacted

The lack of any real science behind most of what passes for environmental legislation and regulation is the factor that most distinguishes it.

This proposed regulation has no basis in fact, no support except from the usual flawed and often deliberately misleading “computer models” that the IPCC and others conjure up at a keystroke.

word of mouth - GLOBAL WARMING MODELS ARE BUNK

Note the factoid that soils alone account for 10 times more CO2 than all human activity combined. That does not take into account all other natural sources of CO2 such as volcanos, animals, oceans, etc., etc. Aside from there being little or no evidence that CO2 causes Global Warming, any impact from human activity must be miniscule — even assuming that Global Warming is happening. The economic turmoil that we are experiencing now is nothing compared to the decline we will inflict upon ourselves if we enact radical cap-and-trade schemes or Kyoto-like environmental treaties based upon bogus data and environmental fanaticism.

Soil study hints at climate model revision - CNN.com

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A new study investigating the amount of carbon in Australian soil has cast doubt over the accuracy of current climate models in predicting future levels of global warming.

Global Warming Conspiracy Exposed

I think Global Warming and the AL GORE Conspiracy is dead.

Global warming is a huge fiction - Scarborough Evening News

QUESTION – what is the biggest lie ever told to the public? Answer – that manmade carbon dioxide is responsible for accelerated climate change and global warming.

Recent figures suggest greater climate debate - The Daily Cardinal

No matter which side any particular observer may fall on in this debate, one thing has become ominously clear—the verbiage is changing. It is rare to hear the words “global warming” coming from anyone but rabid environmentalists these days, while “climate change” is the term du jour. Perhaps a modicum of backpedaling in light of hard evidence against their once prominent beliefs? You decide.

Global warming consensus only, not fact - Opinion

While there is little doubt that the planet has warmed slightly, nobody can know for sure to what this can be attributed. The lack of unquestionable proof, outside of a majority opinion, requires more investigation, an engaged populace and a transparent scientific debate. The policies promoted by those adhering to this hypothesis - that temperature change is man-made - are far-reaching and oppressive. Let us be certain that we have something to fear and that our actions will make a difference before we institute some of the most drastic initiatives a free society has ever considered.

Caroline May is a Will Rice College senior.

[Via CO2 Sceptics]

Wind Watch: Wind farm OPPONENTS report raising $3.2M

The most vocal opponents of a proposal to build a wind farm in Nantucket Sound collected $1 million more in contributions in 2007 than in the previous year.

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a non-profit group fighting a plan by Cape Wind Associates to locate 130 wind turbines in the sound, reported on tax forms that it raised $3.2 million last year.

Shopfloor » Blog Archive » From the Left, Reaction to Rep. Waxman Chairmanship Election

OpenMarket.org » Archive » Celebrate Coal (or, How I Just Tripled My Carbon Footprint)

For hundreds of millions of the world’s poor, however, coal is cleaner and more energy efficient than the alternative. This is one of the many inconvenient truths that environmentalists ignore in their dogged pursuit of a static global ecosystem.

"Experts" call for end of flushing toilets on World Toilet Day

AS the world celebrates World Toilet Day today, sanitation experts have called for the end of the flushing dunny to save water and provide fertilizer for crops.

Making America's cars pure electric: are we there yet?

The Mini E will soon be the only pure electric car on American roads in any significant numbers. Could it help normalize electric cars, help get drivers used to the idea of a future in which our tiny cars are silent, zippy, and potentially nauseating? It's not going to make any kind of meaningful dent in oil consumption or CO2 emissions, after all. The Mini Es will go to drivers in LA and New York City who endure what Mini boss Jim McDowell describes as an "adoption" process and then pay the $850-a-month lease to score one of the 450 cars. That's not a lot of units. Still, it's far more than any other automaker is likely to have on the road any time soon. Tesla has delivered less than a couple dozen cars so far.

EurActiv.com - Fresh doubts raised over December EU climate deal

...supporters of the climate package are nervous that failure to reach a deal before the end of 2008 could put the EU in a tight spot, since the negotiating process will grind to a halt in March 2009 when the legislature of the current Parliament ends.

IS CLIMATE CHANGE THE "DEFINING CHALLENGE OF OUR AGE"?

"Climate change, some claim, is this century's most important environmental challenge. Mortality estimates for the year 2000 from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate, however, that a dozen other risk factors contribute more to global mortality and global burden of disease.

