Greenie attack on Marc Morano

Just for fun, I reproduce below an attempted smear job from a Greenie site. Note that not a single fact about climate is mentioned. It is all abuse. But even the abuse is not done well. Mentioning that Marc Morano assisted in the exposure of John Kerry by the swiftboat veterans is actually a badge of honour for anyone who cares about the truth, for instance.

The one climate-relevant fact the writer mentions is also misconceived. He points to some current poll numbers about agreement with global warming and points out that the numbers are high. What he omits is the central point in what Marc Morano claimed: That they may be high but they have been declining in recent years. See here. They are lower than they were. The writer is just a dumb little hate machine. He puts up a nice picture of Marc Morano, though

By Peter Dykstra

So if the Gallup organization releases a poll that says that 59 percent of the American public doesn't buy anything you have to say, and a sizeable chunk of the rest thinks you're at least partly wrong, what do you do?

If you're the remarkable Marc Morano, you claim victory, of course.

I've mentioned Marc Morano a few times in this column. Improving on an already colorful career, Marc has emerged in the last few years as the guy in the center square of the climate change denial industry. With his boss, Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, Morano is the Roy Cohn to Inhofe's Joe McCarthy of climate change paranoia. Or maybe the Edgar Bergen to Inhofe's Charlie McCarthy. (If you're not up on your mid-20th century pop culture, look these two up.)

Marc's a piece of work. The stops on his career are a pageant of triumphs in making the guilty look innocent, and vice versa. After four years as the "Man in Washington" on Rush Limbaugh's mid-90s TV show, Morano settled in at the Cybercast News Service (CNS), an outfit that sort of serves as the Tass and Pravda of the far-far right. There, he's best remembered for penning two political attack pieces. His CNS story was the first salvo in the Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry prior to the 2004 election. In early 2006, after another Vietnam vet, Congressman John Murtha, dramatically came out against the Iraq war, Morano co-penned a piece questioning Murtha's receipt of two Purple Hearts for wounds while serving in Vietnam. Under the headline "Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question," Morano pegged the story to decades-old allegations made by three former election opponents - one deceased, one too feeble to be interviewed, and the third merely angry.

Morano hooked up with Inhofe while the senator was still the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But he hung on to the playbook: Like his character attacks on Kerry and Murtha, Morano took off on climate scientists as if he were doing opposition research for a county commissioners' race. In an exchange at the 2006 annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Morano was called out by NASA Scientist James Hansen. Hansen's work on projecting global warming had earned him the Heinz Award, an environmental honor named for the late John Heinz, an eco-minded Republican senator who died in a plane crash three years before Inhofe was elected to the Senate. Like the Nobels, Pulitzers, and other awards, the Heinz Awards offer cash to the winner - a quarter million. Morano consistently suggested that Hansen received $250,000 as a bribe for spun science. Here's a Senate floor speech where Inhofe makes the same suggestion.

Morano's latest triumph is the victory lap he took when Gallup said that Americans' skepticism on climate change had grown. In classic McCarthy style, it's a half-truth. In the midst of an economic crisis and a continued onslaught of fact-free denial from the likes of Lou Dobbs, George Will and Glenn Beck, Gallup found 41 percent of Americans feel media reporting on climate change is "generally exaggerated." This was the "highest level of public skepticism" measured by Gallup in a decade. For fear that it would ruin his story line, Morano failed to mention that "Gallup has documented declines in public concern about the environment at times when other issues, such as a major economic downturn or a national crisis like 9/11, absorbed Americans' attention," and that "Americans generally believe that global warming is real."

Inhofe took to the Senate floor on Thursday to crow that the global warming verdict was in "freefall." Morano launched another personal attack on Andrew Revkin, the climate reporter and blogger for the New York Times, for portraying last week's Climate Deniers' Conference in New York as an event apart from real science.

It seems that half a truth is just about capacity for these fellas. There's a time for honest and respectful debate, and a time to move on and call out a dishonest broker for the phony that he is. Have you no decency?

