The Capital Climate Action protest went on today in Washington DC with a march on the coal fired power plant. Amazingly, NASA’s Dr. James Hansen actually showed up and took the stage at the protest to complete his transformation from scientist to political activist. But, we”ll leave the issue of his appearance there for another discussion.
Here are some scenes from the live web feed today.
Dr. Jim Hansen gets ready to deliver his message at the protest
Here’s a chronological order of the protest in a series of screencaps from the video feed.
Arrival at the power plant.
So THAT’s what those stimulus checks are for.
The camera operator put the camera down on it’s side for about five minutes, giving us this picture. Must have needed to get a smoke.
Interesting things you can do with a scarf and coat hanger wire.
The Native Americans arrive to protest Black Mesa power plant.
The hemp hat trio sings for the crowd.
Bewildered or zoned? I can’t tell.
“Justicia Climatica”? I was confused as to the meaning of this, at first, but then I discovered it was Chilean
The camera operator has issues again…
Coal is dirty. Ok, but have you guys smelled yourselves lately?
Not only can we save the planet, we can show you how to make illegal copies of DVD’s!
Jimbo is warming up in the bullpen.
Closer.
Closer….
And Dr. Jim Hansen is on the air! He’s making a succinct point.
I’ll bet Jim had no idea he was being sponsored by Obama’s stimulus package….oh, wait.
After Dr. Hansen left the stage, a hip-hop group sang his praises. Time for the mute button.
A few observations:
- The snow didn’t seem to interfere with the determined masses walking through it.
- Rage boy wasn’t present, but maybe he missed his flight due to snow delays.
- Most of the speakers recycled everything we’ve already heard before, it was pretty boring.
- Lucia watched this simultaneously, she has some thoughts
- The one highlight was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. saying that Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship “should be in jail… for all of eternity“. Oddly, Kennedy’s message seemed even a bit too extreme for some left leaning news outlets, such as AlterNet which didn’t mention it in this story on the protest though there were other quotes from Kennedy.
- The advertisements that kept popping up on the video certainly didn’t help the credibility.
- One of the chants was “No coal, no gas, no nukes, no kidding”. There was also “Nuclear Hell No”, “Biofuels hell no”. Apparently wind power and solar are the only options they endorse. Iwonder if Jim Hansen has figured this out yet, since he has advocated nuclear power.
- At no time did the simultaneous viewers counter ever reach 1000, the highest I saw was 970. Likewise the number of total viewers that were counted never exceeded 10,000, and the final I saw just before they went off air for the first live feed (with Hansen et al) was 9978. It appears that many people clicked to check it out, but few stayed for the long haul.
- There was lots of singing, chanting, and dancing. Drumsbeats and other percussive instruments filled the air. The native indians used to have rain dances to control the weather, these dances and chants seemed to be aimed at controlling the climate. How far we’ve come.
- They claimed victory and went home, nobody was arrested. Unfortunately I don’t think they realize that simply blocking the gates for a couple of hours is not quite the same as shutting down the boiler.
When it was all over this line from a famous sci-fi series came to mind. I think I’ll send it to Jimbo to hang on his wall:
“Thinking about what you can’t control only wastes energy, and creates its own enemy.“
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Ron De Haan,
I am well aware that wind and coal cannot be compared performance wise. Unfortunatly our friends over on the green side have not realised the futility of wind farms. I was simply making a comment on the statement made by the CCA saying that coal plants are not job intensive. windmills and windmill farms employ very few people compared to the number of people employed by coal plants.
“Today’s debate about global warming is essentially a debate about freedom. The environmentalists would like to mastermind each and every possible (and impossible) aspect of our lives.”
Vaclav Klaus
Blue Planet in Green Shackles
Science versus propaganda
by Bob Carter (replace Australia for America)
February 24, 2009
The editorial in last weekend’s Australian, “Carbon trading is not the only answer” (21/22 February), addressed the controversial issue of the government’s planned emissions trading legislation, commenting that “We need to hear other ideas on greenhouse gas reduction”.
Talk about missing the point! For the pressing issue that we need to deal with is the hard reality of natural climate change, rather than wasting money on futile attempts to “stop” speculative human-caused warming.
If ever we needed a reminder regarding the power and danger of natural climatic events, then Mother Nature has just provided us with two. The northern half of Australia has been submerged under floods, and large areas of the southeastern corner of our continent have been ravaged by firestorms. These events resulted from unpredictable natural events such as our planet has ever been heir to.
Just as the “science” that is cited in favour of dangerous human warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions shows all the hallmarks of orchestrated propaganda, so too the real science shows beyond doubt that the wide array of extreme natural events – which include climatic warming trends, cooling trends, step-events, heat waves, droughts, cyclones, floods and snowstorms – poses great dangers for humanity.
