TPA
"This week Darlington Borough Council is searching for a Local Motion Travel Advisor.
According to the job description the successful applicant ‘will provide information and advice on walking, cycling and using buses and trains. Much of this work will involve calling at houses within an area, engaging in a conversation about how people currently travel and identifying where there are opportunities to make changes to help people get fitter, save money or reduce their carbon footprint.’ ......Councillors in Darlington are meeting tomorrow to decide whether or not to raise council tax by 3.5%. Not spending money chasing grants and not employing a Climate Change Officer are perhaps more ways the council could save money and not increase the financial burden on local people?"
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
The Gleick Tragedy
WUWT
"The original Gleick Confesses thread was getting unwieldy with almost 1000 comments, so this one will serve in its place and will continue to be updated."
"The original Gleick Confesses thread was getting unwieldy with almost 1000 comments, so this one will serve in its place and will continue to be updated."
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Fakegate Opens a Door
American Thinker
"The name of Ross Gelbspan indirectly figures in the WSJ editorial. A 1995 Harper's article cited in the editorial was written by Ross Gelbspan. The stolen Heartland Institute documents first appeared on the internet at the enviro-activist blog site Desmogblog. Its star blogger is Ross Gelbspan." (H/T Climate Realists)
"The name of Ross Gelbspan indirectly figures in the WSJ editorial. A 1995 Harper's article cited in the editorial was written by Ross Gelbspan. The stolen Heartland Institute documents first appeared on the internet at the enviro-activist blog site Desmogblog. Its star blogger is Ross Gelbspan." (H/T Climate Realists)
A Warmist's Case For Lies And Fraud
Prof. Bunyip
"In a display that can only dismay the university's fee-paying parents, the psychologist takes on utilitarianism and, in his efforts to explain it, loses badly. That he does so in defence of Heartland forger Peter Gleick's actions and motives is also a worry."
"In a display that can only dismay the university's fee-paying parents, the psychologist takes on utilitarianism and, in his efforts to explain it, loses badly. That he does so in defence of Heartland forger Peter Gleick's actions and motives is also a worry."
The IPCC May Have Outlived its Usefulness - An Interview with Judith Curry
oilprice.com
"The IPCC might have outlived its usefulness. Lets see what the next assessment report comes up with. But we are getting diminishing returns from these assessments, and they take up an enormous amount of scientists’ time."
---------------------------
NoTricksZone:"You’ll recall that Professor Curry was once a staunch AGW proponent. Later the scientific evidence cooled her down to lukewarm."
"The IPCC might have outlived its usefulness. Lets see what the next assessment report comes up with. But we are getting diminishing returns from these assessments, and they take up an enormous amount of scientists’ time."
---------------------------
NoTricksZone:"You’ll recall that Professor Curry was once a staunch AGW proponent. Later the scientific evidence cooled her down to lukewarm."
Monday, 27 February 2012
The ancient Arabic writings that reveal desert city of Baghdad was FROZEN over 1,000 years ago in new clue over climate change
Daily Mail
"Temperatures in Baghdad range from around 2C in winter to 45C in the summer – but ancient Arabic writings have revealed that the city experienced a dramatic frozen period around 1,000 years ago. Spanish researchers from the University of Extremadura found 9th and 10th century (3rd and 4th in the Islamic calendar) sources that refer to snowfalls in the Iraqi capital in 908, 944 and 1007 and even rivers being frozen. These are extreme events for Baghdad - for example, the only snowfall in the modern era took place in 2008 - and help meteorologists better understand today's climate.
"Temperatures in Baghdad range from around 2C in winter to 45C in the summer – but ancient Arabic writings have revealed that the city experienced a dramatic frozen period around 1,000 years ago. Spanish researchers from the University of Extremadura found 9th and 10th century (3rd and 4th in the Islamic calendar) sources that refer to snowfalls in the Iraqi capital in 908, 944 and 1007 and even rivers being frozen. These are extreme events for Baghdad - for example, the only snowfall in the modern era took place in 2008 - and help meteorologists better understand today's climate.
Heartland’s Super-Secret Donors
Real Science
"Gleick decided to commit several felonies in order to find out who Heartland’s donors were, rather than show up for the debate he was invited to at Heartland’s benefit dinner. Had he shown up for the debate, he could have just read the donor’s name tags – rather than lying, forging documents and claiming that he just wanted to debate."
"Gleick decided to commit several felonies in order to find out who Heartland’s donors were, rather than show up for the debate he was invited to at Heartland’s benefit dinner. Had he shown up for the debate, he could have just read the donor’s name tags – rather than lying, forging documents and claiming that he just wanted to debate."
Saturday, 25 February 2012
David Miliband paid £70,000 for just three days' work advising venture capitalists investing in 'green' technology
Daily Mail
#Mr Miliband earns more than £500,000 since being beaten by his brother in Labour leadership election
#He received £125,000 for eight speeches last year
#As David Miliband secures lucrative part-time jobs his brother has led populist attacks on high executive pay
-----------------------------
This is wrong (Dr Richard North)
#Mr Miliband earns more than £500,000 since being beaten by his brother in Labour leadership election
#He received £125,000 for eight speeches last year
#As David Miliband secures lucrative part-time jobs his brother has led populist attacks on high executive pay
-----------------------------
This is wrong (Dr Richard North)
What triggered Dr. Peter Gleick to commit identity fraud on January 27th?
WUWT
"As you can see, instead of discussing the scientific facts that Taylor was addressing in his article strongly disproving Gleick, Gleick just wanted the names of the donors of Heartland Institute more than anything else, as if that was the most important issue."
"As you can see, instead of discussing the scientific facts that Taylor was addressing in his article strongly disproving Gleick, Gleick just wanted the names of the donors of Heartland Institute more than anything else, as if that was the most important issue."
The Gleick affair is further proof of the warmists' endless credulity
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"What a very odd situation we find ourselves in, due to the extraordinary transformation in recent years of the so-called debate over global warming. Last week, The Sunday Telegraph reported that, as part of Britain’s overseas aid budget, the Department for International Development is well on the way to spending £1.5 billion on a mass of climate-related projects across the world. These range from helping Indian farmers to irrigate their fields with foot-powered pumps rather than diesel-fuelled ones, to preventing the authority of Kenyan “rainmakers” from being undermined by the onset of “extreme weather events”. .....Yet while successive British governments have plunged headlong into this madness, the “science” supposedly used to justify it has been falling apart in all directions. Global temperatures have signally failed to rise as the computer models, upon which the whole scare was based, said they should. And an endless succession of scandals has engulfed the senior scientists who did more than anyone else to promote the scare. .....When the history of the decline and fall of the world’s most damaging scare comes to be written, l’affaire Gleick will only be a brief footnote. But it does suggest how desperate those who wish to keep the scare alive have become.
More importantly, however, it should focus our attention once again on the fact that we are still being presented with by far the biggest bill in history, to counter a threat that never actually existed. "
"What a very odd situation we find ourselves in, due to the extraordinary transformation in recent years of the so-called debate over global warming. Last week, The Sunday Telegraph reported that, as part of Britain’s overseas aid budget, the Department for International Development is well on the way to spending £1.5 billion on a mass of climate-related projects across the world. These range from helping Indian farmers to irrigate their fields with foot-powered pumps rather than diesel-fuelled ones, to preventing the authority of Kenyan “rainmakers” from being undermined by the onset of “extreme weather events”. .....Yet while successive British governments have plunged headlong into this madness, the “science” supposedly used to justify it has been falling apart in all directions. Global temperatures have signally failed to rise as the computer models, upon which the whole scare was based, said they should. And an endless succession of scandals has engulfed the senior scientists who did more than anyone else to promote the scare. .....When the history of the decline and fall of the world’s most damaging scare comes to be written, l’affaire Gleick will only be a brief footnote. But it does suggest how desperate those who wish to keep the scare alive have become.
