Guest post by Steven Goddard
Climate Activist Glues Himself to the Smiling Prime Minister at #10
Consider the conflicted UK, where the government is dominated by people who claim to be concerned above all else about CO2 emissions, and where the power industry warns that the country’s electricity and natural gas capacity may soon be inadequate to meet basic needs. Russia is currently threatening to cut off natural gas supplies to Europe. Climate vandals are welcomed to 10 Downing Street where they embarrass the Prime Minister, and formerly great newspapers like The Guardian demonize environmental activists for trying to protect the country’s scenic heritage from unsightly windmills. Dr. Hansen was recently welcomed as an expert witness for the defence of power plant damagers, and children block airport runways to stop vacationers from using airplanes – in the name of protecting of the climate.
The UK is currently in the grip of what the papers describe as a “Siberian Cold Front.” Solar insolation is close to zero this time of year at that latitude, so solar power is out of the question as a significant winter energy source. The light winds and freezing conditions make wind generated power minimally useful and unreliable. Coal, nuclear and natural gas are the only practical options to stay warm, yet the government appears too paralyzed by climate fears to move forward with the needed additions to the energy grid.
Britain is experiencing a seemingly irresolvable conflict in it’s collective belief system. Brits want to save the planet from global warming, and yet are faced with power shortages which may affect their livelihoods and ability to stay warm in a cold climate. The Church of England is wagering huge sums of cash on Al Gore’s understanding of the world. And as the New Year rings in with bitter cold, the Met Office warns of yet another hot year. The last “hot” day in London was July 27, 2006 when temperatures reached 30C (86F.) That was 889 days ago.
Can the great country which survived the Nazi Blitz overcome it’s own internal conflicts in 2009? I predict that England will pull herself together like she always has, but who will be the next Churchill to lead England out of it’s most clueless hour? Britain’s leadership hasn’t been this confused since Neville Chamberlain handed Czechoslovakia over to Hitler seventy years ago. Ironically, it may be current Czech President Vaclav Klaus who rescues Europe from themselves.
“Klaus wrote that it was futile to fight against phenomena like higher solar activity or the change of ocean currents”
Klaus assumed the EU Presidency today. Happy New Year to all.
MichaelS
I made my comments before looking at the site. Are you sure you’re not a mole from RealClimate trying to wind us up?! This letter is surely a spoof?
If not add ‘global temperatures since 1850’ and ‘rapidly rising sea levels’ to the list. But I’d want to be sure first that this letter is for real.
We also need a cartoon icon like the hockey stick-pictures speak louder than words…
tonyB
I see The Independent says it’s too late to fight Carbon and we now need a plan B.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climate-scientists-its-time-for-plan-b-1221092.html
Looks like the media spin is changing direction!
I wish I was back in hot Mexico
WRT UK government policy, it’s also worth noting that there are more and more approvals for new coal mines – much to the horror of the greens.
It seems to me that the UK gov. doesn’t really believe any of the AGW stuff, but (as has been pointed out) likes the taxes, and likes the opportunity for more control over the population, and in any case needs to cover it’s arse with the NGOs and the media.
Vaclav Klaus knows an apparatchik when he smells one. How do you say ‘make waves’ in Czech?
Completely off topic but I was having a ‘heated discussion’ on NYE with a friend who’s a AGW supporter, and he was propounding the theory that AGW will turn off the Gulf Stream and make the UK as cold as its latitude would suggest. Does anyone have up to date info on this idea? I can only find articles etc from about 4 or 5 years ago. Has this theory been discredited or is it still considered a possibility?
bless the Czech Republic and Vaclav Klaus….
One of the few sane voices in the world (politician), not everything he advocates would I willingly eat.
Bringing into your village workers from a foreign land-doing menial ?? tasks, to allow yourself elevated dignity – is in itself a form of slavery. No democracy will survive selective social values.
