From Planet Gore: Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Energy Leader [Henry Payne]
from http://stabenow.senate.gov/
Detroit, Mich. — Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record; global temperatures haven’t risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade of media scare stories that they were drying up due to global warming), and polls show that climate change doesn’t even make a list of Michigan voters’ top-ten concerns.
Yet in an interview with the Detroit News Monday (a private meeting with the DN editorial board), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) — recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee — made clear that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.
“Climate change is very real,” she confessed as she embraced cap and trade’s massive tax increase on Michigan industry — at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. “Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I’m flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes.”
And there are sea monsters in Lake Michigan. I can feel them when I’m boating.
Since Stabenow says Global warming causes more hurricanes and tornadoes, lets have a look at the data.
Graph from NWS/NOAA. Smaller (F1) tornadoes seem to be on the increase, but not larger ones.
Even though tornado reports seem to be on the rise, the larger damaging tornados, F2-F5 don’t seem to be. There are some good reasons for this, and it might be a good primer for readers to revisit this report I made about the issue of tornado reporting:
Increasing tornadoes or better information gathering?
On the issue of Hurricanes, even USA Today is beginning to have doubts:
excerpt:
The official start of the hurricane season is June 1. And not since 1992 — the year of Hurricane Andrew — has the Atlantic Ocean been silent past Aug. 4. Meteorologists have yet to name even a single tropical storm in the Atlantic in 2009.
So is global warming really doing anything?
“While it is commonly thought that global warming would increase hurricane activity, that is far from a settled issue,” said Rob Eisenson, a meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University. “There are some research studies that suggest global warming would not have that effect.”
NOAA has lowered their hurricane season forecast.
And Accumulated Cyclone Energy is quite low so far this year and lower than usual last year:
Ryan Maue of Florida State University writes in comments in a previous WUWT story:
Global (Northern Hemisphere) tropical cyclone ACE for the months May – June – July is the lowest in at least the past 30-years or more.
I, for one, am not surprised. Continued inactivity should persist for the next few weeks until the atmosphere catches up with the radiative warming of the tropical oceans due to the season called summer.
2007 was a dud. 2008 was saved from being a record year by 2007. 2009 is behind the pace of both years. Amazing how natural variability affects tropical cyclone formation, tracks, and intensity. Who would have thought?
Ryan’s Tropical web page at Florida State University has this graph that shows accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) :
click for larger imageSorted monthly data: Text File
Note where 2009 is in the scheme of things.
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Long term, its the “financial cost” of AGW mitigation that will kill the AGW movement’s efforts to enact legislation — not the “science”.
I agree with that.
But, heck, if the cost of mitigation were a few measly $bil., I’d not be against it, as the precautionary principle would then apply.
But the reality is that mitigation costs are heinous and would indirectly result in far, far more death and misery than even a bad-scenario GW outcome. Besides, only wealth will defeat pollution, and to destroy wealth on the scale proposed is to cut the legs out from under environmentalism writ large.
There is some serious entertainment value here. I say that we should keep her around just for the laughs.
But it’s up to the Michiganers (Michigonians? Michiganites?).
How’s about this?
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090811_tropical.html
The latest study on Atlantic Hurricane Frequency. A version of which is here:
ftp://ftp.gfdl.noaa.gov/pub/gav/PAPERS/LVBK_08_SHORTSTORMS.submitted.pdf
Ok Evan. 🙂 On a serious note, I wonder how many here have tried to plow their way thru Waxman-Markey? And that’s not the only bill that has climate change language in it. A search of Thomas will turn up over 200 proposed or in work bills that use global warming/climate change as an excuse to implement various taxes and fees under the radar, or set up additional bureaucracy, regulations, appropriations for various special interests, etc. All of which will be paid for by you and me. Even if Waxman-Markey gets axed, that is not the end of it.
“Polar bears went on the endangered species list, not because their population was in danger, but because their population seemed to be in danger.”
I think they went on the “threatened” list, not the endangered list but I could be wrong. The reasoning was because climate models indicate they might be endangered in 50 years, if I remember correctly.
At some point we are all endangered. 96% of all species that have ever existed on the planet are currently extinct.