More importantly, however, it should focus our attention once again on the fact that we are still being presented with by far the biggest bill in history, to counter a threat that never actually existed. "
Friday, 24 February 2012
Lindzen totally pwns the alarmists
Telegraph
"Professor Richard Lindzen is one of the world's greatest atmospheric physicists: perhaps the greatest. ....Here is how he began his speech, which was organised on behalf of the Campaign To Repeal the Climate Change Act:
Stated briefly, I will simply try to clarify what the debate over climate change is really about. It most certainly is not about whether climate is changing: it always is. It is not about whether CO2 is increasing: it clearly is. It is not about whether the increase in CO2, by itself, will lead to some warming: it should. The debate is simply over the matter of how much warming the increase in CO2 can lead to, and the connection of such warming to the innumerable claimed catastrophes. The evidence is that the increase in CO2 will lead to very little warming, and that the connection of this minimal warming (or even significant warming) to the purported catastrophes is also minimal. The arguments on which the catastrophic claims are made are extremely weak – and commonly acknowledged as such. They are sometimes overtly dishonest."
"Professor Richard Lindzen is one of the world's greatest atmospheric physicists: perhaps the greatest. ....Here is how he began his speech, which was organised on behalf of the Campaign To Repeal the Climate Change Act:
Stated briefly, I will simply try to clarify what the debate over climate change is really about. It most certainly is not about whether climate is changing: it always is. It is not about whether CO2 is increasing: it clearly is. It is not about whether the increase in CO2, by itself, will lead to some warming: it should. The debate is simply over the matter of how much warming the increase in CO2 can lead to, and the connection of such warming to the innumerable claimed catastrophes. The evidence is that the increase in CO2 will lead to very little warming, and that the connection of this minimal warming (or even significant warming) to the purported catastrophes is also minimal. The arguments on which the catastrophic claims are made are extremely weak – and commonly acknowledged as such. They are sometimes overtly dishonest."
Heartland Institute Releases Peter Gleick Emails Detailing Fraud, Identity Theft
WUWT
"Correspondence Began Same Day He Rejected Invitation to Debate
FEBRUARY 24, 2012 – The Heartland Institute today released all the emails Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick sent to The Heartland Institute for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining internal Heartland documents. The emails can be found at Fakegate.org.
The emails reveal how Gleick “phished” the documents by stealing the identity of a Heartland board member, an act to which he publicly admitted in his February 20 Huffington Post confession. Minor redactions have been made to the emails to protect the individual privacy of those involved.
Gleick originally portrayed all of the documents he circulated, including the fake climate change strategy memo, as originating from Heartland. Now he claims he received that memo from an “anonymous source” before his theft. But the emails Heartland released today reveal Gleick never asked for either of the two documents that are specifically cited and summarized in the memo, suggesting the memo was written after, not before, he received the phished documents."
"Correspondence Began Same Day He Rejected Invitation to Debate
FEBRUARY 24, 2012 – The Heartland Institute today released all the emails Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick sent to The Heartland Institute for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining internal Heartland documents. The emails can be found at Fakegate.org.
The emails reveal how Gleick “phished” the documents by stealing the identity of a Heartland board member, an act to which he publicly admitted in his February 20 Huffington Post confession. Minor redactions have been made to the emails to protect the individual privacy of those involved.
Gleick originally portrayed all of the documents he circulated, including the fake climate change strategy memo, as originating from Heartland. Now he claims he received that memo from an “anonymous source” before his theft. But the emails Heartland released today reveal Gleick never asked for either of the two documents that are specifically cited and summarized in the memo, suggesting the memo was written after, not before, he received the phished documents."
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Is catastrophic global warming, like the Millennium Bug, a mistake?
Independent
"At a public meeting in the Commons, the climate scientist Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT made a number of declarations that unsettle the claim that global warming is backed by “settled science”. They’re not new, but some of them were new to me.....Lindzen says: “Claims that the earth has been warming, that there is a Greenhouse Effect, and that man’s activity have contributed to warming are trivially true but essentially meaningless.” ........How to explain the procession of eminent opinion leaders – some even in our own Royal Society – who advance the tenets of catastrophic global warming? “It is science in the service of politics,” he said.
If Lindzen is right, we will never be able to calculate the trillions that have been spent on the advice of “scientists in the service of politics”.
"At a public meeting in the Commons, the climate scientist Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT made a number of declarations that unsettle the claim that global warming is backed by “settled science”. They’re not new, but some of them were new to me.....Lindzen says: “Claims that the earth has been warming, that there is a Greenhouse Effect, and that man’s activity have contributed to warming are trivially true but essentially meaningless.” ........How to explain the procession of eminent opinion leaders – some even in our own Royal Society – who advance the tenets of catastrophic global warming? “It is science in the service of politics,” he said.
If Lindzen is right, we will never be able to calculate the trillions that have been spent on the advice of “scientists in the service of politics”.
Scientist who lied to obtain Heartland documents faces fight to save job
Guardian
"Pacific Institute 'deeply concerned' about Gleick's deception to obtain confidential documents from rightwing thinktank"
"Pacific Institute 'deeply concerned' about Gleick's deception to obtain confidential documents from rightwing thinktank"
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Fakegate Illustrates Global Warming Alarmists' Deceit and Desperation
Forbes
"The real story in this Fakegate scandal is how the global warming movement is desperate, delusional and collapsing as global warming fails to live up to alarmist predictions. People with sound science on their side do not need to forge documents to validate their arguments or make the other side look bad. Also, people who are so desperate as to forge documents in an attempt to frame their rivals are clearly not above forging scientific data, studies and facts to similarly further their cause.
It is both striking and telling how global warming activists have failed to condemn the acts of forgery in the Fakegate scandal. For global warming activists, the ends justify the means – any means necessary to sell their alarmist message, even if they must sink to forgery and fakery."
"The real story in this Fakegate scandal is how the global warming movement is desperate, delusional and collapsing as global warming fails to live up to alarmist predictions. People with sound science on their side do not need to forge documents to validate their arguments or make the other side look bad. Also, people who are so desperate as to forge documents in an attempt to frame their rivals are clearly not above forging scientific data, studies and facts to similarly further their cause.
It is both striking and telling how global warming activists have failed to condemn the acts of forgery in the Fakegate scandal. For global warming activists, the ends justify the means – any means necessary to sell their alarmist message, even if they must sink to forgery and fakery."
Climate change scientist duped sceptic thinktank into handing over confidential files showing 'how it subverted issue'
Daily Mail
"Richard Klein, climate researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, told the Guardian: 'It's an own goal. It's not just his own credibility, his own integrity on the line.
'It's a whole community of climate scientists who, with the odd exception, want to do good science and make sure science is recognised.
'It doesn't just blur the line between climate science and science policy.
'It blurs the line between what are acceptable and what are not acceptable methods.
'He is not perceived by the outside world as acting in his personal capacity.
'He acted also by responding as Peter Gleick the scientist and of course that hurts other scientists as well.'
His thoughts were echoed by John Nolt, professor of environmental ethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who fears the anger over the way he obtained the information would take the focus away from climate change itself.
He added that many of the revelations in the documents were already known.
Gleick, who admitted his part in the scam after Heartland's financial plans and donor list was put online, has now decided not to take up a post on the National Centre for Science Education that would have seen him defending climate change in classrooms.
But he could now face legal action, with Heartland President Joseph Bast saying he was now consulting experts on the breach."
"Richard Klein, climate researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, told the Guardian: 'It's an own goal. It's not just his own credibility, his own integrity on the line.
'It's a whole community of climate scientists who, with the odd exception, want to do good science and make sure science is recognised.
'It doesn't just blur the line between climate science and science policy.
'It blurs the line between what are acceptable and what are not acceptable methods.
'He is not perceived by the outside world as acting in his personal capacity.
'He acted also by responding as Peter Gleick the scientist and of course that hurts other scientists as well.'
His thoughts were echoed by John Nolt, professor of environmental ethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who fears the anger over the way he obtained the information would take the focus away from climate change itself.