TonyB (03:45:06) :
It looks like a spoof and smells like a spoof and quacks like a spoof, but the link is directly from columbia.edu, so I’m taking it as real… You were expecting something more realistic and with scientific merit? Perhaps with a discussion of the uncertainties? I hereby issue you one carbon demerit. {boink!} You are ordered to throw another log on the fire! {yaayy!}
Reminder to self – right click and save it – the historical data may soon be “corrected”.
Not a RealClimate mole – or at least I wouldn’t admit it if I was…
I agree with you on the other comment, about pet theories, etc… Michael S.
Just to add fun to the energy mix, Russia’s turned the taps off for the supply of natural gas to the Ukraine, citing “Unpaid bills” as the reason.
This may also adversely affect the pressure of the gas suppied to the rest of Europe, Poland will feel this first, should it happen.
Politicians follow 2 things: votes and money. They can continue for the very short term to live in their AGW fantasy world of carbon credits, windmills, and electric Tonka Toys. But, as people’s heating bills, food costs, and energy bills sky rocket the smart politicians will realize the gig is up.
The Alarmist fantasy world is a function of society’s massive accumulation of wealth. We tolerate them (the Alarmists) becuase in the past we could afford them. Since June 2008 the West has lost some $9 trillion in aggregate wealth; in the US alone some 4 million people lost thier jobs. Even the well-off lost huge sums of private wealth in both the equities markets and the Madoff Scandal. Almost every Western nation will be running large defecits, and unemployment is expected to spread to even such upstart nations as India and China this year.
In 2009, the world will quickly tire of the Alarmists and thier theoretical Doomsday scenarios. Any politician who still insists on things such as Carbon Taxes and alternative fuels will do so at his or her own risk. The average Joe, whether a Brit, Turk, or American perfers feeding his family over subsidizing the fantasies of some unnamed climate bureaucrat.
I’m British, but have the good luck/foresight to have a barn in France. It’s been sub-zero celsius for a week now, pretty cold for what we’re used to, and my woodburning cooker is keeping me warm.
Besides which, electricity is 80% nuclear in France anyway…
The UK elites are living in a fantasy world. Sometime, sooner or later, in their sleepwalking state, they will collide with reality.
It’s going to hurt.
Michael S (02:53:43) :
Tom T (23:01:49) :
Here’s letters from J Hansen to the Obama’s. He put them on his web site Dec 31. Talks about the goal… redistribution of wealth.
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20081229_DearMichelleAndBarack.pdf and http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20081229_Obama_revised.pdf
I would like to offer president-elect Obama a letter from the realist side, refuting and correcting with facts, one by one, in order, the points made by Jim Hansen.
___________________________________
Here is my contribution, as posted Nov 15, 2008 at
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/new-and-cool/an_energy_strategy_for_america1/
AN ENERGY STRATEGY FOR AMERICA
by Allan M.R. MacRae
The USA has two daunting problems – the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression; and President-Elect Obama’s energy policies, which will severely deepen the economic crisis.
Obama stated in a San Francisco Chronicle television interview that he wants to implement an aggressive CO2 cap-and-trade system that could bankrupt coal companies. He further stated that energy prices will necessarily skyrocket. Obama believes that global warming is a critical issue, and he supports the use of solar energy, wind power and biodiesel. To his credit, Obama also supports a market approach and technological development.
In 2007, US primary energy consumption consisted of oil (40%), natural gas (25%), coal (24%), nuclear (8%) and hydroelectricity (2%). As a percentage of total proved reserves of fossil fuels, the US holds just over 2% of the world’s oil, 3% of natural gas, but almost 29% of global coal.
http://www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=6929&contentId=7044622
Energy projects have been constrained due to fears of catastrophic global warming, allegedly caused by increased atmospheric CO2 from burning fossil fuels. However, global warming is just not happening anymore. For the last decade, average global temperatures have not increased. Since January 2007 all global warming has disappeared, as average temperatures plummeted to 1979 levels – when accurate satellite measurements began.
http://www.atmos.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/tltglhmam_5.2
Global cooling is now occurring and is expected to continue for the next twenty to thirty years, due to the recent shift in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation from its warm to cool phase.