SOURCE








New Paper: Increasing Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) could have contributed significantly to global warming

At the December 2008 NRC meeting "Detection and Attribution of Solar Forcing on Climate" [see] there was extensive criticism by Gavin Schmidt and others on the research of Nicola Scafetta with respect to solar climate forcings. He was not, however, invited to that December meeting. There is now a new paper that he has published that needs to be refuted or supported by other peer reviewed literature (rather than comments in a closed NRC meeting in which the presenters would not share their powerpoint talks). The new paper is:

Scafetta N., R. C. Willson (2009), ACRIM-gap and TSI trend issue resolved using a surface magnetic flux TSI proxy model, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L05701.

Abstract

"The ACRIM-gap (1989.5-1991.75) continuity dilemma for satellite TSI observations is resolved by bridging the satellite TSI monitoring gap between ACRIM1 and ACRIM2 results with TSI derived from Krivova et al.'s (2007) proxy model based on variations of the surface distribution of solar magnetic flux. `Mixed' versions of ACRIM and PMOD TSI composites are constructed with their composites' original values except for the ACRIM gap, where Krivova modeled TSI is used to connect ACRIM1 and ACRIM2 results. Both `mixed' composites demonstrate a significant TSI increase of 0.033%/decade between the solar activity minima of 1986 and 1996, comparable to the 0.037% found in the ACRIM composite. The finding supports the contention of Willson (1997) that the ERBS/ERBE results are flawed by uncorrected degradation during the ACRIM gap and refutes the Nimbus7/ERB ACRIM gap adjustment Fr”hlich and Lean (1998) employed in constructing the PMOD."

A key statement in the conclusion reads

"This finding has evident repercussions for climate change and solar physics. Increasing TSI between 1980 and 2000 could have contributed significantly to global warming during the last three decades [Scafetta and West, 2007, 2008]. Current climate models [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007] have assumed that the TSI did not vary significantly during the last 30 years and have therefore underestimated the solar contribution and overestimated the anthropogenic contribution to global warming."

More HERE (See the original for links, graphics etc.)







Climate change is nature at work

By Seymour Merrin

I am confused. I have a Ph.D. in the geologic sciences. I am a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and other scientific organizations. And I have worked as a research and manufacturing scientist for major corporations.

I was taught, and used professionally, what is called the "scientific method." Although it is not easy to sum up the "method," it can be condensed into a simple sequence: Research to form a theory, use the theory to predict the outcome of events/tests, compare the results to the predicted outcome. If they fit, you assume a certain degree of validity. If there is no correlation between the results and the theory, then you have to go back to the beginning or at least modify the theory to obtain predicable results.

Hence, the confusion. There is little doubt that the Earth's climate is changing, as it always has. A multitude of specific evidence leaves no doubt that 10,000 years ago, glaciers covered a large part of the polar regions down to the latitude of New York City in the north. Concrete evidence shows that since then, the temperature has been significantly warmer (sub-tropical plants in Alaska) and colder during the Little Ice Age from the 15th century through the middle of the 19th. It was warmer in the 14th century than it is now.

Enter the human-caused warming of the Earth, and testing it with the scientific method. The basic theory states that, as human-produced CO2 increases, Earth temperatures increase. Simple prediction, simple to test. The predominance of "hottest" years should be in the last 20 years, but that is not true. In fact, the last 10 years have been relatively flat - with 2007 and 2008 having declining temperatures. No correlation at all - actually, a disproval of that particular theory.

Some of the computer models representing the theory (despite the fact that even the most ardent supporters of human-caused global warming admit that the models are poor and cannot even predict one year out, let alone the distant future) show Arctic sea ice declining. Yet the ice now covers the same area it did in 1980. Yes, there was a period of decline, but that has markedly reversed itself. No correlation, again.

There are simple facts in such abundance that the media never reports.

