Green Jobs Problem: “Creating unneeded jobs just won’t help”

That’s the point for an op-ed by Reason’s Jacob Sullum, who argues in today’s Chicago Sun Times that “overhauling manufacturing, transportation and power production to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide may or may not be justified, but it is properly viewed as a drag on the economy.”
...
It’s worth a read here. We attended a Green Jobs event on Capitol Hill yesterday … it was just brutal. Everyone starts with the assumption that the climate is irreversibly warming, that human activity is the proven culprit, and that only radical action imposed by the government will save us. We noted that the rhetoric has gotten away from the true COSTS imposed by claiming it’s an “investment” in our economy (no mention of where we’re getting the capital for this investment, obviously). It’s a good political move, though not necessarily fully honest. Sullum’s column today is a good step at pushing back, but alone it will not do the trick.

Flake blasts proposed ethanol bailout - Phoenix Business Journal:

Ethanol plants may be the next beneficiary of a federal bailout and Mesa congressman Jeff Flake is among those opposed to that idea.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said the federal government is considering outlays of as much as $25 million to help ethanol plants, which have been hit by volatile commodity prices.

World Climate Report » The Divergence Problem and the Failure of Tree Rings for Reconstructing Past Climate

This result indicates why one can not use tree rings for any periods warmer than the calibration period—a situation which is difficult to know a priori. The same issue could affect certain other types of temperature proxies (besides tree rings) as well.

More from James Hansen: Obstruction of Justice (PDF)