He added that many of the revelations in the documents were already known.
Gleick, who admitted his part in the scam after Heartland's financial plans and donor list was put online, has now decided not to take up a post on the National Centre for Science Education that would have seen him defending climate change in classrooms.
But he could now face legal action, with Heartland President Joseph Bast saying he was now consulting experts on the breach."
Is stealing OK? Alarmist climate scientists don’t know – “in tumult!”
JoNova (Australia)
"In this upside down world, Heartland are the ones trying to start a science debate on a shoestring budget, while the establishment scientists, with 10,000 times the funding, debate whether they should steal things instead.
The so-called “hero” scientists hurl names and unscientific ad-homs in lieu of evidence and reason."
"In this upside down world, Heartland are the ones trying to start a science debate on a shoestring budget, while the establishment scientists, with 10,000 times the funding, debate whether they should steal things instead.
The so-called “hero” scientists hurl names and unscientific ad-homs in lieu of evidence and reason."
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Peter Gleick – the Johann Hari of climate 'science'
Telegraph
"So now we know the identity of the Fakegate fake. His name is Peter Gleick, he has a PhD from Berkeley, he's the winner of a MacArthur genius award, he's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and he runs a Californian research organisation called the Pacific Institute which advises, inter alia, on "integrity" in science. ....In his statement, Gleick claims he committed this crime because he believed The Heartland Institute was preventing a “rational debate” from taking place over global warming. This is unbelievable. Heartland has repeatedly asked for real debate on this important topic. Gleick himself was specifically invited to attend a Heartland event to debate global warming just days before he stole the documents. He turned down the invitation."
"So now we know the identity of the Fakegate fake. His name is Peter Gleick, he has a PhD from Berkeley, he's the winner of a MacArthur genius award, he's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and he runs a Californian research organisation called the Pacific Institute which advises, inter alia, on "integrity" in science. ....In his statement, Gleick claims he committed this crime because he believed The Heartland Institute was preventing a “rational debate” from taking place over global warming. This is unbelievable. Heartland has repeatedly asked for real debate on this important topic. Gleick himself was specifically invited to attend a Heartland event to debate global warming just days before he stole the documents. He turned down the invitation."
NCSE accepts Gleick’s resignation
WUWT
"As part of NCSE’s expansion to defend the teaching of climate science, Gleick had agreed to join NCSE’s board of directors. On the same day as he posted his statement, however, he apologized to NCSE for his behavior with regard to the Heartland Institute documents and offered to withdraw from the board, on which he was scheduled to begin serving as of February 25, 2012. His offer was accepted."
"As part of NCSE’s expansion to defend the teaching of climate science, Gleick had agreed to join NCSE’s board of directors. On the same day as he posted his statement, however, he apologized to NCSE for his behavior with regard to the Heartland Institute documents and offered to withdraw from the board, on which he was scheduled to begin serving as of February 25, 2012. His offer was accepted."
BREAKING: Gleick Confesses
WUWT
"As many of us had surmised, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute is the Heartland document leaker. He has issued this statement: ...."
"As many of us had surmised, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute is the Heartland document leaker. He has issued this statement: ...."
Warren Meyer: Peter Gleick Admits to Stealing Heartland Documents
Climate Realists
"In a written statement, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute, and vocal advocate of catastrophic man-made global warming theory, has admitted to obtaining certain Heartland Institute internal documents under false premises, and then forwarding these documents to bloggers who were eager to publish them."
"In a written statement, Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute, and vocal advocate of catastrophic man-made global warming theory, has admitted to obtaining certain Heartland Institute internal documents under false premises, and then forwarding these documents to bloggers who were eager to publish them."
Monday, 20 February 2012
How global warming is preached in Year 8
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"A textbook on how to brainwash children on global warming. From this book for Year 8 NSW students we learn the only “shock jocks” and a few journalists - no real scientists, of course - disagree with the “overwhelming scientific evidence” that the world is warming because of man’s gases. These deniers include, well, you know who. Some deniers seem to be in the pay of “many large fossil fuel-based industries” who have “tried to discredit the work of scientists”. “Fortunately”, though “a new generation of world leaders” is “taking global warming seriously” - Barack Obama, Al Gore and Kevin Rudd.
And on and on: ...This is not education, but propaganda. It is pure melodrama, short on facts and long on fancy.
Few “deniers” - an offensive term meant to evoke Holocaust denial - dispute that man’s emissions have a tendency to warm the planet. That is not where the main debate is at. The dispute is about the extent of any warming, the danger of it, the likelihood of it being overwhelmed by natural influences, the true sensitivity of the climate to our gases, and the cost-benefit of trying to “stop” the warming we’ve seen - which actually halted 15 years ago. These “deniers” include many reputable scientists, including some of the world’s leading climate scientists. To suggest they’ve been bribed to say what they do is a vile smear. If money does corrupt debate, it should be noted that the vast bulk of money goes to the alarmists."
"A textbook on how to brainwash children on global warming. From this book for Year 8 NSW students we learn the only “shock jocks” and a few journalists - no real scientists, of course - disagree with the “overwhelming scientific evidence” that the world is warming because of man’s gases. These deniers include, well, you know who. Some deniers seem to be in the pay of “many large fossil fuel-based industries” who have “tried to discredit the work of scientists”. “Fortunately”, though “a new generation of world leaders” is “taking global warming seriously” - Barack Obama, Al Gore and Kevin Rudd.
And on and on: ...This is not education, but propaganda. It is pure melodrama, short on facts and long on fancy.
Few “deniers” - an offensive term meant to evoke Holocaust denial - dispute that man’s emissions have a tendency to warm the planet. That is not where the main debate is at. The dispute is about the extent of any warming, the danger of it, the likelihood of it being overwhelmed by natural influences, the true sensitivity of the climate to our gases, and the cost-benefit of trying to “stop” the warming we’ve seen - which actually halted 15 years ago. These “deniers” include many reputable scientists, including some of the world’s leading climate scientists. To suggest they’ve been bribed to say what they do is a vile smear. If money does corrupt debate, it should be noted that the vast bulk of money goes to the alarmists."
Heartland sends out first legal notice about stolen and faked documents
JoNova (Australia)
"Let the games begin. As promised, Heartland want justice, starting with the removal of all the fake and alleged documents. DeSmog have overplayed their hand."
"Let the games begin. As promised, Heartland want justice, starting with the removal of all the fake and alleged documents. DeSmog have overplayed their hand."
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Green taxes add 15% to your energy bills: Charges imposed to help Government meet emission cut pledges
Daily Mail
"Electricity prices are 15 per cent more expensive than they should be because of green policies, Whitehall officials have admitted. Energy costs for hard-pressed consumers have been pushed up by extra charges imposed to help the Government meet pledges to cut carbon emissions. Projections in Whitehall show that by 2020, the burden for electricity will be an astonishing 27 per cent more than it would otherwise have been. The figure for gas will be 7 per cent higher."
"Electricity prices are 15 per cent more expensive than they should be because of green policies, Whitehall officials have admitted. Energy costs for hard-pressed consumers have been pushed up by extra charges imposed to help the Government meet pledges to cut carbon emissions. Projections in Whitehall show that by 2020, the burden for electricity will be an astonishing 27 per cent more than it would otherwise have been. The figure for gas will be 7 per cent higher."
Foreign Aid Cash Spent On Climate Projects
GWPF
"Nearly £1.5 billion has been spent tackling man-made climate change by Government department responsible for fighting poverty abroad, it can be revealed. In total £3.5 billion of public money has been paid out or allocated to projects addressing climate change abroad since 2007-08."
"Nearly £1.5 billion has been spent tackling man-made climate change by Government department responsible for fighting poverty abroad, it can be revealed. In total £3.5 billion of public money has been paid out or allocated to projects addressing climate change abroad since 2007-08."
Friday, 17 February 2012
If the sceptics’ conspiracy was real, why fake the evidence?