When the media lambastes a great scientist and brave patriot, Jack Schmitt, a geologist, astronaut and former senator for apostasy, you know that it isn't science they're talking about, but agendas. Schmitt knows more about the Earth and its environment than all the staff at The New Mexican put together. Listen to a proven scientist.

SOURCE





Skeptics Score at Climate Change Conference

But don't expect the climate horror industry to decline anytime soon.

by James Lewis

Be still my beating heart. There is hope for honest science, even in the gruesome Age of Algore. But only if we really grasp what's happening with the Global Horror Picture Show these days. The biggest danger to good science is that rational skeptics will continue to be outgunned by the fear peddlers: A big lie can go around the world before the truth can get its boots on. The fear merchants just have to make up new scares faster than they can be knocked down, and honest scientists will always get there too late. Thoughtful skepticism takes thought. New alarmist scenarios can be made up by science fiction scribblers on an assembly line. It's the Nazi panzers against the Polish cavalry. Sure it's heroic, but it's not really a contest.

So here's the good news. The skeptics are winning against the global warming mythogogues. The polls show a drop in public faith in the global warming meme. Last week a stellar skeptics' conference was held in New York City and the New York Times actually covered it - in its usual bitchy fashion, but they decided to cover it anyway. There are many excellent talks at this website, notably by Viscount Monckton, Margaret Thatcher's former adviser, who provides a truly elegant and devastating deconstruction of the infamous IPCC "consensus statement" - done for the bureaucrats, by the bureaucrats, and of the bureaucrats. Any real scientific analysis and debate was left out of the IPCC statement, and Lord Monckton simply shoots it out of the water with a satisfying bang. Others like Fred Singer and Richard Lindzen were there as well, and you can listen to their presentations online. They are heroes.

But that's not why I think the skeptics are winning. The rational skeptics are winning because the global warming crowd has simply dropped the two words "global warming" from its vocabulary. No more official global warming! This is like the old Soviet Communist Party. You have to analyze not just what's said but what's not said. You have to look to see who has been airbrushed out of the pictures of the Politburo waving on top of Lenin's tomb watching the May Day parade. And "global warming" has disappeared from respectable scientific discourse. Only the elementary school teachers of the world will keep teaching about global warming, because their lesson plans are already written, and they're a little slow on the uptake. Somehow it's all morphed into climate change.

What's "climate change?" It's a scientific surrender by the Algore-James-Hansen Planetary Fear Brigade. No more global warming, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

But it's a silent surrender, so millions of readers of the New York Times will never notice a thing. Al Gore just has to drop one solitary slide from his infamous PowerPoint lecture. James Hansen just needs to pretend that all those horrific mistakes over at the NASA Climate Playstation Center were tiny computer glitches. Anybody can make an honest mistake, right? And they always fixed the published data after they were caught - I mean, after the errors were called to their attention. That's what honest scientists do. (Funny thing, though, how those glitches always favored the global warming faith?)

Still, real scientists have to use words with precision, and when all the big science journals change the words "global warming" to "climate change," all at the same time, you know somethin's up. It is. The real scientists have simply, silently acknowledged that the skeptics were right all along, as a child of six might have figured out. And since everybody knows that "climate change" has been going on for a half billion years, it's sure to keep happening. Now there's a solid scientific prediction for you.

Nobody can object to "climate change." So nobody has to apologize to the skeptics. (Hint: If the New York Times deigns to cover skeptics who challenge their orthodoxy for the last decade or two, it's because they are doing a quick CYA. They are not recanting. They are not doing the skeptics a favor. If you want a favor, go ask Tony over in Joisey.)

What really happened there, it seems, is that the science section of the NYT caught on, and hired a skeptic named John Tierney, who blew the cover off the scam. Check out the columns by Tierney, who sounds like an honest man in a impossible job. The science section people have to actually know something about science. They also have to stay respectable to real scientists, and they must have smelled the fraud for years and years. It didn't take much. Even the Weather Channel caught on, for goodness' sake!

