Inhofe Speech: 'Consensus' Continues Freefall: Science and Scientists Challenge Man-Made Global Warming Fears
March 12, 2009
Read more at www.epw.senate.gov
Climate realism continues to be on the march.
I will now report to you about the skeptical Heartland Institute’s International Conference on Climate Change in New York City this week.
As the most outspoken critic of man-made global warming alarmism in the United States Senate, I am pleased to see the world’s largest-ever gathering of global warming skeptics assemble in New York City to confront the issue, “Global warming: Was it ever really a crisis?”
A lot has changed over the past six years since I started to speak out against the likes of Al Gore, the United Nations, and the Hollywood elite.
Perhaps the most notable change is the number of scientists no longer willing to be silenced. Certainly since Al Gore made his movie, hundreds of scientists have come out of the woodwork to refute the claims made by the alarmists.
The gathering of roughly 800 scientists, economists, legislators, policy activists, and media representatives at the second International Conference on Climate Change sponsored by the Heartland Institute provides clear evidence to the growing movement against alarmism.
I am happy that important voices are being heard in New York, including:
Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic and of the European Union. He said in remarks to the conference, “Today’s debate about global warming is essentially a debate about freedom. The environmentalists would like to mastermind each and every possible aspect of our lives.”
Climate scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of the world’s leading experts in dynamic meteorology, especially planetary waves. He told the gathering in New York momentum is with the skeptics, saying, “We will win this debate for we are right and they are wrong”.
Others attending included:
William Gray of Colorado State University, who has testified before the EPW Committee.
Stephen McIntyre is the primary author of Climate Audit, a blog devoted to the analysis and discussion of climate data. He is a devastating critic of the temperature record of the past 1,000 years, particularly the work of Michael E. Mann, creator of the infamous “hockey stick” graph. That graph--thoroughly discredited in scientific circles--supposedly proved that mankind is responsible for a sharp increase in greenhouse gases.
Chemist Dr. Arthur Robinson, curator of a global warming petition signed by more than 32,000 American scientists, including more than 10,000 with doctorate degrees, rejecting the alarmist assertion that global warming has put the Earth in crisis and is caused primarily by mankind.
Dr. Willie Soon, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who has also testified before the EPW Committee.
Retired, award-winning NASA Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Roy Spencer who is now with University of Alabama at Huntsville.
Here is a very small sampling of recent inconvenient climate developments and news:
NYT: Prominent Geologist Dr. Don Easterbrook warns we are in 'decades-long global cooling spell' - March 11, 2009
NASA warming scientist 'suffering from a bad case of megalomania' -- former supervisor says - March 11, 2009 – Business & Media Institute
Excerpt: John Theon, a retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist spoke to an audience at The Heartland Institute’s 2009 International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) in New York on March 11 about the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, saying he should be fired. Hansen is widely known for his outspokenness on the issue of manmade global warming. “I have publicly said I thought Jim Hansen should be fired,” Theon said. “But, my opinion doesn’t count much, particularly when he is empowered by people like the current president of the United States. I’m not sure what we can do to have him get off of the public payroll and continue with the campaign or crusade. I think the man is sincere, but he is suffering from a bad case of megalomania.”
NASA Warming Scientist Under Fire -- From Former Supervisor...'Jim Hansen should be fired' - March 11, 2009 – Business & Media Institute
Excerpt: In 2001, Hansen received a $250,000 Heinz Environment Award for his research on global warming, an award named for deceased Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa. His widow, Teresa Heinz Kerry is now married to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who ran for president in 2004. Hansen later publicly endorsed Kerry for the presidency and according to Theon, that’s a problem for Hansen. “Yes, that is absolutely illegal,” Theon said. “There is a law called the Hatch Act, which prevents any civil servant, including Jim Hansen from endorsing any political cause publicly and he certainly did that. That alone is grounds for firing, and if not imprisonment or fine.” But Hansen has avoided retribution for violation of the Hatch Act, a law that restricts the political activity of executive branch employees of the federal government, because he is well-connected, according to Theon. “People have complained to me, the inspector general of NASA, and they say because of Hansen’s very powerful political connections, it has had no effect to date,” he said. Theon explained that Hansen rose to prominence in the global warming debate when he was invited by former Vice President Al Gore to testify before Congress when Gore was a member of the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Government Meteorologist Claims 'Gross, Blatant Censorship' for Speaking Out Against Climate Alarmism – Business & Media Institute - March 9, 2009
By Stanley Goldenberg, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) Hurricane Research Division
Excerpt: The debate, as you also know, is masked by media censorship, bias and distortion,” Goldenberg said. “I’m interviewed quite bit on many, many levels and thankfully most of our interviews are benign. They’re trying to get out to the public.” Goldenberg explained that as a skeptic of the anthropogenic global warming theory, he had firsthand experience, and he challenged the media to give a positive spin to the ICCC event. “[I]’ve seen gross, gross blatant censorship,” Goldenberg said. “If you’re here from the media I’d be glad to argue with you from firsthand experience. I challenge anybody from a mainstream media source to take or print a positive report on this conference. They won’t get it past the editor. If they do, miracles do happen.” Goldenberg disputes the theory hurricanes are significantly impacted by global warming. And he claimed his colleagues at other hurricane research institutions dispute it as well. “Not a single, to my knowledge – not a single scientist at the National Hurricane Center, the Hurricane Research Division, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center – I’m trying to find out about the Central Pacific Hurricane Center – believe that hurricanes – numbers, activity – that there’s any measurable impact from any so-called global warming.”
Recession byproduct - a cut in emissions - March 11, 2009 – Boston Globe
Excerpt: New figures being released today show the recession helped drive down global warming emissions from Northeast power plants last year to their lowest levels in at least nine years. […] The drop in emissions may be good for the environment, but was not seen as reason for celebration. "What does this say about the state of the economy?" said Robert Rio, senior vice president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts "We could get 100 percent below the cap if we shut every business and moved them out of state."