Safe to shoot polar bears? | IceNews - Daily News

A specialist working group convened by Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir has come to the conclusion that there is no reason why polar bears that step foot on Iceland should not be shot if this is thought necessary. The conclusion is interesting in the light of discussion that the bears are in danger of extinction because of climate change, as melting ice threatens their territory – the ice throes of the north.

Disaster looms in imaginary diary of new US President

Washington, Nov.21 (ANI): The National Intelligence Council (NIC), America’’s leading intelligence organization, has forecasted an unpredictable world in which the advance of western-style democracy is far from guaranteed. In an imaginary “presidential diary entry” from October 1, 2020, it recounts a devastating hurricane, fuelled by global warming, hitting New York in the middle of the UN’’s annual general assembly.
“I guess we had it coming, but it was a rude shock,” the unnamed president writes.

A History of Hurricanes in New York

A history of hurricanes in New York—including the day in 1893 that Hog Island disappeared for good.
...
Statistically, the New York area is hit by one of these monster storms every 75 years or so; “it’s just a matter of time,” says Lee. After Hog Island, the next big one came a little ahead of schedule, the “Long Island Express” of 1938, with 183-mile-per-hour winds.

Australian Climate Madness: Obama's climate promises - so much hot air

The Australian has an article from the Wall Street Journal which doesn't rate very highly the chances of any of Barack Obama's empty promises on climate change actually making it onto the US statute book...

Back to the alarming future | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

Dryer, wetter, worse-than, same-as - it’s all climate change, because climates always change. Difference is that changes alarm the thermostat generation.

Cooling on warming | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

Kevin Rudd’s excuse for forcing Australia to slash its puny emissions - hurting our growth without cutting temperatures - is that it will inspire the countries that count do the same.

Really? Try telling that to APEC leaders this weekend...

Washington Times - PRUDEN: The killer frost for global warming

It's clear now that the earth has been cooling for the past decade, to the sorrow of the special pleaders and despite everything Al can do about it. The solar cycle peaked, the sun is quieter, the sunspots have faded and everybody but Al is cooling off.

Even the United Nations says so. The director of the U.N.'s panel on climate change concedes that nature has overwhelmed everything man can do and it might even be another decade before man can rally and the warming resumes. Until then, like it or not, nature rules the cosmos. [Via The Climate Scam]

Obama’s Change - Dingell Out and Waxman In « The Air Vent

Every one who reads here regularly can at least understand that the man made global warming issue is far from resolved. If you get one thing from my post think about this, a government which understands the questionable nature of global warming science yet still wants to plow forward with economy crippling legislation has other motives in mind.

American Thinker: Global Warming? Bring it On!

The argument propounded by the dubious United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on Anthropogenic (human-induced) Global Warming (AGW) is willfully fraudulent. The report has been vigorously and critically undermined, scientifically denounced and found wanting from both notable scientists here and abroad.
...
Let me assure you that we're not in good humor, nor take it kindly to be slurred and ridiculed by taking the other side in this debate. And our numbers are still growing. Indeed, we're angry that the vast majority of American Scientists will not be heard by the media. We're dismayed over the fact that the Global Warming fiasco has become politically popular and expedient to those left-wing politicians and power-brokers whose sole aim is to literally tax everything with a carbon footprint and give them control over all life, hidden within their PC guileful pretence to save the planet. They wish to save no one but themselves.
...
... It is difficult to see why a thinking person would even consider the IPCC report as legitimate.

The entire IPCC process is but obfuscation by the secular and atheist Left. It has allowed the Left to conflate the vanity of secular opinion with scientific and/or moral truth. There is an easy and immediate remedy for their debacle. Will Rogers stated it simply: "When you are in a hole ... stop digging.... Please!"

Dr. Gregory Young is a neuroscientist and physicist, a doctoral graduate of the University of Oxford, Oxford, England.

Who does Mike Tidwell think he's fooling?

Tidwell claims to have no idea why the government might think he's an "environmental extremist"

There was no civil disobedience at this event. No one was arrested. No county, state, or federal laws were breached. The entire affair was utterly peaceful, above board, and appropriate. Political demonstrations exactly like this happen a thousand times a day in America. There were no media reports of anything unusual.
...
With a climate disaster looming, I’ve worked very hard for many years to promote clean, renewable energy. But perhaps the greatest contribution I’ll ever make to this cause is the action I’m taking right now: standing up and working hard to keep government itself clean.