What about those highly respectable scientists who were constantly giving scare headlines to their friends in the media? Well, they can pretend they were right all along, too. After all, they told us about climate change, didn't they? And now everybody agrees that, yes, the climate is changing. Gotcha!

As for the media, they don't care - most of their readers can't remember yesterday's stories anyway. With the 24/7 news cycle you can just swamp yesterday's scare headline with bigger ones today. In fact, the imaginative scribblers of the media now have even more room to let their horror fantasies soar. Which is exactly what's happening. If you think global warming gave the media a lot of room for planetary fear stories, just wait till you see all the really catastrophic climate change stories to come. Who needs warming?

How about . the oceans are turning acid and killing all the little carbonaceous critters? Yesterday, Nature magazine proclaimed that the oceans are turning acid and reducing the calcium in Pacific Ocean marine carbonate organisms. But skeptics will note that this study suffers from a huge sampling error. There is no way to cover an enormous ocean region with vast underwater mountain ranges and make generalizations about the acidity and the actual population of all carbonate organisms in that enormous volume of sea water. So it's just another scare study that is grossly overgeneralized. Sounds like the good old "global warming," right? But it did get published in the oldest and one of the most highly respected scientific journals in the world.

Or, how about "World leaders told to act on climate before it's too late!!"? That's one by the reliable eco-prop specialist Lewis Smith in the London Times. Mr. Smith is the environment reporter of the formerly respectable Times, and is a reliable bellwether to see which way the imaginary winds are blowing. His headline is illustrated by the infamous propaganda picture of a lonesome polar bear on its fast-disappearing little crag of ice in the vast Arctic Ocean. Now polar bears swim like sea lions for dozens of miles in search of prey. But this is the iconic "ET call home" image of the Arctic warming crowd. It's a fraud, but they can't let go of it. Mr. Smith is a one-man shop for eco-horrors. Just within recent days he had "85% of Amazonian rainforests at risk!!!" Then there was "World heading for resources war!!" And "Hopes of climate change accord `are sinking.'"

Or how about this story? "Oil spill disaster on Australian beaches!" This is also from the Times, which is the new voice of the Euro socialist elite.

Well, as Bill Ayers told us `way back when, "you don't need a Weatherman to see which way the winds are blowing." That's not metaphorical. Apparently they meant it literally, and now we don't need any weatherfolk at all, because the winds are always blowing the same way. This is like those mythic battles between the gods and the demons, where both sides are always shape-changing. The eco-props have figured out they don't really need global warming, but I don't know whether the skeptics have figured out how to keep pace with the assembly line production of ever-new "scientific" scare stories. It's a matter of supply and demand, and the fear industry is constantly cranking out new models to be greedily gobbled up by the scare-hungry masses. It's a new genre of fiction parading as science, and until a whole new generation learns how to exercise rational skepticism, to laugh at the frauds on their own initiative, they are going to get suckered over and over again.

President Obama just sent $400 million to replenish the eco-scare industry. With that kind of money coming in on a regular basis, and the new "science czar" in the White House who is one of the true believers, the climate horror industry is not going to decline anytime soon. We may be losing our banks, the dollar may crash, and you've just lost half your savings, but here is a growth industry with fabulous prospects for the indefinite future.

SOURCE (See the original for links)





The World Wildlife Fund's Polar Bear Lies

by Tom DeWeese

No doubt you've seen the ads: The music is dramatic. The scene is tragic. The message emotional. Polar Bears, holding on for dear life to bits of ice, their artic habitat destroyed by Global Warming. And the narration tells you of the tragic fate of the bears, all because of man and his selfish destruction of the earth. Of course, the ad ends with a plea for funds to help the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) protect the bears and stop Global Warming. Cute, fuzzy animals always do the trick.

