Few takers for ‘Earth Hour’ in Kingdom - Arab News

DAMMAM/RIYADH/JEDDAH: In the end, it turned out to be just that, a colossal hype. There were very few takers for Earth Hour 2010 to call for action on climate change.

As the clock ticked 8.30 p.m. in Dammam and Alkhobar, almost nothing happened. No lights were switched off in the main thoroughfares or residential districts of the two Eastern Province cities.
...
“Maybe, people saw it as a gimmick,” said businessman Muhammad Jaffer. “Nobody took it seriously.”

In Riyadh, too, the campaign fizzled out. While some areas did observe Earth Hour by dutifully shutting off power, a majority of Saudis and expatriates thought nothing about it.
...
“What Earth Hour?” asked a rather bemused Nayeemullah Hamid, a teacher who resides in the same district. “I don’t know about other areas but here in Aziziah, there is no power outage!”

EU Referendum: Germany cooling!

For the warmists generally, this is extremely bad news. Scepticism has hitherto been most prevalent in the English-speaking countries, and particularly in the US. To have the contagion spread to the heart of Europe is a sign that the grip of the fantasy is breaking.

Outside the Beltway: The High Cost of Environmentalism | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

It is a telling sign that even in a place as liberal as Los Angeles, there is as much opposition to a progressive “green jobs” initiative as there is in this case. It just might be another indicator of the growing skepticism about global warming. Not even the presence of former Vice President Al Gore was enough to sway council members to pass a tax that would lead to more unemployment, more people unable to pay bills, and would worsen the recession in a state that is floundering.

The Glare of the Hour

DUBAI - Earth Hour, what? Mohammed Sayed, a Bangladeshi asks when you mention the symbolic event organise to save the world from global warming.

Sayed works as a watchman in a Sharjah building and is responsible for amenities like water and electricity. ‘’But ‘I don’t know what you are talking about,’’ he says in Hindi.

Did his employer inform him about this initiative? ‘No’. Did he switch off non-essential lights. A big ‘No. He then breaks into a throaty laugh. ‘’You’re kidding, right,’’ he says, walking into the brightly lit corridor.

Turn Your Lights Off, Bing Needs Extra Power Today

Same headline as two years ago, just a different company. In honor of Earth Hour, Bing will go with a darker version of the site this evening.
...it uses more power to show black on a flat panel screen than it does to show white.

Microsoft knows this, but I’m guessing the marketing people said it’s good for their image anyway. Says Microsoft: “While a darker version of our page doesn’t save any energy over the regular version, we wanted to do our part to help spread the word.”

Earth Hour support dims New Zealand by 2 per cent - Summary : Environment

Wellington -New Zealanders appeared less interested in Saturday's global Earth Hour event than last year, but they still shut off their lights to help fight global warming and reduced power consumption by 2 per cent.

Forty-seven towns and cities lived in darkness for an hour. The national electricity grid operator Transpower reported the 2 per-cent drop, compared to a 3.5 per cent drop last year.

Auckland, the largest city, showed a fall of only 1 per cent while some provinces made no power savings at all, a spokeswoman said.

Turlock Journal - Suspend AB 32 for the sake of California’s economy

AB 32’s built-in safety valve allows the Governor to suspend the emissions caps and prevent significant economic harm. It’s time for him to act to remove the single greatest roadblock to California’s economic revival. The alternative is an all-or-nothing gamble.
Do you feel lucky?
— Senator Jeff Denham represents the 12th Senate District

National Post editorial board: Leave your lights on - Full Comment

Earth Hour is not designed to be scientific, rational, or even constructive. It is designed to inspire fear and assuage guilt.

Feel-good activities such as Earth Hour primarily appeal to three constituencies: the young, the idealistic and those who would prey on their ignorance. The latter category includes politicians, climate change activists and people with other agendas, specifically anti-capitalist, anti-growth and anti-prosperity.

Indeed, the idea that we will progress by regressing is not only at the core of Earth Hour, but of the entire anti-climate-change movement. If we lived simpler, more frugal (translation less comfortable, less productive) lives, the thinking goes, we could take the planet back to a pristine state. Man is the problem, and he should scale back his activities.

Michelle Malkin » My Own Earth Hour

Somebody on Facebook’s Earth Hour 2010 page actually wrote, “I can’t wait to turn everything off tonight!” Well why don’t you just turn everything off now then, Tesla?
...
My own theory for the thinking behind Earth Hour is that Al Gore and his fellow enviro-scammers have settled on going dark as the single best way to make sure nobody can see them pick-pocketing the world.

Al Fin: Big Wind? Bad News All Around

The video above explains how big wind projects lead to higher use of fossil fuels, rather than lower use.

But much worse, from the viewpoint of power grid managers -- constantly maintaining the delicate balance between power supply and power demand -- the unpredictability of big wind energy is the equivalent of sabotage.

UK Science Museum hit by skeptical ICBM, makes small concession « JoNova

You have to wonder how much they wanted you to “make your view count”? Not apparently enough to keep the poll results up on the site page.

FT.com / Reportage - Europe’s royals as climate activists

Global-warming sceptics regard royals campaigning against climate change as a fad at best and at worst a form of political activism ­inappropriate for public figures who are meant to remain outside the realm of democratic politics. Myron Ebell, director at the Competitive Enterprise ­Institute and one of America’s most prominent climate-change sceptics, says: “The interest of royal personages in promoting global warming alarmism and supporting energy-rationing policies is a good example of out-of-touch elitism. It’s a popular cause for them and other wealthy people who don’t have to worry about skyrocketing energy bills.”

Can we trust the 'Climategate' inquiry? - Christopher Booker - Telegraph

Sceptics have not been surprised to find that almost all the members of the 'Climategate' inquiry are committed advocates of global warming

Michael Mann and McCarthyism

Rajendra Pachauri: Climate scientists face 'new form of persecution' | Environment | The Guardian

Michael Mann, a US scientist at Penn State University, who is on the list, said: "I think the following quote characterises the situation best: 'Continuous research by our best scientists … may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumours, gossip, and vilification.' The quote wasn't made during the last few months. It was made by US president Harry S Truman in 1948, in response to politically motivated attacks against scientists associated with the dark era of McCarthyism."

A reader writes:

Truman's address in 1948 had nothing to do with McCarthyism.

McCarthy didn't get started until 1950.

The complete paragraph reads:

"Continuous research by our best scientists is the key to American scientific leadership and true national security. This indispensable work may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumors, gossip, and vilification. Such an atmosphere is unAmerican. It is the climate of a totalitarian country in which scientists are expected to change their theories to match changes in the police state's propaganda line."

Considering the number of scientists who have been unable to get funding unless they spout the AGW line, the last sentence is applicable, but not in the way that Mann intended.

Cascade Policy Institute - Todd Wynn » The Climate Swindle

Are you worried about your carbon footprint hurting the earth? Don’t worry. Now climate doomsayers can sleep easy at night. For a fee a carbon offset provider will gladly funnel your money into earth friendly projects aimed to reduce greenhouse gases, such as planting trees in Ecuador or supporting a wind farm in Texas. But are carbon offset providers really delivering what they claim? Studies of international carbon offset schemes have revealed examples of widespread fraud and abuse. And now, investigations into two of the most prominent carbon offset providers in the U.S. have revealed that neither of them actually offers real reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Todd Wynn writes:

For the past year I have been researching into the Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s carbon offset scheme. This audit accompanies the audit on Oregon’s carbon offset provider, the Climate Trust. Both audits highlight the scam of carbon offsets.

I have just finished the in-depth audit which can be found here (PDF).

