310707 Marc Morano’s Round-up - July 31, 2007
GOP Prez. Candidate Fred Thompson mocks global warming fears
Excerpt: [Thompson] compared scientists who insist global warming is ruining nature to those true believers about 400 years ago who insisted the Earth is flat. "Ask Galileo," he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003810840_fred29.html
[Note: See below articles on Greenland to see what can be accomplished with a few notebooks full of current peer-reviewed scientific studies]
ABC News: Congressional trip to Greenland marked by heated global warming debates
Excerpt: [Senator Barbara] Boxer said that Morano, who took part in the trip, consistently challenged scientists whom the senators met. < >
Morano, GOP Environment and Public Works Committee spokesman, published a bulletin Monday morning refuting the notion of global warming. Titled http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=175b568a-802a-23ad-4c69-9bdd978fb3cd
"Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt," the blog entry lists a series of scientific studies that call into question the human element many view as the cause behind global warming. "The very latest research reveals massive Greenland melt fears are not sustainable. Current Greenland temperatures are neither alarming nor linked to a rise in man-made carbon dioxide emissions," wrote Morano.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3429160
Senator Boxer calls skeptical challenges to UN scientist "really very illuminating."
Excerpt: "These studies suggest that the biggest perceived threat to Greenland's glaciers may be contained in unproven computer models predicting a future catastrophic melt," Morano wrote, noting that U.N. scientist Jim Renwick has acknowledged that "half of the variability in the climate system is not predictable, so we don't expect to do terrifically well [in forecasting what will happen]." Boxer acknowledged Morano's presence on the trip, noting that he frequently challenged scientists with those and other studies, and said his objections were "really very illuminating." Morano said he couldn't speak for the senators' views on the subject but told Cybercast News Service, "what all the senators and I saw was nothing more than natural climate variability and normal summer melt of Greenland's glaciers." "The senators were shown nothing alarming," he said. "They were shown Greenland during the summer during a melt ... that was still not as warm as the Greenland of the 1920s and 30s, according to the peer-reviewed research."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200707/POL20070731a.html
California Residents Are 'Green' Hypocrites, Poll Finds
Excerpt: Many Californians' alarmed talk about global warming amounts to a lot of hot air. Experts say residents are growing more opinionated on the issue -- and hypocritical. A survey by the Public Policy Institute of California shows most residents think dirty air from cars is helping foster disasters such as drought and hurting their health through ailments such as asthma. < > "More Californians are associating global warming with a greater variety of environmental threats. It's not just air pollution. It's concern over increased droughts and flooding," Baldassare said. But the poll released last week also found two-thirds of workers put up with pain at the gasoline pump so they can drive solo to jobs -- a fourth in SUVs. Just 13 percent carpool and 7 percent use public transit. "You have to wonder about the gap between behavior and opinions," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. < > "It's easy to tell a pollster you're willing to sacrifice for a cleaner environment," Pitney said. "But it's harder to do it."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873452/posts
Weather Channel Climate Host (Heidi Cullen) discusses Impact of Senator Inhofe’s Blog, DrudgeReport.com & Rush Limbaugh:
Excerpt: The next thing I knew, I was being denounced on the Web sites of Senator James Inhofe, Matt Drudge and http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/rush_limbaugh/index.html?inline=nyt-perRush Limbaugh. The Weather Channel’s own Web site got about 4,000 e-mails in one day, mostly angry.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/science/earth/31conv.html?ei=5090&en=c4f296f1a3a83d84&ex=1343534400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Flashback: Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics (January 17, 2007)
Excerpt: Heidi Cullen wrote: "If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval.”
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=32ABC0B0-802A-23AD-440A-88824BB8E528
Flashback: Weather Channel TV Host Goes 'Political'- Stars in Global Warming Film Accusing U.S. Government of ‘Criminal Neglect’ (Jan. 26, 2007)
Excerpt: The Weather Channel’s top climate expert -- http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=32abc0b0-802a-23ad-440a-88824bb8e528
already under fire for advocating the scientific decertification of global warming skeptics -- is one of the stars of a new politically charged global warming documentary that, according to the film's website, accuses the U.S. government of “criminal neglect” and blames “right-wing think tanks” for helping to “defeat climate-friendly legislation.”