Trouble is, it's all a lie. Not one word of the ad is true. Polar Bears are not endangered. There is no indication of any reduction of their populations. In fact, they are actually being hunted by locals who have to live with them in an effort to keep their populations down. Of 13 Polar Bear populations, 11 are thriving and growing.

The real agenda behind WWF's Polar Bear campaign is to stop drilling of American oil and to shackle the United States with the UN's Kyoto Climate Change Treaty. The policy is called Sustainable Development.

Using the Polar Bear, which WWF and the Sierra Club managed to get listed on the Endangered Species (ESA) list last year, the greens can grab control of the U.S. economy, controlling energy production.

Last year, in a Congressional hearing on the listing of the Polar Bears, Congressman Don Young of Alaska said testimony by Bush Administration officials "clearly indicated the overriding goal was to use the ESA as a tool to stop energy production in any and all states." Under questioning, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall confirmed that if a coal-fired power plant in Arizona were seeking a federal permit, with the Polar Bear listed as protected by the ESA, the Fish and Wildlife Service would have to consult on the permit. In other words, a power plant located thousands of miles away from Polar Bear habitat would be considered a danger - because of global warming. How could any industry be possible? And that's just the way WWF wants it.

The truth is now rapidly coming out. There is no man-made global warming - it's a lie. There is no threat to Polar Bears - it's a lie. Drilling American oil is not a danger to the environment - it's a lie. And yet, WWF continues to spread the lies and fan the fear.

It is time we fight back against these zealots who put anything else on earth ahead of man. Taking donations based on lies is fraud and WWF should be called on it. We should call on the federal government to take away WWF's non-profit status. We should complain to any television network that runs their lies. We should demand that such false advertising be pulled from the airways.

The World Wildlife Fund is dangerous to our way of life - to our very civilization. We should no longer just treat them like some nice folks with a different point of view. Political debate is one thing, outright fraud is criminal.

SOURCE





Low-energy bulbs 'worsen skin disorders' and those at risk should have medical exemption, say doctors

The phasing out of traditional light bulbs could cause misery for thousands who have light-sensitive skin disorders, medical experts warned yesterday. Dr Robert Sarkany said some low-energy bulbs gave vulnerable people painful rashes and swelling. He backed calls by patient groups for the Government to give medical exemptions for those at risk. The warning comes as British shops start to clear their shelves of traditional bulbs, which are being replaced by more energy-efficient versions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Large retailers have already stopped selling conventional 100-watt bulbs, the most popular size. They will be banned from September along with frosted 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs, followed by most others before 2012. Shoppers will then be able to buy only halogen bulbs - which resemble normal bulbs but use 70 per cent of the energy - or compact fluorescent ones, which use just 30 per cent of the energy.

Although low-energy bulbs cut household electricity bills, the move has proved unpopular with shoppers. Halogens are more expensive - costing around œ1.99 each - while critics say the fluorescent type have an unattractive harsh light and take up to a minute to warm up to full strength.

But medical charities say the light from low-energy bulbs triggers migraines, epilepsy and rashes. Dr Sarkany, a photodermatologist at St John's Institute of Dermatology, St Thomas' Hospital, in London, said he has treated patients for rashes caused by exposure to low-energy lamps. Some suffer from lupus, a disease of the immune system that can cause skin to become hypersensitive to sunlight. But Dr Sarkany said lupus sufferers were also reporting an adverse reaction to fluorescent lights. He added: 'Patients with lupus feel strongly about this. They feel their skin deteriorates with fluorescent lights and have taken this issue to Parliament.'

A spokesman for Skin Care Campaign said: 'The main concern is over the intensity of the ultraviolet light from low-energy bulbs. 'Particularly for people with skin conditions such as lupus, eczema and psoriasis, it causes a lot of problem with burning. 'There are also more unusual conditions where people are completely light-sensitive. 'At the moment, they can use a traditional incandescent light bulb because the ultraviolet light is so dim. 'But low-energy fluorescent lights are a problem.'

SOURCE

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