Making Science Public » Are they really climate deniers? Closing down debate in science and politics.

My advice to those supporting climate policies is to make strong political arguments for their implementation, rather than relying on painting your opponents as irrational and anti-science, for two simple reasons: it isn’t true, and it won’t work.

"We've managed these things in the past, and managed them quite well" - an interview with Richard Smith of National Grid | Carbon Brief

Smith agrees the UK faces a squeeze on capacity in 2015 as polluting coal power stations are closed under European legislation. According to Smith, the country last experienced similar pressures on its reserve capacity a decade ago, back in 2000 and 2001. But while he says it's not easy to manage and important not to be complacent, he doesn't predict blackouts in the near future

- Bishop Hill blog - Kremlin watching

The letter also resonated with me because of the biofuels committee I reported on last week. Having watched the video of the debate, I had wondered at the persistence of the government minister in proceeding with biofuels subsidies when everyone - those in the committee as well as people outside like environmentalists - thought that it was a sheer madness.

What is driving the madness? The EU? Corruption? Both?

The melting of Canada's glaciers is irreversible - environment - 08 March 2013 - New Scientist

By the end of the century, a fifth of the Canadian ice sheet – the world's third largest – could be gone for good, raising average global sea levels by 3.5 centimetres.