Mike Tidwell is director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Some pretty good clues are here, in a piece by Tidwell himself

The entrance to a major federal agency, one whose politically appointed leadership has been widely condemned for suppressing scientific climate reports, was effectively occupied.

For the rest of the day, the occupation was major news in the nation's capital. The main NPR station broadcast hourly live updates of the ensuing standoff with police, repeating the activists' call for open science and clean energy. A Fox News helicopter hovered overhead, filming everything. And more than 150 newspapers picked up the Associated Press story about this day of principled activism in the face of politicized science.

As director of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council, I was one of the chief organizers of this event and played the role of main negotiator with the dozens of police and Homeland Security officials who eventually arrived to try to coax the activists off the ledge.

Revkin suggests that Obama's insane climate video might need some "tweaks in the language" - NYTimes.com

Many climate scientists would undoubtedly suggest some tweaks in the language in the statement — the line about “stopping climate change,” for instance. Keep in mind that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year concluded that a freeze on global emissions now wouldn’t have a measurable impact on warming rates for several decades. And the statement about “storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season” is hard to square with the science on hurricanes in a warming world, which has gotten more nuanced of late, as we’ve explored here a few times.

Hit & Run > Obama Is Still Pushing Green Snake Oil - Reason Magazine

In a taped speech shown to attendees at a climate change conference in California this week, Barack Obama continued trying to distract Americans from the enormous cost of making substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by promising "five million new green jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced." Not only is this number pulled out of thin air; it's nothing to be happy about. As I've noted, the manpower required to transform the economy so that greenhouse gas emission targets can be reached is a measure of the cost involved. Obama makes it seem as if we should try to maximize this cost, promising that green jobs will "steer our country out of this economic crisis."

That is pretty much the opposite of the truth. [Via Planet Gore]

Science Reporting by Press Release : CJR:

“What is distressing to me is that the number of science reporters and the variety of reporting is going down. What does come out is more and more the direct product of PR shops,” said Charles Petit, a veteran science reporter and media critic, in an interview. Petit has been running MIT’s online Knight Science Journalism Tracker since 2006, where he has posted more than 4,000 critiques involving approximately 20,000 articles. He is concerned that science news “spoon-fed” directly to the media through well-written press releases and handouts has “become a powerful subversive tool eroding the chance that reporters will craft their own stories.” In some cases the line between news story and press release has become so blurred that reporters are using direct quotes from press releases in their stories without acknowledging the source.

Coyote Blog: Yep, This Is The Perfect Antidote for a Recession

...I am willing to put my disagreement with a lot of the world on whether on not global warming is dangerous into the "reasonable people can disagree" category. But it just strikes me as outright insanity to try to push forward and pretend that anything that makes a meaningful dent in CO2, and so which has to make a meaningful dent in fuel and electricity consumption, will require either massive shortages or much higher prices. Even a third-way plan that says we will evade this trade-off with new technologies (whatever the hell those are) faces the massive dead-weight-loss of having to obsolete perfectly good power generation or transportation infrastructure and replace it wholesale with trillions of dollars of new stuff. If we found out tomorrow that exposed brick caused global warming, and all of our houses had to be knocked down and rebuilt, would anyone really think we were all richer for that?

The amazing thing to me is that the left has all gotten on the "this will be a net positive for the economy, 5 million jobs, blah blah" message. This is nuts. This is the broken windows fallacy on Barry Bonds' entire steroid inventory. Folks often respond to me, but we will gain because we will reduce the cost of global warming. But reasonable, non-loony folks don't really honestly thing we are incurring any costs right now to global warming. There is an argument that they might exist 50 years from now and that they are high enough to get started on now, but for the next 10 years or more, there is just cost, no benefit.

George Allen -- IBDeditorials.com: Low Energy Costs Key To States' Success

During his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama said electricity prices will "skyrocket" and his plans would "bankrupt the coal industry." It was a stunning revelation on the impact of a "cap and trade" system on jobs and our economy.
---
...
Our coal-based electricity generating plants are 70% cleaner today than in 1970, based on emissions per unit of energy produced.

We can keep energy costs down and encourage research and development by meeting our growing electricity needs with the most efficient and lowest cost resource available to us now: American coal.

Rather than policies that cause skyrocketing electric bills and job losses, let's enact policies that use American resources to create American jobs for America's economic competitiveness and security.