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"The problem with the great international conspiracy of climate sceptics is that it’s so small and innocent that a disappointed warmist who steals documents from the Heartland Institute finds they must fake the main one to get media attention.
Sounds a bit like their tree-ring research. "
"The problem with the great international conspiracy of climate sceptics is that it’s so small and innocent that a disappointed warmist who steals documents from the Heartland Institute finds they must fake the main one to get media attention.
Sounds a bit like their tree-ring research. "
Heartland Institute Rebuts Outlandish New York Times Story on Stolen and Fake Documents
Heartland Institute
"Justin Gillis and Leslie Kaufman authored a piece in the New York Times today titled “Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science.” I say “authored” and not “reported,” because this story is filled with false assertions, innuendo, and outright lies. I will break it down, from the top."
"Justin Gillis and Leslie Kaufman authored a piece in the New York Times today titled “Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science.” I say “authored” and not “reported,” because this story is filled with false assertions, innuendo, and outright lies. I will break it down, from the top."
Thursday, 16 February 2012
I Heart Heartland
Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.
"The real scandal is that it took a private organization like Heartland to compile the hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications which suggest that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might not be a problem for humanity or the biosphere. This is what the IPCC should have done, if it had any scientific objectivity.
I hope that this hoax backfires on the person who started it. I hope it leads to even more donations to Heartland, which has played the role of David in its battle against the Goliath multi-billion dollar climate alarmist machine."
"The real scandal is that it took a private organization like Heartland to compile the hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications which suggest that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might not be a problem for humanity or the biosphere. This is what the IPCC should have done, if it had any scientific objectivity.
I hope that this hoax backfires on the person who started it. I hope it leads to even more donations to Heartland, which has played the role of David in its battle against the Goliath multi-billion dollar climate alarmist machine."
Logic-gate: The Smog blog exposes irrational rage. Innumeracy. And Heartlands efficient success.
JoNova (Australia)
"The believers of man-made-weather-disasters are wetting themselves with excitement. It painful to watch grown men drool.
Poor things, they were really wounded by Climategate, and they’ve been waiting, praying that some day someone would level the playing field and show that skeptics were just as petty, shameless, and money-grubbing as their team turned out to be (not to mention hypocritical, deceptive and incompetent). In their dreams.
Instead the hyped non-denier-gate shows just how incredibly successful the Heartland Institute is. Look at the numbers. The skeptics have managed to turn the propaganda around against a tide of money, and it is really some achievement."
"The believers of man-made-weather-disasters are wetting themselves with excitement. It painful to watch grown men drool.
Poor things, they were really wounded by Climategate, and they’ve been waiting, praying that some day someone would level the playing field and show that skeptics were just as petty, shameless, and money-grubbing as their team turned out to be (not to mention hypocritical, deceptive and incompetent). In their dreams.
Instead the hyped non-denier-gate shows just how incredibly successful the Heartland Institute is. Look at the numbers. The skeptics have managed to turn the propaganda around against a tide of money, and it is really some achievement."
Big bucks
Bishop Hill
"I can...reveal that, during the financial year 2009/10 (the most recent for which the data is available), Research Council spending on “climate change research and training” amounted to £234 million. This analysis was provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of Research Councils UK (RCUK).
...................Now, what was it you were saying about Heartland?"
"I can...reveal that, during the financial year 2009/10 (the most recent for which the data is available), Research Council spending on “climate change research and training” amounted to £234 million. This analysis was provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of Research Councils UK (RCUK).
...................Now, what was it you were saying about Heartland?"
"the Charles Koch Foundation provided $25,000 to the Heartland Institute in 2011 for research in healthcare, not climate change, and this was the first and only donation the Foundation made to the institute in more than a decade"
Tom Nelson
"Our giving to the Heartland Institute has been repeatedly misrepresented in recent stories by the media as reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s unfortunate that those reporting on the matter did not seek the facts as they would have found the Charles Koch Foundation provided $25,000 to the Heartland Institute in 2011 for research in healthcare, not climate change, and this was the first and only donation the Foundation made to the institute in more than a decade. The Foundation has made no further commitments of funding to Heartland,” said Tonya Mullins, director of communications for the Foundation."
"Our giving to the Heartland Institute has been repeatedly misrepresented in recent stories by the media as reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s unfortunate that those reporting on the matter did not seek the facts as they would have found the Charles Koch Foundation provided $25,000 to the Heartland Institute in 2011 for research in healthcare, not climate change, and this was the first and only donation the Foundation made to the institute in more than a decade. The Foundation has made no further commitments of funding to Heartland,” said Tonya Mullins, director of communications for the Foundation."
Notes on the faked Heartland document
WUWT
"There’s been a lot of scrutiny in comments on various blogs, and I’ve given some scrutiny to the document as well, comparing it with other documents in the set. I’m in agreement that this is a fake, here is why: .."
"There’s been a lot of scrutiny in comments on various blogs, and I’ve given some scrutiny to the document as well, comparing it with other documents in the set. I’m in agreement that this is a fake, here is why: .."
Fakegate
Telegraph
"Ready for your amazing fact, fruit loop eco-loons?
OK. Here goes.
We climate realists don't think of ourselves as anti-science.
No, really. We think we're pro-science. That's what we want science teachers to teach kids in schools: hard science – physics, chemistry, biology. Stuff that's empirical. Theories that are falsifiable. Not the kind of junk science they teach in places like the school of "environmental" "science" at comedy institutions like the "University" of East Anglia. Because that's not science at all. It's computer-modelling, projection, which is more akin to necromancy.
So, next time you try to fake your Protocols of the Elders of Climategate document, guys, at least try to credit the people you're trying to smear with a bit of integrity. Not everyone is like you, you realise?"
"Ready for your amazing fact, fruit loop eco-loons?
OK. Here goes.
We climate realists don't think of ourselves as anti-science.
No, really. We think we're pro-science. That's what we want science teachers to teach kids in schools: hard science – physics, chemistry, biology. Stuff that's empirical. Theories that are falsifiable. Not the kind of junk science they teach in places like the school of "environmental" "science" at comedy institutions like the "University" of East Anglia. Because that's not science at all. It's computer-modelling, projection, which is more akin to necromancy.
So, next time you try to fake your Protocols of the Elders of Climategate document, guys, at least try to credit the people you're trying to smear with a bit of integrity. Not everyone is like you, you realise?"
The Anatomy of a Global Warming Smear
WUWT
"This week, a major smear campaign against the Institute erupted as the result of an act of deception and thievery that may well result in criminal charges against its as yet unknown perpetrator. The President of the Institute, Joe Bast, immediately informed its supporters, directors, donors and friends that someone pretending to be a board member had sent Heartland an email claiming to be a director and asking that documents regarding a January board meeting be re-sent. A clever ruse, but the result was that elements of the confidential documents were then posted on a number of so-called climate blogs and from there to various members of the media who, with the exception of The Guardian, took no steps whatever to verify the authenticity of the documents, some of which Heartland says were either a concoction of lies or altered to convey inaccurate information. ......The New York Times article is a case study in bad journalism and bias on a scale for which this failing newspaper is renowned. The Times reported that “Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming part of the nation’s culture wars.”
Wrong, so wrong. Polls have demonstrated that global warming is last on a list of concerns by the public. It barely registers because the public has concluded that it is either a hoax or just not happening. Teaching global warming in the nation’s schools constitutes a crime against the truth and the students."
"This week, a major smear campaign against the Institute erupted as the result of an act of deception and thievery that may well result in criminal charges against its as yet unknown perpetrator. The President of the Institute, Joe Bast, immediately informed its supporters, directors, donors and friends that someone pretending to be a board member had sent Heartland an email claiming to be a director and asking that documents regarding a January board meeting be re-sent. A clever ruse, but the result was that elements of the confidential documents were then posted on a number of so-called climate blogs and from there to various members of the media who, with the exception of The Guardian, took no steps whatever to verify the authenticity of the documents, some of which Heartland says were either a concoction of lies or altered to convey inaccurate information. ......The New York Times article is a case study in bad journalism and bias on a scale for which this failing newspaper is renowned. The Times reported that “Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming part of the nation’s culture wars.”