Global Warming : Condemn the IPCC | Roger F. Gay - MND: Your Daily Dose of Counter-Theory

The IPCC however represents the largest and most dangerous exercise in politically controlled science since Nazi evolutionary “science” was used to justify ethnic cleansing and Communist control of agricultural “science” caused mass starvation. It ties together the corruption of science from bottom to top in the pseudo-science food chain and ties into goals of controlling and corrupting the private sector; and it does so on a global scale.

YouTube - San Diego Zoo Taking Political Stand?

FoxNewsChannel — March 26, 2010 — Controversial exhibit blames global warming for polar bear trouble

Inconvenient questions: Goldstein | Lorrie Goldstein | Columnists | Comment | Toronto Sun

The simple reality is none of the solutions proposed by global warmists actually work

What Next? Leave Your Lights On Tonight | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.

Pitting the events as human innovation vs. stagnation, CEI’s Michelle Minton said, “We are so proud that millions of people plan to show their appreciation for human achievement by doing things like eating dinner, watching television, going to the movies, and brushing their teeth.”

Even though the World Wildlife Fund boasts an impressive list of supporters, CEI has a list of its own: The U.S. Marine Corps won’t pull its troops from the battlefield, The New York Times will publish a newspaper, approximately 30,000 movies will be screened, and hospital emergency and operating rooms will remain in operation. Wal-Mart also plans to stay open — with the lights on.

Die Klimazwiebel: Why are so many climate scientists Neo-Malthusians?

[Have they all been brainwashed by Sarah Palin?]: Germans lose fear of climate change after long, hard winter - The Local

Germans are losing their fear of climate change, according to a survey, with just 42 percent worried about global warming.

It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate.

The latest figure is a clear drop from the 62 percent of Germans who said they were scared of such changes just last autumn.
...
Germany’s Leibniz Community, an umbrella organisation including many climate research institutes, broke ranks by calling for the resignation of IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri.

Climate research has been put, “in a difficult situation,” said Ernst Rietschel president of the Leibniz Community. He said sceptics have been given an easy target by the IPCC and said Pachauri should take on the responsibility and resign.

BP closing Maryland solar manufacturing plant - washingtonpost.com

BP will close its solar-panel manufacturing plant in Frederick, the final step in moving its solar business out of the United States to facilities in China, India and other countries.

Just 3 1/2 years ago, in an announcement widely hailed by Maryland officials and promoters of "green jobs," BP unveiled a $70 million plan to double output at the facility and erected a building to house the production lines.

South Africa still hooked on coal, and plans to stay that way | VentureBeat

South Africa’s economy has grown by two-thirds since 1994 and its demand for electricity has kept pace. But, despite near-perfect wind conditions, its minister of finance, Pravhin Gordhan, has decided to keep coal at the heart of the country’s energy policy.

Here’s his logic:

1. Local coal resources are abundant and cheap.
2. Coal plants can be built faster and require less maintenance than nuclear reactors.
3. Brownouts are not an option in South Africa. (When energy demand exceeds supply in the U.S., the lights dim — when it happens in Africa, thousands may go without clean water or safe food).
4. Five other countries rely on South Africa for electricity. Failing to meet this demand could send these satellites deeper into poverty, and strain relations.
5. Coal keeps South African miners employed. The industry accounts for 18 percent of the country’s GDP.

STIMULUS WATCH - Weatherizing Program Slow to Start - NYTimes.com

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- After a year of crippling delays, President Barack Obama's $5 billion program to install weather-tight windows and doors has retrofitted a fraction of homes and created far fewer construction jobs than expected.

In Indiana, state-trained workers flubbed insulation jobs. In Alaska, Wyoming and the District of Columbia, the program has yet to produce a single job or retrofit one home. And in California, a state with nearly 37 million residents, the program at last count had created 84 jobs.

Another alarmist puzzled by the lack of warming | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has been certain we face doom from global warming
...
But now he’s not certain why that global warming has paused...

The birth and death of an island in the Bay of Bengal | The SPPI Blog

By Nils-Axel Mörner
...
There is nothing strange in this. Islands come and go for local reasons triggered by sudden events and longer-term dynamic forces.

On 25 March, 2010, it was suddenly announced that the island had disappeared. Many, including scientists (for example Sugata Hazra, professor in oceanography at Jadavpur University in Calcutta), took the island’s disappearance as an expression of a rapidly rising sea level.

The fact, however, is that it has nothing to do with any global sea level rise, but is attributable to local dynamic factors operating in this part of the Bay of Bengal.

Warning Signs: It's Always "Earth Hour" in North Korea

For all those Green morons calling on us to turn off our lights Saturday evening from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM to celebrate "Earth Hour", this is what it looks like every night in North and South Korea. The North is in the grip of a Stalinist dictator and the South is a thriving democracy.

There is No Frakking "Scientific Consensus" on Global Warming: Earth Hour 2010

Tomorrow's the day we're all supposed to turn off our lights for an hour. The Earth Hour campaign is organized by the World Wildlife Fund. While the point of the exercise is apparently to "take a stand against climate change" it might be argued that Earth Hour is a wildly successful fundraising tool in which the WWF receives oodles of free publicity from media outlets, politicians, celebrities - even Google.

The high profile nature of Earth Hour is surely one of the reasons the WWF is now the world's wealthiest environmental organization.

[How many hurricanes will this prevent?] | News - Indiana Public Media

With swimming pools soon to begin filling up, unwanted algae will inevitably follow. But while city pools will scrape it away, IU’s Central Heating Plant is harvesting the organism on purpose to remove carbon dioxide from the plant’s coal emissions.

California Abandons ‘Cool Cars’ - Henry Payne - Planet Gore on National Review Online

First they tried mandating white paint. Then they tried requiring black windows. But (surprise!) neither of these attempts to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles passed public muster so the busybodies at California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) have (finally) scrapped their global-warming-fighting “cool cars” rule.

Climate Change Fraud - Earth Hour or Blackout Night?

The Carbon Sense Coalition today said that Earth Hour should be renamed “Blackout Night” and be held outdoors, for the whole night, in mid-winter, on the shortest and coldest day of the year - 22 June in the Southern Hemisphere.

Warning Signs: Mainstream Media Ignores Climategate

You are not likely to read about any of this in the MSM. In the same way they are studiously avoiding the full story of the collapse of the “global warming” fraud, they will continue to propagandize Cap-and-Trade and other measures.

Sun control, not gun control « Don Surber

Let’s see. Polar bears “disappearing” even as they quintuple in number. Antarctic ice melting, even as the ice sheet grows. Amazongate. Himalyangate. Climategate. Now murder.

The only effect of global warming I see is an increase in lying by government-funded climatologists.

OfficialWire: Thirty States To Observe Earth Hour

The states, up from eight last year, plan to darken governors' mansions and other buildings and monuments as part of Earth Hour, the World Wildlife Fund's call to action on climate change.

"It reflects the conviction of people around the world that climate change is real, and we need to do something about it," said Carter Roberts, head of the fund.

One hour crowded with messages › Environment Blog (ABC Environment)

Even Bourne himself seems confused when he describes switching off the lights as "a great first step". Sitting in the dark is hardly sustainable behaviour - what happens when you want to read a book? Or cook dinner? If it's such a great first step surely we should try to do it all the time. But of course, that's not feasible.

Sitting in the dark is not sustainable for more than a symbolic hour. And if anyone is going to understand the concept of sustainability it ought to be the green groups.

The fact that the chief of the WWF himself is mixed in his messages is proof that the Earth Hour message is well and truly scrambled. A global audience of over 50 million people have been led to believe they have to sit in the dark to be green.

Five Dumb Ways to Save the Planet From Climate Change - Asylum.com

Condoms as carbon offset
Preventing the birth of one child in Africa can offset the carbon footprint of a flight from London to Sydney, according to the U.K.'s Optimum Population Trust (OPT). OPT wants to provide contraception to those who want it in developing nations.

