This is rather unique, and it shows the conviction that some individuals have. I’ve often thought that a full page ad in the NYT might get some action, but I really think volume is the answer now on an individual scale, just like Gore’s “we” campaign. I’m sure that thousands of letters to the editors are being launched right about now from folks who think a lot like Mr. Bell. Climategate and Copenhagen have stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Unfortunately, ads don’t become web searchable, so we have this image and the PDF below.
An email sent to me reads:
Bill Bell has been trying for weeks to get the [Calgary] Herald to sell him a full page for an “Advertisement-Opinion” on Climate Change science and Copenhagen. (This mostly happened before the Hadley disclosure). The Herald must have gone through a number of intestinal upheavals, involving editors, ad people, lawyers and the publisher and it seems that – rather then be accused of suppressing information – they have finally consented. I think it puts a new face on the Herald also.
A brave man, Mr. Bell.
Here is the PDF Bill Bell’s advertisment
Disarray:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579726,00.html?test=latestnews
U.N. Weather Agency at Climate Conference Says This Is Warmest Decade on Record
So says the right hand.
But the left hand says:
Cooler North American temperatures in 2008 resulted from a strong natural effect, and the overall warming trend that has been observed since 1970 is likely to resume, according to university and NOAA scientists.
Cheers for the individual initiative.
If anyone else is thinking about doing the same thing, it might be worthwhile to run the text by someone for a quick “conspiracy language” check.
Disproving AGW and proving an transfer of wealth conspiracy by an intelligentsia are two different things. Mentioning the second is a turn off for many people who may otherwise have an open mind when reading the opinion.
Forget newspaper ads. Who reads stuff like that? Viral videos, that’s where it’s at.
Hide the Decline doesn’t say as much but it is the thin edge of the wedge. A full page of newspaper text is the blunt end of the wedge.
OT:
Most of Europe is predicted (Accuweather’s Joe Bastardi) to be under snow starting from 15th Dec – 25th Dec.
Video here:
http://www.accuweather.com/video-on-demand.asp?video=44795589001&title=Wild%20Ride%20into%20and%20through%20the%20Holidays
I will post this article.
Awesome. He Godwin’d himself by paragraph 4.
I’m sympathetic with Mr. Bell’s motive, but the tone of the ad comes across as a little bit “conspiracy nut”. Sorry. I’ve always said it’s about the science, and politics should be right out of the discussion – it really just distracts everyone. Instead of arguing about the truth of the matter, it devolves into an argument about the motives of others which is always a fruitless exercise. I have no doubt that most people in the warmist camp sincerely believe in, and are passionate about their position – they really do think the whole thing is a matter of urgency – a matter of human survival on the planet. My position is that they are 100% wrong, of course, but I’m certainly not going to ascribe their position to any sinister motives, as I hope they do not do to mine.
It’s good that people are speaking up, but I’m not sure this is the message I personally would want to stand behind, or share with others.
Well done Bill Bell.
Yesterday, December 7, 2009 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by unelected bureaucrats and functionaries of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The people were at peace with that agency and, at the solicitation of the EPA, were still in conversation with its process, looking toward the emergence of logic and reasonable conclusions based on a sober examination of the entire body of evidence. Indeed, one hour before public comment had closed the bombshell was dropped in Washington, the EPA director to the United States delivered to the public a formal reply to our recent, unexamined petitions. While it seemed useless to continue engaging the EPA through existing public comment structures, we continued in the faith that our petitions would be read and at least considered in the light that these are the true impressions of an informed public.
It will be recorded that the delivery of this assault on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the EPA has deliberately sought to deceive the people by false statements and expressions of due diligence and continued process.
The attack yesterday delivered on and aided by the national media has caused severe damage to the American spirit and free enterprise. Many American jobs have been lost. In addition American trust has been torpedoed from San Francisco to New York and everywhere between.
Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency launched an attack against the agricultural sector. Last night EPA forces attacked manufacturing interests. Last night EPA forces attacked mining. Last night EPA forces attacked service industries. Last night the EPA attacked rail, shipping and transportation. This morning the EPA attacked tourism, entertainment and hospitality industry.
THe EPA has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the American way of life. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our property and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our abilities – with the unbounded determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by the EPA on Monday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Environmental Protection Agency.”
11 degrees here this morning. Nobody remembers it getting this cold. That’s because a 4-day long cold snap last happened in 1972, 37 years ago, and the old timers from then are gone.
Regional fuel for more articles slamming the AGW scam.
papertiger (09:35:06) :
I concur. There is no basis for the EPA to do what it did yesterday.
Lisa Jackson declared war on America.
It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
I shall write my Congressman and my 2 (sic) Senators.
Er… I’ve just bought a new car in England and I don’t remember paying £5000 in tax. Is this kind of like “Stephen Hawkings would have been left to die by the NHS if he’d been British”?