I’m an amateur radio operator and have participated in storm spotting. Common sense tells me that with more people living in more places with more types of communications available that more tornadoes are being eye witnessed and therefore being reported. Having taken Skywarn training numerous times I have learned that people are capable of reporting the wrong thing and being mistaken as to what they are seeing.
“Carlton your doorman (16:49:47) :
Look at all the signs behind her. It is her priority.
But it is not productive jobs. It is ‘Green Jobs’ she wants to bring to Michigan. The paycheck of a green job is paid by the government. Billions have been allocated to President Obama’s Green Czar for Green Jobs.
As of yet there have been no green jobs created. But this politician must be setting things up to have Michigan be an outlet for this government program. Politicians have been sending oodles of welfare money to Detroit for a long time now. This new Green Jobs program will probably come to Michigan through the same channels that welfare has been coming to Michigan for all these years—maybe even to some of the same people who’ve been getting welfare.”
We have an similar example of this “Govn’t funded” jobs already, Venusuela and Chavez. Well, they are in fact “red” jobs, paying many to make little red t-shirts for people to wear at his rallies.
So, in more plain English, this person has dedicated her term to pretending to do something about nothing.
Sandbagging to a higher calling.
But Pamela,
Ecotheism IS their religion: This IS their Crusade for the love of Gaia and all her trees, rocks, polar bears and penguins!
They are not only mixing religion with politics, but are mixing religion (their version is ecotheim) with control over YOUR life, economics, science, and morals with their propaganda.
Pamela Gray (17:25:36) wrote: “But I think one day it will be necessary to finally divorce ourselves from religiosity of all kinds in order to defend our individual freedoms from an oppressive government.”
I think you are mistaken there, Pam. The reason AGW shows up as more religion than science is because even those who have divorced themselves from ‘traditional ideas’ about God need something larger than just themselves to believe in, even if they want to run that ‘something.’ Mankind is incurably religious. The Founding Fathers did not write in a litmus test and, in fact, forbade the government from establishing a national church precisely BECAUSE they realized that without religious freedom there is no freedom at all. God is our highest of ideas and ideals. So, to sum up, if AGW is indeed really a religion with a science-based veneer, then technically speaking it is (or will be if the Climate Bill, aka Waxman-Markey passes) in violation of the First Amendment. Whether it is already in violation, given the pervasiveness of it already in existing law and regulations, is a more interesting debate than how we get to “no religions allowed.” That latter will never, ever happen.
The whole upper Mid-west has gone to pot!
Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold – Wisconsin, Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin – Michigan, Amy Klobuchar and The Clown – Minnesota.
But I saw it coming so I moved to California.
Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein – – – – So I moved to Florida.
Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez – – – – Hey don’t blame it on me, i didn’t vote for any of them, including Mel (because I knew he was a RINO) and at least he’s retiring early.
and Evan, that’s not how “they” see it. There was a report out today stating it is going to be MORE difficult to grow crops BECAUSE of GW so, OH MY! how are we going feed 9 billion people in a few years…. They see it as costing MORE if we do nothing. At least that’s the party line. But I’m SURE the above mentioned brilliant Senators will come up with a tax and spend plan that will “save” us all from – – – – – from ourselves!
Michigan is in serious economic trouble. A politician will say whatever is required to bring in (yet more) federal money. She probably feels she must say the “correct” thing in order to stay in the good graces of those who dole out our money.
There is a Michigan blogger (a mechanical engineering professor at Oakland University) who posted an example of the arrogance of these people. They (some agency in Michigan) were talking about extended unemployment benefits and the lack of state funds. It was sort of a FAQ format thing. The question was along the lines of “what happens when the state runs out of money”. They answer was that “we already have run out of money but we will borrow from the federal government who has an unlimited supply.
That goes a long way to showing the mindset of these people. They believe the federal government has an “unlimited supply” of money yet pay no attention to where that money might come from. Their actions and their words convey the notion that they believe our money is really their money and we should be thankful that we are allowed to keep as much as we do.
I would like to ask Debbie how her climate change feels different than perhaps a Bond event or my favorite, the Younger-Dryas Stadial. THAT is climate change.