For the country's economic competitiveness, more base-load electricity should be powered by American clean coal and advanced nuclear plants.

Allen served as Virginia's governor and U.S. senator.

Global warming ideas disputed by PSU prof - Fosters

While a large number of people, including some scientists, believe that we are in an unprecedented period of global warming caused primarily by humans, Dr. James Koermer, a meteorology professor at Plymouth State University, would beg to differ.

During a presentation at the university on Wednesday, Koermer explained why there are a growing number scientists, such as himself, who don't subscribe to the popular theory on global warming.

Another Dissenter: Astrophysicist says put IPCC reports 'in the trash!'

In the only country still debating whether global warming is man-made, according to SJSU professor Alex Gershenson, another contest to discuss it was held Tuesday night at San Jose's Rotary Club.

The event, put on by The Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley, saw two speakers on each side of the issue go head-to-head for 90 minutes on the validity of global warming and its attribution to the activities of humans.

"No other civilized, developed country is having these kinds of debates, period," said Gershenson, an environmental studies professor at SJSU. "It is very frustrating. The overall understanding of how science works is very low in this country."
...
"What I'd do with the IPCC report is to put it in the trash can because that's all it's worth," said Dennis Hollars, who holds a doctorate in astrophysics from New Mexico State University.
...
"CO2 has never led to an increase in temperature, based on historical record," said Robert Cohen, a certified consulting meteorologist.[Via Marc Morano]

Alex Gershenson

Ph.D. Candidate UCSC, Santa Cruz CA Environmental Studies : March 2003-Present

Graduate Student : UCSC, Santa Cruz CA. Environmental Studies : Sep. 2001-March 2003

B.S. Cum Laude, Natural Resource Management: Conservation and Applied Ecology : Rutgers University, Cook College, New Brunswick, NJ.1997-2001

How not to measure temperature, part 75 « Watts Up With That?

Like tornados and trailer parks, USHCN temperature sensors and barbecues seem to have mutual attraction...

GETTER DONE GALS: Mother Nature mocks global warming fear promoters!

The "Gore Effect" has a long and storied history. What follows is a sampling of how Mother Nature enjoys mocking global warming fear promoters... [Via Skeptics Global Warming]

Jennifer Marohasy » Following-Up on that Climate Debate: William Kininmonth & David Karoly

[Des Moore] I will not atttempt here to analyse the issues raised by either side other than to mention the heavy reliance on modelling by DK to “prove” his points. However, it is worth noting the marked contrast in style of presentation, with DK adopting an aggressive approach (that provoked an initial adverse reaction from the audience) and WK adopting a calm relaxed one.

There is little doubt that DK’s approach lost him “votes” and, more importantly, left an impression that his expertise was not necessarily something on which much reliance should be placed. Indeed, it served to (again) confirm doubts about the basis of the science used by the IPCC, for which DK was a lead author…

IBDeditorials.com: The Waxman Wane

Congress: What could hurt a hurting economy more than an environmental extremist as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee? Meet Rep. Henry Waxman of Beverly Hills.
...
And it's worth remembering that Waxman's well-do-do, little-to-lose constituents see green activism the way other congressmen's voters view pork. He is the House's Hollywood liberal, representing Malibu and Santa Monica, as well as Beverly Hills.

What's more, the naming of veteran Waxman aide Phil Schiliro as the Obama White House's congressional liaison is a pretty good indication of the friendliness Waxman will find for his objectives at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

It all spells a perfect storm of environmental extremist control of government. Business — and their employees, who may be victims of layoffs — better batten down the hatches.

Deliberately scaring children, all for an allegedly good cause

Exhibits focus on Climate Change and the Earth's long-term survival - Arts - NJ.com

Both exhibits frankly aim to scare visitors into changing their personal habits to improve life on our shared planet.
...
"This is scary," said Josh Lane, 12, of Randolph, after touring the exhibit. "The world will be much different. Animals will go extinct. If we don't do somethsing, the world will never be the same."

As visitors leave, they can write down their thoughts and concerns for the future, which are clipped to a 12-foot wall. Many are children's drawings that show impressions of pollution decorated with sad faces.

The Daily Bayonet: Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, Nov. 21st 2008

Pennsylvania: Ski resorts opening early thanks to cold snap

Thanks to the recent cold snap, area ski resorts from Bear Creek to Camelback are gearing up for their earliest season openers in recent memory, with some planning to open a limited number of trails this weekend.
...
"It's our earliest opening ever by at least two weeks,' [Bear Creek's Mary] Bortz said. "We've been making snow since Tuesday night...we couldn't have asked for better weather."

Claudia Rosett: Dinner With the Green Glitterati

Amid the ceremonies, no one noted that Pachauri is not a scientist, but an Indian industrial engineer and economist, whose vision translates into a mandate for multilateral bureaucracies feasting together with big business to impose central planning on the planet. No one mentioned that scientific “consensus” on global warming has not in truth been reached--and that hundreds of scientists, including some prominent figures advising the U.N. itself, have vigorously dissented from Pachauri’s conclusions. No one breathed a word about the vast potential cost of re-engineering the world to suit the vision for which Pachauri received his award.

The plates of petits fours were passed around. The freshly brewed coffee was poured. With a closing announcement of “When we talk about a green theme, we walk the walk and talk the talk,” the guests were urged to go home and plant the wildflower seeds embedded in their seating cards. For those with a place at the table, what’s not to feel good about? For the rest of humanity, what will be the real price of such dinners?

Global Shamming: Forecasters: It's cold now but will be warm later

Forecasters said the same thing about last year's record cold winter (i.e., it was only going to be briefly cold--ahem, WRONG!).

NBC's Curry Climbs 'Poster-Child' for Climate Change

Why were those scientists “uneasy?” Because despite its status as an “icon of global warming,” climate scientists like Philip Mote say Kilimanjaro’s melt hasn’t been caused by greenhouse gases “from cars, power plants and factories.”

“Kilimanjaro is a grossly overused mis-example of the effects of climate change,” Mote told the Seattle Times. Mote co-authored an article in the July/August 2007 edition of “American Scientist” magazine and is not exactly a global warming skeptic. He told the newspaper global warming is the cause of glacial melting around the world – just not Kilimanjaro.

According to Doughton’s article, the ice loss on the Tanzanian glacier “seems to be driven by two factors: a lack of snowfall and sublimation.”

2004: The Consensus on Kilimanjaro is Wrong: John McCain was fooled

[McCain:] “If I might quote the punch line from an old joke, ‘You can believe me or
your lyin' eyes.’
“These are facts. These are facts that cannot be refuted by any scientist or
any union or any special interest that is weighing in more heavily on this
issue than any issue since we got into campaign finance reform. Look at
Mount Kilimanjaro. That picture was taken in 1993. That picture was
taken in February of the year 2000. [Pictures showing decline of ice atop
Mt. Kilimanjaro].”

Alarmist Richard Littlemore: Idiot-Proofing the "Climate Debate" | DeSmogBlog

When Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela all sign an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report acknowledging the damaging global climate impact of their biggest export, a reasonable person (i.e., not a blinded ideologue) would have to conclude that the case has been made, fairly and conclusively, that the climate is changing and humans are to blame. Such a reasonable person might then apply himself to better understanding the science and its implications and to sharing that understanding with his readers.

Rep. Boxer to Introduce Cap-and-Trade

Legislation establishing a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be introduced in January, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said Thursday.

"This bill reflects the strong partnership we will have with the new Administration, and will focus on achieving the emissions reductions needed while restoring the economy," Boxer said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.

CO2 hysteria continues its slow death

The Associated Press: What climate change? Meltdown trumps fears at APEC

...at this week's summit of 21 Pacific Rim nations, global warming is barely on the agenda. In its place: the financial crisis.

"The interest and focus on climate change has dissipated somewhat," said Woo Yuen Pau, CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
...
The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council announced Wednesday that climate change was the summit's No. 7 priority, based on an annual survey of regional government officials, business people and academics. Last year, it was No. 4.

Waxman Wins [Chris Horner]

It's rather amusing that the House Democrats have just elected a man to chair the Committee on Energy & Commerce who opposes both of those.

The Reference Frame: Barack Obama and climate change

...Stopping climate change will be hard, indeed. You may practice - try to first stop the Earth's rotation. It's very nice to promise special advantages to companies who are going to support your ideology and politics - this approach to the state-corporation relations is usually called corruption - but be ready that not everyone will be happy to join this movement, and even for those who will join, you will not have enough resources to show all these trucklers how good an ally you are because America, its economy, and its comparative advantages are finite.

Wal-Mart Strikes Deal With Duke Energy to Use Wind Power at Stores - washingtonpost.com

Wal-Mart has signed a contract to help power hundreds of its stores using wind energy, one of the largest investments in the field by a U.S. retailer.

