Sigh. This is so bad… it’s funny. For the record, it is now official; Chris Mooney is a paid political hack disguising himself as a science writer. I’m going back to calling him a “kid blogger”, because no adult could have thought processes that give conclusions like this.
Chris Mooney | The Politics of Ice and Fire
The time to act on global warming is clearly now—right now. In a sane world, Congress would immediately take up carbon cap legislation, and President Obama would be giving a big speech on the issue—and pressing Mitt Romney to explain why he flip-flopped into climate skeptic land, moving in precisely the wrong direction on one of the most important issues to afflict humanity.
Moreover, President Obama would recognize this as a smart political move, because the hard-core deniers notwithstanding, public opinion on global warming follows the weather. It always does. Now, with the whole country wondering about the sweltering heat, about the wildfires and the derecho and the destruction, people are more than ready to hear that, yes, this is global warming, and yes, something has to be done about it.
And yet still, it is not happening.
I cannot overemphasize how dramatic a missed opportunity this is—because we know that even against the backdrop of an overall warming trend, the weather is extremely fickle, and so is public opinion. In late 2009, the year of ClimateGate, and then in early 2010 (of “Snowmageddon” fame), public doubts about climate change increased in association with winter weather—and that could happen once again as soon as the end of this year.
h/t to Tom Nelson
I find it amazing that Mooney can’t even do basic research on the derecho, like I did. 30 seconds with Google and he’d know that it wasn’t anything to do with global warming and according to NOAA’s SPC, that the Washington DC area and much of the eastern seaboard gets one about every four years:
So, why all the fuss over last weeks storm? Because it didn’t hit flyover country.
It hit the center of defective thinking, Washington DC. Hyperbolic ground zero.
I suppose though if you are a “hard core” fake science writer, you don’t look for such things. Somebody should take Mooney’s blogging computer away from him before he hurts somebody with it.
James Sexton says:
July 5, 2012 at 11:06 pm
The left loves wind turbines for quite a while now.
http://virtualology.com/hallofforeignwars/VLADIMIRILYICHLENIN.COM/
Anthony – you are missing Chris’s point. The truth is not relevant. Whether is derecho has anything to do with MMGW is not important. It is the opportunity (or lost opportunity) to make political capital out of it that he is discussing.
AGW is fast becoming this Century’s ‘Big Lie’.
@ur momisugly George E. Smith:
The ‘science advisor’ you refer to is Sir Peter Gluckman, who is in fact a medical doctor (pediatrics) and is therefore no more qualified to assess the so-called climate science than any of us.
“Gee Mr Mooney, We All Need a Lobotomy” was my reply to previous outbursts from this Looney Mooney and posted at Climate Depot on July 13, 2009. Chrissy, and fellow Disney faux science spokesmouth Billy Nye, are a clear and present danger to the younger and more sensitive members of the viewing audience…..viewer discretion is advised.
No, the time to laugh at you is now – right now. Ha, ha, ha.
Yes Mooney, it has been doing that since the mid-1800s. Sea level has been rising since the end of the last ice age and now at a flattening rate. It’s worse than we thought!
When you admit the fact that it’s going to take a gimmick to get your agenda implemented, you undermine your case. These kinds of outbursts do their side no good at all. Keep them coming.
Why does he remind me of boy scientist in training Chris Colose? They’re the Hanz and Franz of climate science: “We’re going to make s**t up!” With “girlie science” one can only presume.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_and_Franz
Robbie says:
July 6, 2012 at 5:40 am
What is it with these people and Carbon Cap Legislation?
That simply doesn’t work. It won’t solve the reduction in greenhouse gases.
Cap ‘n’ Trade legislation only has one intent — to create an additional source of tax revenue.
Anyone who tells you different is a liar.
Well, one thing to learn from Mr. Mooney is that the kind of alarmism he rehearsing never dies. There’s a new crusade and new crusader born every minute. These days, a cacophany of baby talk, amplified by forums and blogs, allows us to witness the “maturing” of our youth from “childish” agitators to politically savy opportunists, ready to seize the moment to manipulate the masses.
The desire to change things – anything – is natural to young people, and is nurtured, along with an unnatural sense of guilt by other agitated members of the global village. Teachers and parents have a lot to do with putting a burr under the saddle of young people as part of their “education”. How many warmist have we seen who conflate the notion of public service with a serious deconstruction of society?
Anything, after all, is better than the staid “complacency” of our forebears.
Mr. Mooney shrewdly points out that his moment is at hand, and only the ignorant masses with their dysfunctional leaders prevents a coup resulting in unprecedented social change, which of course, he will dictate. Since our feckless attentions will soon be diverted, best to set this drama against the backdrop of the Colorado fires, derechos, and other ominous and exotic-sounding events, precisely because they are ephemeral. The fuel will be spent, the winds will die down, and then where will we be? Back to normal.
All this proves that the worries and fixations of modern youth are little differnt from those of the past. If Mr. Mooney wants to be the poster child for global warming – or any other hysteria – he’s going to have to out-Herod a chorus of Herods. Maybe that’s the point.
