Image from WUWT reader “Boudu”
This QOTW is from Congressman Henry Waxman, who is pushing (or maybe bribing) the carbon cap and trade bill through congress. The statement made by Waxman can be corrected by a third grader; it is that bad.
From an interview on NPR as relayed by Tavis Smiley:
“We’re seeing the reality of a lot of the North Pole starting to evaporate, and we could get to a tipping point. Because if it evaporates to a certain point – they have lanes now where ships can go that couldn’t ever sail through before. And if it gets to a point where it evaporates too much, there’s a lot of tundra that’s being held down by that ice cap..”
That’s probably the scariest statement on “science” ever uttered by a Congressman.
Let me go on record by saying Waxman is stunningly and stupidly misinformed and intellectually inadequate for the tasks at hand that bears his name: The Waxman-Markey bill
This is what Waxman works on in Congress:
Committee on Energy and Commerce (Chairman)
* Subcommittee on Health
* Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
* Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Write or call your US representatives now.
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I
Am
Speechless.
Well. If they knew what they were doing and were good at it, they’d be in the private sector.
Thank you Mr. Goddard. I had a feeling someone might recognize the line. “How do you know he’s the King?” “‘Cause ‘e ‘asn’t got (snip) all over ‘im!!”
That’s *almost* as good a statement as the beauty pageant contestants give.
US and British govt representatives effortlessly demonstrate that their knowledge of the theory of climate change is on a par with their knowledge of the theory of economics.
Tonyb
Clearly the inmates are running the asylum.
Roger Sowell is correct from the standpoint that the section of the Clean Air Act the endangerment finding applies to does indeed mention cost-benefit analysis. But in the case of the regulation of GHG’s, it appears that this will not apply because the EPA will be following the ‘precautionary principle’. I have reworded my blog to clarify:
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2009/04/some-global-warming-qa-to-consider-in-light-of-the-epa-ruling/
and you can read one legal opinion regarding this issue here:
http://www.mcguirewoods.com/news-resources/item.asp?item=3895
Waxman the personification of inevitable failure?
From Seablogger:
“And at what price? Henry Waxman is deciding your future right now, behind the closed door of his office, where he is bribing votes for his hideous legislation. I cannot say often enough or loudly enough: THIS MUST BE STOPPED!”
http://www.seablogger.com/?p=13779
Hey Folks – keep in mind that when the time comes, and it’s generally discussed that CO2 is not a climate driver – there will be equally gifted politicians pushing our side. The trick is to stay consistent and to blast them even when they are aligned, but for stupid reasons. We wouldn’t want to have zero credibility the way these warmist look right now.
I think this really helps explain the level of understanding our Congress has regarding this issue. Facts just get in the way of his opinion.
I can’t say how sincere he is, or if he just wants to increase taxes and government.
Stan Needham (14:08:30) :
“….you might suggest that he correct the percentage of the atmosphere that consists of CO2. The 3% that he shows in the Q & A is off by 2 orders of magnitude.”
——————–
As I read Dr Spencer, he is referring not to the absolute concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in this section, but to the CO2 contribution to the greenhouse effect.
——————-
DR Spencer:
ISN’T CO2 THE ATMOSPHERE’S MAIN GREENHOUSE GAS?
No. Water vapor accounts for about 85% or 90% of the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect, clouds account for another 5% or 10%. CO2 represents only about 3%, methane even less.
———————–
I understand this to say that
Water vapor is about 85 – 90% [of the greenhouse effect]
Clouds account for 5% or 10% [of the greenhouse effect]
CO2 represents only about 3% [of the greenhouse effect]
And although he does not say it, the man-made portion of that 3% is even smaller IMHO.
Stan Needham (14:08:30) :
“Ron de Haan, thanks for linking to Roy Spencer’s Q & Q. If you are in contact with Dr. Spencer, you might suggest that he correct the percentage of the atmosphere that consists of CO2. The 3% that he shows in the Q & A is off by 2 orders of magnitude. Other than that, Dr. Spencer’s piece is excellent”.
Stan,
I have passed it on.
I think he wrote that the anthropogenic CO2emissions represent only 3% (Jan Veizer mentioned 5%) of the total CO2 budget. I am not sure and I can’t check at the moment because his site does not produce the article at the moment.
Thanks
[snip wayyyyy off topic]
NO…3% refers to the fraction of the greenhouse effect that is due to CO2.
Steven Goddard (11:18:24) :
> Way OT – the last “swine flu epidemic” occurred when Jimmy Carter was president.
It was President Ford who ordered the vaccine to be produced and indemnified the drug companies after they couldn’t obtain insurance.
John Galt (15:35:41) :
“I think this really helps explain the level of understanding our Congress has regarding this issue. Facts just get in the way of his opinion.
I can’t say how sincere he is, or if he just wants to increase taxes and government.”
John,
Any sensible person with such a file at his desk undertakes a sensible amount of basic research in order to fill the gaps of knowledge.
Anyhow, that is what a sensible and responsible politician should do.
Waxman obviously did not.
Otherwise he would not have made the remarks as he did.