Much like here in WI, there are a lot of good common sense folks in MI, but the union members and D voting city people outnumber us at the polls and we end up with people like Debbie S and Russ Feingold as representatives. Golly.
and Evan, that’s not how “they” see it.
I know, I know. (“They” see it pretty much the opposite of how I see it.)
“Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I’m flying. The storms are more volatile.”
WOW. That is right up their with her colleague Waxman “waxing stupidly” about the North Pole “evaporating”. LMAO
She feels it when she’s flying??
Perhaps the good senator should lose some weight….and maybe help cut down on the turbulence.
Certainly if she and other SUPERSIZE climate angels (such as Al Gore) cut back on the calories….they would cut back on wasted air fuel.
FACT: Because of LARGE America today….airlines spend MILLIONS more on additional fuel for the additional weight they are transporting through the troposphere.
More fuel = more exhaust = more pollution!
Even for Al Gore’s private jet.
Seems like a double or triple standard to me.
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
I have it on good authority, i.e. Houston Smith, identified by Bill Moyers as America’s leading scholar of comparative religion, that all cultures yet discovered on this planet have at least one religion. It’s part of who we are. If you think that Christianity is some sort of menace or problem, you have been listening to too many lierals (sic). I like to ask people who denigrate Christians who they would prefer to invest their life savings with: Someone who thought that everything he did was recorded and that he would have to answer for his bad behavior, or, someone who thought it was only bad if you got caught. The facial and mental and verbal squirming that question produces is high comedy.
These folks (senators and congressman) are so out of touch that it is mind numbing to read some of the comments they make…
This is unreal ! Its like some type of national meltdown over facts vs. main stream media fiction.
Global warming creates assininity. I feel it when they’re lying. The lies are more monumental.
Mr Artday, I was going to pose a similar question. I grew up going to church (although I have no interest now), and I’d rather deal with ANY of my parents’ peer group who believe they will eventually answer to a higher power than someone who doesn’t.
And Mike Bryant, not only are the lies more monumental, but they are swallowed hook, line, sinker, rod, reel, boat.
“Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I’m flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes.”
Scary.
Sounds like you are paying the price for not having even an minimum level of science based education in elected leaders and the general population.
Shivers.
AGW has nothing to do with Science, and everything to do with Politics.
Welcome to the weird world of Eco Socialism funded by a tax on the air you breath out.
If you could go back in time and tell Isaac Asimov about this, he wouldn’t believe you… George Orwell on the other hand, wouldn’t be at all surprised.
Sigh…..
Milwaukee Bob (19:29:13) : Yes, Mel is retiring, but he will almost certainly be replced by (drum roll) Governor Charlie Crist! Crist is as big a fool about AGW as McCain…
As a Floridian, I have to say I really miss Jeb…
Senator Dianne Feinstein (Dem. CA) can also feel it in HER bones (I’m not sure if it happens when she’s flying). The following was a part of her response to a complaint about the proposed climate change bill I sent to all 100 of our esteemed senate leaders. I received not a single response from any U.S. Senator acknowledging skepticism of AGW. The vast majority did not even acknowledge receipt of my missive.
From the Senator:
“I believe that there is convincing scientific evidence that global warming is happening and has already begun to change the world as we know it. Eight of the Earth’s nine warmest years on record have occurred since 2001, and these rising temperatures are shrinking snow packs and glaciers, changing patterns of drought and flooding, and increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires.”
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Senator Feinstein appears have to applied “sophisticated statistical adjustments” to the temperature data, possibly involving the extensive use of “new math”. Get out your wallets, boys and girls!
CH
mkurbo (21:06:10) :
These folks (senators and congressman) are so out of touch that it is mind numbing to read some of the comments they make…
I’ve seen people treated with shock therapy that made more sense.
Maybe they aren’t even human/ They were synthesized in labs and replaced the real folks, like in the movies.
I’m sure her focus is on jobs. Lest we forget the $900,000 green homes that don’t work.
http://www.businessinsider.com/off-the-grid-solar-powered-home-victim-of-sabotage-2009-5.
Looks like a Kansas tornado magnet to me. And a bad one at that.