From Andrew Bolt, my “mate” down under at the Herald Sun, comes this surprise. I’ll have to say, it is to George Monbiot’s credit to do this. I embrace his first statement, because it succinctly sums up the situation:
It’s no use pretending that this isn’t a major blow. The emails extracted by a hacker from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia could scarcely be more damaging(1). I am now convinced that they are genuine, and I’m dismayed and deeply shaken by them.
– George Monbiot on his personal blog
George seems to realize that, “it’s worse than we thought”.
From Andrew Bolt:
Even George Monbiot, one of the fiercest media propagandists of the warming faith, admits he should have been more sceptical and says the science now needs to be rechecked:
It’s no use pretending that this isn’t a major blow. The emails extracted by a hacker from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia could scarcely be more damaging. I am now convinced that they are genuine, and I’m dismayed and deeply shaken by them.
Yes, the messages were obtained illegally. Yes, all of us say things in emails that would be excruciating if made public. Yes, some of the comments have been taken out of context. But there are some messages that require no spin to make them look bad. There appears to be evidence here of attempts to prevent scientific data from being released, and even to destroy material that was subject to a freedom of information request.
Worse still, some of the emails suggest efforts to prevent the publication of work by climate sceptics, or to keep it out of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I believe that the head of the unit, Phil Jones, should now resign. Some of the data discussed in the emails should be re-analysed.
Sure, Monbiot claims the fudging of what he extremely optimistically puts as just “three or four” scientists doesn’t knock over the whole global warming edifice, yet…
If even Monbiot, an extremist, can say that much, why cannot the Liberals say far more? And will now the legion of warmist journalists in our own media dare say as Monbiot has so belatedly:
I apologise. I was too trusting of some of those who provided the evidence I championed. I would have been a better journalist if I had investigated their claims more closely.
Scepticism is the essential disposition of our craft, yet too many journalists have abandoned it. Remember: the opposite of sceptical is gullible.
UPDATE: Here’s the screencap from Monbiot’s blog on the Guardian:
Click to see the original.
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More important than Monbiot are the warmist scientists who are begining to break away from “the Team”.
Warmer Scientists starting to distance themselves from “The Team”?
Judy Curry – slightly deprecating? of the team, Yet defending AGW on CA
Dr. Hans von Storch –
1. Data must be made public so that “adversaries” may check the analysis. [Now this is the basic prinicple of science]. This must be enforced!
2. Scientists like Mike Mann, Phil Jones and others should no longer participate in the peer-review process or in assessment activities like the IPCC!
Wow!
Maybe an appeal should be launched to other genuine warmist scientists that they should also, at the very minimum, endorse these recomendations of Dr. Hans von Storch.
I don’t think that ‘I was too trusting of some of those who provided the evidence I championed.’ is going to work as an excuse at the Climate Trials.
‘He’s got ’em on the list — he’s got ’em on the list;
And they’ll none of ’em be missed — they’ll none of ’em be missed.’
R Shearer (20:15:06) :
Monbiot apologizes for the actions of a few rouge scientists.
Red faced indeed!
hans, your self confidence is sublime, but I fear your perceptions leave much to be desired.
You need to parse more carefully. You have overlooked not one but both segues and believe it to be all one patch.
(You should also, perhaps, consider that in a different context in a blog on the other “side of this argument”, your comment would never have survived moderation. Yet here it sits.)
hans (00:50:05) : ..Anyone managing to read Monbiot’s piece and not pick up on the blatant sarcasm has a deficiency in their understanding of reading, logic and humour.
Many equivalent examples can be found among the comments generated on your side of this argument. Like the failure to recognize that FOX NEWS is in part a propaganda tool for corporate interests, and that its populist rhetoric is a tool to attract gullible people (yeah, that’s you guys). Some here even picked up on that but, incredibly enough, failed to make the mental connection that the “skeptic” side is largely fuelled by the same corporate interest. ..
..Your analysis of the leaked letters has been as laughably bad as your misreading of Monbiot. And you could stand to learn to see that.
hans – you have a defiency if you fail to recognise that Monbiot’s words “..It’s no use pretending that this isn’t a major blow. The emails extracted by a hacker from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia could scarcely be more damaging. I am now convinced that they are genuine, and I’m dismayed and deeply shaken by them…
..there are some messages that require no spin to make them look bad. There appears to be evidence here of attempts to prevent scientific data from being released, and even to destroy material that was subject to a freedom of information request.
Worse still, some of the emails suggest efforts to prevent the publication of work by climate sceptics, or to keep it out of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I believe that the head of the unit, Phil Jones, should now resign…”
Are genuine, without any sarcasm whatsoever, and from the heart.