Wrong, so wrong. Polls have demonstrated that global warming is last on a list of concerns by the public. It barely registers because the public has concluded that it is either a hoax or just not happening. Teaching global warming in the nation’s schools constitutes a crime against the truth and the students."
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
The Big-Freeze: Thousands trapped in Europe as death toll rises to 600
JoNova (Australia)
"And who wants Global Warming when you can face avalanches, deep snow, and record cold? How much fun can you have with 2 meters of snow on your house, and none of that evil coal powered electricity? What’s happening in Europe and Russia over the last two weeks is not just your average cold-snap. Temperatures reached -28C in Moscow. One point in Russia hit -52.8C (-68F) on Monday. he Danube has frozen over from Austria to the Black Sea, and 224 ships (some delivering fuel) have been stuck in their ports. Schools in Bosnia have been closed for days. Trains in Montenegro are at a standstill, and one train with 50 passengers was stranded in a tunnel for three days before rescuers began evacuating people yesterday.
In Serbia 11,000 villagers are trapped by huge snowfalls as temperatures hit – 26C in one town (Al jazeera puts the figure at 70,000 people), and some Bosnian villages haven’t had electricity for days. Hundreds of barns are collapsing under the snow, killing the animals below, and prompting Tom Nelson to write “Children won’t know what barns look like”. For the first time in over 30 years, snow has fallen in the Sahara Desert. Alan Caruba found a Turkish writer lamenting the waste and misdirection of millions of dollars spent on the Green global warming bureaucracy instead of preparations to save lives."
"And who wants Global Warming when you can face avalanches, deep snow, and record cold? How much fun can you have with 2 meters of snow on your house, and none of that evil coal powered electricity? What’s happening in Europe and Russia over the last two weeks is not just your average cold-snap. Temperatures reached -28C in Moscow. One point in Russia hit -52.8C (-68F) on Monday. he Danube has frozen over from Austria to the Black Sea, and 224 ships (some delivering fuel) have been stuck in their ports. Schools in Bosnia have been closed for days. Trains in Montenegro are at a standstill, and one train with 50 passengers was stranded in a tunnel for three days before rescuers began evacuating people yesterday.
In Serbia 11,000 villagers are trapped by huge snowfalls as temperatures hit – 26C in one town (Al jazeera puts the figure at 70,000 people), and some Bosnian villages haven’t had electricity for days. Hundreds of barns are collapsing under the snow, killing the animals below, and prompting Tom Nelson to write “Children won’t know what barns look like”. For the first time in over 30 years, snow has fallen in the Sahara Desert. Alan Caruba found a Turkish writer lamenting the waste and misdirection of millions of dollars spent on the Green global warming bureaucracy instead of preparations to save lives."
Monday, 13 February 2012
German skeptics Lüning and Vahrenholt respond to criticism
WUWT
"Foreword: Dr Sebastian Lüning and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, authors of a new controversial skeptic book now hitting German bookstores, have asked me to post their response to comments made by climate scientist Georg Feulner of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in an interview by NTV television. Feulner insists that CO2 plays the major role in climate change and that the sun has little impact..... The NTV interview illustrates just how much Georg Feulner runs in circles with his arguments. The arguments he presents are weak. When will the Potsdam Institute get around to addressing the millennium cycles of the last 10,000 years? On page 68-75 of our book (“The sun’s impact over the last 10,000 years”) we find one of the most important keys to the climate discussion. Strangely not a single media report following publication of our book has looked into this. Day eight and counting."
"Foreword: Dr Sebastian Lüning and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, authors of a new controversial skeptic book now hitting German bookstores, have asked me to post their response to comments made by climate scientist Georg Feulner of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in an interview by NTV television. Feulner insists that CO2 plays the major role in climate change and that the sun has little impact..... The NTV interview illustrates just how much Georg Feulner runs in circles with his arguments. The arguments he presents are weak. When will the Potsdam Institute get around to addressing the millennium cycles of the last 10,000 years? On page 68-75 of our book (“The sun’s impact over the last 10,000 years”) we find one of the most important keys to the climate discussion. Strangely not a single media report following publication of our book has looked into this. Day eight and counting."
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Wind industry's extensive lobbying to preserve subsidies and defeat local resistance to turbines
Telegraph
"The intensive lobbying – both to construct wind farms and to maintain generous subsidies – comes amid growing unease over an industry adding to the burden on household electricity bills. Analysis of UK wind farms shows that the 15 biggest owners will between them receive almost £850 million in subsidies that are added on to household electricity bills. It comes after the disclosure last week that 101 Tory backbench MPs had written a letter to David Cameron demanding he slash the subsidies.
An investigation shows how the wind energy industry has:
* employed lobbying firms to fight against Government plans to cut a near £1 billion a year subsidy
* drafted in eco-activists to drum up support for wind farm projects in the face of local opposition
* defeated a Tory election pledge that could have triggered local referendums on wind farms before they are built
A separate study by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a think tank opposed to onshore wind farms, shows that 7,000 turbines are on course to be built onshore across the UK by 2020, helped by a 70 per cent success rate on wind farm planning applications. REF expects the total consumer subsidy paid out by 2030 to amount to a staggering £130 billion."
"The intensive lobbying – both to construct wind farms and to maintain generous subsidies – comes amid growing unease over an industry adding to the burden on household electricity bills. Analysis of UK wind farms shows that the 15 biggest owners will between them receive almost £850 million in subsidies that are added on to household electricity bills. It comes after the disclosure last week that 101 Tory backbench MPs had written a letter to David Cameron demanding he slash the subsidies.
An investigation shows how the wind energy industry has:
* employed lobbying firms to fight against Government plans to cut a near £1 billion a year subsidy
* drafted in eco-activists to drum up support for wind farm projects in the face of local opposition
* defeated a Tory election pledge that could have triggered local referendums on wind farms before they are built
A separate study by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), a think tank opposed to onshore wind farms, shows that 7,000 turbines are on course to be built onshore across the UK by 2020, helped by a 70 per cent success rate on wind farm planning applications. REF expects the total consumer subsidy paid out by 2030 to amount to a staggering £130 billion."
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Rebel MPs’ weasel words about wind farms
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"Much more glaringly dishonest, however, is that the MPs only protest against “onshore” turbines (their letter repeats “onshore” no fewer than four times).They make no mention of the thousands of offshore turbines the Government wants to see built – even though these are just as “inefficient and intermittent” as onshore wind farms and receive double the subsidy. Onshore wind energy gets a subsidy of 100 per cent; that for offshore is 200 per cent. So why did the MPs not object twice as vociferously to offshore wind farms?
Herein lay the third dishonesty of their letter. They carefully omitted to mention that we have a commitment to the EU to produce 32 per cent of our electricity from “renewables” by 2020. The only way to try to meet that absurd target is by buildings tens of thousands of windmills. The official figure is only 10,000, but Mr Huhne, just before he resigned, was babbling about 32,000, a figure his equally deluded successor Ed Davey has not denied."
"Much more glaringly dishonest, however, is that the MPs only protest against “onshore” turbines (their letter repeats “onshore” no fewer than four times).They make no mention of the thousands of offshore turbines the Government wants to see built – even though these are just as “inefficient and intermittent” as onshore wind farms and receive double the subsidy. Onshore wind energy gets a subsidy of 100 per cent; that for offshore is 200 per cent. So why did the MPs not object twice as vociferously to offshore wind farms?
Herein lay the third dishonesty of their letter. They carefully omitted to mention that we have a commitment to the EU to produce 32 per cent of our electricity from “renewables” by 2020. The only way to try to meet that absurd target is by buildings tens of thousands of windmills. The official figure is only 10,000, but Mr Huhne, just before he resigned, was babbling about 32,000, a figure his equally deluded successor Ed Davey has not denied."