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/is_this_the_beginning_of_global_cooling/
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/new-and-cool/implications_of_pdo_and_nao_shifts_and_global_climate_in_upcoming_decades1/
Despite shrill claims of ice cap melting, Arctic sea-ice extent is now at its highest seasonal level since modern satellite measurements began in 2002 – more evidence of global cooling.
http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm
For decades, the US has experienced a huge balance of trade deficit, due primarily to high oil imports. Energy self-sufficiency has been the goal of recent US Presidents, without success.
There is now an opportunity to address both these serious challenges, by rejecting global warming myths and creating an energy strategy based on true, verifiable facts.
Here is the outline of a responsible and economic Energy Strategy for America:
1. Reject CO2 taxes and cap-and-trade measures used to “fight global warming”. Examine the satellite data, the only accurate global temperature measurements in existence. Climate Dyslexics please note: The Earth is cooling, not warming. Global cooling should last for twenty to thirty years and could be severe.
2. Generate much more electrical energy from abundant US coal reserves. Use existing technologies to control real atmospheric pollution from SOx, NOx and particulates, but do not control CO2. In the future, if CO2 sequestration becomes economically attractive (for enhanced oil recovery) or is proved necessary (in the unlikely event that global warming becomes a real problem), retrofit the coal plants with expensive CO2 recovery equipment at that time.
3. As rechargeable battery technology continues to improve, electric and gasoline-electric light vehicles will become commonplace. The power infrastructure already exists to fuel this fleet, and refueling can be done during off-peak periods, when power plants are underutilized. This major change in the light vehicle fleet will shift energy consumption from foreign oil to domestic coal.
4. Re-examine corn ethanol and wind power, which do not work economically or effectively. Corn ethanol for motor fuel requires huge ongoing subsidies and severely distorts food prices. Wind power also requires big subsidies, and almost 100% backup with conventional power generation. Wind power can also cause critical instabilities in the electric power grid. Conduct a full-life-cycle energy balance on corn ethanol, wind power, biodiesel and solar energy, and also examine the environmental demands and pollution associated with these so-called “green” technologies.
5. Re-examine hydrogen. It is an energy medium, like electricity, but if implemented would require a huge new hydrogen infrastructure to be built at great cost, for no environmental or energy gain.
6. Avoid energy subsidies, especially ongoing operating subsidies, which distort economic decisions and create expensive industrial and environmental boondoggles. Wind power and corn ethanol may prove to be two such costly mistakes.
Instead of skyrocketing energy prices, this Energy Strategy for America will result in lower costs, improved balance of trade, and in time could even provide energy self-sufficiency for the USA.
*******************
Allan M.R. MacRae is a Professional Engineer and writer on energy and the environment. In 2002 he predicted in a newspaper article that global cooling would recur. He does not work in the coal industry, accepts no compensation for his writing and holds no coal investments.
___________________________________
Track record: Published in 2002, our PEGG article and the summary below is a much more accurate depiction of today’s realities than the alarmist nonsense produced by James Hansen, the IPCC and the AGW movement:
Posted 25Dec2008 at
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/icing-the-hype/kyotos_fatal_flaws_exposed/
Following is an excerpt from an article written by Dr. Sallie Baliunas (Harvard U Astrophysicist), Dr. Tim Patterson (Carleton U Paleoclimatologist) and me in 2002.
The world is now entering a ~30-year cooling phase, and our list of fatal flaws in the Kyoto Protocol has proven to be remarkably accurate.
THE KYOTO ACCORD – POINT AND COUNTERPOINT
PEGG – November 2002
http://www.apegga.org/Members/Publications/peggs/WEB11_02/kyoto_pt.htm
Excerpt:
Kyoto has many fatal flaws, any one of which should cause this treaty to be scrapped.
Climate science does not support the theory of catastrophic human-made global warming – the alleged warming crisis does not exist.