Still, developed nations produce the most carbon and these countries have access to contraception. Preventing the birth of an American child, for example, would have a much greater impact than preventing the birth of a child in sub-Saharan Africa, and we could take a lot more flights to Sydney.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Island – Caribbean Hockey « Musings from the Chiefio

Basically, things ought to rise fast then start to flatten. Instead we have a drop with a “pivot” right when the processing applied to the data changes.

Yeah, I’d call it “human caused”, but not warming…

EU Referendum: The US goes down the European road

US cap and trade is a glittering, trillion-dollar prize on which all the warmists' long-term plans rely. They are not going to give it up without a struggle.

UN climate change chief Rajendra Pachauri says sorry — and switches to neutral - Times Online

The outspoken chairman of the UN’s climate change body is to adopt a neutral advisory role and has agreed to stop making statements demanding new taxes and other radical policies on cutting emissions.
...
“It is not correct to say there are people who don’t trust me,” he said.

He admitted it had been a mistake to give the impression, in many interviews, that he was advocating specific actions to cut emissions. Last year, he called for higher taxes on aviation and motoring, said people should eat less meat, and proposed that hotel rooms should have electricity meters to charge people extra for using air conditioning.

Speaking in London yesterday, he said he would focus in future on presenting the science on climate change rather than advocating policies.
...
Dr Pachauri said he wanted more power over the IPCC secretariat and an extra $1million (£671,000) a year to fund its work, on top of the $5million it already receives. The IPCC is planning to recruit more spin-doctors to help it promote its work and defend itself against attacks by climate sceptics. Dr Pachauri said that at present the organisation is “terribly ill-equipped” to communicate with the world’s media.

A Place to Stand: HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT HOUR

Via Mr Euginides & Dizzy together with a plea that instead of celebrating Earth Hour (last year they called it Earth Day) by switching off all your lights (8.30pm on Saturday 27th March) we should celebrate Human Achievement Hour by keeping them on. My suspicion is that most people will do the latter & only the most useless & pretentious parts of government will do the former which seems appropriate. eg Zimbabwean children will hold a candlelit picnic & the WWF fakecharity are pushing it.

This orbital picture shows, in a way 1,000 words couldn't do, what is wrong with pure socialism & indeed Luddite "environmentalism". One may argue correctly that less pure socialism/Luddism we have in Britain is less destructive but that is an argument only that it is less horrible not that it is in any way good.

A Look at the Australian Climate Network: More Holes than a Swiss Cheese

As noted in the previous post, there are 32 RCS stations that have data missing from the beginning of the dataset. From this analysis, we see that there are 22 RCS stations that have data missing beyond the initial start date. Eight of these RCS stations are in the same list as the previous post, which means that there is a total of 46 RCS stations (or a staggering 44.6%) that have significant missing data.

Earth Hour 'will not cut carbon emissions' - Telegraph

A climate change campaign to get everyone to switch off their lights will not reduce carbon emissions, according to electricity experts.

Rajan's Take: Climate Change: Earth Hour: Sock it to WWF

Its such free publicity that enabled the WWF to raise $3.1 billion in just six years (2003-2008) or half a billion dollars a year on an average. This feat accords the WWF the status of one of the largest non-profit fundraiser in the world. But they are also the most sleazy one too. They project themselves as an animal rights defenders and committed particularly to the protection of endangered species. Using this carefully crafted brand image, they milked the issue of declining population of polar bears to the last drop. WWF attributed this decline to global warming by arguing that it restricted polar bear hunting of seals through a lack of sea ice which they use as a platform to hunt.

Their hysterical campaigns are based on such arguments that however undermined the findings of their own research. According to the WWF, about 20 distinct polar bear populations exist, accounting for approximately 22,000 polar bears worldwide. As the figure shows, population patterns do not show a temperature-linked decline.

Okay, Maybe Beef Doesn't Cause More Warming than Oil... - TIME

However, for the vast majority of the scientific community, the errors that have emerged do nothing to undermine the overall consensus that climate change presents a real and pressing risk to the globe. "They have found perhaps three mistakes in the IPCC report out of, what, 1000 conclusions?" says Schneider. "That's an incredible batting average. Think about it in comparison to predictions about health care or the economy — it's better than any other human forecasting endeavor."

American Thinker: Electric Green Waste

Green initiatives are costing hard-pressed Americans billions of dollars, in the form of higher utility bills, and squandered investment in inefficient electric power generation.

Global warming: Carbon taxes, green technologies--what mix of solutions will help us?

First, I think we should have a modest price on carbon. I favor a revenue neutral carbon tax, with the money raised by it being returned to taxpayers via lower payroll taxes. I favor this for two reasons. First, because it starts everybody thinking about CO2 as a 'pollutant.' It is not, but for the practical purposes of lowering our emissions, it is convenient for us to think of it that way.

Jimmy Carter Was Better than This (Why can’t Democrats embrace a free energy market?) — MasterResource

Carter Was Pro-Drilling Compared to Obama

Earth Hour: Click to Fade @ AMERICAN DIGEST

The Big Picture at the Boston Globe site routinely publishes stunning photographs of what is taking place in the world. But at editor Alan Taylor's whim after last year's "Earth Hour", it went a step further in "celebrating" the rise of mass insanity in our age.

EU Referendum: Environmentalism has been hijacked by the warmists

Wallace is touching on a massively serious problem. Warmism has hijacked the entire environmental agenda, setting the cause of real environmental improvement back decades.

So it is not a question of "reframing". The two agendas cannot live side-by-side. True environmentalists need to reclaim their ground from the warmists, who are the enemy of the environment, distorting and perverting a worthy cause for their own ends.

Leading America's Fight Against Climate Change - Newsweek.com

As Jackson talks tough about deadlines and cuts—trying to convince industry that the administration is standing behind her plan—the president himself has been notably quiet on the question. His aides, meanwhile, are sending signals that Obama is looking for a way to avoid such a showdown. "The president understands that the EPA must follow the science and its legal obligations," says a White House official who spoke under the usual rules of anonymity. "But he has made abundantly clear that his strong preference is for Congress to pass energy and climate legislation." Hardball Washington translation: let's make a deal.

Michelle Malkin » Is Global Warming Causing the Tea Parties?

When I read the story it occurred to me that if the Gorebots haven’t thought to link the “angry” health care protests to global warming and use that as justification to quickly ram through Cap and Trade, immigration “reform” and any other number of grand schemes that are in the works before somebody gets hurt, N.G.’s revelation might prompt them to do this very thing. Just something to be on the lookout for.

How long will it be until Al Gore sees this story and thinks to link global warming and tea parties? Put me down for three days — two if it’s warm this weekend.

Ukraine – Stability and Reliability « Musings from the Chiefio

On a whim, I decided to start making the European graphs from near the bottom of the list up. And ran smack into Ukraine. Long history, stable trend. Even in the face of high year to year volatility in any given month. So the vertical scale is +/- 12 C for monthly anomaly excursions, yet we have an average that runs right along the zero line. Had to make it Hot Pink to see it. And just look at that trend line! Dead Flat. It looks like Ukraine gets a complete pass on Carbon-Guilt. Even the 1990 changes didn’t change the trend much.

Explorers Find Fresh Polar Bear Tracks

“There may well be a connection between this near-miss and the recent turbulent weather patterns that have caused the ice to break up,” said Survey Director and explorer Pen Hadow. “Seals use the open water to breath, so as more ice breaks apart, so the polar bear is afforded more hunting opportunities.”

William M. Briggs, Statistician » Warnings by Mike Smith

Yet Hurricane Katrina—which was as well forecasted as a storm can possibly be—still took the appalling mayor Ray Nagin and other officials by surprise. Smith leads us through the tragedy of ineptitude step by step. One example: why were firefighters and other rescue workers a day late? They first had to stop in Atlanta to take a mandatory course on sexual harassment before they were allowed in the field. Ah, the wisdom of government and delights of political correctness.

