Cooler Heads Digest 26 February 2010

Announcements

The Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) this week released a paper by Dr. Edward Long, “Contiguous U. S. Temperature Trends Using NCDC Raw and Adjusted Data for One-Per-State Rural/Urban,” examining the surface temperature data adjustments by U.S. Government-funded scientists.

In the News

U.S. Climate Data Compromised
Joseph Abrams, FoxNews.com, 26 February 2010

British Blogger Finds Errors in Met Temperature Record
Paola Totaro, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 2010

Easy, Cheap Green Energy? Just the Reverse!
Kenneth Green, MasterResource.org, 26 February 2010

Push to Oversimplify on Climate Panel
Jeffrey Ball & Keith Johnson, Wall Street Journal, 26 February 2010

Climate Change Data Will Face Independent Scrutiny
Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, 25 February 2010

Al Gore’s 9 Lies
Investor’s Business Daily editorial, 24 February 2010

World Cools toward Warmists

Paul Chesser, Washington Times, 24 February 2010
Climate Change and Open ScienceWall Street Journal editorial, 23 February 2010

Move-On Is Way-off on Landrieu
William Yeatman, Alexandria Town Talk, 20 February 2010

News You Can Use

Poll: Alarmism in Decline

The Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University released a poll this week showing that the percentage of Americans “alarmed” by climate change has decreased from 18% to 10% from 2008 to 2010, while the percentage of Americans “dismissive” of climate change has increased from 7% to 16%.

As incredible as it may sound, Science Daily reports that Maxwell Boykoff, a professor at the University of Colorado, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science that the growing skepticism is due to the mainstream media’s use of “non-credible” sources on climate change stories. Mr. Boykoff might be right, albeit unwittingly. The more Americans hear from nonscientist alarmists like Al Gore, the more skeptical they become.

Inside the Beltway

Myron Ebell

EPW Hearing on EPA Budget

There were several appropriations hearings on Capitol Hill this week. Most notable was EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s appearance before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) began his opening statement by releasing a report prepared by the committee’s minority staff on the Climategate scientific fraud scandal. It’s an outstanding report, which I highly recommend; but before you download it, be warned that it’s over eighty pages and the summary is thirty. The report makes an overwhelming argument that the scientific case for alarmism is based largely on hokum. In particular, the broader revelations in the scandal seriously undermine the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assessment reports. They are clearly documents manipulated for political ends (which is what we’ve been pointing out for years).

Senator Inhofe and other committee Republicans asked Jackson repeatedly about the reliance of the EPA on the IPCC reports for making the finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. Her answers were inadequate and, to my mind, misleading.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent socialist from Vermont (who caucuses with the Democrats), was his usual charming and buffoonish self. He said that people who were still in denial about global warming reminded him of all the people in the 1930s who refused to see the threat posed by Hitler and the Nazis. He didn’t mention that Nazi is short for National Socialist Party or that the people who were most deeply in denial were communists, socialists, and other Soviet sympathizers on the left after the Hitler-Stalin Pact. That treaty allowed Hitler to turn all his attention to the Western front and to defeating Britain.

Powerful House Members Move To Block Endangerment

Representatives Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) introduced a resolution of disapproval of the EPA’s endangerment finding on 25th February.  H. J. Res. 76 is significant because Skelton is Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and Peterson is Chairman of the Agriculture Committee and are thus in the House Democratic leadership.  Senator Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval, S. J. Res 16, is still awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.  Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cannot prevent a vote on it, and it requires only a simple majority to pass.  In the House, resolutions brought under the Congressional Review Act are not privileged and therefore Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) can block a floor vote.

Around the World

China: “No Intention” of Cutting Emissions

Su Wei, China’s chief negotiator for international climate change policy, told the China Daily this week that China “could not, and should not” set a target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. China is the world’s number one emitter.

Climate Bill Too Expensive Even for Socialists in Hungary

The ruling Socialist Party in Hungary this week decided to shelve major climate legislation requiring greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 80% by 2050. According to Euractiv, the Hungarian Parliament’s economics committee chair, socialist György Podolák, told reporters that the bill was killed because it would weaken Hungarian industries, encourage plants to relocate outside the country and increase unemployment.

The Cooler Heads Digest is the weekly e-mail publication of the Cooler Heads Coalition. For the latest news and commentary check out the Coalition’s website, www.globalwarming.org.