NASA Moonwalker & Geologist Harrison Schmitt: Climate change alarmists ‘intentionally mislead’ – March 11, 2009 – Business & Media Institute
Excerpt: Last month Apollo 17 astronaut and moonwalker Harrison Schmitt added his voice to the growing chorus of scientists speaking out against the anthropogenic [manmade] global warming (AGW) theory. In strongly worded comments he said the theory was a ‘political tool.’ Now, in a speech at the International Conference on Climate Change he outlined his argument in great detail saying, “the science of climate change and its causes is not settled.” Schmitt recalled as a child in Silver City, New Mexico helping his father, also a geologist, take rain measurements. Those early experiments spurred the former astronaut’s interest in earth sciences at an early age. He recalled how later in life, while on the surface of the moon, he made weather forecasts for the southern hemisphere of the earth. In wide ranging commentary, Dr. Schmitt m ade a point by point argument against many of the things that global warming advocates point to in support of the theory. In a similar vein to his comments last month, he continued to admonish scientists and politicians that have politicized the issue and said those that disagree do have a battle ahead of them. […] He said, “Several indisputable facts appear evident in geological and climate science that make me a true, quote, denier, unquote of human caused global warming. The conclusion seems inescapable that nature produces the primary influences on climate.”
NY Times Columnist Tom Friedman: Man-Made Global Warming Skeptics are 'crazy radicals' - March 10, 2009 - The Salt Lake Tribune
EPA May Require Factories to Report Warming Emissions – Bloomberg News – March 10, 2009
Excerpt: Chemical, steel, automobile and other energy-intensive factories would have to submit annual reports to the federal government on their greenhouse gas emissions under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal that lays a foundation for fighting global warming. About 13,000 facilities that account for as much as 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions would have to comply, the EPA said in a statement today.
A freezing legacy for our children – March 11, 2009
By James A. Marusek, Nuclear Physicist and Engineer, retired U. S. Department of Navy
Excerpt: There is a lot of talk these days about the legacy we will leave our children and our grandchildren. When I stare into the immediate future, I see a frightening legacy caked in darkness and famine. Instead of intelligently preparing, we find ourselves whittling away this precious time chasing fraudulent theories. […] Climate change is primarily driven by nature. It has been true in the days of my father and his father and all those that came before us. Because of science, not junk science, we have slowly uncovered some of the fundamental mysteries of nature.
New Study: THE EVIDENCE IS THAT THE OCEAN IS COOLING, NOT WARMING – March 10, 2009
Excerpt: Cooling of the global ocean since 2003 - By Craig Loehle, Ph.D. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI)
ABSTRACT: Ocean heat content data from 2003 to 2008 (4.5 years) were evaluated for trend. […] The result is consistent with other data showing a lack of warming over the past few years.
The crumbling case for global warming – National Post - March 10, 2009
Has the canary in the coal mine died--of frostbite? - March 10, 2009
Nenana Ice Classic: Alaska River Ice now 60% thicker than it was five years ago
Flashback: "The Nenana Ice Classic is a pretty good proxy for climate change in the 20th century," Dr. Jeffries said.
UK Telegraph asks: “Why does the BBC treat us like morons over climate change?’ – March 11, 2009
Excerpt: Does the BBC have a shred of credibility left in its coverage of global warming? […] The BBC has bought hook, line and sinker the most apocalyptic assessment of the impact of global warming and is not going to allow a more informed and grown-up debate to take place. Is that what we want from a public service broadcaster?
Scientist: Anti-CO2 Campaign Like An Atom Bomb On U.S. Economy - Investor's Business Daily – March 9, 2009
By Atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia and served as the founding director of the US Weather Satellite Service. We conclude therefore that the drive to reduce CO2 emissions is not concern about climate.[…] Ultimately, ideology may be what's fueling the CO2 wars.
Climate Change Skeptics, Unite: Heartland Institute’s ‘Other’ Global Warming Gabfest – Wall Street Journal – March 9, 2009
Climate 'denial' is now a mental disorder – UK Telegraph – Christopher Booker - March , 2009
Excerpt: At the University of the West of England in Bristol this weekend, a conference of "eco-psychologists", led by a professor, are solemnly exploring the notion that "climate change denial" should be classified as a form of "mental disorder".
Dueling Climate Meetings Aim to Steer Policy – Washington Post – March 11, 2009
Excerpt: According to session summaries, presenters discussed the "potential policy disasters flowing from global warming alarmists" and declared that resisting the mainstream scientific finding that climate change is a real and potentially significant threat, is really a fight against "energy rationing."
Left-wing columnist Alexander Cockburn a climate skeptic – John Fund – March 11, 2009
Excerpt: My most memorable exchange was with Alexander Cockburn, the left-wing columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the Nation magazine. Mr. Cockburn has undergone blistering attacks since he first dissented from the global warming "consensus" in 2007. "I've felt like the object of a witch hunt," he says. "One former Sierra Club board member suggested I should be criminally prosecuted." Mr. Cockburn was at the conference collecting material for his forthcoming book "A Short History of Fear," in which he will explore the link between fear-mongering and climate catastrophe proponents. "No one on the left is comfortable talking about science," he told me. "They don't feel they can easily get their arms around it, so they don't think about it much. As a result, they are prone to any peddler of ideas that reinforce their pre-existing prejudices. One would be that there is a population explosion that must be dealt with by slowing down economies." I asked him how he felt hanging around with so many people who have a more conservative viewpoint than he does. "It's been good fun and I've learned a lot," he told me. "I think what they are saying on this topic is looking better and better."
# #
|