Climate MEPs live it up in Tenerife

A GROUP of Euro-MPs sparked fury yesterday after jetting off to sunny Tenerife on an expensive junket to discuss climate change.

The six-day summit will see scores of Eurocrats descending on the Canary Isles, leaving taxpayers back home to pick up the £550,000 bill.

ABC's Environmental Alarmist Sam Champion Hypes 'Earth Hour,' Skipped ClimateGate | NewsBusters.org

Of course, Champion and GMA found no such time to report on the ClimateGate scandal. On December 09, 2009, when asked about this on Twitter, Champion Tweeted back: "i kno what u refer to! [sic] there is quite a controversy surrounding the veracity of that stolen info...not reportable as such."

It would be difficult and unwise to deny there is global warming - Owen Sound Sun Times - Ontario, CA

There is still a difference of opinion in the scientific community over the extent to which greenhouse gases from human activity are responsible for global warming, as opposed to natural causes.

More ClimateGate Complications - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

The ClimateGate plot thickens. Lord Oxburgh, a member of the House of Lords who was appointed “to chair a scientific assessment panel that will examine the published science of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia,” has links to businesses that would benefit financially from low-carbon technology: he is chairman of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association and the wind energy company Falck Renewables. Trevor Davies, the University of East Anglia’s pro-vice-chancellor for research, said the university was aware of Lord Oxburgh’s connections but believed he would act “in an utterly objective way.”

[Google Translate: Al Gore promoting the global warming hoax in Brazil yesterday]

The former deputy U.S. President Al Gore said on the afternoon of Friday, in Manaus, the law that limits the emission of greenhouse gases may be approved this year by the U.S. Senate. The law, which already passed the House of Representatives, is stuck since June 2009.
Despite the difficulty, Gore said he was optimistic.
... "Before coming here I was talking to the leader of the House, one of the leaders of our Congress. And tomorrow, I'll be the leader of the Senate. And all of them, including President Obama, expressed a determination to pass the law .

Google Translate: [Note that eco-hero James Cameron also took this long, unnecessary, fossil-fueled trip]

There is much damage to the forest, claims director, on a visit to Manaus.
"Please!" Joked Al Gore on continuing filming in Brazil.

EU Referendum: A co-ordinated counter-offensive

"The IPCC will continue to learn from experience, including criticism of its work," [Pachauri] then says. And indeed it has. Having discovered that the sceptics are far more dangerous than they realised, and that its work can be so easily taken apart, they have devised a co-ordinated counter-offensive, part of which we are seeing today.

Six Fantastic, But Plausible, Ways to Fight Global Warming - Road Tickle

...now Dr. Box is looking to cover 10,000 square meters of Greenland in blankets to preserve the ice, and our coastlines.

I’ll take a pass on Meatless Monday: Woodcock | Connie Woodcock | Columnists | Comment | Toronto Sun

So all in all, I don’t think I’ll be participating in Meatless Monday. For one thing, it’s burger night at our house and, for another, cows keep a significant number of my relatives employed. For a third, any cause promoted by the likes of Al Gore and Paul McCartney makes me suspicious.

Because if there’s one thing we should all have learned from recent adventures in climate change, it is that skepticism frequently turns out to be justified.

California Green Summit: [Keynote speaker is a kid brainwashed by Al Gore to promote the greatest scientific fraud in history]

The exhibit hall in the Sacramento Convention Center was full. It was the second day of the California Green Summit.
...
As the keynote speaker walked to the podium, the first thing you noticed was that he was tall and lanky, and young — very young. The keynote speaker for this convention, one that our governor had visited the very same day, was only 15 years old.

The speaker was Alec Loorz, a 15-year-old high school student from Ventura. He told us his story. At just 12 years old, he saw Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth.” He got it. He understood that time is running out. He wanted to take action. He wanted to make a difference.

Study: Public more skeptical about warming trend | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

"Global warming is a scam," said Matthew Sorrell, an investor in Muscle Shoals who has changed his views on the issue.

"I used to believe in it; in high school, they taught it in the science textbooks," Sorrell said.

'SHOWDOWN IN SEARCHLIGHT': [Al Gore takes fossil-fueled trip for partisan reasons]

As for Reid, he's scheduled Saturday morning to attend an official opening of a shooting park in Clark County and at night a dinner in Las Vegas where former Vice President Al Gore is speaking.

'I'm not quitting' says under-fire UN climate [hoax] boss - Climate Change, Environment - The Independent

[Pachauri] has been accused of leading a film-star life with Bollywood friends in Delhi, enriching himself through his IPCC connections and publishing a raunchy sex novel.

"My salary is something that you would find laughable," he said (later revealing it was $45,000 dollars per annum). "I have never bothered about money – I come from a family of academics.

"My lifestyle is barely comfortable, but there are some things I am very conscious of. When I leave my office, I switch off the lights even if I am out for five minutes. In Delhi, temperatures drop to 1 degree Celsius in the winter, but I refuse to use heating in my bedroom – I'll take an extra blanket or whatever. I've been a vegetarian for several years now, I haven't seen a movie for years together, and I work every day of my life."
...
Dr Pachauri accepted the IPCC was at fault in some of the incorrect predictions in its last report, in particular the suggestion that the Himalayan glaciers would melt though global warming by 2035 (the real figure should be 2350).

He said he was informed of this in mid-January and acted immediately to correct it, but he accepted that the IPCC had not responded quickly enough to media inquiries, and said it would be setting up its own media unit at its Geneva headquarters (it is currently without a dedicated media operation or press office).

Flashback: An extremely absurd paragraph from the Washington Post

Check this
out:

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman
of the U.N. panel of scientists on climate change, said people
are going to have to change their lifestyles to become part of the
solution, but "that doesn't mean we have to go back to life in a cave." He said his own children "shamed" him into
changing his habits, and he urged young people to realize the
influence they have over adults.

Ok, Mr. Chairman: you're
telling us with all that allegedly great evidence of impending
human-caused catastrophe, you wouldn't even change your own personal
habits until your kids shamed
you into it?!

What exactly did your kids say that was so much
more persuasive than what your UN scientists (allegedly) say?

No, still not getting it on climate change

No, Pachauri is still not getting the point.

The point about climate change is not “is it happening?”. It is “how bad is it going to be?”.

Desperation looks good fighting climate change: geoscientist Broecker

NEW YORK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- He's known [by who, specifically?] as the "Grandfather of Climate Science." And he says preventing atmospheric carbon dioxide from reaching 450 parts per million (ppm) by 2040 would take draconian measures no country is willing to pursue.

Wally Smith Broecker, a renown geoscientist at Columbia University, told Xinhua on Thursday that unless governments forced all local industries to work towards solving the carbon dioxide ( CO2) problem, just as the United States converted all production to military materials during World War II, the global carbon output will exceed 450 ppm.

[A bit of realism from an unlikely source]: Global warming, is it real? - Braintree, MA - Braintree Forum

Now the climate change/global warming hypothesis is just that, a hypothesis. There is no positively, absolute proof yet that says uncontrolled fossil fuel emissions will turn our world into the rain-soaked world of “The Blade Runner.”
...
We are Sustainable Braintree, a community group advocating sustainability and environmental awareness. Yes, we believe that climate change is real, but even more important – we believe we shouldn’t waste our dwindling environmental resources now. Saving resources will make our community a better place now and global climate, well, it will respond on its own. So the real question isn’t “Global warming, is it Real?” It‘s, “Do I care if our American landscape is ruined for an extra ton of coal, that an extra gallon of oil comes from countries that threaten us, or if our air gets more polluted – just so I can keep my incandescent lamp and spend the buck on instant gratification instead?”