This alone speaks volumes of you.
The problem I have with the purported apology from the Moonbat is that he is a typical leftie useful idiot for the AGW cause. Useful idiots are usually the very last to accept the fallacy of their central belief even if it is staring them straight in the face.
I would urge reading the Monbiot Guardian article in its original form. I agree entirely with Larry M (20:17:28) and several later posts. This is weasel of an apology. To be sure he’s dumping on his friends at UEA but has he altered his position? Not one bit. This is the man who is on record as demanding Nuremberg-type trials for sceptics. Put no trust in his “apology”. By the way the “comment is free” statement that appears daily in that newspaper is a travesty. They are among the most assiduous deleters of critical emails.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/nov/23/global-warming-leaked-email-climate-scientists
This is Mr A. Mohamad the Sudanese UN Ambassador, and currently chairman of the G77 block of developing countries representing them at the Copenhagen summit, giving an interesting interview on HARDTALK at the BBC last night. 23rd Nov 2009.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00p4r5t/HARDtalk_Abdalmahmood_Mohamad_Sudanese_UN_Ambassador/
Basically they want the Wests money, and lots of it. ‘100 Billion Euro’s a year is peanuts’ “We need between 500 and 600 Billion for climate action and a simliar 500 to 600 Billion for adaptation”
The gravy train is warming up.
Monbiot is just another rat leaving the sinking ship “HMS Global Warming”.
He’s now trying to save himself, and pretending he was not part of this deceitful, criminal plot.
He won’t be the only one.
Time to lawyer-up, you gang of scoundrels.
hans (00:50:05) :
I’ll trust my own reading and understanding of the issues, thank you very much, despite your certainty that I lack the faculties. I guess I’m just stupid that way. 🙂
But I do believe that there is a propaganda war going on right now, as you state. These emails are, in part, just such a window onto that battlefield.
And actually han, deep down, I fear the continued erosian of scientific integrity in climate science regardless of the CRUtape fallout. Will it be business as usual in six months or a real transarency? I can accept transparency, han, can you?
I think his “Knights Carbonic” is a sad version of Andy-Kaufman-comedy
The BBC had a significant discussion of this last night on ‘Newsnight’ which is the heavyweight political/news discussion programme hostly each evening by senior figures, notably Jeremy ‘Paxo’ Paxman.
The two figures interviewed were Dr Fred Singer, unfortunately standing on a street in London (seems strange they couldn’t get him a taxi to Wood Lane) and a senior Govt advisor, who was, of course, a warmist.
Paxman was trying to imply it wasn’t that serious, which it is.
But at least the BBC is now being required to put 50% coverage of alternative positions in play.
Monbiot plays the game well. remember that he refers to 3 or 4 scientists. He has had to address this because the Guardian as not lost its soul completely.
But next week or the week after he will be blogging away on Comment is Free if you agree with the same old nonsense. Telling you how disgusted with moderation whilst his censors stifle debate.
When the centre, gets on board then we can start cheering?
His and the Guardians love in with our Gav is very moving.
You must remember this a Trick is just a Trick
A hide is just a hide
Upon this you cant Deny as time proves lies.
Trick or Cheat
Hidee o Hidee I
“There may come a time” W.C. Fields liked to say: “When one must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.”
One might have hoped for a better reaction from NYT’s Revkin, whose status as kept poodle has so recently been exposed. He may be one of the last but in the end he too will jump on this crime syndicate.
And when the tide begins to turn, and it will, the other poodles will then come about with the fierce response of all jilted brides and reformed smokers.
Monbiot is a 100% bought and paid for corporate journalist. He has had no morals or principles since he took the Guardian’s money. He is having a laugh. Sacrificing a few peasant scientists for trillions of dollars of City of London carbon trading is good business.
Monbiot’s family is upper class and they are politicians of the fairly hard right.
****
Monbiot’s father, Raymond Geoffrey Monbiot, was the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and Chairman of the National Convention. His mother Rosalie, the elder daughter of Roger Gresham Cooke, M.P. is a Conservative councillor who led South Oxford district council for a decade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Monbiot#Family
***********
London’s financial centre is the main home to the incipient global carbon market. Prof Heal believes that in a decade, the trade could be worth trillions of dollars.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8359397.stm
RC should not be given any respectability. It is obvious it is trying to desperately save face. Do not post there. Just let the team go on as before.
Anthony, I have not read any of the comments here. I’d urge that extreme caution needs to be exercised. As far as I am aware there is no university of Redcar (Redcar is better known for its racecourse), and this guy kattweizel does not seem to exist. I do not think that email is part of the CRU “release”. And it is way, way, way over the top.