Seven Different Methods All Yield The Same Result: Cooling Ahead!
NoTricksZone
"Solar and ocean cycles indicate that cooling times lay ahead over the coming decades. One argument against the CAGW hypothesis is the influence of natural cycles controlling weather and climate. In nature, there are many phenomena that are cyclic."
"Solar and ocean cycles indicate that cooling times lay ahead over the coming decades. One argument against the CAGW hypothesis is the influence of natural cycles controlling weather and climate. In nature, there are many phenomena that are cyclic."
Warning Over 'Dead' EU Carbon Market
GWPF
"Johannes Teyssen, chief executive of Germany’s EON, urged policymakers to make fixes. “Let’s talk real: the ETS is bust, it’s dead,” Mr Teyssen said in Brussels this week, adding: “I don’t know a single person in the world that would invest a dime based on ETS signals.”
"Johannes Teyssen, chief executive of Germany’s EON, urged policymakers to make fixes. “Let’s talk real: the ETS is bust, it’s dead,” Mr Teyssen said in Brussels this week, adding: “I don’t know a single person in the world that would invest a dime based on ETS signals.”
Friday, 10 February 2012
Richard Lindzen: The Perversion Of Science
GWPF
"Nevertheless, there are certain peculiarities of The Royal Society’s behavior that are perhaps worth noting. The presidents involved with this issue (May, Rees and Nurse) are all profoundly ignorant of climate science. Their alleged authority stems from their positions in the RS rather than from scientific expertise."
(Foreword to Andrew Montford's Nullius in Verba: The Royal Society and Climate Change) -download.
"Nevertheless, there are certain peculiarities of The Royal Society’s behavior that are perhaps worth noting. The presidents involved with this issue (May, Rees and Nurse) are all profoundly ignorant of climate science. Their alleged authority stems from their positions in the RS rather than from scientific expertise."
(Foreword to Andrew Montford's Nullius in Verba: The Royal Society and Climate Change) -download.
The Royal Society is a joke
Telegraph
"But the punchline is this: for all his inadequacies, Delingpole is a lot more trustworthy on "Climate Change" and "global warming" than the Royal Society. The reason for this is very simple: under its most recent three presidents, the Royal Society has abandoned its traditions of scrupulous scientific neutrality in order to immerse itself in political activism."
"But the punchline is this: for all his inadequacies, Delingpole is a lot more trustworthy on "Climate Change" and "global warming" than the Royal Society. The reason for this is very simple: under its most recent three presidents, the Royal Society has abandoned its traditions of scrupulous scientific neutrality in order to immerse itself in political activism."
Delhi shivers at 4C, lowest so far in 2012
Climate Realists
"NEW DELHI: After heavy snowfall in the hills, Delhi caught the chill on Thursday. Icy northerlies blew through the day while the minimum recorded at the city's main weather station was 4 degrees Celsius - the second lowest temperature recorded in February in at least the past 10 years. Lodhi Road station showed a minimum of 2.6 degrees Celsius and Palam 3.4 degrees as the Met office declared a cold wave in Delhi with the minimum temperature five degrees below normal. A Met official said the cold was an after-effect of the western disturbance that brought snow to the hills. Thursday's minimum was also the lowest temperature in the city in 2012. In the past 10 years, the lowest minimum recorded in Delhi in February was 2.9 degrees Celsius in 2008."
"NEW DELHI: After heavy snowfall in the hills, Delhi caught the chill on Thursday. Icy northerlies blew through the day while the minimum recorded at the city's main weather station was 4 degrees Celsius - the second lowest temperature recorded in February in at least the past 10 years. Lodhi Road station showed a minimum of 2.6 degrees Celsius and Palam 3.4 degrees as the Met office declared a cold wave in Delhi with the minimum temperature five degrees below normal. A Met official said the cold was an after-effect of the western disturbance that brought snow to the hills. Thursday's minimum was also the lowest temperature in the city in 2012. In the past 10 years, the lowest minimum recorded in Delhi in February was 2.9 degrees Celsius in 2008."
Thursday, 9 February 2012
An Inconsistent Truth
http://www.aninconsistenttruth.com/
"From director Shayne Edwards and award-winning radio host Phil Valentine, An Inconsistent Truth takes you along for the ride on one man’s quest for the truth. Many people believe in man-made global warming but they don’t know why. This is one of the most important issues of our day yet the average American knows so very little about what’s really going on. Is that by design? Who stands to make billions off cap-and-trade legislation? Why do those who raise their voices the loudest lead the most wasteful lifestyles? Is carbon dioxide really a pollutant or is it a harmless gas that’s essential to life here on Earth?
This movie is an entertaining, fact-filled odyssey that will have you thinking, cheering and laughing. Phil Valentine goes straight to the experts and so-called experts and demands to know the truth. And the truth just may change your life.
Join Phil as he climbs aboard Bennie the “BioBenz”, a car that runs on biodiesel that Phil makes from used vegetable oil. Phil talks with scientists and politicians and relentlessly pursues an audience with the poster boy of global warming, the man who brought the world An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore. Phil takes the punches and throws a few himself. He sifts through all the data and hyperbole and distills it down to one easy to understand and fun-filled motion picture."
H/T Deadman
"From director Shayne Edwards and award-winning radio host Phil Valentine, An Inconsistent Truth takes you along for the ride on one man’s quest for the truth. Many people believe in man-made global warming but they don’t know why. This is one of the most important issues of our day yet the average American knows so very little about what’s really going on. Is that by design? Who stands to make billions off cap-and-trade legislation? Why do those who raise their voices the loudest lead the most wasteful lifestyles? Is carbon dioxide really a pollutant or is it a harmless gas that’s essential to life here on Earth?
This movie is an entertaining, fact-filled odyssey that will have you thinking, cheering and laughing. Phil Valentine goes straight to the experts and so-called experts and demands to know the truth. And the truth just may change your life.
Join Phil as he climbs aboard Bennie the “BioBenz”, a car that runs on biodiesel that Phil makes from used vegetable oil. Phil talks with scientists and politicians and relentlessly pursues an audience with the poster boy of global warming, the man who brought the world An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore. Phil takes the punches and throws a few himself. He sifts through all the data and hyperbole and distills it down to one easy to understand and fun-filled motion picture."
H/T Deadman
IPCC’s Pachauri’s “voodo science” claim comes full circle
WUWT
"WUWT readers may recall that when the “Himalayan Glaciers will melt by 2035″ error was first revealed, IPCC chairman Rajenda Pachauri famously labeled claims of the mistake “voodo science”and then had to retract that slur later.
Now it appears there hasn’t been any melt at all in the last 10 years. I never thought I’d see this in the Guardian: ....."
"WUWT readers may recall that when the “Himalayan Glaciers will melt by 2035″ error was first revealed, IPCC chairman Rajenda Pachauri famously labeled claims of the mistake “voodo science”and then had to retract that slur later.
Now it appears there hasn’t been any melt at all in the last 10 years. I never thought I’d see this in the Guardian: ....."
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
How to expose the anti-fracking hysteria
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"The feature-length film looks at the process of fracking for natural gas, demolishing much of the scaremongering surrounding the process and featuring the millions whose lives have been positively transformed by this emerging industry. FrackNation investigates the health claims surrounding the process, and reveals the startling lack of scientific evidence to substantiate them."
"The feature-length film looks at the process of fracking for natural gas, demolishing much of the scaremongering surrounding the process and featuring the millions whose lives have been positively transformed by this emerging industry. FrackNation investigates the health claims surrounding the process, and reveals the startling lack of scientific evidence to substantiate them."