Therefore it is my conclusion that he is only focusing at the final result.
Cap & Trade = Speculation, taxes and green shackles.
He is not speaking to scientists or about science, he is speaking to a gullible public who just nod their head in agreement to hide their ignorance. This carbon cap and trade is all about money, corruption and power. Science has been corrupted to serve political interests, which is deeply neo-malthusian at it’s roots. Living standards of middle class America , which have been in decline over 30 years, will plunge in the next 10 years.
Guys like Waxman and other politicians embrace their right to tell the Noble Lie. The truth is not for the ignorant masses, they are simply told what they need to be told to get their acceptance of these plans which are not in their best interests, but serve a larger good. Of course, the larger good is what is good for the elitists who fund the political and pseudo science agenda, and control the MSM who embrace it.
deadwood (13:55:31) :
“We continually elect lawyers (or at least people with law degrees) to political office in America. Is it any wonder they (know) nothing about science?”
I attended a federal trial maybe a decade or more ago in Pensacola about “contaminating the navigable waters of the U.S.” The government’s “expert witness” confused the prefixes “milli” and “micro” several times. Neither the judge or the lawyers noticed.
Later he was asked to calculate how many somethings, and the old retired engineer sitting next to me immediately leaned over and whispered, “That would be about so-many.” The witness said he didn’t have a calculator. The court furnished one. He pounded away for maybe 30-40 seconds and then said he couldn’t solve the problem because, “the calculator doesn’t have enough significant digits.”
He got away with that answer!
I’ve always wondered how he would have functioned in the era of the slide rule.
Not only stunning, but scary:
This is what we have come to:
Powerful committee chairs in Congress who (apparently) have not the slightest familiarity with even basic science, engineering, geology, natural history, etcetera; that are now trying to force fundamental policy changes that will have huge and above all unnecessary detrimental impacts on our economic future, driven almost completely by blind adherance to the politically-correct dogma of the eco-extremist far left.
AGW truly has taken on many if not most of the characteristics of religion; and fanatic, dogmatic, intolerant religion at that. One can only hope that the voices of science, reason, and hard data can prevail against the forces of the AGW version of the Inquisition. And even if much of the MSM is still in the tank for Al Gore, Jim Hansen, et. al, thanks to the internet and the hard work of reasoned skeptics the voices of common sense are being heard; i.e.:
This website, icecap.us, the Heartland Institute, scienceandpublicpolicy.org, climatedepot, and others.
And, finally, there is of course our old friend the Sun:
We may still be a ways from a Maunder Minimum, but if ”all quiet on the Solar front” continues much longer surely we may soon be on a par with the Dalton Minimum.
We live in interesting times. . . . .
Robert Rust (15:34:04) :
Hey Folks – keep in mind that when the time comes, and it’s generally discussed that CO2 is not a climate driver – there will be equally gifted politicians pushing our side. The trick is to stay consistent and to blast them even when they are aligned, but for stupid reasons. We wouldn’t want to have zero credibility the way these warmist look right now.
Robert,
I get your message.
Unless we have to deal with Runaway Global Stupidity which will take place in Copenhagen, December 2009.
Now we have more hysteria about something humans have been experiencing for many many generations. Swine flu has been passed to humans for at least seven thousand years. An interesting hypothesis for why pork was removed from Jewish and Arab diets even though the pig was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent is that a mass outbreak of illness in the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE was linked to cohabitation with pigs.
The Green religion does the same thing today (among other things they co-opt from traditional religion) by latching on to hysteria over diseases and says we should end domestication of animals. So just as Western Asiatic culture sent the pig back to the wild, Green activists suggest we do the same for all species, including humans, which would require a drastic reduction in the number of living species. It’s called rewilding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewilding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewilding_(_Green_Anarchism_)
Instead of looking up to the stars for our future there are those who wish to return us to the caves (and in the mean time suffer under socialism). Surely if they wanted wildlife protected from humans they would embrace post-human ideology that would enable us to use very little resources no matter how many of us there are and would enable us to leave the planet.
In reply to Roy Spencer (15:24:03)
Dr. Spencer, it is an honor to see my name mentioned by one so respected as you. My Mom would be so proud!
Thank you for the McGuireWoods article. It is a sad day for America, as we appear to have crested the hill where environmental regulations are designed to prevent known harms, and now descend the slippery slope of forging regulations to fend off harms that are not only speculative, but are very likely non-existent.
This precautionary approach will create an additional disadvantage to any country that embraces it, with the advantage to those who do not.
Micajah (13:31:01) :
Why did Tavis Smiley embarrass Representative Waxman (D-of course) by posting this amazing display of Waxman’s ignorance? Is Smiley a mole at PBS working for the vast right-wing conspiracy?
You’re assuming Mr. Smiley recognized the ignorance.
Has anyone actually confirmed this alleged statement from Congressman Waxman? This isn’t some goofy Internet misquote, right? I have a hard time believing that a thinking person would make such a nonsensical statement.
He meant a lot of pigs are held down by that ice cap. When it finally evaporates, pigs will fly.