Freezing winter tests homeless shelters, those on streets | The Augusta Chronicle

Across Georgia, 52 homeless men and women died because of the weather in 2008, according to Kathryn Preston, the executive director of the Georgia Coalition to End Homelessness.

Numbers for 2009 have yet to be tallied, but the record low temperatures that descended on the South do not bode well for the count.

Richmond County Coroner Grover Tuten said the changing weather often brings a spike in the number of homeless deaths.

Tuten said he can't recall any homeless deaths because of the weather this winter, and his office does not keep records on them. But there have been six unclaimed bodies since January, often -- but not always -- an indication of homelessness.

Officials from local shelters said they extended their hours and capacity during winter -- the fifth-coldest in Augusta history -- so no one would be left out in the cold. Still, many had no choice. Shelters filled up quickly when the mercury dipped, as happened often.

Big Hollywood » Ann McElhinney  » James Cameron – I Accept

“I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads.” –James Cameron

James Cameron I accept your offer, I’ll even drive myself to your gigantic gated Malibu double mansion to shoot it out.
...
So again James Cameron I accept your invitation and I will participate in a public discussion. I think it’s important for the man who uses 1000% more mined resources than the average American, lives in a home 1000% bigger than the average American and drives/flies 1000% more than the average American to explain how the Average American is destroying the planet.

Van Jones: Clean energy “will be increasingly safe political ground for both parties” | Grist

There are good reasons for the United States to be a world leader on clean energy. We have a Saudi Arabia of solar power, not just in the Sun Belt but on rooftops across America. We’ve got a Saudi Arabia of wind power in the plain states, near the Great Lakes, and off our coasts.

Hey, Van:  If I live in "a Saudi Arabia of solar power", why isn't there enough solar energy to melt the snow off my roof for months at a time?

Whoops: Energy Star approves gas-powered alarm clock | Grist

Well this is embarrassing: Federal monitors granted the Energy Star stamp of approval to a number of bogus appliances, including a gas-powered alarm clock and an electric space heater with a feather duster taped to it.

[Jobs, jobs, jobs]: EPA proposes revoking permit for mountaintop mine - The Hill's E2-Wire

EPA proposed on Friday to "significantly restrict" or stop altogether a controverisal mountain top mining project in Logan County, West Virginia, approved for operation three years ago. *

The Spruce No. 1 mine, owned by Arch Coal, is one of the largest mountaintop mines ever proposed in Central Appalachia and posed significant risks to the environment, EPA said. The project won permit approval in 2007 but has been delayed from opening by litigation. A public comment period lasting 60 days now follows EPA's proposal, to be followed by a final decision.

EPA's decision marks the first time the agency used its veto authority under the Clean Water Act to stop a project previously approved.
...
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) also criticized EPA’s decision.

“I have said this before, and will say it again: it is wrong and unfair for the EPA to change the rules for a permit that is already active,” Rockefeller said in a statement.

Don't hound the climate [fraud] scientists | Rajendra Pachauri | Comment is free | The Guardian

To dismiss the implications of climate change based on an error about the rate at which Himalayan glaciers are melting is an act of astonishing intellectual legerdemain. Yet this is what some doubters of climate change are claiming. But the reality is that our understanding of climate change is based on a vast and remarkably sound body of science – and is something we distort and trivialise at our peril.
...
For instance, partial loss of ice sheets on polar land could imply metres of sea level rise, major changes in coastlines and inundation of low-lying areas, with the greatest effects in river deltas and low-lying islands.
...
Thousands of scientists from across the world have worked diligently and in an objective and transparent manner to provide scientific evidence for action to meet the growing challenge of climate change. To obscure this reality through misplaced emphasis on an error in a nearly 3,000-page, rigorous document would be unfortunate.

Even more unfortunate is the effort of some in positions of power and responsibility to indict dedicated scientists as "climate criminals". I sincerely hope the world is not witnessing a new form of persecution of those who defy conventional ignorance and pay a terrible price for their scientifically valid beliefs.

[Michael Mann: Maybe those people who want to check our data are just trying to prevent us from doing more of our super-awesome, non-fraudulent science] | Environment | The Guardian

Michael Mann, a US scientist at Penn State University, who is on the list, said: "I think the following quote characterises the situation best: 'Continuous research by our best scientists … may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumours, gossip, and vilification.' The quote wasn't made during the last few months. It was made by US president Harry S Truman in 1948, in response to politically motivated attacks against scientists associated with the dark era of McCarthyism."

Mann added: "I fear that is precisely the sort of atmosphere that is being created, and sure, it impacts research. The more time scientists have to spend fending off these sorts of attacks and dealing with this sort of nonsense, the less time is available to them to actually do science, and to push the forefront of our knowledge forward. Perhaps that is the intent?"

EU Referendum: Perhaps they really are that ignorant

...we are seeing clues from an increasing number of sources – this report included - which seem to indicate something amazing. The warmists could really be as ignorant as they appear to be.

Vid: Ex EPA admin Whitman on 3/2:"I do not think humans cause global climate change.

Vid: Ex EPA admin Whitman on 3/2:"I do not think humans cause global climate change. http://j.mp/WhitmCO2 Full quote: "We talk about stopping global climate change. I think that is the ultimate in human arrogance to think we can stop global climate change. I am one who, for instance, The earth has been changing since it was formed. There was an ice age. It went away. We weren’t around to screw it up. But our human activity is so exacerbating a natural trend that nature can no longer absorb it and adapt to it in the way it has in the past, nor can we. What we need to be focused on is how to slow down the natural trend…"

[Sarkozy: Let's start a massive trade war over the greatest scientific fraud in history] - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Is the time approaching when the European Union will impose greenhouse gas controls on products and services imported from parts of the world that lack such regulations?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to hope so.

[How much did US taxpayers shell out for White House staff to grow this food?]: Witnessing the White House garden’s winter bounty | Grist

Despite two feet of snow, the White House garden managed to produce an impressive amount of lettuce, spinach, turnips, arugula, and carrots during January and February. Leeks, garlic, and even peas are already well along and will be harvested later in the spring. It's hard to imagine a better advertisement for the USDA's new hoop house-based winter growing programs. If the White House staff can produce this amount of food as a "hobby," imagine what full-time professional farmers could manage with dedicated winter growing efforts.

The video also provides a spectacular time lapse sequence showing the falling and melting of this winter's heavy snow on the garden itself.

In Canada, TV Goes Deep on Climate - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com

In a world of shrinking conventional coverage of (non-medical) science and the environment, it was refreshing recently to become aware of the The Agenda with Steve Paikin, a popular current-affairs program on public television in Ontario — particularly its five-hour string of shows devoted to some of the prime facets of the climate challenge.

The guests in the series ranged from Joe Romm, “ America’s fiercest climate blogger,” to Richard Lindzen, the climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has been variously lionized and pilloried for his arguments against science pointing to a dangerous human influence on climate. (I was invited earlier this week to join two climate scientists in a segment focusing on the value and limits of computer-generated climate simulations.)

Global warming: Greenpeace morphs into big tobacco

...to say that Exxon has geared up and contributed $23 million over 10 years time to a couple of dozen organisations to create a machine to fight climate change is a fantasy with just one goal--to increase contributions to Greenpeace.

Roy Innis : [Evil real-world effects of the climate hoax] - Townhall.com

Ghana is trying to build a 130-MW gas-fired power plant, to bring electricity’s blessings to more of its people, schools, hospitals and businesses. Today, almost half of Ghanaians never have access to electricity, or get it only a few hours a week, leaving their futures bleak.

Most people in Ghana are forced to cook and heat with wood, crop wastes or dung, says Franklin Cudjoe, director of the Imani (Hope) Center for Policy and Education, in Accra. The indoor air pollution from these fires causes blindness, asthma and severe lung infections that kill a million women and young children every year. Countless more Africans die from intestinal diseases caused by eating unrefrigerated, spoiled food.

But when Ghana turned to its United States “partner” and asked OPIC to support the $185-million project, OPIC refused to finance even part of it – thus adding as much as 20% to its financing cost. Repeated across Africa, these extra costs for meeting “climate change prevention” policies will threaten numerous projects, and prolong poverty and disease for millions.

Bees in more trouble than ever after bad winter

[Written by Garance Burke and Seth Borenstein] MERCED, Calif. (AP) — The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing honeybees is deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off this winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with pesticides.

Fiorina: Scrap state's global warming law - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

Calling it an "unbelievable job killer," GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina today urged the elimination of California's landmark global warming law.

If AB 32 is not scrapped, Fiorina said she will back an effort to suspend the law until unemployment in the state drops to 5.5 percent and stays there for one year.
...
And she said the science involved in global warming should be subject to more scrutiny.

"I think we should have the courage always to examine the science," she said.

[I hate it when that happens]: National Geographic Warns Global Warming Leads to Increased Violence... Possibly Even 'Genocide' | NewsBusters.org

Still, DeLisi told the Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology that climate- induced displacement can result in conflict and "If these types of skirmishes occur on a global scale, the result could be increased civil unrest-and even genocide and war, noted the study authors, who presented their work last week."

Another Classic Colorado Ballot Initiative | GlobalWarming.org

It has become so trendy now to challenge the crumbling global warming establishment.

Monterey Aquarium: [New exhibition promotes global warming hoax]

Although "Hot Pink Flamingos" tries to be upbeat and emphasize that people can do a lot to change things, it doesn't sugarcoat or minimize the severity of the climate crisis. For instance, the exhibition includes a film about Shishmaref, Alaska, a village being forced to move because of the erosion caused by global warming.

Audit Finds Vulnerability of EnergyStar Program - NYTimes.com

Auditors concluded that the EnergyStar program was highly vulnerable to fraud.

- Bishop Hill blog - Climate change in schools

Readers who have expressed concern over the use of green propaganda in schools will be interested in this, a report on the Climate Change Schools Project.

The students really benefitted from the experience and really seem more aware of the different issues connected to climate change. They often now come to school in the morning to ask if I have heard the news and telling me we really do need to do something- Last week it was the fact that 1 in 6 houses are going to be at risk of flooding in the later part of this century.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » AP: Say, guess what we just found in ObamaCare!

Congress passed the bill without knowing what was in it. Barack Obama signed it without reading it. Now it looks as though the Associated Press reported on ObamaCare without comprehending its content. Readers will have to scroll far down to discover that the elimination of a key tax break that kept retirees on company prescription-medication plans will mean dumping millions of seniors onto Medicare — and that the AP ignored it until now

Catlin Team Averaging 1.7 Miles Per Day – Only 295 Miles Left to Go! « Watts Up With That?

The Arctic Ocean covers 5,427,000 square miles. Catlin 2010 has seen maybe ten square miles of it, meaning they have sampled less than 0.0002% of the ice. They also choose to travel on refrozen leads because they are flatter and smoother, so their sampling is not random. No serious scientist would attempt to draw any conclusions about the quality of the ice based on a cherry picked sample representing less than 0.0002% of the Arctic, but this is no ordinary scientific expedition.

Transportation Department Embraces Bikes, and Business Groups Cry Foul - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced a “major policy revision” that aims to give bicycling and walking the same policy and economic consideration as driving.

“Today I want to announce a sea change,” he wrote on his blog last week. “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of nonmotorized.”

[But if the vast majority of US travel is done via motorized vehicles, shouldn't motorized vehicles be favored?]

In 2001, an estimated 403.9 billion person-trips occurred in the United States (table 1). The two most common modes of travel were passenger vehicle (86.4 percent) and walking (8.8 percent).

Does LaHood envision an America where half of all person-trips are non-motorized?

Q&A: Bill McKibben on CO2 and the Future - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Q. What did 350.org take away from the Copenhagen conference?
A.  In some ways, for us it was a “best of times, worst of times” scenario. We’d just come off our huge October day of demonstrations, with 5,200 events in 181 countries. And we were able to take that momentum and use it to get 117 nations firmly behind the 350 target, which a year before would have been sheer fantasy. We really made the science the center of the meeting.

Harmless Sky - Climate, the countryside and landscapes » Hiding the decline - in the number of storms

When people talk about the fundamental evidence for AGW not being called into question they are considering only a few specific allegations. But we rely entirely on the IPCC for that evidence. It is not too much to say that the evidence for AGW is the IPCC. If the IPCC assessment process is contaminated by a culture that is essentially concerned with presentation, then the whole of that process, and the conclusions that have been reached about global warming, require fresh scrutiny.

The above email suggests that, in this case at least, the IPCC’s priority was massaging the evidence to suit the message. In how many other instances is this case?

Oxfam latest UK Bill Board, is it legal? | Climate Realists

The bill board heading reads:

"You might have read that the climate change talks are dead in the water"

"Bit of irony there for the thousands who'll be hit by floods"

Writers Focus on Climate Change At SAARC Literature Fest

New Delhi, March 26 – Writers from South Asian countries have joined hands to discuss climate change issues and ways in which they can contribute in creating more awareness at the 33rd SAARC Festival of Literature that began here Friday.

Hundreds of writers, students and academicians from diverse backgrounds are participating in the three-day festival at the India International Centre here.

2010 April Environment & Climate News by James M. Taylor, The Heartland Institute | Climate Realists

The April issue of Environment & Climate News reports Arizona will not implement carbon dioxide restrictions under the Western Climate Initiative’s regional cap-and-trade system.
...
* The American Wind Energy Association reports no increase in overall U.S. wind industry jobs despite “green” stimulus money given to wind power companies.

MUST SEE: Cap and Trade from the HeartlandTube | Climate Realists

What are the true costs of cap and trade legislation? The Heartland Institute investigates.

Developing Technology « the Air Vent

Just how people get from these not believing in these massive disaster scenario’s to a need for mitigation rather than simple adaptation is way beyond my understanding.

William M. Briggs, Statistician » 2000 Scientists Demand Climate Action! Part II

But what if there are dozens of predictions, each equally dire? Shouldn’t the sheer quantity of doomsday scenarios cause us to worry?

No.

The Hockey Schtick: Papers on the ANTI-Greenhouse Effect of CO2

Three papers which conclude that at current levels, CO2 (and methane) produce an anti-greenhouse effect due to interaction with H20 by forming clusters. The IR radiation absorption spectra and radiating power of the CO2-H2O and CH4-H2O clusters were calculated and determined to reduce the greenhouse effect.

Jeremy Leggett: caught between low carbon and high-voltage rows | Business | The Guardian

Former scientific director at Greenpeace is at the leading edge of a green energy revolution, and under fire from environmentalists

[Trace amounts of Co2 allegedly] Affect Rainmakers' Predictions

Indigenous people in western Kenya have relied on the mystical abilities of the Nganyi rainmakers to predict the weather for generations. However, the erratic weather caused by climate change has made the signs rainmakers need for their forecast opaque.

“Better Act Now” Than Being Sorry Later? or The Economist vs. The Titanic « The Unbearable Nakedness of CLIMATE CHANGE

If you want to insure yourself against catastrophe, surely the very first thing you want to do is to make sure that the end result won’t be worse than the catastrophe you’re trying to avoid.

Take for example what happened with the unsinkable Titanic. It is very likely that, had the crew just slowed down the ship without trying to turn it to avoid the iceberg, four or fewer compartments would have been flooded, and the whole sinking avoided with everybody on board surviving the accident. First Officer Murdoch simply didn’t think about the consequences of some of his actions. The cost of trying to avert the iceberg was as high as losing more the fifteen hundred lives.