The problem with leaving politics out is that then there is no reason for the scientists to be manipulating data. As a friend said, “Why would supposedly reputable institutions and scientists LIE? There are hundreds of them marching to the same beat. WHY? The data has to be true.”
The answer is of course that the all have the same vision of a brave new world, to be brought about by the catalyst of “Climate Change”. In this world, resources are allocated based on need, and no one is rich–no one is poor. This is known as “Climate Justice”, and is the reason behind the manipulation of data.
“No matter if the science is all phony…. climate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world.” -Christine Stewart, former Canadian Environment Minister, Climate Justice Advocate
[Mankind] has all that is physically necessary to create a totally new form of human society – one that would be built to last for generations. -Limits to Growth, The Club of Rome
“Free-market ideology is an anachronism in an era of climate change.” -Jeffery Sachs, Columbia University, Director of The Earth Institute
“Sacrilegious though this may sound, democracy is no longer well suited for the tasks ahead.” – The First Global Revolution, The Club of Rome
Of course all of this sounds very familiar. It is a rehash of the “new communist man” paradigm.
Hmm…what’s Ms. Jackson been up to now, has she been exposing her tit again?
David Waugh
AFAIK, we still have a thing called ‘car tax’ (which was introduced a long time ago, when VAT replaced purchase tax and the government suddenly realised it was going to lose a valuable source of income) and of course we still have VAT, so about a quarter of the purchase cost is still tax. Not all cars cost £20k, but plenty do, and VAT goes up again here on Jan 1st!
One thing which is very interesting in the UK blogosphere is that there is a sudden surge of warmist articles, even in newspapers more traditionally skeptic (which says the articles are probably paid-for).
The responding blogs, however, are now significantly dominated by members of the public pretty firmly telling the journalists what they think.
Which isn’t what they’re being told.
Whatever the outcome, we no longer have meek and mild parishioners listening with awe to the high priests of global warming…..
Joe Romm on Climate Progress is posting more on hottest decade evah. Too bad he can’t provide a source of the temps. We can’t tell if they are close to correct.
Good one Bill.
Well done Bill. A word of caution.
As somebody who’s business requires marketing. We have had far better result on the internet than through print media. There is a reason print media is losing money. Not nearly as effective.
If I had the money I would do the same. Good on our fellow Canadians!
Aggree with the conspirecy vibe comments. Love the commitiment though. Most of us are just ranting on forums; he is putting his money were his mouth is!
It’s CNN. Tell McIntyre to put on a coat and tie. If you want credibility in such a compressed format, look credible.
Ah the Beauty of Nature
(Just a small part of the thoughts rumbling through this Plumbers’ brain)
We have those that plead with the masses to do something quick, to save Nature from Humankind. For Humankind is poisoning Nature.
Then there are those who say that Nature is big enough to take care of Itself, and it is just an egotistical belief that Humankind can have an effect on Nature.
Those that see destruction plead that CO2 is the culprit. And as Humankind is adding to the amount in the atmosphere we must be stopped. (will not go into the science here) Unprecedented levels are leading the earth into unimaginable runaway temp gain.
Those that say nay, for the most part, believe that the sun is the biggest player (again, am purposefully omitting clouds etal). And now with the orb going into one of its quieter phases we could be seeing as much as 2*C drop over the next thirty years.
Ah the beauty of Nature once again shines! For Nature has deigned that our answer will be forthcoming in the next decade or so! The Two Most Prominent Theories are about to be put to the test. As we pour more CO2 into our atmosphere, and the Golden Orb goes further into slumber, Nature will tell us which theory is closest to the truth.
So I say, relax, have a beer, hug your kids, and rejoice that we live in such exciting times that are upon us! For WE shall soon be let into one on Natures’ BIG secrets!
And if the warmers are right, we will still have time to “try” and mitigate Humankinds effects. And if the Naturists are right, then they can welcome the warmists into their camp, give them a hug, and share a beer with them.
Well done Bill Bell, my respect.
And guys, who pays for the band decides how to play the music.
Y’all can buy better ads your way.
I was linked to by cbsnews.com (and got a large spike in traffic from it). Folks who had been mildly skeptical but not enough to take on The Team Machine have been motivated by Climategate to step up. Each doing their part in some small way. Warms the heart.
BTW, I’ve done an “Airports By Lattitude By Year” study. The percentage of thermometers at airports on some continents and in some countries is astounding. New Zealand, for example.
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/ncdc-ghcn-airports-by-year-by-latitude/
Folks have an easy time grasping that a thermometer near the tail of a jet engine is not representative of the forest nearby…
I agree with many of the comments above. This kind of ad will only perpetuate the widespread view of sceptics as ‘conspiracy nuts’. My reading of the present situation is that it’s less a ‘conspiracy’ as such, more groupthink and confirmation bias on an unprecedented scale.