The four-year agreement with Duke Energy is expected to provide up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of power each year to about 360 stores and distribution centers in Texas, about 15 percent of the total electricity used.
...
Wal-Mart declined to disclose the amount of the contract, but Saylors-Laster said the company would not pay more for renewable energy than it does for traditional energy sources.
...
The wind power for Wal-Mart's stores will be supplied by a wind farm under construction in Notrees, Tex., Marks said. The farm is expected to begin producing energy in the spring. [Via The Chilling Effect]

Will Duke Energy ensure that each of the stores will actually receive 15% of its electricity from this particular wind farm? If sufficient wind isn't blowing in Notrees, Tex, will these stores lose 15% of their lighting?

OPINION: Arnold the CO2-hysteric

Untitled Page

Remember now that Schwarzenegger's whole shtick -- ah, Hollywood -- was that he would be a cost-cutting governor. But now, two years later, California's economy is in freefall, and AB 32 will simply add to the misery. The costs of meeting those emissions targets will be hideous, and they will come only after Arnold has decamped and returned to Hollywood, where playing a part calls for no responsibility, and making money at the box office harms no taxpayers. In other words, he'll be long gone when the damage he's caused becomes apparent.

You know, because it's so very much warmer than it was a few years ago

Duque blames global warming for disease outbreaks | The Philippine Star

Health Secretary Francisco Duque believes that global warming has something to do with the various diseases that are now surfacing in some parts of the country.

“I think that clearly what was predicted about the impact of global warming is already happening. For example, the different dengue trend, which (used to be) characterized (as) peaking every two to three years. Now it has always been increasing,” he said in an interview.

Duque said changes in cholera, typhoid fever and malaria have also been predicted primarily because of the changing rainfall pattern.

“In global warming, the temperature is also increasing… and there’s going to be a propensity for cholera, dengue, typhoid (fever) and malaria,” he said.

Governor Schwarzenegger Opens Governors’ Global Climate Summit

And then, of course, I want to thank my wife and the greatest first lady, Maria Shriver, who is sitting right out here, for his great partnership and being such a great first lady. (Applause)

I'm telling you, talking about running a house environmentally sound, she is like the Gestapo in our house when it comes to the environment. It's fantastic to see that, the way she educates those kids and makes them also environmentalists. I love that.
...
Of course there were, like I said, people that didn't believe in it and they thought that we were going to hurt the economy. I still have friends in the business world that come to me and say that this is going to hurt the economy. But, of course, we believe very strongly that this is going to hurt the economy--I mean help the economy.

Was that last line a Freudian slip? (the remarks above are as Arnold actually delivered them, not as they appear in the "transcript").

Near the end of the video at the link above, you can see the bureaucrats standing and applauding after watching the video of Obama's asinine climate remarks.

CQ Politics | Waxman Topples Dingell, Claims Gavel at House Energy and Commerce

House Democrats on Thursday handed Henry A. Waxman of California the gavel of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, toppling veteran Chairman John D. Dingell of Michigan.

The 137-122 Democratic Caucus vote was viewed as a referendum on the party’s future approach to energy and climate policy, as well as a test of the seniority system the party has long used to select committee chairmen and ranking members.
...
...Waxman, who leans to the left of his party, is an advocate of strong clean air protections and stringent fuel-efficiency and energy conservation measures.

Dingell has been a fierce protector of the auto industry, which is crucial to the economy of his home state of Michigan.

Waxman’s victory gives him control of one of the most powerful committees in Congress, with jurisdiction that touches almost every corner of domestic policy, from energy to health care to telecommunications.

But it appeared the heart of Waxman’s takeover bid was a desire to steer legislation to address global warming, a priority of President-elect Barack Obama . Waxman is expected to move more boldly and quickly on a climate change bill than Dingell, and would likely press legislation with tougher emissions caps.

UN raises some money and spends some money

Children Raise US$ 21,000 for the Fight Against Climate Change - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) --

New York, 26 October 2008 - In a ray of hope amid the current economic crisis, children from around the world have pulled together and raised US$21,000 for the fight against climate change.

