The madness of global warming strikes us a lot like the National Lampoon’s great parody of Sunday newspapers back in the day, the Republican-Democrat.
Throughout the paper there were news items that referred to inexplicable occurrences that were entirely explained away by other stories in the same paper. But obviously the dots never were connected. The case with the currently evolving foolish storyline about so-called global warming is likewise a lot of unconnected dots.
Whatever your take on the science (and no, Mr. Gore, the science is not settled), the economics are pretty straight-forward. Nevertheless, the dots don’t get connected.
California, for example is poised to impose hugely inappropriate regulations and stifling requirements, ostensibly to fight this “evil.” Meanwhile, Europe, which rushed down this same path about a decade earlier, is beating a fast retreat.
Just a few of the news blurbs from across the pond:
The really seismic shift in Europe is the emergence of a strong group of opposing countries against the whole agenda. The reality is now sinking in that the climate policies have a cost. The original aim of the EU was to go into the UN negotiations showing the rest of the world, ‘look we have this 20% reduction and if you’re good, 30%’. That was the intention. This has been given up. Full stop. It’s gone through the roof. –Benny Peiser, LTT, 14 November 2008
German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced calls from fellow conservatives Sunday to fight to water down a European Union climate pact until the recession-wracked economy is moving again. Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer said in an interview that he had written to Merkel calling on her to back away from EU climate protection goals to be approved next month for a time. German Economy Minister Michael Glos agreed that Germany could ill-afford to make a priority of climate protection with the economy hobbled by the global financial crisis. And the conservative premier of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, also called for a two-year hiatus for the EU climate package, which is to be passed at a Brussels summit of EU leaders in three weeks. –AFP, 23 November 2008
Britain is poised to expand its coal mining industry, despite fears that the move will lead to a rise in climate change emissions and harm communities and the environment. Freedom of information requests and council records show that in the past 18 months 14 companies have applied to dig nearly 60 million tonnes of coal from 58 new or enlarged opencast mines. At least six coal-fired power stations are planned. The increase in mining will embarrass the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, who is arguing that Britain must reduce carbon emissions. –John Vidal, The Observer, 23 November 2008
Cuts and delays to investment in Europe’s energy infrastructure caused by the financial crisis and the recession will weaken future energy security and undermine the fight against climate change, a leading consultancy has warned. Capgemini, the French consultancy, argues that the European Union needs to invest about €1,000bn ($1,250bn) between now and 2030 to meet energy demand and hit targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but in the downturn it will be harder to finance that investment, and harder for companies to make the case that it is needed. –Ed Crooks, Financial Times, 24 November 2008
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This is comedy.
You guys are acting like our grading system at the school, all data - no context.
Get a life.
BTW - Not a teacher.
Hi,
This is certainly very informative post on global warming information, thanks a lot for sharing the information…
What? No one knew the global warming spook would cost jobs, money and perhaps elections too?
This is a positive thing. At least some people are thinking rationally. I just hope they call Gov Arnold before he pledges to turn CA into a job wasteland.
This article should be forwarded to all the tree huggers out there!!
Landsbaum is wrong again with his comment of “foolish storyline about so-called global warming”
According to NOAA:
For 2007, the global land and ocean surface temperature was the fifth warmest on record. Separately, the global land surface temperature was warmest on record while the global ocean temperature was 9th warmest since records began in 1880. Some of the largest and most widespread warm anomalies occurred from eastern Europe to central Asia.
Including 2007, seven of the eight warmest years on record have occurred since 2001 and the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1995. The global average surface temperature has risen between 0.6°C and 0.7°C since the start of the twentieth century, and the rate of increase since 1976 has been approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend.