Cooler heads at NOAA coming around to natural variability « Watts Up With That?

And Swanson thinks the [non-warming?] trend could continue for up to 30 years.

Poll and Polar Ice Trends « Watts Up With That?

[Steve Goddard] The main trend I see in polar ice is an increasing disconnect between hype and reality. Given that the AO (Arctic Oscillation) has been neutral this winter and polar drift has been less than last year, I forecast that the summer Arctic ice minimum in 2009 will show more ice than either of the last two years. What do you think?

climate action fizzles

They blockaded the plant, but no one seemed interested in arresting them. I remember that curious feeling of still being free at the end of a day on which I expected to go to jail. It’s a combination of relief and regret.

The weather didn’t help either. Out of 10-12,000 people at the conference, only a couple thousand or so made it to the action. Also, it scuttled their attempt at dress clothes- everyone seems to have dressed for the elements instead. And all science aside, it’s tough to get a good photo of global warming activists when they’re bundled up for freezing temperatures. Irrational but true.
...
It seems like a lot of the logistical work was handled by Greenpeace people, although their name is nowhere on the event. Maybe some Rainforest Action Network as well. Even with the anticlimactic protest, they did pretty well for themselves. They didn’t get their national media hit, but it’s notoriously difficult to get a story out of DC- there’s so much else to compete with. What they did get was an easy victory, and thousands of student activists going home inspired by their accomplishment. Doesn’t hurt that they got some painless exposure to direct action, either.

Jim Hansen’s newfound peers at the Capitol Climate Action « Watts Up With That?

# The one highlight was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. saying that Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship “should be in jail… for all of eternity“. Oddly, Kennedy’s message seemed even a bit too extreme for some left leaning news outlets, such as AlterNet which didn’t mention it in this story on the protest though there were other quotes from Kennedy.
# The advertisements that kept popping up on the video certainly didn’t help the credibility.
# One of the chants was “No coal, no gas, no nukes, no kidding”. There was also “Nuclear Hell No”, “Biofuels hell no”. Apparently wind power and solar are the only options they endorse. Iwonder if Jim Hansen has figured this out yet, since he has advocated nuclear power.