And so just like with the famous liner, even if we believe he environment is soon going to crush against some disaster of an iceberg, still we can’t simply decide to do something for the sake of doing something. Uncertainty doesn’t necessarily argue for action.

Tim Yeo | [Let's set the clocks ahead two hours, because that will increase tourism and prevent bad weather!]

Last but not least the British Tourist Authority has estimated that a change to SDST would increase turnover in tourism by over £1bn and extend the tourist season. Tourist attractions and sports facilities, many of which are capable of creating lots of new jobs, could stay open later to boost their business.

The fact that a move to SDST will reduce energy use and carbon emissions is enough of an incentive for its adoption.

Why WWF thinks flicking the switch for Earth Hour is worth it | David Nussbaum | Environment | guardian.co.uk

While the UK and the US (two major global emitters) may have seen an increase in sceptical noise on climate change in recent months, I feel confident that globally, this is no waning movement.
...
Earth Hour is not about a world without light, power and the great human achievements that keep us warm and safe. It is absolutely a celebration of their positive role; we want a bright future in which the lights stay on, drawing on forms of energy and innovative technologies that have a lesser impact on people and nature around the world.

Earth Hour - climate change campaigners urge global switch-off | Environment | guardian.co.uk

...it will finish on the other side of the international dateline in the Galapagos Islands, where scientists at the Charles Darwin Research Station will share a candle-lit dinner with several hundred locals and environmental activists  [how will these activists get home?].
...
Another debutant is a first group of participants from Antarctica: the Davis Research Station, which is home to several dozen scientists who presumably will not be also switching off their heaters in -10 degrees Celsius.
...
In cities like Tokyo, Seoul and New York, netizens are being asked to record the switch-off of landmark buildings on their mobile phones and upload them online.
...
Not everywhere is going dark. Tanzania initially did not sign up because few would notice a switch off in Dar es Salaam and other cities where only 10% of people have electricity. Instead, WWF organised a "switch on" of solar energy for a local school last year. It will scale this up to 20 schools this year.

In Madagascar, 99% of the country has no electricity and people are frightened to be on the streets after dark because of the instability that has followed the political crisis. But WWF say locals have asked to participate.

Here's what Obama's ''necessarily skyrocket' plan looks like for LA electricity rates | Washington Examiner

Remember when President Obama said his anti-global warming program meant "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket"?

Well, he wasn't kidding one bit. He and his environmental extremist friends want to force the rest of us to use less energy and to get what energy we do use from "green" or "renewable" sources.

Die Klimazwiebel: Ed Miliband writes to Pachauri

The UK climate change secretary Ed Miliband has written to the chairman of the IPCC. The nature of the letter signals that the concerns about public trust are taken serioulsy. Have other governments done similar things?

Steven Chu video: 'We don't understand the downward trend that occurred in 1900 or in 1940. We don't fully understand the plateau that's happened in the last decade.' | GORE LIED

So Chu says we don’t understand the cooling spells, but he spends a good portion of the rest of the lecture saying there’s no question what causes the warming – us. But, wouldn’t an inability to explain the cooling put the entire theory on ice. Sure, unless you’ve got a Progressive political agenda to shill.

Sen. Tom Udall: “My goal would be to get 10 Republicans on the climate bill” | Grist

[Q] Are there details about the KGL bill that you'd like to share?

A. We're not ready to put it in detailed form right now. We first need to develop the narrative, then get down to the specific concepts, and then get into the details. I'm not suggesting this should be a year-long process -- we need to do all of this in the next couple of weeks, and then give Sen. Reid a sense of where we are. He'll work with Sen. [Dick] Durbin [D-Ill.] to find out how much support this has.

EU Referendum: Slowly deflating

"European Union leaders are cooling on their ambition to fight global warming, leaving a key greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target out of a draft statement prepared for a summit on Friday, internal documents show."

So said Earth Times - typically referring to this weekend's European Council as a "summit", unable like so many to come to grips with the basic institutional structure of the EU.
...
...all this is a far cry from the heady days of 2007 when Rajendra Pachauri was sweeping all before him, and the green agenda was conquering the world. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, it is dawning on the political élites that their global warming scam is no longer a runner.

It is struggling to get on the agenda and, if past experience is any guide, the tactic will be to talk about it less and less, until the issue is parked and forgotten.
...
No wonder the greenies are beginning to panic, pouring out reports about how to deal with the "sceptics". They have lost it. They don't know how or why, and have yet to come to terms with the fact that they are not going to get back to the good old days. The bubble has not burst - it's not going to be like that. It is slowly deflating.

Scafetta on the 60-year temperature cycle at Heliogenic Climate Change

Climate 'deniers' accuse journal of censorship - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The latest debate on climate science to emerge centres on a paper that suggests humans played no role in the recent warming trend and that El Nino activity is mostly to blame.

Global Warming : Shut down the IPCC | MND: Your Daily Dose of Counter-Theory

So, let’s be absolutely clear about the obvious. The IPCC should be shut down – immediately. Each nation then has an independent responsibility to hunt down those involved in the conspiracy and pursue appropriate legal action against them. What could be more obvious?

We're saved!!: Couple with six-sigma carbon footprint tells us to sit in the dark for an hour

Celeb couple awkwardly asks you to dim the lights for Earth Hour | Grist

[With videos] On Saturday at 8:30 p.m. local time (wherever you are) join 30 U.S. states, 3,100 U.S. cities, 121 countries, and celeb couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen (in both their homes), by turning off your lights for World Wildlife Fund's 4th annual Earth Hour.

Flashback: Link roundup: In an effort to revive dying climate scam, UN enlists fossil fuel-guzzling supermodel

Gisele Bundchen is in the process of getting her helicopter pilot's license.
...
We're told the supermodel, who spends a ton of time each year traveling to photo shoots around the world, has purchased a Gulfstream G550 for $50 million.

YouTube - Tom Brady - NetJets

[Brady: You know what's great? Constantly flying all over the place, on the spur of the moment, on a totally private, fossil fuel-guzzling jet]

Climate change on fisheries studied | The Money Times

For various temperature and fish population scenarios over the next 90 years, the [NOAA] researchers forecast that at current levels of fishing, the spawning population of Atlantic croaker would increase 60-100 percent and the center of the population would shift approximately 30-65 miles northward, with the maximum sustainable yield increasing 30-100 percent.

Trillion-dollar green troughs

You can understand why nobody at Globe is interested in hearing that this potential multi-trillion dollar trough might be sitting atop scientific sand. Nor are they particularly keen that the word get out that the "benefits" of the Green Fund would not be, as the IMF suggests, "to the entire world" but rather to a self-selected group who have managed to build and corral a global process that serves nobody's interest but their own.

RPT-Firm accused of carbon scam may face legal claims | Funds | Reuters

SINGAPORE, March 26 (Reuters) - A firm accused of defrauding Australian investors of A$3.5 million ($3.2 million) in a carbon investment scam and blacklisted by the nation's securities regulator is still operating and may face legal claims.

The case risks denting the reputation of the unregulated voluntary carbon offset market, which has been damaged in the past by allegations of fraud and double-counting, although market players said its small size meant it wouldn't have a big impact.

Plants killed by cold winter may fuel explosive wildfires

Such chaotic scenes spring up across Central Florida routinely during dry months. But the wildfire risk is higher than normal this year.

That's because the cold snaps this winter — one of the coldest on record — left vast amounts of dead vegetation — what fire and weather experts describe as wildfire fuel.

"That's fuel on top of the ground," said Cliff Frazier, a wildfire-mitigation specialist with the state Division of Forestry. "You can walk outside and pick up leaves in your hand, and if they're brown and they crumble, they could ignite."

