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June 27, 2006Yes, Global Warming is Hoo-HahAn email from a nail-bitten Global Warming True Believer challenged me to explain why I don’t believe in the inevitable terrors of Global Warming. This person wondered how, since I am not a scientist, I am not a sophisticate and I am - gasp - a rightwingnutjob, could I possibly speak credibly on the issue and why don’t I believe people like Al Gore and Bill Clinton - after all, they’ve never lied to me before, like that lying liar, Dubya. Well, if you’re looking for degrees in Earth Science, then I can’t speak credibly on Global Warming. Then again, Al Gore has no degree in Earth Science, either, and he seems to have plenty of credibility on this issue for some, so many being a scientist is not necessary…maybe you just have to have a brain and the ability to breathe in and out. Quite aside from the fact that I rarely if ever give credence to an “issue” once the press goes orthodox on it (I remember too many headlines growing up - The New Celibacy! The New Thriftiness! The Coming Ice Age! - to take mass-movements seriously) I have three reasons in particular why I do not buy into the warming hysteria. 1) As Fausta wrote only yesterday, there is no consensus on global warming. You can find scientists who say yea and nay. (I suspect, you can probably find more politicians than scientists saying yea.) As with opinion polls, you can find data to support any theory you want to - which is why 3o years ago, there was all that staggering, scary data about the coming Ice Age. I read parts of Bjorn Lomborg’s The Skeptical Environmentalist and found him persuasive, but what I found even more persuasive was the fact that he (a respected scientist) and former media-darling Michael Crichton (author of State of Fear, which dared to take on the enviro orthodoxy) were both dissed and dismissed by their former worshippers, because they took the politically incorrect stand. If a movement has no room for disagreement, it is generally a fragile movement built on a shaky foundation - one that will not allow the stomped foot of dissent. Such a movement is not credible. And yes, I feel the same way about some of the conservative “movements” with which I disagree. The truth is, out of 100 scientists, only 19 will tell you Global Warming is real, which is why Oprah needs to discuss it with Leonardo DiCaprio - that’s what you do when all you have is an idea you want to promote - you market it. 2) I possess recent memory and it serves me well. My recent memory can look back at a summer ten years ago wherein the horrific heat was finally broken with an 8 day deluge that had mothers everywhere beating their kids because they couldn’t take another day of indoors shenanigans. That’s too recent, you say? We were already in the clutches of Global Warming ten years ago, but didn’t know it? Okay, 15 years ago, I recall Mount Pinatubo erupting and spewing so much ash into the atmosphere that much of the world enjoyed a wonderfully mild summer …which means that you can’t look at THAT particular year and say, “see, the earth is getting warmer…” because the cool temps of that summer were an anamoly caused by a natural earth science phenomenon…there are lots and lots of natural phenomena, btw - the earth is always cooling and heating, but I digress. I can remember back to the 1970’s when I lived in a different state, and my father received newspaperclips from a friend reporting on the sweltering summer heat of NYC, which was killing people. Thirty years ago not far enough back for you? Auntie Lily recalls people passing out and staggering around with heat stroke in August, 75 years ago. Of course, they wore more clothing, then, but it was hot out. Whenever you hear an affable TV weather guy say “the hottest day since 104 years ago when we reached (whatever) degrees,” you have to take a second to realize that - ummmm…104 years ago we had hot weather, then cool…then hot again. 3) My third and most emphatic reason for disbelieving all the Global Warming hoo-hah is a simple one that lots of true believers probably won’t understand. If the people promoting the hysteria on warming were serious - if the issue were a real one and not simply a political tool, then the hyper-concerned folks would be welcoming and heralding thoughtful environmental programs and helpful policies from any-and-all quarters, even - gasp - from the right. Even - gaspgasp - from George W. Bush. (You know, the guy who frees oppressed women and is cursed at by the feminists, the guy who keeps an eco-friendly ranch and is restoring the destroyed wetlands of Iraq and is hated by the enviros.) You probably don’t know what I am talking about. You probably have no idea that President Bush has been working with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia on a creative - not Kyoto - environmental policy. …the agreement comprises countries that account for 45% of the world’s population and about half the world’s economic output and greenhouse gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide, implicated in raising surface temperatures. More Asian countries may soon join the pact. A major focus will be clean-coal technology. The US is the Saudi Arabia of coal, with the world’s largest supply, and China and Australia are also large producers and users. The deal also seeks more alternatives to fossil fuels with both low emissions and high efficiency - not just nuclear, wind, even biotechnology and nanotechnology. Yes, I know - you don’t know about it and you don’t want to know about it, because you have way too much invested in other narratives. But the fact remains that if Al Gore or