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Ice age Europe: How the big freeze, with temperatures as low as MINUS 40, has turned Britain and the continent BLUE
Daily Mail
#Hundreds of Eastern European villages cut off as temperatures plummet to -40C
#Melting snow causes dam wall to break and flood entire village in southern Bulgaria, killing four
#European crisis commissioner says 'the worst is yet to come'
#Hundreds of Eastern European villages cut off as temperatures plummet to -40C
#Melting snow causes dam wall to break and flood entire village in southern Bulgaria, killing four
#European crisis commissioner says 'the worst is yet to come'
McIntyre catches the University of East Anglia in a web of lies
WUWT
"As noted above, in August 2010, the university had said that they were not in possession of the attachments to the Wahl-Briffa emails. However, two months later, they unequivocally told the Parliamentary Committee that they could produce “all” the emails and that Jones and Briffa had deleted nothing. But in their submissions to the ICO in 2011, they said that they were not able to produce the Wahl-Briffa documents, ...."
"As noted above, in August 2010, the university had said that they were not in possession of the attachments to the Wahl-Briffa emails. However, two months later, they unequivocally told the Parliamentary Committee that they could produce “all” the emails and that Jones and Briffa had deleted nothing. But in their submissions to the ICO in 2011, they said that they were not able to produce the Wahl-Briffa documents, ...."
Monday, 6 February 2012
Huhne's exit gives Cameron the chance to end the scourge of wind turbines. He won't be forgiven if he doesn't take it
Daily Mail
"With remarkably prescient timing, more than 100 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the onshore wind turbine industry should be ‘dramatically cut’. The MPs warn that it is unwise to force consumers to pay such subsidies for a form of energy production that they claim is ‘inefficient and intermittent’. They also worry that the Government’s new planning policy will diminish the chances of local people defeating unpopular onshore wind farm proposals through the planning system.
Their timing is striking because they sent their protest to the Prime Minister last week, only five days before Chris Huhne resigned as Energy and Climate Change Secretary in order to fight the criminal charge laid against him of perverting the course of justice. Whether or not this was pure coincidence or a shrewd piece of strategic anticipation by these MPs, their initiative was singularly well-timed to take advantage of the precipitate departure of the Cabinet’s principal green zealot. For under Mr Huhne’s stewardship, Britain has been saddled with the most fanatical deep green energy policy in the world. .....Already the impact on British industry and jobs has been disastrous, adding a green ‘stealth tax’ of some 20 per cent and rising. And some companies are relocating outside Britain as a result.
With the country on the brink of a double-dip recession, such idiocy is beyond belief."
"With remarkably prescient timing, more than 100 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the onshore wind turbine industry should be ‘dramatically cut’. The MPs warn that it is unwise to force consumers to pay such subsidies for a form of energy production that they claim is ‘inefficient and intermittent’. They also worry that the Government’s new planning policy will diminish the chances of local people defeating unpopular onshore wind farm proposals through the planning system.
Their timing is striking because they sent their protest to the Prime Minister last week, only five days before Chris Huhne resigned as Energy and Climate Change Secretary in order to fight the criminal charge laid against him of perverting the course of justice. Whether or not this was pure coincidence or a shrewd piece of strategic anticipation by these MPs, their initiative was singularly well-timed to take advantage of the precipitate departure of the Cabinet’s principal green zealot. For under Mr Huhne’s stewardship, Britain has been saddled with the most fanatical deep green energy policy in the world. .....Already the impact on British industry and jobs has been disastrous, adding a green ‘stealth tax’ of some 20 per cent and rising. And some companies are relocating outside Britain as a result.
With the country on the brink of a double-dip recession, such idiocy is beyond belief."
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Severe snow and ice bring Britain to a standstill
Telegraph
Video
"Saturday saw the ice stretch across much of Britain, with skating on the Fens, ice-climbing on waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons, and the Penines blanketed in snow.The sea froze off Dorset, and rivers and canals up and down the country were covered in ice as the temperature stayed below freezing point all day."
Video
Australia where semi-permanent drought was promised repeats major flooding of 2011
WeatherBell
"Ever more alarming facts are emerging to show how Brisbane’s floods were made infinitely worse by cockeyed decisions inspired by the obsession of the Australian authorities with global warming. Inevitably, the country’s warmist lobby has been voluble in claiming that such a “freak weather event” (as the BBC called it) is a consequence of man-made climate change. But far from being an unprecedented “freak event”, the latest flood was nearly a foot below the level of one in 1974 and 10 feet below the record set in 1893."
-------------------
Australia was told to prepare for droughts as a result of climate change, and let down its guard against flooding, writes Christopher Booker
"Ever more alarming facts are emerging to show how Brisbane’s floods were made infinitely worse by cockeyed decisions inspired by the obsession of the Australian authorities with global warming. Inevitably, the country’s warmist lobby has been voluble in claiming that such a “freak weather event” (as the BBC called it) is a consequence of man-made climate change. But far from being an unprecedented “freak event”, the latest flood was nearly a foot below the level of one in 1974 and 10 feet below the record set in 1893."
-------------------
Australia was told to prepare for droughts as a result of climate change, and let down its guard against flooding, writes Christopher Booker
Snow-go Britain! UK hit by up to six inches leaving hundreds stuck on M40 (and Heathrow cancels flights BEFORE flakes even fell)
Daily Mail
"Since then, BAA has increased its Heathrow snowplough fleet by 68 to 185 at a cost of £32.4 million – part of a £50 million investment programme in equipment and staffing levels. But last night, as the Met Office placed most of Britain on amber alert, its second highest severe weather warning, the scrapping of flights by BAA prompted questions over why it had invested so heavily in equipment which appeared incapable of dealing with the weather. The decision was met with derision by passengers at the airport, where by 7pm yesterday a light covering of snow was on the ground although runways remained clear. Retired teacher Miriam Walters, 62, and husband Derek, 58, flew in on the 4.10pm flight from Moscow after visiting their daughter Penny. Mrs Walters said: ‘The runways at Moscow were covered with snow and still we managed to leave and arrive at our destination with no bother at all. It’s only when you go to other countries that you realise how pathetic we are at coping with a little bit of extreme weather.’
"Since then, BAA has increased its Heathrow snowplough fleet by 68 to 185 at a cost of £32.4 million – part of a £50 million investment programme in equipment and staffing levels. But last night, as the Met Office placed most of Britain on amber alert, its second highest severe weather warning, the scrapping of flights by BAA prompted questions over why it had invested so heavily in equipment which appeared incapable of dealing with the weather. The decision was met with derision by passengers at the airport, where by 7pm yesterday a light covering of snow was on the ground although runways remained clear. Retired teacher Miriam Walters, 62, and husband Derek, 58, flew in on the 4.10pm flight from Moscow after visiting their daughter Penny. Mrs Walters said: ‘The runways at Moscow were covered with snow and still we managed to leave and arrive at our destination with no bother at all. It’s only when you go to other countries that you realise how pathetic we are at coping with a little bit of extreme weather.’
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Snow and ice hits Britain as Europe freezes over
Telegraph
"Saturday saw the ice stretch across much of Britain, with skating on the fens, ice-climbing on waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons, and the Penines blanketed in snow.The sea froze off Dorset, and rivers and canals up and down the country were covered in ice as the temperature stayed below freezing point all day."
"Saturday saw the ice stretch across much of Britain, with skating on the fens, ice-climbing on waterfalls in the Brecon Beacons, and the Penines blanketed in snow.The sea froze off Dorset, and rivers and canals up and down the country were covered in ice as the temperature stayed below freezing point all day."
100 Tories revolt over wind farms
Telegraph
"A total of 101 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the “inefficient” onshore wind turbine industry are “dramatically cut”. .....Critics say wind farms are inefficient because the wind cannot be guaranteed to blow at times of greatest energy demand. They are also said to be unsightly, blighting the landscape. Wind farms are also accused of forcing up energy bills while swallowing disproportionate amounts of taxpayer-funded subsidies. The Tory MPs, including several of the party’s rising stars as well as former ministers, say it is wrong that hard-pressed consumers must pay for the expansion of onshore wind power."