Kyoto focuses primarily on reducing CO2, a relatively harmless gas, and does nothing to control real air pollution like NOx, SO2, and particulates, or serious pollutants in water and soil.
Kyoto wastes enormous resources that are urgently needed to solve real environmental and social problems that exist today. For example, the money spent on Kyoto in one year would provide clean drinking water and sanitation for all the people of the developing world in perpetuity.
Kyoto will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and damage the Canadian economy – the U.S., Canada’s biggest trading partner, will not ratify Kyoto, and developing countries are exempt.
Kyoto will actually hurt the global environment – it will cause energy-intensive industries to move to exempted developing countries that do not control even the worst forms of pollution.
Kyoto’s CO2 credit trading scheme punishes the most energy efficient countries and rewards the most wasteful. Due to the strange rules of Kyoto, Canada will pay the former Soviet Union billions of dollars per year for CO2 credits.
Kyoto will be ineffective – even assuming the overstated pro-Kyoto science is correct, Kyoto will reduce projected warming insignificantly, and it would take as many as 40 such treaties to stop alleged global warming.
The ultimate agenda of pro-Kyoto advocates is to eliminate fossil fuels, but this would result in a catastrophic shortfall in global energy supply – the wasteful, inefficient energy solutions proposed by Kyoto advocates simply cannot replace fossil fuels.
[end of excerpt]
This elegantly-written 2001 comment by Dr. Richard Lindzen of MIT is worth repeating:
“We are not in a position to confidently attribute past climate change to carbon dioxide or to forecast what the climate will be in the future…”
“Science, in the public arena, is commonly used as a source of authority with which to bludgeon political opponents and propagandize uninformed citizens. This is what has been done with both the reports of the IPCC and the NAS. It is a reprehensible practice that corrodes our ability to make rational decisions. A fairer view of the science will show that there is still a vast amount of uncertainty – far more than advocates of Kyoto would like to acknowledge…”
Best regards to all for the Holidays,
Allan M R. MacRae
Some posters have touched upon what is occurring here.
The truth will not be allowed to change the course of history.
Just because you aren’t paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.
The Milliband brothers. How young are they! Where did they come from?(What is their lineage and why does the British man-in-the-street not know this?) How were they catapulted straight into powerful Cabinet positions?
Who are the “BIlderbergers”? Who are the Fabian Society? The Tavistock Institute? Why is it that the Queen’s and the Prime Minister’s signatures are the only ones necessary to enact the Lisbon treaty on behalf of the whole UK? Why would sovereigns sign away that very sovereignty to a socialist organization? Why is there no debate and no outcry from “opposition” politicians, or demands for the referenda we were promised?
The “Green Revolution” is 30 years (at least) too early but fits the profile of “where do we get to shaft the population next?”. They have stolen all small investor’s cash and retirement funds in a credit/debt move that was planned for years in advance. Now they need the next scam. CO2. The perfect fit(-up). Billions in subsidies to (useless for base generation) technologies like solar and wind that still need coal/oil/nuclear running 24/7 to “help” them out when the Sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Green taxation to fund further madness and indulgence – just like the UN meetings in exotic places to “decide” … well, just the location of the next meeting actually old chap. Control, control and more control.
For those who say “There is no consensus amongst the powerful to maneuver mankind in a consciously chosen direction and no mechanism to do so effectively therefore you are a conspiracy theorist” I say, why would they have these secretive annual meetings amongst the heads of government and, surprise, surprise, surprise,,,, the media? Just check who gets invited to, for example, a Bilderburg meeting.
The UK Ministry of Defence fund HadleyMet/CRU in the same way the Pentagon funds NASA. ALL their flunkies do as they are told. ALL the entities the warmers claim “represent” the science are within the fold. The Royal Society, BBC, APS, AGU, etc, etc, ad nauseam.
Quite literally, hell will need to freeze over before these “people” become embarrassed at being exposed. They will never become contrite. They will fight tooth and nail to preserve their current paradigm.