As part of the Paint for the Planet event organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), children's paintings were auctioned at New York's Harvard Club to raise money for children in areas affected by climate-related disasters. Proceeds will go to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

Foreign Aid Money Spent on $23 Million Art Ceiling at U.N. Human Rights Council

The U.N. Human Rights Council, frequently accused of coddling some of the world's most repressive governments, threw itself a party in Geneva Tuesday that featured the unveiling of a $23 million mural paid for in part with foreign aid funds.
...
Ban himself praised the piece and thanked Barcelo for putting his "unique talents to work in the service of the world." The artwork will soar above the Human Rights Council's chambers at U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva, which may soon undergo a $1 billion renovation — but only after a $1.9 billion facelift of the U.N.'s New York offices is completed.

PM should help jag workers - Coventry Telegraph

On-board computers in one such Jaguar show it to be doing 32.3 miles per gallon of diesel when a Mini is doing 29.1 miles to the gallon yet it's the Jag that the polar-bear huggers want to tax into oblivion.

Thousands of vital jobs are being sacrificed needlessly on the altar of the false god of global warming. Gordon you should be helping Jag workers and the thousands of jobs dependent on them in turn.

Nick Adderley, Firlsham Way, Allesley Park.

Schwarzenegger and International Leaders Sign Ridiculous Agreement to Partner on Climate Action

Text of the declaration:

Based on conclusive scientific evidence, we recognize that global climate change is a grave threat to our people, our environment, and our respective ways of life. Therefore, we resolve to act quickly to stabilize the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases to avoid the resulting catastrophic impacts to the world’s ecosystems, oceans, water supplies, infrastructure, food production, and human health. The magnitude and urgency of the challenges in stabilizing the climate will require an unprecedented level of collaboration and cooperation among all levels of government around the world.

Why don't they ever tell us specifically what this "conclusive scientific evidence" is?

Another record low for Gainesville | Gainesville.com

Gainesville set another record for low temperatures early Thursday when the official thermometer at the airport hit 29 degrees. The previous low temperature record for this date was 30 degrees and was set in 1968.

Thank you, Dave Mashiter: Sceptic's argument fuels complacency

Sceptics such as Mr Mashiter are, I believe, contributing nothing to the public debate about environmental issues as they cling to old science and misinform the public about the recognised facts.

Greater still is their influence on a complacent Government, which lacks the incentive to take radical actions to address the issues created by our changing climate.

Unless the public gets behind pressure groups, such as Friends of the Earth, the Government will fail to act in our interests as it believes it does not have public opinion behind it.

A complacent public will get the Government it deserves — thanks to sceptics like Mr Mashiter.

Carbon neutral airline gets on board UN scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions

20 November 2008 – The world’s first carbon neutral airline, which offsets its harmful gas emissions by investing in ecological projects, has joined a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative, promoting low-carbon economies and societies, the agency announced today.

NatureAir became the first airline to sign up to the Climate Neutral Network (CN Net), whose participants – comprising of countries, cities, major international companies, UN agencies and leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) – have set ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets for themselves.

UN brainwashing North American youth

14 November 2008 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) enlisted the help of North American youth to help tackle climate change at a summit kicking off today in the United States city of Chicago.

Michael Moore weighs in (figuratively)

"President-Elect Obama has to say to them, yes, we're going to use this money to save these jobs, but we're not going to build these gas-guzzling, unsafe vehicles any longer," Moore said. "We're going to put the companies into some sort of receivership and we, the government, are going to hold the reins on these companies. They're to build mass transit. They're to build hybrid cars. They're to build cars that use little or no gasoline."

He said global warming requires the nation and the world to use less oil. "There's got to be a plan set out to find other ways to transport ourselves in other ways than using fossil fuels," he said.

If we can produce miracles through mandates, why not mandate that drug companies find a cure for cancer? Why not mandate that schools successfully educate all of our students to break 2200 on the SAT? Why not mandate that all documentaries be 100% factually correct?

Good News: Senate Climate Bill to Go Nowhere [Chris Horner]

I mean, how could it? This is about warming, right? And not just about getting a long-held wish-list enacted? Because on the warming front, there's only good tidings from Team Watts, who have finished their canvassing of Nevada's surface temperature stations — including Harry Reid's home town of Searchlight, host to one of Nevada's 14 lonely sensors.

We can breathe a sigh of relief that eco-socialism — National Environmentalism, choose the -ism you think best fits — isn't likely to be championed by the pride of that tiny Nevada town, now that its very own data confirms that it is cooler there since George W. Bush took office. And is cooler than when Clinton-Gore took office. Or when Ronald Reagan took office. Or when Reid was a Nevada boxing commissioner (ok, he was the gaming commissioner, but the Burns quote is just too much to pass up) . . .