“Greenhouse gas reduction”, by any means, is an irrelevancy, for it deals only with the speculative problem of as-yet-unmeasured human-caused global warming, and that at a time when the globe has been cooling for ten years.
In contrast, a national climate policy that better improves our ability to recognize and adapt to real (i.e., natural) climate change and events is an urgent necessity, and would cost but a fraction of the mooted carbon dioxide taxation scheme, a non-solution to a non-problem if ever there was one.
By their very nature, strategies that can cope with the dangers and vagaries of natural climate change will readily cope with human-caused change too, should it ever manifest itself.
Australia needs adaptive policies to deal with real climate change in place of the government’s expensive, inefficient and ineffective plans to “prevent” an entirely hypothetical global warming. Why is it so difficult for our major political parties to discern this obvious truth?
The “CCR” (Climate Change Revival) yesterday in Washington D.C. put me in a philosophical mood, and I’d like to put some thoughts out that may lead to a better understanding of how to get the non-AGW word out.
I think the comparison of AGW proponents to a “religious movement” is apt; the example of Galileo and the Church may miss the point. While that conflict was between the “Church” and an individual bucking tradition, the battle we are in today is different. I think it more resembles the Reformation – the split of Protestant and Roman Catholic belief systems.
I can speak to this as somewhat of an insider, a Presbyterian Elder, a person who’s studied church history and the Bible most of my life. Those are my credentials for this piece. My intent is not to preach but to examine the similarities between the reformation and the argument about the reason for “Climate Change”.
The Roman Catholic Church, for years, sold “indulgences”- literally pieces of paper that took away sin – for a price. “Sinners” purchased these instruments in the belief they would escape punishment for their transgression(s). Of course, the price matched the “sin” it “indulged”.
Enter Martin Luther, a Catholic Priest, who wrote his “99 Theses” and nailed it to a church door in Germany. It detailed his opposition to “indulgences” and other church practices of the time. He was promptly defrocked and thrown out. His intent to call the church on questionable practices resulted in the germ of what is now the Protestant belief system as he started a new congregation.
So, now you have a brief (and biased) historical look at the start of the reformation, how does that apply to climate change today?
At that time, the Bible was in Latin, the language of the learned classes including Priests. Those who are credentialed on both sides of the climate issue speak (write) in a language that most of us don’t understand – with names and acronyms that are obscure to the average reader. Priests had the “true knowledge of God” and were cloistered away from society. They, it was rumored, did miracles. Scientists now are the priesthood who have all manner of wonderful and magical stuff to tell them the truths of the universe. They spend time in places the population as a whole only dimly understands, places like university labs.
I’ll stop there because many more parallels exist but this is long already!
Like Martin Luther, those scientists who choose to speak up are excommunicated from the clergy. Like Martin Luther, they form small congregations (blogs) and attempt to make the settled theology (science) plain to the “masses”. Like the early part of the reformation, some are even put to death (no government funding).
I think this piece of history and what’s going on now with AGW have many similarities. It is not science VS religion; it is religion VS religion. For many of us, it is those who we follow in the blogs have the right idea and are ethical about data, and those on the AGW do not and are not. Both are beliefs; because the majority on both sides are not those in the labs, we – largely believe what we are told by those priests of the data.
A last and hopeful point. The Roman Catholic Church at the time had the mass media on its side, was powerful politically, and controlled teaching in the schools. Even so, Martin Luther and his colleagues were able to start and grow congregations despite the opposition.
Mike
This was also “Natural Climate”.
It happened in the past and it could happen again at any time in the near future.
March 2, 2009
Is this what the warmmongers want?
“People across Europe awoke on 6 January 1709 to find the temperature had plummeted. A three-week freeze was followed by a brief thaw – and then the mercury plunged again and stayed there. From Scandinavia in the north to Italy in the south, and from Russia in the east to the west coast of France, everything turned to ice. The sea froze. Lakes and rivers froze, and the soil froze to a depth of a metre or more. Livestock died from cold in their barns, chicken’s combs froze and fell off, trees exploded and travellers froze to death on the roads. It was the coldest winter in 500 years.
