UPDATE: Pat Michaels responds, see below:
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Maybe it’s the summer weather, I dunno, but in the space of 4 days, we have three prominent figures in the global warming debate behaving badly.
First we have Al Gore, who paralleled climate skeptics with racists last Friday.
Then we had Pat Michaels, who made an unbelievably callous gaffe in a Forbes article saying
“It is doubtful that Irene will even cough up eight bodies,”
That’s not only callous, but disappointing coming from him. On the other hand he did correct it to read: “hopefully kill fewer than the eight people who died in Gloria,”, but I think he should issue an apology as well.
Then today we have Dr. James Hansen, scientist turned political activist, now with street cred x3, because he was arrested today for the third time.
I think we need cooler heads at the top of the climate food chain on both sides.
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UPDATE: Pat Michaels issued this statement and apology this afternoon via email to me:
While the text was in fact changed, the original was over the top. As anyone in this business knows, sometimes we don’t proof ourselves very well and say things that are hurtful, and that is not good and requires an apology to those unfairly hurt, which I offer sincerely. I will try to be more careful in the future, and I hope to have learned from this.
– Pat Michaels (via email)
It would be nice to see Mr. Gore (or anyone in the AGW camp for that matter) disavow his comparisons to racism.
James Sexton says:
August 29, 2011 at 4:31 pm
“Is it that people don’t understand that protest and redress is supposed to be lawful!! And those actions certainly are not something that should be allowed by a representative of the executive branch.”
Yes, and as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., explained, civil disobedience is justified only when the law that is broken during the protest is an unjustified law. In this case, we see Hansen once again being arrested for violating the security zone around the White House.
I hope that no one believes that the security zone around the White House manifests an unjustified law. I bet Obama believes that the security zone is gold plated justified. Obama should fire Hansen.
The media was loaded to death toll counting. It is one of their metrics. Someone somewhere made the point that the eastern seaboard shutdown lowered the death toll numbers that occur on a weekend for that area.
Public policy is bad. Some people just want to prepare and not evacuate. they should be allowed to do so, and given the resources to do so. I interpreted Irene as a misuse of government power and media insincerity.
Still wondering if the net highway death toll might have been lowered by 50 million people driving less because of the storm such that, on balance, lives were saved by the storm???
From this source, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Traffic_and_Motor_Vehicle_Safety_Act, I get that there are 1.7 deaths per 100 million VMT in 1997. Assuming there might have been 20 miles not driven by 50 million drivers over the course of the storm, that’s 17 deaths avoided because of the storm. I heard the 50 million people affected number bandied about somewhere. But, maybe it’s a stretch to say there were 50 million drivers affected???
Theo Goodwin says:
August 29, 2011 at 6:13 pm
James Sexton says:
August 29, 2011 at 4:31 pm
“Is it that people don’t understand that protest and redress is supposed to be lawful!! And those actions certainly are not something that should be allowed by a representative of the executive branch.”
Yes, and as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., explained, civil disobedience is justified only when the law that is broken during the protest is an unjustified law.
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Thanks Theo……….. I should have added the sentiment. It isn’t as if big Jim doesn’t have other options available to make his point. He should have been gone years ago.
@ur momisugly SiliconJon: “I often enjoy your well laid points, but to go ad hominem is HYPOcritical, yes?”
I agree, too polite here, need to step it up a notch….
/sarc off
At 70 and still working. My guess is he’s afraid of someone checking his work.
Is this an April fools joke? Dr. Michaels comment in no way insinuated that he wanted anyone to die only that the death toll was way over hyped.
It is called SARCASM, I realize those that do not live in the Northeast don’t get it but that in no way makes it callous.
FYI the storm was a joke, I live at the Jersey shore and my car looks nice and shiny thanks to all the rain.
…oh yeah I almost forgot I had to drive through a 10 ft stretch of 6 inches of standing water on one road back home from my “evacuation” location. The horrors!
Al Gore propaganda is still used by British Columbia University of Victoria…
http://www.pics.uvic.ca/assets/pdf/seminars/UBC_SFU_Seminar_Sept.14_11.pdf
Kuhnkat
“Thank you Mr. Michaels. The dialogue would be so much more reasonable if more people could fess up to their mistakes.”
we may disagree on a lot of things Kuhnkat, but we agree on this. There is no need to explain Pat or to defend Pat. he believes he made a mistake, he’s corrected it. Thank him, like Kuhnkat has. Simple.
Robertvdl says:
August 29, 2011 at 2:53 pm
The Department of Energy has allocated $508 million to 41 states for its Better Buildings Neighborhood Program and 600 jobs have been created or retained.