The alarmists have a very persuasive case when they point out the seemingly remote possibility that the supposed lie of AGW could have taken in all of the governments of the developed world and so many members of the public. I feel this has taken such a hold due to the convergence of a number of factors – mainly the decline in traditional left/right politics, the massive weakening of religious faith, the popularity of end-of-millennium apocalyptic prophecies (the latest version of ‘The End is Nigh’), and a media that finds stories about impending doom understandably sexier than ‘nothing much has changed’.
Alarmists frequently try to smear sceptics by implying they are ‘in the pay of Big Oil’, but when you have rich, powerful people like Richard Branson and Al Gore believing they are quite literally *Saving The World*, it must be quite a hit – one that they are understandably reluctant to come down from.
david waugh (10:23:00) :
I’m a sceptic & I too call BS on the £5000 car tax!
That would mean that many cars are sold at a loss!
It is however possible that he meant an average £5000 but much better if he’d said a %.
DaveE.
Well done Bell. He could have put it on WUWT and got more readers though. I bet Anthony’s rates are better.
@David waugh
Stephen Hawking hired a Private Nurse
http://nationaldeathservice.blogspot.com/2009/12/250-die-of-starvation-in-hospital.html
“A STAGGERING 250 people are dying of starvation a year in British hospitals – a national disgrace that costs the taxpayer a whopping £7 BILLION.”
@Jeff Id (16:35:54) :
It’s one of my gripes that some if not most of the skeptic websites have google ads rotating header that is always cluttered with WWF ads.
Recently the excellent blog Climate Skeptic put up an ad for a video he had produced that was picked up and put in rotation at Lubos Motl’s website.
That was a first for me, seeing an anti-AGW ad at an anti-AGW website.
Hopefully it will be the first of many. How much do Google ads cost, more then a NYT’s ad, or less?
Toto (09:30:28) :
Forget newspaper ads. Who reads stuff like that? Viral videos, that’s where it’s at.
Hide the Decline doesn’t say as much but it is the thin edge of the wedge. A full page of newspaper text is the blunt end of the wedge
————————————————————
You miss the point Toto……
What this does, is FORCE the newspaper to print the Ad…. So you target the most AGW activist newspapers and force them to have to run your Ad….. It’s like rubbing their nose’s in it….. Very satisfying:-)
The ad is good and well placed. Well done.
I too, disagree with Toto who said, “Forget newspaper ads. Who reads stuff like that?”
Who reads stuff like that is about one quarter of a million (or more) Calgarians. Calgary is city of one million and the financial center of Western Canada and center of the oil and gas industry … along with Edmonton. Alberta’s tar sand are being unfairly attacked right now and a lot of people here are seeking information.
A lot of people will have seen that ad that otherwise would not have seen anything at WUWT and other similar blogs and who have only been fed the skewed standard MSM liberal line.
Well done Mr. Bell.
I am only too happy to have this corrupt organisation put some money into Anthony’s pocket. I click them every so often to ensure that it happens.
“The goal of the perpetrators is a transfer of wealth with the apparent forfeiture of power to a proposed environmental world government formed by the United Nations.”
Y’all are proud of this? That’s what you call bad publicity. It’s not even a coherent sentence.
In other news, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.
Jeff Id (16:35:54) :
> Well done Bell. He could have put it on WUWT and got more readers though. I bet Anthony’s rates are better.
Yeah, but perhaps he doesn’t want to preach to the choir. The people who most need to read it don’t hang out here.
As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I sincerely wish Mr. Bell had run his text past a few other people first. Unfortunately, the first few paragraphs will turn too many off of the important messages farther along.
On the other hand, it was in a very visible portion of a paper that I no longer even look at, due to its continual slide to the left. I gave up on the Calgary Herald after weeks of constant bombardment pushing the AGW line a few years back. Some of the columnists should just give up on Calgary and move to San Francisco.
This is rather unique…
Sorry guys, but as a pedant, I couldn’t let this one pass.
Being unique is rather like being a virgin – you either are or you aren’t. There can be no degrees of virginity or unique-ness (ugh!!).
Skeptic though I am, is Mr Bell sure that “tax on a new car in England is already over £5000”? Does he mean VAT @ 15% (soon to return to 17.5%) on a new car, list price £38333, is already £5000 in England?
I live in England and although I do miss the odd policy nonsense I think I would have heard of this.
Bell is a long time leader in the field of Petroleum Geology. He has served in management and as a Director for numerous oil and gas companies in both the public and private sectors. Currently, he is President of Bellport Resources Ltd, Bellport Oil and Gas Inc and Portobello Investments Ltd…. not the same guy by any chance?
