Here is a list of beliefs in the biomedical and climate sciences that must not be questioned if you're applying for a government grant: That global warming is caused by humans; That AIDS is caused by a virus;That radiation, cigarette smoke and other toxins are dangerous in proportion to their strength, no matter how small the dose;That heart disease is caused by saturated fats; That cancer is caused by mutations.
March 2008
Forty-eight percent of Americans are unwilling to spend even a penny more in gasoline taxes to help reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new nationwide survey released today by the National Center for Public Policy Research.
Gallup has just issued the remarkable results of its 2008 Environment Survey, based on telephone interviews, conducted between March 6-9 with 1,012 adults in America, aged 18 and over: ‘Polluted Drinking Water Was No. 1 Concern Before AP Report: Global Warming Way Down The List’ (March 12)*.
Well, well, well! In this poll, “The ‘Greenhouse Effect’ or Global Warming” comes a lamentable 9th out of the 12 listed concerns. But, what is even more interesting is the fact that, for the ten environmental items that were raised in both Gallup’s 2007 and 2008 Environment Surveys, the percentage who report worrying “a great deal” about a problem is down in 2008 on 2007 for all ten issues.
For “Global Warming”, those declaring that they are worried “a great deal” fell by 4%, the second largest drop, jointly with “Damage to the Earth’s Ozone Layer”.
Interestingly, the the top four concerns for Americans all relate, in some way, to water quality, with pollution of drinking water the top overall concern (although even this was down) – so come back Professor Bjørn Lomborg, you were correct all along (though I never doubted it).
Gee, it looks like Al Gore and the glitterati have had a mighty influence on American worries about the environment, and especially so about ‘global warming’ – they are down across the board, with ‘global warming’ galloping, or ‘galluping’, in a trailing ninth.
Now that’s an inconvenient truth indeed!
Well done, Al, say I. Keep it up, lad!
[See also: ‘”Global Warming” Hype Backfires’, February 29]
[*The full details of the 2008 Environment Survey are here, and are Copyright © 2008 Gallup, Inc.]
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet Indian political and business leaders on Wednesday to urge them to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
While the U.S. tries to figure out how to fight climate change, and how much it will cost, Japan is crunching the numbers on what it will cost to meet the commitments it’s already made.
The upshot, according to a new study presented today by Japan’s trade ministry? Picking the low-hanging fruit will lead to modest cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions. But it would carry a hefty price tag and still won’t be enough for Japan to meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, let alone its more ambitious targets for mid-century.
Japanese households and businesses could end up paying more than $500 billion to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent over the next decade, the trade and industry ministry said Wednesday.
A bill to slash Maryland's carbon emissions as a way to address global warming was delayed Wednesday by senators who feared the bill could hike energy prices and put factories out of business.
For the first time in the U.S., carbon dioxide goes on sale in September — and the bidding will start at $1.86 a ton. A consortium of 10 states, including Connecticut, said Monday it will hold the first auction of carbon emissions "allowances" on Sept. 10, part of a plan to curb greenhouse gases from the region's power plants and slow global warming.
Three cheers for Representative Michele Bachman, who this past week introduced the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act (H.R. 5616), which would repeal the mandated phase-out of the incandescent light bulb.
Last December, Congress passed, and the President signed, an abomination of an energy bill, that, among other things, bans the incandescent light bulb because it is too energy inefficient.
But some consumers, like me, prefer incandescent light bulbs because they make our pasty white skin look tan at bars and restaurants. Other consumers don’t want to have to go through the hassle of cleaning up broken energy efficient light bulbs, which contain mercury, and are therefore difficult to dispose (the EPA has published a 7 page instruction manual on cleaning up a broken CFL).
Whatever the reason, let’s applaud Rep. Bachman for her efforts on behalf of consumer choice.
Gotta love this NPR headline, “The Mystery of Global Warming’s Missing Heat”. This is the most recent in a refreshing series of sober assessments that of course brief periods are not climatically meaningful, be they a month, a year, three years…or the past ten years without any warming. Imagine how surprised NASA’s PR shop is going to be.
Things are wonderfully captured in this euphemistic kicker from the article: “it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming.” Like, maybe, this?
What’s global warming without the warming called? Come on, you can say it.
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