Don't cut your throat. Just yet

[Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer] said the powers that be grossly underestimate the repercussions of fossil fuel use and the amount of time the human race has to save itself.
...
"Global warming is coming at us considerably faster than the publicly acknowledged data and figures and predictions suggest," Dyer said.

As temperatures rise, crops fail, fresh water is depleted, mass migration occurs, international relations break down and wars over land, resources and climate policy become inevitable.

Ann Curry takes fossil-fueled trip to Tanzania, but fails in her attempt to summit Kilimanjaro

Baby Boomer Examiner: Baby Boomer newswoman climbs to new heights

Curry and her climbing team were scheduled to reach the summit tomorrow in time to coincide with the "Today" morning broadcast, but she announced on this morning's show that the team made the decision to stop their climb at about 15,700 feet because everyone was suffering from acute altitude sickness.

She said in yesterday's broadcast report that, even if they didn't summit, they accomplished what they set out to do by showing the visual evidence of how far the glaciers and snow fields have retreated from the mountain because of climate change with 80 percent of the glaciers having disappeared in 20 years. The report made no claim as to whether the climate change is man-made or occurring naturally.

About 3/4 of the way through the video at the link above, Curry says "the cold is also so overwhelming".

If it's so cold up there, how could the glaciers and snow be melting?

Global Warming Science and Public Policy - 35 Inconvenient Truths: The errors in Al Gore’s movie

Gore says “global warming” has been melting the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. It is not.

The melting of the Furtwangler Glacier at the summit of the mountain began 125 years ago. More of the glacier had melted before Hemingway wrote The Snows of Kilimanjaro in 1936 than afterward.

Temperature at the summit never rises above freezing and is at an average of –7 Celsius. The cause of the melting is long-term climate shifts exacerbated by imprudent regional deforestation, and has nothing to do with “global warming.”

Starbucks: We'll leave the water running (all day, every day) for ya?

Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee house whose most recent quarterly profits were down 97%, announced a partnership on Wednesday with a Boston-based environmental group to lobby Congress for greenhouse gas regulations as well as investment in and promotion of renewable energy. While it’s no shocker that the coffee chain would support such a government-intrusive program, it was also no big shock to learn last month that they were found to have water running in 16,000 of their stores all day, every day to prevent bacteria from growing in their taps. The more I post to this blog, the more I realize that a common trait among many Earth-loving groups is that they’re hypocrites.

American Chronicle | Hindus blame prestigious world-level Uppsala "Interfaith Climate Summit" for unfairness

World-level grand "Interfaith Climate Summit" to be held at Uppsala (Sweden) on November 28-29 has come under heavy criticism because of allegedly unfair representation of various religions on its list of select international invitees.

UK: Cold snap's Snow joke for us - Shields Gazette

Pensioners are being encourage to stay extra warm as they are most at risk from the cold snap, and many may not use their central heating due to high fuel costs.

Charity Age Concern claims two-thirds of the elderly are cutting back on the amount of gas and electricity that they use, and more than half are buying less, or poorer quality, food.

However, John Berry, secretary of the South Shields Pensioners' Association, is urging people to turn their heating up.

He said: "We're saying turn your heating on, there's no point saving your pennies for a rainy day if you're going to end up freezing yourself to death.

"Make sure you're wrapped up warm, put on a few extra layers and don't sit there in the cold. It's not worth it.

Masson’s Blog - A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana » Kotchen & Grant: Eliminate Daylight Time Nationwide

Essentially, the decreased use of lights during Daylight Time was more than offset by the use of air conditioners late into the evening. The column concludes by suggesting that eliminating daylight time would be consistent with President Obama’s goals of conserving resources, saving money, promoting energy security, and reducing climate change.

Climate Science: Roger Pielke Sr. Research Group News » Is CO2 a Pollutant?

The question is: How does atmospheric carbon dioxide fit into this definition? Carbon dioxide does occur naturally, of course, and is essential to life on Earth, as it is an essential chemical component in the photosynthesis process of plants. This is in contrast with other trace gases in the lower atmosphere such carbon monoxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide which are have direct health and environmental effects on humans and vegetation. Indeed, when combustion is optimized, less carbon monoxide and more carbon dioxide are produced. There are no positive effects that I am aware of at any level of these pollutants in the lower atmosphere.