Great news! Weather forecasters can’t tell you what the weather will be like next week, but politicians can tell us what it will be like in five or ten years from now, and, of course, it will be awful unless the citizens turn in their guns, money and freedom to them. claysamerica.com
The guy who paid for this ad is either a moron or a greedy self-interested fool, or (most probably) both.
For the record the fact that one place or another was warm or cold this week/month/year is essentially irrelevant. Short term weather is essentially irrelevant to the question of climate change. Rather, it is long term global-scale trends that are the issue, and further not climate change does not imply all places will get warmer (although many places will). We have people who spend their lives attempting to figure this out, and they do so without much on a financial or self-interested agenda: the rational thing is to believe them and try the problem seriously.
Greg, the “rational” thing is to not believe charlatans.
“We” have people who spend their lives attempting to find ways to “prove” a hypothesis that has already been falsified, over and over and over. And yet, somehow, millions of people still believe it, and they keep getting funding.
Apparently you’ve missed the fact that “global-scale trends” are only the issue in the sense that we don’t know what the global-scale trends are, since the record has been polluted and altered. However, it’s looking more and more like the “global-scale trend” is either flat, or cooling.
Greg (09:54:01) said:
I have a bridge you might be interested in.
It IS the Scam of our Lifetime, one of the greatest in the whole history of mankind.
Just now I read on CA that Gerry North told the Washington post, (Dec. 1, 2009), that the NAS panel did exactly the same thing as Phil Jones’ trick, to solve Briffa’s problem (Hide the Decline). The “problem” arises because Briffa reconstruction goes down from 1940 to 1994, instead of up, as per the thermometer records.
The NAS panel showed the temperature records alongside Mann’s reconstruction, whereby any highschool student could see Mann’s “reconstruction” was inaccurate, where it could be accurately checked, and hence its claim to represent temperatures for the last 1,000 years doing away with the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age WAS WRONG!
Gerald North doesn’t even know and understand that!
Gerald North was chairman of the NAS committee which whitewashed, almost, (a few of the black bits showed through the white-wash), the inquiry into the Hockey stick graph and Wegman’s report!
If he doesn’t understand the simple “trick” that Jones did, what hope is there that he understood the hockey-stick inquiry or the Wegman report?
He also gave a separate report, further pooh-poohing the obvious manipulation of Mann and the MBH98/99 papers. His level of understanding is so appalling, he couldn’t possibly have written anything on his own, which leads me to suspect that Mann and his gang wrote it for him.
It is on the basis of this NAS report that the warmists claim “The NAS” reviewed Mann’s papers and found nothing wrong!
It was NOT “the NAS”. “The NAS” was actually its chair Gerald North, who doesn’t know the difference between a trick and a treat. He has revealed his appalling ignorance and illiteracy.
Greg (09:54:01) :
The guy who paid for this ad is either a moron or a greedy self-interested fool, or (most probably) both.
For the record…
Thank you for voicing your opinions. For the record my opinion of you is exactly the same.
Beedster
I replied about the UK car tax, thinking (wrongly) that we still had the old 10% car tax that was introduced years ago to cover the shortfall between the old ‘purchase tax’ and the then new VAT, which was about 10% less – i.e. the government invoked the old ratchet principle.
It turned out that this was borderline illegal, making the VAT a tax on a tax, and it was eventually abolished. We do, however, have a lot of other vehicle taxes, including some 75% on fuel and a sliding scale of ‘vehicle excise duty’ (a.k.a. road tax) according to your car’s CO2 output (guess how that works), so one could reasonably be said to pay a lot more than £5k to the Treasury over the life of the car. Not sure that’s what Bill Bell meant, though…
To Richard (10:38:56) : If the proxies for temperature disagree with the actual temperature measured by thermometers which would you believe? Sounds like those who believe the thermometers did the right thing.
Turboblocke (13:19:20) :
Thank you for voicing your opinions. For the record my opinion of you is exactly the same as Richards at (10:43:51) :
Turboblocke (13:19:20) :
“To Richard (10:38:56) : If the proxies for temperature disagree with the actual temperature measured by thermometers which would you believe? Sounds like those who believe the thermometers did the right thing.”
If the proxies disagree with the thermometers used in the blade, that invalidates the use of the proxies in the shaft.
Also, the fact that this splicing occurred wasn’t always pointed out in the literature, which is a no-no.
“Short term weather is essentially irrelevant to the question of climate change.”
You mean short term cooler weather is irrelevant; short term warming is proof positive we’re all going to die from global warming.
“We have people who spend their lives attempting to figure this out, and they do so without much on a financial or self-interested agenda: the rational thing is to believe them and try the problem seriously. ”
I know a used car salesman you need to meet. He’ll cut you the deal of the century. Promise.