For all those climate alarmists who are up in arms about what they consider the billions of dollars supposedly supporting CAGW skeptics, here's a bit of reality therapy: The money supporting alarmism amounts to about $1.5 TRILLION a year, according to an expensive 200 page report on the climate change consulting market that came out in April, summarized by Don Jergler in his July 30 Insurance Journal article "Is Climate Change Now Its Own Industry?" Jergler reports, "The $1.5 trillion global … [Read more...]
It’s Official: July 2015 Is, and Isn’t, the Hottest Month on Record!
NOAA breathlessly reports, "July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded for the globe." CNN, USA Toady---oops, that's USA Today---, BBC, and lots of other mainstream media lapdogs all obediently reported it. But laymen need to pause for a deep breath before panicking. First, "ever recorded" means back to 1880 (conveniently leaving out the Holocene Climate Optimum, Minoan Warm Period, Roman Warm Period, and Medieval Warm Period, all of which exceeded modern temperatures), and "recorded" means by … [Read more...]
A Mere Couple of Degrees, a Mere Single Thermometer–and a Matter of Integrity
Climatologist Patrick Michaels detected an error in the temperature record at Reagan National Airport recently, and reported it to the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang, which confirmed the error and duly reported it to the National Weather Service, which acknowledged the error and replaced the instrument (which for the last year and a half has been reading 1.7 degrees F too high). So far so good. But then, as Michaels reports and comments: ... the National Weather Service told the Capital … [Read more...]
Extra! Extra! Missing AGW Intensifies California Drought!
The Old Gray Lady's (aka New York Times) perennial climate alarmist reporter Justin Gillis eagerly reported a new paper, “Contribution of anthropogenic warming to California drought during 2012-2014,” published in Geophysical Research Letters, claiming that anthropogenic global warming (AGW) might have intensified the current California drought by 15 to 20 percent. Alas, nasty facts get in the way, like these: The drought started in 2012, but there's been no statistically significant global … [Read more...]
Fur and the No-Need Argument
Animal rights activists and so-called animal protectionists regularly argue that the public shouldn’t buy or wear fur because it is no longer needed. Fur may have been necessary in the olden days, they concede, but for modern, civilized, and presumably technologically advanced humans, fur is a cruel and gratuitous clothing choice. The puritanical nature of the argument can be seen easily by reading sample letters created by The Humane Society of the United States, a prominent animal-rights … [Read more...]
Lions, Babies, and Moral Outrage
Properly aligned morals requires that weightier matters deserve more care and justify greater umbrage when violated. If one wanted a classic example of the upending of the moral hierarchy, one need look only at the juxtaposition of two stories, Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of baby parts and the killing of Cecil, a lion in Zimbabwe. Note the irony in how the two events are discussed. First, the dentist claims that he thought the hunt was legal. So if we take his reported comments at face … [Read more...]
Focusing on Low Carbon Development to curb climate change will hurt cities
In addition to economic growth, should improving the climate be an important goal of government policy? The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate offers ten recommendations designed to help countries of all income levels achieve these two goals. Their first recommendation is that cities “commit to developing and implementing low-carbon urban development strategies by 2020.” This includes prioritizing investments in non-motorized transport and renewable energy. Policy to achieve this goal … [Read more...]
Is John Cook, 97% Consensus Author, an Identity Thief?
As "everybody knows"---hey, even President Obama lectured us on the fact!---97% of all scientists agree: global warming is real and dangerous, and we must take drastic steps to stop it. The "researcher" behind that claim is University of Western Australia psychology postgraduate John Cook, whose "study" has been torn to shreds for bad data handling, bad sampling, bad literature interpretation, and horrendous statistical methodology. Cook is also the main man behind the climate alarmist website … [Read more...]
Is Pope Francis Contributing to Human Trafficking?
Speaking to a gathering of mayors from around the world at the Vatican July 21, Pope Francis urged action to reduce global warming, saying he particularly hopes the UN climate summit later this year will address how it "affects the trafficking of people." Problem #1: Human-induced climate change has not affected the trafficking of people, or even migration in general. The one and only candidate for climate-change refugee status, a man from the island of Kiribati, just lost his case on appeal, … [Read more...]
Ethanol: A Federally Mandated Killer
Terry Scanlon of the Capital Research Center leads his latest email this way: When you gas your car with 10% ethanol, you're dragged into the Renewable Fuel Standard morass run by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). This environmentalist policy is so terrible, even the greens have turned against it. But as a government program, it's immortal. Our latest "Green Watch" documents how this disaster funnels money from consumers to crony capitalists, reduces your car's mileage, raises food … [Read more...]
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