"A total of 101 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the “inefficient” onshore wind turbine industry are “dramatically cut”. .....Critics say wind farms are inefficient because the wind cannot be guaranteed to blow at times of greatest energy demand. They are also said to be unsightly, blighting the landscape. Wind farms are also accused of forcing up energy bills while swallowing disproportionate amounts of taxpayer-funded subsidies. The Tory MPs, including several of the party’s rising stars as well as former ministers, say it is wrong that hard-pressed consumers must pay for the expansion of onshore wind power."
How green zealots are destroying the planet: The provocative claim from a writer vilified for denying global warming
Daily Mail
"Just imagine a world where you never had to worry about global warming, where the ice caps, the ‘drowning’ Maldives and the polar bears were all doing just fine.Imagine a world where CO2 was our friend, fossil fuels were a miracle we should cherish, and economic growth made the planet cleaner, healthier, happier and with more open spaces. Actually, there’s no need to imagine: it already exists. So why do so many people still believe otherwise? .......How come, against so much evidence, everyone from the BBC to your kids’ teachers to the Coalition government (though that may change somewhat now Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has resigned), to the President of the Royal Society to the Prince of Wales continues to pump out the message that man-made ‘climate change’ is a major threat? Why, when the records show that there has been no global warming since 1997, are we still squandering billions of pounds trying to avert it? .......Over the past 20 years, across the Western world, billions of pounds, dollars and euros have been squandered by governments on hare-brained schemes to ‘combat climate change’. Taxes have been raised, regulations increased, flights made more expensive, incandescent light bulbs banned, landscapes despoiled by ugly, bird-chomping wind farms, economic growth curtailed — all to deal with what now turns out to have been a non-existent problem: man-made CO2. .....As someone who loves long walks in unspoilt countryside and who wants a brighter future for his children, I’m sickened by the way environmental activists tar anyone who disagrees with them as a selfish, polluting, anti-science ‘denier’.
The real deniers are those ideological greens who refuse to look at hard evidence (not just pie-in-the-sky computer models which are no more accurate than the suspect data fed into them) and won’t accept that their well-intentioned schemes to make our world a better place are in fact making it uglier, poorer and less free."
"Just imagine a world where you never had to worry about global warming, where the ice caps, the ‘drowning’ Maldives and the polar bears were all doing just fine.Imagine a world where CO2 was our friend, fossil fuels were a miracle we should cherish, and economic growth made the planet cleaner, healthier, happier and with more open spaces. Actually, there’s no need to imagine: it already exists. So why do so many people still believe otherwise? .......How come, against so much evidence, everyone from the BBC to your kids’ teachers to the Coalition government (though that may change somewhat now Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has resigned), to the President of the Royal Society to the Prince of Wales continues to pump out the message that man-made ‘climate change’ is a major threat? Why, when the records show that there has been no global warming since 1997, are we still squandering billions of pounds trying to avert it? .......Over the past 20 years, across the Western world, billions of pounds, dollars and euros have been squandered by governments on hare-brained schemes to ‘combat climate change’. Taxes have been raised, regulations increased, flights made more expensive, incandescent light bulbs banned, landscapes despoiled by ugly, bird-chomping wind farms, economic growth curtailed — all to deal with what now turns out to have been a non-existent problem: man-made CO2. .....As someone who loves long walks in unspoilt countryside and who wants a brighter future for his children, I’m sickened by the way environmental activists tar anyone who disagrees with them as a selfish, polluting, anti-science ‘denier’.
The real deniers are those ideological greens who refuse to look at hard evidence (not just pie-in-the-sky computer models which are no more accurate than the suspect data fed into them) and won’t accept that their well-intentioned schemes to make our world a better place are in fact making it uglier, poorer and less free."
Colosseum closes and drivers abandon cars as snow falls on Rome for the first time in 26 YEARS
Daily Mail
#talian capital grinds to halt as severe weather halts traffic
#Locals shiver in tiled homes thanks to city's heating restrictions
#-36C temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 176
#Military on alert in the UK as temperatures drop and snowfall is predicted
#Over 11,000 villagers in Serbia trapped by snowdrifts and blizzards
#Death toll in Ukraine now 122, with 38 people killed by cold last night
#talian capital grinds to halt as severe weather halts traffic
#Locals shiver in tiled homes thanks to city's heating restrictions
#-36C temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 176
#Military on alert in the UK as temperatures drop and snowfall is predicted
#Over 11,000 villagers in Serbia trapped by snowdrifts and blizzards
#Death toll in Ukraine now 122, with 38 people killed by cold last night
Friday, 3 February 2012
Europe Battered By “Worst Cold In 25 Years” – 139 Dead…No Relief In Sight
NoTricksZone
"Germany’s no. 1 daily Bild (by circulation numbers) reports on the Killer Cold now paralyzing Europe and Asia, and calls it the worst in 25 years. The cold has hit Eastern Europe especially hard, with temperatures plummeting to -30°C throughout the Ukraine and Poland. So far the cold has claimed 139 lives, with 3 in Germany."
"Germany’s no. 1 daily Bild (by circulation numbers) reports on the Killer Cold now paralyzing Europe and Asia, and calls it the worst in 25 years. The cold has hit Eastern Europe especially hard, with temperatures plummeting to -30°C throughout the Ukraine and Poland. So far the cold has claimed 139 lives, with 3 in Germany."
Towns cut off and thousands trapped by worst flooding in Eastern Australia for 35 years
Daily Mail
"Towns have been cut off and thousands of residents evacuated after record flooding hit parts of New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia. The State Emergency Service in New South Wales said today that floodwaters, the worst for 35 years, have isolated more than 17,000 people across the state."
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With a record like this, why is Flannery Climate Commissioner? (Herald Sun, Australia)
"Chief Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery in 2007:
...even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and river systems "
"Towns have been cut off and thousands of residents evacuated after record flooding hit parts of New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia. The State Emergency Service in New South Wales said today that floodwaters, the worst for 35 years, have isolated more than 17,000 people across the state."
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With a record like this, why is Flannery Climate Commissioner? (Herald Sun, Australia)
"Chief Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery in 2007:
...even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and river systems "
Best to stay in the warm! Weekend travel chaos looms with big freeze sweeping across the country… as last night’s temperature fell to -11C
Daily Mail
"Temperature plunged to -11C in Buckinghamshire last night with similar temperatures recorded in South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Northumbria"
"Temperature plunged to -11C in Buckinghamshire last night with similar temperatures recorded in South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Northumbria"
Snow falls in Rome for the first time in 26 YEARS as -36c temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 150
Daily Mail
Capital of Italy usually has moderate temperatures but Colosseum is closed over ice fears
#Military on alert in the UK as temperatures drop and heavy snow fall is predicted
#Over 11,000 villagers in Serbia remain trapped by heavy snow and blizzards
#Temperatures across eastern Europe plummet to -30c amid fears of more deaths
#Death toll in Ukraine now stands at 101, with 38 people being killed by cold last night
Capital of Italy usually has moderate temperatures but Colosseum is closed over ice fears
#Military on alert in the UK as temperatures drop and heavy snow fall is predicted
#Over 11,000 villagers in Serbia remain trapped by heavy snow and blizzards
#Temperatures across eastern Europe plummet to -30c amid fears of more deaths
#Death toll in Ukraine now stands at 101, with 38 people being killed by cold last night
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Global Warming Witch Hunt
FOX News
"Meteorologist Joe Bastardi breaks down why global warming doesn’t follow weather patterns." (H/T Climate Depot)
"Meteorologist Joe Bastardi breaks down why global warming doesn’t follow weather patterns." (H/T Climate Depot)
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Bitter cold records broken in Alaska – all time coldest record nearly broken, but Murphy’s Law intervenes
WUWT
"Jim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment."
"Jim River, AK closed in on the all time record coldest temperature of -80°F set in 1971, which is not only the Alaska all-time record, but the record for the entire United States. Unfortunately, it seems the battery died in the weather station just at the critical moment."
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