The only (simple) solution I see is a class action law suit, funded by subscription maybe, to force reparation from the usual suspects (Strong, Blood and Gore, Clinton, Patchauri et al who have profited monetarily or politically) and the truth from their instruments (Hansen, Mann, Jones, Schmidt etc,)
But, if simple things worked there would be, for example, free passenger carriages attached to every freight train with the timetables posted to every home.
“They just looks after number one and number one ain’t you. You ain’t even number two.” – Frank Zappa (who was a very good friends with, amongst luminous others, Vaclav Havel the first president of the newly-separate Czech Republic from 1993 until 2003.
Disclosure:
I have worked in the oil industry(1970ies) and for Rupert Murdoch(1980ies). One day my car alarm went off and I couldn’t stop it. Three (3) police cars arrived within 2 minutes (this may not seem untoward to anyone who has no experience with London but let me assure you I was astonished, as were the passersby) and, after I gave my name, I overheard the radioed reply from their controller – “News International executive, please assist them on their way”. They turned from gruff “we are just doing our job, you possible villain, you” to fawning mechanics in the time it took for that message to be absorbed.
Happy New Year Anthony, your family and all who frequent here.
Looney Tunes, part 2.
Atmospheric CO2: Nature’s dual threat. You want more “warm?” Just add CO2. You want more “cold?” Just add CO2.
————————————————————-
Greenhouse gases could have caused an ice age, claim scientists
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/4061092/Greenhouse-gases-could-have-caused-an-ice-age-claim-scientists.html
Filling the atmosphere with Greenhouse gases associated with global warming could push the planet into a new ice age, scientists have warned.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with ice.
Such glaciation could happen again if global warming is not curbed, the university’s school of geography, earth and environmental sciences warned.
While pollution in the air is thought to trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, causing the planet to heat up, this new research suggests it could also have the opposite effect reflecting rays back into space.
“It happened naturally in the past, but the wrong use of technology could make it happen again.”
Off topic, but scientists appear to be claiming that warming will cause glaciation. Are they mad scientists?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/4061092/Greenhouse-gases-could-have-caused-an-ice-age-claim-scientists.html
“In 2009, the world will quickly tire of the Alarmists and thier theoretical Doomsday scenarios. Any politician who still insists on things such as Carbon Taxes and alternative fuels will do so at his or her own risk. The average Joe, whether a Brit, Turk, or American perfers feeding his family over subsidizing the fantasies of some unnamed climate bureaucrat.”
I understand your point, but respectfully disagree. Look at what’s been sold for post Jan 20th. The alternative fuel “industry” is going to be used to solve unemployment, fossil fuel dependancy, and global warming.
This will not simply go away based on science and/or economics. It’s a religion, and conforms to all the classic behaviors of such. In some cases it parallels the “Who loves god the right way?” wars of the mideast and early christianity.
JimB
May I add that any correspondence to government officials always ask the questions “What is the correct temperature for the Earth and how do we keep it there?”
Never had a real answer to that. I will again state my vote is for 88 degrees F year round with SST at 85.
Food for thought:
Some of you may or may not know, but the Bible talks about a one-world religion in the final days. What religion do you suppose that would be, Islamism, Christianity?
Think again.
We may be witnessing the growth of a powerful, world-wide religion. It’s here and it’s called… Environmentalism.
Are you noticing how powerful the environmental movement is becoming? The environmental rules, regulations, restrictions, awareness, programs, and funding are spreading world-wide at a blistering pace. And at the heart of the movement is the UN. Even many religous organizations are jumping on board with the movement, in a “we must be good stewards of the planet” scenario.
The environmental movement is being taught as jurisprudence in public schools. Is Jesus or God? The environmental movement has the complete backing and support of the world government without any seperation, like for example the seperation of church and state. Let’s face it, the power behind the environmental movement is growing expedtiously. Is it all bad? No, but I am just saying.
Think about this. We cannot cut some trees in our own yard to due enviromental regulations. Got that? However we can cut the life of a human unborn… no problem! Doesn’t this seem odd to you? Trees are more important than babies? Strange, very strange.