That statistic is just too over-the-top to comprehend.
This interesting graphics details the fatalities:
http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fo0830_hurricaneirene.pdf
Let’s put it this way a 68 y old windsurfing during the hurricane or the 46 y old who was paddling on the river in a canoe ending up drowned are hardly unexpected outcomes…
from Pat Michaels–the original was over the top
I understood what he meant. And it was over the top. But I didn’t have a problem with it. But I can see how it was taken in a bad way. And I believe his apology.
I hope everyone else does too.
The apology was only necessary because “sensitive” types don’t understand SARCASM. I personally would not have given an apology, told everyone to deal with it and then learn what sarcasm means. What a joke.
Anthony – this behaviour simply confirms that, politically speaking, the Global Warming movement has peaked and has entered its period of decline. It is at such times that leaders of such movements get hysterical, as they realise what is happening. Their opponents also say silly things, because they smell blood.
Copenhagen was a dismal failure, from which the movement does not have the means to recover at the international level. Electorally, Global Warming has become poison in many Western democracies. As wise heads predicted some years ago, the Global Warming movement would not survive the first good recession. We are now in the phase where politicians, investors, bureaucrats and scientists are carpet-bagging what they can, while they still can.
Expect to see more nonsense of this kind.
Robert M says:
August 29, 2011 at 4:20 pm
What happens when the guy who replaces Hansen gets a good look at all of the “work” he has done with his temperature datasets. Hansen cannot retire. He would get more then a slap on the wrist for the fraud he has perpetuated.
Unless his replacement was, let’s say, Michael Mann, who would almost certainly know where to look (and where not to!!). I doubt he’d do anything to stop perpetuating the fraud.
It was about time Hansen was sent to klink.
Agree that the “eight bodies” comment is a nothing and very likely “miscontextualized” for fun and profit by idiots or enemies. Key word was (sic) “hopefully” which shows the humane intent behind the words.
Also agree that Hansen’s behavior is problematic. For him, anyway. He may want to hang on at NASA to protect his “work” and reputation from the review that his successors will (or should) undertake. But if so, why is he making such a public commotion? Does he think he’s immune to discipline for having brought his employer into disrepute? Answer is probably yes, either he is so full of himself that he does believe he’s immune; or he’s prepared to play Martyr Versus The System if NASA bosses give him a hard time. In this game his media buddies will be delighted to help.
Last point, agree that Alarmism is in a state of advanced decay. Which makes it unstable, unpredictable and very dangerous. It contains a lot of accumulated energy (investments of career years and prestige; sunk moral, political and financial capital; essentially-religious belief) and until that has all dissipated, it can go at high speed in any direction and hurt a lot of people. Take good notes, folks, this is important for sociopolitical learning as well as the intellectual history of climate “science.”
“in the space of 4 days, we have three prominent figures in the global warming debate behaving badly”
Three of the most prominent leaders in world in the global warming debate. And, AGW people wonder… why isn’t AGW taken seriously. Dahhhhhhhh.. maybe there’s a connection?
steven mosher says:
August 29, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Kuhnkat
“Thank you Mr. Michaels. The dialogue would be so much more reasonable if more people could fess up to their mistakes.”
we may disagree on a lot of things Kuhnkat, but we agree on this. There is no need to explain Pat or to defend Pat. he believes he made a mistake, he’s corrected it. Thank him, like Kuhnkat has. Simple.
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I’ll fight PC whenever I see it. It is a horrible form of censorship. And, in the end, it defeats an open dialogue.
We can have a dialogue, but only if you state things in a manner I wish them stated?
Dear Jonathan Silveus (@SiliconJon)
Mr. Hansen is a NASA employee. It would be interesting to see the DCAA audits of his timecard. For some reason, I doubt that DCAA ever audits his timecard. Hmmmm. I wonder how he gets a pass?
Larry “the former DCAA auditor’s friend” Geiger
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/truth-crushed-to-earth-shall-rise/
eyesonu says:
August 29, 2011 at 4:56 pm
“Typical at that as a storm looses its heat engine”
eyesonu says:
August 29, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Before a grammer nazi gets me, I know that I have spelling errors (e.g. nor = not, thought = though, it = “delete”).
Loose instead of lose really grates on me.
eyesonu says:
August 29, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Before the grammer police get me, there are a couple of spelling errors in my above comment (i.e. callus = callous, it = “delete”, nor = not, thought = though).
Don’t forget looses instead of loses. That’s the one that always grates on me.
clipe says:
August 30, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I stand humbly at a loss before you as I lost my loose lose.