It is time to turn this war into a nuclear war. The only way we can save ourselves from carbon dioxide is to provide power from nuclear sources. Nuclear power will save us all. It is carbon free. Chris Mooney can use his B.A. in English to promote nuclear power and save the world. He will then have a value. His supporters will value his judgment as he holds a position on the board of the AGU. Most readers of WUWT will see what a joke it is for him to hold a position on the board of AGU. His followers will not.
DirkH says:
July 6, 2012 at 6:34 am
… The left loves wind turbines for quite a while now.
http://virtualology.com/hallofforeignwars/VLADIMIRILYICHLENIN.COM/
From now on I’m going to see every windmill as a little nod to Marxism!
Disappointing that you rely on the NOAA to make the point that some weather patterns have happened before (though not usually quite as bad).
NOAA is a warmist organisation. Can you trust anything it says?
REPLY: The Palmer Drought Index doesn’t go through the adjustment gyrations of USHCN/GHCN and if its wrong, they’ll hear about it from the farmers, the state experiment stations, and the Ag COOP organizations as well as the futures speculators. So, yes, I do trust this particular dataset. – Anthony
Billy Liar says:
July 6, 2012 at 8:54 am
“From now on I’m going to see every windmill as a little nod to Marxism!”
That is very likely correct. The German feed in tariff system was designed by the Greens, and the leadership of that party was in various small c0mmunist parties in the 70ies before they recognized they could politicize the masses better by infiltrating the anti nuclear movement, which had mass appeal.
I think they intentionally designed the renewables feed-in law in all its nonfunctional glory to destroy the energy market. When you manage to make energy scarse, you bring down the country. Create and exploit a crisis. Blame evil capitalism for increasing prices when in fact it’s your own law that makes energy – and therefore all goods – expensive. Ramp up the pressure until something breaks.
From the Washington Post’s http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/global-warming-no-longer-americans-top-environmental-concern-poll-finds/2012/07/02/gJQAs9IHJW_story.html in part:
h/t to Pierre Gosselin’s http://notrickszone.com/2012/07/06/wapos-juliet-eilperin-climate-change-no-longer-no-1-environmental-issue-number-of-concerned-americans-cut-in-half/
Obama needs to be careful or people might recognize how easily the rest of us are getting along with DC closed down.
Maybe less so. My own experience is that doctors, as a class, are unusually subject to acquiring a God complex. Perhaps when you routinely have people’s lives in your hands, supreme confidence in your judgement is necessary to prevent “paralysis by analysis”. It can, however, lead one to believe they know more than they do and not even consider the possibility they are wrong. A little humility goes a long way in the search for knowledge.
DirkH says: “I think they intentionally designed the renewables feed-in law in all its nonfunctional glory to destroy the energy market.”
Yes, I agree. It is so designed that even 20% (by 2020) will have disastrous consequences for the energy sector. First, it introduces intermittent power sources which create price volitility and unreliable or unpredictable supply, esp. at times when power is needed most. And it is necessary to know costs before you produce anything.
It requires subsidies, and after that, the payments made to wind and solar owners are totally unaccountable and would require an enormous bureaucracy just to trace who was paid constraint payments, at what rates, and why. Was the wind in reality not blowing? Was the wind blowing too hard? Or did the constraint payment cover a peak hour? Why are constraint payments often made at several times the going rate for electricity?
The 20 by 20 is not an “all of the above” “free market solution” to ghg regulations. It will be sold that way but it is not. Romney is an investor in and proponent of renewables and ghg regs in policy and economically. Mandates are “good business” according to Romney.**
However, 20/20 is enough to introduce ruin to any nation’s economy.
**As governor his regional ghg agreement was his his cheif executive experience, along with Romneycare, a mandate to buy health insurance. Bain Capital’s specialty is coincidentally in health care.
“In a sane world” Mr Mooney writes, but unfortunately he’s a little bit too keen to pin the blame for natural phenomena on his favourite bogeyman. Had he done a quick Google he would have seen how common such weather events actually are. In a more primitive society he’d be one of the first to suggest throwing virgins into the volcano / pit / lake to placate his gods.
Journalistic FAIL. 1/10. Mooney. See teacher to arrange remedial classes in basic research.
“while whole country is sweltering”
Except for the regions that are not and that are setting record cold daily highs.
You can tell global warming has been thrown under the bus, and the skeptic vote is being courted, when you see quotes like this in the MSM.
———
“This is how summer is supposed to feel,” Obama said, wiping sweat from his face as he campaigned under scorching sun for four more years in office.
Mike Bromley the Kurd says:
… In lockstep, epistemologically, with Moonies from another time. …
Mike, you seem to to little about the teachings of the Unification Movement. BTW, didn’t its enemies always remark how bright its members were?
Mark B says
July 6, 2012 at 10:22 am
“Obama needs to be careful or people might recognize how easily the rest of us are getting along with DC closed down.”
DC is closed down? I did not notice.
As for the global warming carbon stuff working in Australia after only 6 days, it reminded me to ask does Australia have a Supreme Court to strike down the law that prohibits merchants from blaming price rises on the carbon tax? And if you do have one, would they actually strike it? If they get away with that, the government will start to pass more and more laws like it until you can’t dissent about anything.
[SNIP: Not funny and not called for. -REP]