You probably knew already, but the planet has been warming for the the past 12500 years. In fact… 15000 years ago, Chicago was buried under a mile of ice. When the glaciers retreated, they left behind the Great Lakes. We are in a period of time known as an “interglacial”. The glaciers have been retreating, even without the help of a trace gas, 0.0385% carbon dioxide, as the mechanism for this warming. So when Al Gore says that the planet is warming and that the glaciers are retreating, I say no kidding. How much is man respononsible for though? No one knows for sure.
Mariners were able to sail the arctic waters as far north as 87 degrees north latitude in the early 20th century. Then for a while, they could not because the sea ice extent was greater than it is today. Also, vikings were growing crops in Greenland 1000 years ago. I just don’t understand the alarmism? The term ‘climate change’ is an oxymoron. I think the whole “planet in peril” thing is a little crazy… or maybe it’s just me.
Looney Tunes, part 3.
From the land of the Looney Legislators – state and federal – Mexifornistan.
————————————————————-
A Global Warming Howler for the New Year
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/01/a_global_warming_howler_for_th.html
Pursuant to Assembly Bill 1229, a sticker displaying a rank comparing “the emissions of global warming gases from the vehicle with the average projected emissions of global warming gases from all vehicles of the same model year sold in the state” must be affixed to all motor vehicles henceforth sold in the state. These so-called “Global Warming Scores” range from 1 to 10, with 1 representing a vehicle selfishly emitting an excess of 520 “CO2 – equivalent Grams per mile” and 10 given to those altruistically checking in at under 200.
To wit, Section 1 of the new Bill explains the convoluted reasoning behind this mind-boggling leap, opening with these deceiving declarations of scientific certitude:
(a) The use of fossil fuels in motor vehicles is one of the primary human sources of global warming gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to a warming effect on the planet.
(b) Increasing concentrations of global warming gases in the atmosphere are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change in California.
(c) Scientific research indicates that the impact of global warming on our environment will be profound. Global warming will significantly impact the state’s air quality, water resources, forests, agricultural regions, coastal regions, and the health of the state’s residents.
“This label will arm consumers with the information they need to choose a vehicle that saves gas, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps fight smog all at once. Consumer choice is an especially powerful tool in our fight against climate change.”
Of course, it’s absurd to think that today’s less than abundant buyer, having been satisfied with the selling price and mileage ratings, will give a rodent’s butt about a car’s Global Warming Score.
But today’s California milestone is a stark reminder that misplaced, even though hilarious, AGW legislation currently in the pipeline has taken on an impetus that even recent challenges to its very foundation will not easily redirect. And it may be years before misinformed Pols (including the President elect) realize they’ve been duped by self-serving and/or just plain wrong alarmists and manage a strategy reassessment.
For an alternative view to the situation in the UK of GB and NI, i.e., not MSM, a visit to the blog
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com
could well be worth the effort as it shows up how bad the situation really is and why.
PS Happy New Year everyone and many thanks Anthony for the hard work invested in this blog.
As Emmanuel stated, we shouldn’t waste this opportunity.
I think we need to use Britain as a willing guinea pig. Cut off the power, cap carbon emissions to pre-1880 levels, and let the world see what a world without power would look like.
I’d bet it’d last about 1 mo. before the power is switched back on, and rabid activists are outlawed.
I’d like to pick up on a few of the comments already made…
Phil’s Dad rightly comments on the contradictions in the UK Government’s approach to AGW concerns versus the need to new power plants, runways etc. Today saw the railways increase passenger fares by over 6%, about 3 times our current inflation rate, “because we need to improve our services”. To right they do. Just not quite the right thing to do in a recession with people tightening their belts.
In the meantime, petrol is still coming down and then they wonder why people aren’t using the trains instead of the carbon spewing climate change machines!
Ron de Haan says in his comment about Vaclav Klaus…”The demonizing process is initiated by his fellow EU politicians who support the IPCC doctrine and the media are the same media that constantly broadcast the usual AGW riddles of melting ice caps and drowning polar bears.”