Bill Clinton or whoever else is ringing the sky-is-falling alarm bells were serious about Global Warming…if they really, actually believed that it was real, that it was, as Clinton says, “the most urgent issue of our time, more urgent than terrorism…” then rather than ignore this program, they’d have applauded this effort between co-operating nations. Instead, the story got sniffed at with disdain, was pronounced some sort of political manuever and then strangled to death from a lack of oxygen. Certain quarters are very good at suffocating stories that don’t fit memes. So, you know…if the big boys of Global Warming aren’t really taking the issue seriously…if they find it so unserious as to allow the issue to be used as a political wedge or a rabble-rousing sound-bite, and that’s all…well, then I don’t have to take it seriously, either. The Global Warming Hysteria Movement, complete with Media overhype, is not real. The proof is in the politics of it. It is a means to an end. To what end, I’m not sure. Flopping Aces has a really good example of what I’m talking about - note the media spin by the AP - it’s pretty outrageous. Blue Crab Boulevard writes that the AP’s dishonest spin is so egregious, in fact, that even the US Senate has noticed and objected. Siggy points to a report that reads “To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful.” That’s because as Fausta writes again today, in more detail, there is no consensus on Global Warming. Gateway Pundit notes it, too. I’m wondering why we should believe a press that will blow off one president’s request not to give up national security secrets while all-too-obediently working to give credence to pretty much anything a former president says it should. Superfun Power Hour is also disgusted by the AP’s absurd attempt to make 19% sound like 100. Kobayashi Maru has a good post with thoughtful commentary by his readers. Big Lizards get the final word, and deservedly so. UPDATE: Siggy sends these links for some interesting reading: http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/cause.htm http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/ http://www.junkscience.com/MSU_Temps/Warming_Proxies_Glance.htm http://www.junkscience.com/MSU_Temps/Warming_Look.htm http://www.junkscience.com/MSU_Temps/Climate_quick_pick.htm Related: Global Warming is Hoo-ha, Part II. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/06/27/yes-global-warming-is-hoo-hah/trackback/ 15 Responses to “Yes, Global Warming is Hoo-Hah” |
June 27th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Great, great post.
You said, about global warming, “The proof is in the politics of it. It is a means to an end. To what end, I’m not sure.”
Might I humbly suggest the end that will be served is the same as the agenda of those that are proponants of ‘The Global Warming Hysteria Movement.’
Shortest distance, straight lines and all that.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
[...] The anchoress has a post up responding to a global warming true believer. She get’s quite pithy in her remarks. Worth checking out. So, you know…if the big boys of Global Warming aren’t really taking the issue seriously…if they find it so unserious as to allow the issue to be used as a political wedge or a rabble-rousing sound-bite, and that’s all…well, then I don’t have to take it seriously, either. [...]
June 27th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
[...] The Anchoress [...]
June 27th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
AP shills for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth
This U.S. Senate committee report provides detail:June 27, 2006 The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled “Scientists OK Gore’s Movie for Accuracy” by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP’s bias and methodology. A…
June 27th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
I am starting to get worried because I hear pro-global-warming talk coming out of Republicans besides the usual suspects, like McCain. I surely hope a deal wasn’t cut with the Europeans last week when President Bush went a-calling…and the Euros started co-operating. Those Euro-buggers can’t resist their Socialist centrally-planned-economy roots even. Instead of a planned free market for their “carbon credits”(otherwise known as balloon juice)–trading on exchanges at a market determined price-I saw this–”The European Union’s carbon market should set a minimum price for pollution permits to send a firmer signal to industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the government-funded Carbon Trust said on Wednesday.” (Reuters, June 21) Yep. If you going to steal money from the US you have to make sure you steal a lot and not take the chance that the free market will set too low a price for those magic carbon credits. Now explain to me once again how moving energy-efficient US factories to India and China will make a difference besides making things worse with the dirty energy use there? Are India and China on another planet(did I miss that day at school?) And how will paying those Europeans help? Besides bailing them out of the mess they made with their economy, I mean…
As for clean-coal technology, forget it. Remember, even if we can achieve 100% combustion efficiency under the old common-sense rules(meaning that the burning is pollution free)it will still produce carbon dioxide, their new “demon gas”. Burning ANY hydrocarbon(or carbohydrate, like in your body)at 100% efficiency yields carbon dioxide and water— by those pesky laws of chemistry, as demonstrated by those chemical balance equations you all hated in your high-school and college chemistry classes.
“(Washington, DC) The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to classify water vapor as a pollutant, due to its central role in global warming. Because water vapor is the dominant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, accounting for at least 90% of the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect, its emission during many human activities, such as the burning of fuels, is coming under increasing scrutiny by federal regulators.” (ecoEnquirer
HEAVEN HELP US!
June 28th, 2006 at 6:21 am
Weds AM
Vote for Miss Hoosegow 2006, at Iowahawk. They are almost as cute as the Wal-Mart girls (see below)Climate scientists say Gore is an embarassment. The AP ignores them.Very windy and rainy here today: Thanks, George Bush for the rain- it is soaking in al
June 28th, 2006 at 7:19 am
Senate smacks AP, Gore down
Super serial
The AP recently ran an ad for article about Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, claiming that scientists gave the scare-fest two thumbs up.
The nations top climate scientists are giving “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore s docu…
June 28th, 2006 at 10:30 am
[...] UPDATE: Do read The Anchoress on this matter. She's knocked it out of the park, I think. [...]
June 28th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
[...] The Anchoress, in Yes, Global Warming Is Hoo Hah, minces no word. Her post is replete with logical conclusions, rational thinking and other, more credible, voices. She finds it hard to take the manufactured and crafted hysteria seriously: The Global Warming Hysteria Movement, complete with Media overhype, is not real. The proof is in the politics of it. It is a means to an end. To what end, I’m not sure. [...]
June 28th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
I guess this…
Just blows the hell out of Right Wing denials eh? But of course, Paul from Wizbang (One of the frequent denialist), knows more than these scientist. Or at least thinks he does. WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation’s top climate scientists…
August 21st, 2006 at 9:43 pm
[...] Related: Yes, Global Warming is Hoo-hah [...]
September 8th, 2006 at 12:15 am
i’m a student in brisbane australia, and may i just firstly comment on the AP6 you were discussing as having reasonable alternatives to the kyoto protocol - alternatives that are, in essence, facades to make the governments of these countries appear to being doing something constructive. One of their major arguments against the Kyoto Protocol is that it doesn’t put a limit for greenhouse gas emissions on developing countries like China and India. However, neither does AP6 - maybe your Bush government does lie to you…
Secondly, comparing Bush to Al Gore is like comparing apples and oranges… Al Gore is a liberal minded, educated man who would have become your president had some monkey and his rich relatives not pulled the right strings on election day to ensure their success. He evidently has done research into the matter of global warming (as he has managed to put together a film with quite a convincing argument behind it), and has found the evidence Bush frequently states he needs in order to believe that global warming is actually occurring. The effects of climate change are actually already apparent in Australia, as far away from your little world it may be, and our beautiful Great Barrier Reef is bleached and our dams at their lowest capacity they have ever been. We have been in a drought for the last few years, and the only alternative to the problem seems to be creating more problems - a new dam (for which there is no certainty it will fill up and supply us with water) which will destroy a vital environment and kill an ancient species of lungfish specific to that area.
When discussing something as monumental as whether or not global warming is or isn’t occuring, perhaps one should actually research both sides of the argument…there is quite astounding evidence, if you had bothered to look, which indicates that human activity for the last two centuries has in fact changed the natural climate cycle of our earth and that current trends are not in sync with past trends (before the Industrial Revolution, when fossil fuels, coal and oil began to be used on a large scale). You also seem to be confused on the arguments of most cynics - they do not point blank refuse to believe that the world is warming and that the ice caps of greenland are melting, they simply provide alternative reasons why this is happening. Your statement that perhaps one doesn’t need to be a scientist to have an opinion on global warming is in fact a very valid point - i am a 17 year old who has been brought up to consider environmental issues as much as any others, and through reading on the matter (on both sides of the argument), I have managed to come up with a balanced opinion on the matter that is far from the blind faith of ‘marketing the issue in Oprah’ that you suggest. I, in turn, suggest to you that you read ‘The Weather Makers’ by Tim Flannery - perhaps then you may be in the position to blog on an issue you clearly do not fully comprehend. BTW - do not hold that much faith in George Bush - his values as a President are clearly based on finding and owning oil resources and maintaining America’s status as the world’s superpower, and therefore he is not an unbiased source on the matter.
February 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
[...] I wrote here: If the people promoting the hysteria on warming were serious - if the issue were a real one and [...]
February 26th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
[...] can’t say it enough: if the big boys of Global Warming aren’t really taking the issue seriously…if they find it so [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 2:50 am
[...] I have to work on Concise. I actually expressed a similar sentiment a long time ago, when I wrote: …if the big boys of Global Warming aren’t really taking the issue [...]