Expect a chilly, clear day and near-record lows temperatures overnight

Syracuse, NY -- Central New York will be experiencing Mother Nature’s own cure for spring fever tonight: near-record-low temperatures.

National Weather Service forecasters expect temperatures Friday night into Saturday morning will drop to 14 degrees.

C3: Arctic "Warming" - It Begs A Question: Why Are NASA Climate Scientists So Freaking Stupid?

Willis Eschenbach at WUWT provides a great explanation of how NASA managed to find a huge warming in the Arctic during the incredibly cold 2009-2010 winter for the Northern Hemisphere. (We mentioned this curiosity in a previous post.) It appears NASA methods of fabricating temperatures for the Arctic are so incredibly stupid, no other climate group will utilize the method nor vouch for how NASA does it.

New poll finds Obama tied with Anybody in 2012 vote | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

A new CNN / Opinion Research Poll out this afternoon of 953 registered voters nationally finds Obama tied at 47% with any Republican candidate. Gee, if only Wendell Willkie was still around.

The same poll also finds a clear majority of Americans now believe that Obama is a one-term president.

How La Trobe preaches its wild green faith | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

It seems that the unit is being offered to all students (interdisciplinary), regardless of their area of study, on the basis of no pre-requisites or final exam. Effectively, a student could take the unit, (which from the outline seems virtually impossible to fail) in order to avoid an properly tested and examined unit within their discipline. Seems like Mao-esque brainwashing to us.

Record fall in UK greenhouse gases - Telegraph

But Greg Clark, the Tory energy spokesman, said most of the fall was because of the recession.

South Korea to Trade Carbon Emissions Rights - WSJ.com

The environment minister said he is confident that South Korea will host a U.N. climate conference in 2012—an idea unveiled by President Lee Myung-bak during a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen last December.

South Korea and Qatar are competing to host the conference—known as the 18th Convention Of Parties, or COP 18, in 2012. A decision will be made at COP 16 in Mexico in November, environment minister Mr. Lee said.

forecasts snow returning? - turning colder for all united kingdom - week ahead

It is going to be turning much colder during next week as the winds turn into the north or northwest. There could be some snow for many, even at lower levels, and added with strong winds blizzards are likely over the hills of Scotland, northern England and Wales.

[If we all spent every hour doing this, how many hurricanes could we prevent?]: What will you do in the dark for Earth Hour? | Environment | guardian.co.uk

One bright suggestion from the environmentguardian.co.uk team is making shadow puppets on the wall with a torch.

I will not observe Earth Hour - Arab News

ALI bin Saleh Al-Barak, the CEO of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), has said the company will not cut the power from any subscriber on Earth Hour, which takes place on Saturday.

He said it was common practice for other countries to observe Earth Hour by disconnecting the power in its main cities for an hour from 8:30 p.m. to give more focus to the environment, draw attention to pollution and preserve the purity of earth.
...
I will never participate in the Earth Day until the company organizes an event where consumers can turn the tables on SEC officials. During this event, electricity will be cut off for an hour on a summer day from the staff and officials of the company, so they can understand how consumers feel when their power is cut. They should also be made to relive the agony of waiting for the power to come back on.

State buildings to go dark for Earth Hour - montanakaimin.com

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has committed to slowing climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and participating in this cause is a way of showing that commitment, said Schweitzer’s communications director, Sarah Elliott.

Schwarzenegger takes side of business in implementing global warming law - Sacramento Business, Housing Market News | Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, facing a ballot initiative that could derail his cherished global warming law, is urging a go-slow, pro-business approach on a key mechanism used to reduce greenhouse gases.
...
A Schwarzenegger spokesman, Matt David, said the governor was simply confirming his belief that AB 32 can help the environment without harming the economy. Schwarzenegger isn't backing away from the law, he said.

"He's been very consistent with this approach," David said. "He wants to continue to move full speed ahead with AB 32."

Has even rabid alarmist Laurie David lost interest in the global warming hoax?

[This undated piece made me wonder: Whatever happened to Laurie David?]

Perhaps the most powerful environmental activist on the scene today is producer Laurie David.

When I Google Laurie David, her site still comes up labeled "Laurie David | Global Warming Activist". However, at the top of her web site, she's now identified only as "Laurie David producer and author".

[Her new book isn't about The Most Important Issue of All Time]: Big Deals: The Family Table by Laurie David

Larry's ex-wife Laurie David — who made her name (or at least, attempted to) as an outspoken environmentalist and Huffpo contributor — seems to have come down with a case of the GOOPs: she's now turned her attention to fixing the problems of the American family. Pub Weekly reports that Grand Central publishing has picked up rights to The Family Table: Everyday Solutions to Reclaim Dinner and Keep Your Kids Connected, a book "about the importance of family dining," including "tips on place setting, conversation topics and dinner-time games, as well as healthy recipes." Whatever.

Laurie David  |  Press

[The press area of her web site, devoted to global warming at the 2006-2007 height of the hysteria, hasn't been updated since 2008.]

[Delayers]: Dorgan: Energy, climate decisions are a ways off - The Hill's E2-Wire

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said Thursday that no decisions are coming soon about bringing energy and climate legislation to the Senate floor this year.
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Dorgan noted that the Senate will first tackle the big, "heavily lobbied" Wall Street reform bill.

"The question of getting the energy bill up or some variation of it, that's for later. No decision has been made, none will be made, at this point, for a while," Dorgan told reporters Thursday.

They Fly First Class « John Stossel

Will you and your family put off a vacation this year because you can't afford it? Too bad, because you have paid for some terrific trips -- for government bureaucrats. The Washington Times reports that last year $13 billion in tax dollars was spent to pamper "public servants" on trips that double as vacation junkets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, frequently sent employees overseas on first- or business-class airplane tickets that cost taxpayers up to $10,000 each...

Eco-bulb giveaway puts £45 on energy bills

MILLIONS of householders who thought they had been given free eco-friendly lightbulbs have ended up paying £45 for them through a stealth green tax.

Thomas Cook bookings take off as Britons plan summer holidays abroad | City A.M.

THOMAS Cook said yesterday it had seen a “considerable improvement” in summer holidays as sun-starved Brits booked trips abroad.

Reservations shot up by 30 per cent over the past four weeks as customers rushed to escape the cold weather conditions in the UK.

Gulf Daily News » Local News » Bahrain left in the dark

The Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa will also switch off non-essential power in all areas of the hotel, including rooms, restaurants and public spaces, which will be lit by candlelight from 8.30pm.

The event also features a BBQ buffet and entertainment from Radio Bahrain DJ Krazy Kevin.

Yoga and more at this year's Earth Hour

Participants are encouraged to make their way to the park on foot or by bicycle or public transport, and are urged to bring their own yoga mats and blankets in the spirit of Earth Hour, said Ms Amy Ho, managing director of WWF Singapore.
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Vistors are encouraged to get their faces painted to look like pandas, the mascot for WWF.
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The required electricity will be generated on-site by bio-diesel converted from recycled cooking oil - from Four Seasons Hotel and shopping mall 313@Somerset - by clean-energy company Alpha Biofuels.

Although the number of supporting organisations currently stands at 400, 100 fewer than the total count at the end of last year's event, WWF Singapore is hopeful that the number will match last year's by tomorrow.

Tracing the Demise of Cap and Trade - NYTimes.com

Why did cap and trade die? The short answer is that it was done in by the weak economy, the Wall Street meltdown, determined industry opposition and its own complexity.  [Plus, the complete collapse of the global warming hoax wasn't exactly helpful.]
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“Economywide cap and trade died of what amounts to natural causes in Washington,” said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, who has been promoting the idea for more than two decades. “The term itself became too polarizing and too paralyzing in the effort to win over conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to try to do something about climate change and our oil dependency.”