IN ENGLAND they called the winter of 1709 the Great Frost. In France it entered legend as Le Grand Hiver, three months of deadly cold that ushered in a year of famine and food riots. In Scandinavia the Baltic froze so thoroughly that people could walk across the ice as late as April. In Switzerland hungry wolves crept into villages. Venetians skidded across their frozen lagoon, while off Italy’s west coast, sailors aboard English men-of-war died from the cold. “I believe the Frost was greater (if not more universal also) than any other within the Memory of Man,” wrote William Derham, one of England’s most meticulous meteorological observers. He was right. Three hundred years on, it holds the record as the coldest European winter of the past half-millennium. …
On the night of 5 January, the temperature fell dramatically and kept on falling. On 10 January, Derham logged -12 °C, the lowest temperature he had ever measured. In France, the temperature dipped lower still. In Paris, it sank to -15 °C on 14 January and stayed there for 11 days. After a brief thaw at the end of that month the cold returned with a vengeance and stayed until mid-March. …
Fish froze in the rivers, game lay down in the fields and died, and small birds perished by the million. The loss of tender herbs and exotic fruit trees was no surprise, but even hardy native oaks and ash trees succumbed. The loss of the wheat crop was “a general calamity”. England’s troubles were trifling, however, compared to the suffering across the English Channel. …
[I]n Burgundy, “travellers died in the countryside, livestock in the stables, wild animals in the woods; nearly all the birds died, wine froze in barrels and public fires were lit to warm the poor”. From all over the country came reports of people found frozen to death. And with roads and rivers blocked by snow and ice, it was impossible to transport food to the cities. Paris waited three months for fresh supplies. …
[S]ince [the year] 1500 … [t]he winter of 1708-1709 was the coldest. Across large parts of Europe the temperature was as much as 7 °C below the average for 20th-century Europe.” “1709: The year that Europe froze” h/t arclein
«Coal is dirty. Ok, but have you guys smelled yourselves lately?»
This comment made my day! 😀
But what about the coming 100 million AGW climate refugees?
I guess we needed to start counting at this protest?
I have one word for yesterdays unprecedented rally: ridiculous. Well, maybe one more:
asinine. Or it could be…
«Coal is dirty. Ok, but have you guys smelled yourselves lately?»
Old as the hills and juvenile
REPLY: as was the protest.
If any protester did anything other than walk to the event then they are hypocrites.
This protest got a mention on BBC newsnight last night.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7922010.stm#3
Check out the report by ethical man. Apparently 12000 young people attended the demonstration.
Ben Lawson (06:47:49) :
Sorry, this snide post and comments is irrelevant and self-indulgent. Why are you trying so hard to belittle some run-of-the-mill protest?
Nearly 50% of the electric power produced in this country comes from coal, and these morons, along with Hansen, and Obama want them shut down, and this, to you is irrelevant? What rock did you crawl out from under?
This was billed as “the largest civil disobedience on global warming in U.S. history”!
Pfffftttt!
Now they are claiming “victory”, and vow that “this is just the beginning”.
They not only invite mockery, they demand it.
Gibsho
You want to brush up on your etimology.
The day the Earth stood chilled
If movies are the key, obviously the cold turn-out indicates some GW’ers may have been shaken (shaking?) but few were stirred.
Michael J. Bentley (08:30:34) :
Thank you for this illuminated comparison. There are many (comparisons) in the history of authoritarians silencing dissent. Though you see the conflict delineated in the struggles of the Reformation, I think it applies to all manner of minority voices. In particular it applies to Galileo as the order of Inquisition was based on his publication of “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.” Like Martin Luther, Galileo challenged the authority of the Church. His telescope had proved it was not the earth at the center of the world – it was the sun.
The order to withhold funding from scientists that question the AGW status quo – is little different than the Inquisition. It is certainly not in the interest of science, nor in the long term, the planet and its people. Eventually (as we are seeing even now) the truth breaks through the cloak of darkness and is seen and heard by the public. In the case of the Reformation, Luther’s manifesto quickly brought about an entirely new version of Christianity. In Galileo’s case, his and Kepler’s and Copernicus’ work sparked the birth of modern astronomy.
In both cases, the “little guy” did triumph. As they will with “climate change.”
Funny but … groan!
John Peter (00:47:59) : Is Dr James Hansen actually in breach of his contract with NASA as a government employee by helping to promote and presenting himself at such a rally? If so I guess he waited with taking this latest move until the Bush administration was out of the way. He probably calculates that with the Obama administration in place and and his friend Al Gore’s increasing influence he is now one of the truly “untouchables”.
It would seem that he is violating the Hatch Act but don’t count on him being called out for it. If the rumors are correct, Obama may have been endorsing this and a lot of Congress probably does as well.
Hopefully Nancy Pelosi’s absence indicates failing Congressional support. She said it was because of the inclement weather delaying her flight but was reluctant to give any specific details. OTOH, maybe she meant a GW march in a snowstorm has as much impact as complaining about drought in the middle of a heavy downpour.