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=5CC23ACD-802A-23AD-4F6A-DED3B52FE522
Flashback: AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST STRIKES BACK AT WEATHER CHANNEL CALL FOR DECERTIFICATION
Excerpt: James Spann: I do not know of a single TV meteorologist who buys into the man-made global warming hype. I know there must be a few out there, but I can’t find them. < > Billions of dollars of grant money is flowing into the pockets of those on the man-made global warming bandwagon. No man-made global warming, the money dries up. This is big money, make no mistake about it. Always follow the money trail and it tells a story. Even the lady at “The Weather Channel” probably gets paid good money for a prime time show on climate change. No man-made global warming, no show, and no salary. Nothing wrong with making money at all, but when money becomes the motivation for a scientific conclusion, then we have a problem. For many, global warming is a big cash grab.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=3a9bc8a4-802a-23ad-4065-7dc37ec39adf
‘Vegansexuals' pledge no sex with meat-eaters
Excerpt: Vegansexuals are people who do not eat any meat or animal products, and who choose not to be sexually intimate with non-vegan partners whose bodies, they say, are made up of dead animals. < > Many female respondents described being attracted to people who ate meat, but said they did not want to have sex with meat-eaters because their bodies were made up of animal carcasses. "I would not want to be intimate with someone whose body is literally made up from the bodies of others who have died for their sustenance," she said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/AAMB4/aamsz=300x44_MULTILINK/4147483a6009.html
Boxer vows action on climate change as lawmakers spend weekend abroad
Excerpt: Global warming skeptics say fears of melting ice sheets in Greenland are overblown. "The conditions are neither alarming nor linked to a rise in manmade carbon dioxide emissions, according to many of the latest peer-reviewed scientific findings," said Mark Morano, a spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican who has called global warming a hoax. Morano accompanied the senators on the trip. Inhofe did not go. [EPW’s Morano note: First off, Senator Inhofe called fears of a man-made catastrophic global warming a ‘hoax’ not global warming. Second, Senator Inhofe has already been to Greenland about a decade ago)
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007307310004
Senator Bob Corker (who was on Greenland trip) notes climate changes have ‘been going on for thousands of years’
Corker related that while a large part of the scientific community believe that man is responsible for climate change, there are also a number of those who disagree. < > "I don't think there's any question that our climate is changing, but that's been going on for thousands of years," Corker explained. He also reminded reporters that the country was first called Greenland by Viking explorers who farmed there. "Even the most zealous scientists, even they aren't predicting that it would happen in a short amount of time," Corker said. < > Corker also said he realized there are two sides to the debate -- from those who are exclusively focused on man-made warming to those who "are greatly concerned about our energy security."
http://www.t-g.com/story/1234497.html
Senator Isakson Dismisses Climate Change Worries
Excerpt: Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia got a firsthand look at effects of global warming with a trip to Greenland, but the Georgia republican says it hasn't convinced him that more urgent steps are needed. Isakson said the weekend trip reinforced his belief that the United States should gradually move away from fossil fuels like oil and coal. But he said he remains unconvinced that the current warming is a departure from long-term natural cycles.
http://www.wneg32.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WNEG/MGArticle/NEG_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352201042&path
GOP Senator’s on Greenland Trip Comment on Climate Science
Excerpt: Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) "The question is: To what extent is carbon accelerating the changes? The answer to that question is: No one knows for sure."
< > Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)issued his own statement signaling he was not ready to move on carbon caps because of economic and scientific uncertainties. "We're digging in to understand this issue in great detail so that we can play a meaningful role as it is debated," Corker said. "We don't want to react impulsively and enact something that we can't reverse in the future if there are unintended negative consequences or our understanding of this issue evolves." < > Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has been an outspoken critic of the view that humans are the main cause of rising earth temperatures. Marc Morano, GOP Environment and Public Works Committee spokesman, published a bulletin Monday morning refuting the notion of global warming. Titled "Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt," http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=175b568a-802a-23ad-4c69-9bdd978fb3cd the blog entry lists a series of scientific studies that call into question the human element many view as the cause behind global warming. "The very latest research reveals massive Greenland melt fears are not sustainable. Current Greenland temperatures are neither alarming nor linked to a rise in man-made carbon dioxide emissions," wrote Morano. http://www.eenews.net/gw (Subscription required) Who Put the ‘Green’ in Gruntland? Excerpt: The name "Greenland" comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his extended family and thralls, set out in ships to find the land that was rumored to be to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Graenland ("Greenland"), possibly in order to attract more people to settle there Greenland was also called Gruntland ("Ground-land") and Engronelant (or Engroneland) on early maps. Whether "Green" is an erroneous transcription of Grunt ("Ground"), which refers to shallow bays or vice versa, is not known. It should also be noted, however, that the southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glacier) is indeed very green in the summer and was likely even greener in Erik's time. http://www.cnsnews.com/facts/factorama.asp New Book: Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming by Bjorn Lomborg will be released on September 4, 2007. Excerpt: A groundbreaking book that transforms the debate about global warming by offering a fresh perspective based on human needs as well as environmental concerns. Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions, and may very well have little impact on the world’s temperature for hundreds of years. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&isbn=0307266923 Czech President Vaclav Klaus calls modern environmentalist a religion Excerpt: The facts are not clear. In the last century, the global average temperature only rose by 0.6 degrees Celsius. It is too little to create a panic. Also, it is no secret that the Earth has had much warmer climate in the past than it has today. The second question is whether the recent mild warming is actually caused by human activities. We don't know yet. What I do consider as a threat is this environmentalism that has become a religion that wants to inhibit the spontaneous evolution of mankind. The champions of this ideology want to create a society that is restricted by hundreds of regulations and prohibitions. The freedom would become a victim. http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/07/vaclav-klaus-interview-in-die-weltwoche.html Financial guru describes how climate fears create social herding' Excerpt: When any writers, including scientists, extrapolate 29 years' worth of temperature data to predict an imminent apocalypse of Biblical proportions in an environment of waxing social focus, rising panic and calls for government obstruction, one must acknowledge the likelihood of social-psychological forces behind such a report and investigate whether the data support the prediction. Advocates of man-made global warming may appear sober as judges individually, but they are participating in a mass movement, complete with press releases, student rallies, pop concerts, movie documentaries and an underlying tone of moral crusade. As one advocate for global warming admitted, the issue does become problematic when politics enters the picture. This is an understatement. Collective fears come and go, but public policy in response to them usually causes real horrors. Millions of people in the world are infected with malaria thanks to the DDT ban. The US starves for oil and emits more greenhouse gasses thanks to the ban on building nuclear plants, which could have powered a clean rail system. http://www.elliottwave.com/features/default.aspx?cat=pmp*aid=3225*time=am UK Science chief: We need fewer people to halt global warming Excerpt: Last year, Rapley wrote an article on the BBC website saying that "if we believe that the size of the human 'footprint' is a serious problem (and there is much evidence for this) then a rational view would be that, along with a raft of measures to reduce the footprint per person, the issue of population management must be addressed". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/24/scigwarming124.xml Poor nations’ development called danger to climate Excerpt: While rapid economic development in places like China and India is helping to improve the lives of millions of the world's poor it is also exacerbating the peril facing low-lying Pacific island nations that do not have the resources or skills to meet the threat posed by climate change. < > The lesson from this isn't that economic development in Asian countries should be slowed to cut emissions. The consequences of such an action for the millions of poor living in the region would be abhorrent. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=your+say&subclass=general&story_id=1027084&category=opinion The Cult of Global Warming Excerpt: Global warming has become the apocalyptic cult of the new millennium. None of the other jeremiahs, throughout the ages, can hold an end-of-the-world candle to ozone-layer mystics prophesying climate Armageddon. < > The environmentalist canon may be described thusly: 1) Global Warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions is revealed truth. 2) If we don't repent, mankind will be eternally damned. 3) Doubters are monsters and mental defectives comparable to Holocaust-deniers and members of the Flat Earth Society. And 4) It's time to purge our SUV sins by abolishing the industrial revolution and turning to pig manure and solar power for energy. The former may in found in abundance among Global-Warming advocates in Congress and the media. < > And now we have the Church of Global Warming, under the leadership of Pope Albert I and his college of cardinals (the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and editorial board of The New York Times). http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=4FB31C33-09BC-46F8-B5AA-94DF50912CE3