At eureferendum.blogspot.com Richard comments in the thread of his post on The windmills are not for turning.
The “climate change” obsession is writ deep into the EU, having become one of their central mechanisms to promote political integration. So tied up with climate policy is the EU – and so closely associated with it – that the eventual demolition of the case will be hugely damaging to the EU. Fighting the climate change mantra, therefore – apart from the intrinsic merits of that cause – is a major part of the anti-EU battle.You will have noticed that there is a certain correlation. Eurosceptics tend also to be AGW sceptics – Europhiles tend to be warmists.
At least our MSM here in the UK have started to pick up on more of the sceptics case. Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail picked up on this site and Anthony’s work. Christopher Booker has now had almost 1100 comments to his article on 2008 being the year AGW was disproved. Yes, they still print the Government’s propaganda but there are some sane voices being heard even if they still garner some really vicious comments from the AGW lobby.
O/T but this is a political article so, in the US Hansen’s surely must hav eoverstepped his assignment at NASA as a scientist with
This
And finally…
In response to Ron de Haan’s comment about the new EU President, the UK’s Daily Mail had this profile of Vaclav Klaus yesterday…
“He does not favour the Lisbon Treaty, he’s no fan of the euro and he has even likened the European Union to the Soviet Union. So interesting times could be ahead when Vaclav Klaus takes over the rotating presidency of the EU tomorrow. The Czech president looks certain to use his tenure as an opportunity to publicise views which will enrage other EU leaders.
A bespectacled economist who came to prominence after the Czechoslovak uprising against communism a generation ago, he is a confirmed Eurosceptic. He has enthusiastically challenged European and international policy on everything from climate change to relations with Russia. The 67-year-old compares bank bailouts to old socialism, accuses the Lisbon Treaty of contradicting Czech sovereignty and calls environmental issues a luxury.
This has led to numerous-clashes with Mirek Topolanek, his pro-EU prime minister, and the next six months are unlikely to match the pro-EU rhetoric of French president Nicolas Sarkozy from whom he is taking the reins.
‘It’s pretty uncomfortable to hold the EU presidency when you’ve got a Eurosceptic leader,’ admitted a spokesman for the European Policy Centre in Brussels. Mr Klaus, whose Czech office is largely ceremonial, even refuses to fly the EU flag at his Prague Castle office, something Mr Sarkozy described earlier this month as ‘hurtful’ to EU colleagues.
(My Note: At their meeting before the handover, the EU flag was thrown down at the feet of Mr Klaus. Talk about a challenge to a head of state in his own country. Here in Britain our head of state, The Queen, doesn’t have to fly the EU flag over Buckingham Palace, so why should Mr Klaus)
The combative Czech quickly countered, saying the Frenchman’s leadership – and what he called a refusal to heed criticism – ‘hurts the European Union and hurts Europe’.
(My note: There have also been reports that Sarkozy tried to persuade the Czechs to keep him on as EU president to continue with his “good” work. What a nerve, it was quite clearly a play to put himself forward for the elected Presidency we keep hearing about. Fortunately he was told to get lost or whatever the diplomatic language is.)
Mr Klaus built his political career in the early 1990s as a finance minister promoting rapid free-market reforms, founding and leading a conservative Civic Democratic party modelled partly on the Tories. Pictures of Margaret Thatcher featured prominently in his publicity material.
He became prime minister in 1992 and held office for five years. He became Czech president in 2003, after Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As president, Klaus has had less executive power but has felt freer to air his opinions, especially toward the EU. He recently refused to join Western condemnation of Russian policy over Georgia and he challenges international environmental policy.
His book disputing that man-made climate change is happening is entitled Blue Planet in Green Chains.”
The German press here is already portraying as l’enfant terrible
in Europe. Only Bush gets more negative press.
Klaus will rescue Europe for 6 months, and that’s all. Then the enviro kooks will be back.
Things are going to get much worse with the CO2 hype in Europe before they get better.