The “greens” have an upcoming event planned, in which people all over the planet are being encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour, in line with the left’s pervasive theory that no crisis is so insurmountable that a massive, but completely meaningless gesture can’t make us all feel so much better about ourselves. I think we need to get in the spirit of this event by shutting this death spewing power plant down, but not for just an hour, let’s make it a week, aw hell, why be pikers, let’s go for a month. It would be a marvelous opportunity for all those inside the beltway boneheads to experience the beauty of the windmill, solar panel, and pixie dust future utopia they have planned for the rest of us. To make it really work, we’d have to enforce a few restrictions:
[1] No power from coal or nuclear sources outside the area could be brought in through the power grid to replace the plant’s production.
[2] All politicians and bureaucrats would be required to be in town and stay there for the duration.
An additional side benefit, given that there appears to be few people left in D.C. who have the native intelligence to count past ten, without power to electronic tally boards the Congress would have a difficult time enacting anymore socialist programs for the duration of the event.
Martin Luther, Galileo, Issac Newton… Such lofty company! Difference: they did the legwork and took their lumps until orthodoxy was replaced. And they were brilliantly correct.
Bruce Cobb: Let me rephrase my point. Why would a “science blog” be giving so much gleeful attention to a political protest? As you well know, Obama has not called for coal plants to be shut down. He did say that new coal plants shouldn’t be subsidized.
Pragmatic: I gotta ask – who wrote “the order to withhold funding from scientists that question the AGW”? I want to kiss his pinkie ring so I can keep on his good side.
Michael J. Bentley and Pragmatic
Interesting version of history you both come up with. Sounds like the history books you have been reading are about as useful as Dr Hansen’s books on climate change.
Luther set up a new church. Dead Right. It wasn’t the church that had existed since the time of Christ. Was he in favour of the ‘little man’? No. He insisted that in the areas where he was able to win over the local prince (eg. Philip of Hesse) the people would all have to submit to Luther’s ideas (cuius regio eius religio). He had no time for anybody (eg. Anabaptists, Calvinists) who came up with new interpretations of the Bible that he disagreed with. Luther claimed that the only authority was the Bible but he insisted that only his interpretation of the Bible should be allowed in Germany. The 1532 Peace of Nuremberg specifically excluded Calvinists from any recognition in Germany. Luther was totally on the side of the Princes in putting down the Peasants’ Revolt. Incidentally, Philip of Hesse wanted to have two wives – so Luther said it was OK. And as for Luther’s views on the Jews: the moderator would be forced to snip them.
Michael J Bentley says: “Like the early part of the reformation, some are even put to death”. Yep, there were over 300 Catholics put to death in England alone between 1530 and 1680. Many of them were executed in a most vile way and after being subjected to horrendous torture.
Sorry to submit something that has got nothing to do with climate change but some people have decided to write misleading versions of the so-called Reformation and I don’t see why they shouldn’t be challenged.
So, to all the people who, for whatever reason, want to make comments about religion: Can we just keep to climate change, please. It’s hard enough trying to follow the relevant arguments without being distracted by people who have totally irrelevant agendas.
And, if I can go back to the real purpose of the site, I find it very interesting. I don’t understand all the science but it’s intereresting to see what a nonsense all this ‘consensus’ stuff is.
Reply: Here here! ~ charles the moderator
Try a Google on Capitol Climate Action Rally.
There is incredible no major press coverage of this rally.
One AP story :
“Thousands rally for legislation on climate change
By BRIAN WESTLEY
The Associated Press”
NOTHING at all in the online version of the Washington Post’s Tuesday paper.
NOTHING online at the NY Times.
It there some kind of weird press whiteout on this march, or was it just too silly to report?
Kip
The final 45 minutes of the protest can be viewed here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1206055
timbrom (11:41:49) :
“Gibsho
You want to brush up on your etimology.”
Will brush up on my etymology if you brush up on your spelling.
Mike Ryan,
Yes, I agree there is much more in most history lessons than what can be brought out here. And some of what you say is a valid caution to the rest of us when “religious” thought gets people crosswise with one another. My purpose, and, I think Pragmatic’s was to point out past events that had a parallel to the AGW argument, for lessons they might have for us today.
But let’s get real here. If the adage that “He who does not read history is doomed to repeat it;” is true, then looking at historical events is a valid exercise, and very relevant to the discusson here. Don’t confuse exploration of a historical event, or a part of one, with a discussion of theology.
As far as being here, I think Anthony’s line on the top of this page covers them. “Interesting things in life”…
Mike
This could have helped the protesters yesterday. Sorry for the belated suggestion :
http://stixblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/ait-in-belgium.jpg
The entire footage of the protest is available @ur momisugly http://www.ustream.tv/channel/capitol-climate-action
The James Hansen appearance is here at about the 1:53 mark.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1205470