All I can say is that this stinks.
Its interesting to note the BBC has had the CRU hack email for a month ( see here ) and suggest they are authentic.
@Eric Smith – quite honestly I find the idea that Monbiot is a closet corporate lackey very unlikely indeed.
He a genuine pain in the rear leftie as far as I can tell, who clearly, and as some considerable shock to many of us, has some integrity.
The great thing about Truth is this: It remains true even when there isn’t a single person with the spine to stand up and speak It.
Truth is harder than diamonds and purer than gold. It cannot be eroded.
Therefore, when people sneer at the Truth, and deem truth-speakers naive and overly trusting, and prefer deciet, they are up against something they can’t defeat. They may get rich, and they may bask in fame, but Truth stands there, watching them…
….watching them…
…………..watching them…….
Eventually a day comes when the person who has mocked Truth is old, ill and weary. Money can’t cure them, and the flattery of fame can’t cure them. All that seduced them into abandoning Truth has lost its lustre. The party is over.
On that day they face the Truth, which simply tells them, silently and needing no words, “You have been a liar.”
I understand Briffa has been ill. Makes me wonder…..
[Deleted. Email Validator toll says this email address is “Bad”. -mod]
People read the Guardian because they have a certain world view, they don’t have a certain world view because they read the Guardian. Moonblat is simply doing what all journalists do: satisfying the needs of his audience. Indeed, it seems our scientists have been doing the same!
Now that’s what I would call [snip] amazing!
It takes a man with a lot of character and courage to do what George has just done.
My hat’s off.
(You are welcome to spread this! I think humour may be a good way to get a message out! –AE)
CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOTHING COMPARED TO LIGHT-BULB CHANGE
The first few jokes in this file are by ahrvid@hotmail.com. Feel free to add your own and share the fun with others!
Question: How many Climate Gate deniers does it take to change a light bulb? (Q repeated for every answer)
What light bulb? The EU has banned them for environmental reasons.
None. Media prefers to stumble around in the dark.
Thirty. Because when you’ve done you need a whole platoon to dig trenches and put up barbed wire to defend your position to the very last man.
2501. That’s the number in the Intergovernmental Panel of Light-bulb Change. 2451 of them are only formally members and couldn’t care less, though everyone flies their jet planes to expensive international conferences to get pisssed and allow their names to be used in several thousand pages thick reports, sure to lay substantial areas of forests barren. There are about 50 that sit and cherry-pick the light bulbs that are suited for “the cause”. Of these only about a dozen check that the correct light bulb – and only the correct light bulb – is selected. Finally Al Gore climbs to the very top of the ladder and make sure that everything becomes totally screwed up.
What a bloody bickering about light bulbs! We will not change light bulbs. The light-bulb science is settled once and for all. You’re only a gang of conspiracy theorists that deny the Holocaust, think the US Government blew up the Twin Towers and see Flying Saucers in the sky.
None. because you can use the trick of hiding the decline in luminosity.
What’s a ”light bulb”? We only have camp fires, where we come from, and are almost freezing to death. Oh, how we long for Medieval times! It’s supposed to have been a Warm Period then.
It will be impossible to change any light bulbs. You see, even if we here on the BBC are about 23 000 employees, every single one of us is fully occupied with making new programmes where we repeat the same old message about “climate change”, day out and day in. That’s public service TV for you!
Changing a light bulb, you said? I’m from the government and I’m here to help you. Of course you have to pay the light-bulb tax, the electricity tax and of course the CO2 tax, not to forget the climate-change fee, the environment duty and the fossil-fuel charge. What? Well, mortgage your house, for heaven’s sake! Think of the poor panda bears, please. First we must make sure that the light bulb complies with regulation 4.71, paragraph B) in sub section…
To: Phil@cru.co.uk
Subject: Annoying idiot wants scientific openness
Howdy amigo!
I got this outrageous E-mail by some idiot that wants to check our light-bulb figures. If I see him I promise you I’ll beat the crap out of him. Suggest that you immediately delete everything. Chris will do the same. We can’t have others coming and checking our light bulbs. Scientific scrutiny and freedom of information in my ass! I propose that we gang up and oust this annoying man from everything. BTW, I attached the latest version of our program code, with should fix the travesty about that the increase simply hasn’t happened.
–Mike
Ps. Send the money in chunks below 10 000 dollars, so authorities won’t find them, though I know that’s a heck of a job for the 100 billion of tax-payer’s money we have gotten so far.
Sorry for all the times I called you “Moonbat”.