Hilarity from 350.org, they are following Mooney’s rant: time to act is now right now.
I guess they’ll be known as Mooneys now. Expect weepy Bill McKibben to give a melting oratory.
Giant Ice Sculpture On National Mall to Symbolize the Melting Away of Climate Denialism
WASHINGTON–On Saturday morning, 350.org will unveil a giant sculpture on the National Mall—the word “HOAX?” carved in ice. Given the forecast for highs in the 100s, it will not last long, but organizers say that is the point: it will disappear like the arguments have from climate deniers.
For years, scientists have predicted that increased concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases would lead to more intense heat waves, increased drought, massive wildfires, and more powerful storms. In June, 3,215 daily high temperature records were set; and so far this year, more than 2.1 million acres have burned in wildfires. Today was the 9th straight day in the nation’s capital that has met or exceeded 95 degrees.
News accounts estimated that half of the incoming Republican House class in 2010 denied the existence of man-made climate change. In 2010, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) mocked climate activist with an igloo display not far from the ice sculpture that will be unveiled tomorrow. Recent events–as well as the findings of every major scientific academy in the world–disprove the viewpoint of climate deniers in Congress.
WHAT: A 6-by-12 foot ice sculpture spelling out “HOAX?,” with the Capitol Dome in the background.
WHERE: East side of 3rd St NW, by the Capitol Reflecting Pool.
WHEN: 11AM Saturday, until the sculpture melts. (Set up time is from 10-11am)
WHO: 350.org is displaying the installation. 350.org policy director Jason Kowalski will be availalble to answer questions and do interviews.
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Photos will be available shortly after the unveiling at www.flickr.com/350org
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Let’s see, a 6×12 foot ice sculpture….that’s a lot of ice. Care to take bets on how long it will last? I’m thinking at least until sunset. Forecast for Washington DC tomorrow says:
High 106° Low 84° – this isn’t much different than Dr. Jim Hansen picking a hot Washington day in June 1988 to disable the air conditioning while he addressed the Senate over his global warming concerns. Props…gotta have props.
Dr. James Hansen is getting ready to testify before the Senate on what he thinks is a serious problem, global warming. The sponsor for Dr. Hansen? Senator Tim Wirth.
Dr. James Hansen testifies on global warming, June 1988
If any of you have ever been in Washington DC during the summertime, you’ll be able to relate to this. Senator Timothy Wirth made sure that room was “steamy”. This transcript excerpt is from PBS series Frontline which aired a special in April 2007.
So it goes without saying, that if the case Dr. Hansen was to make before the Senate was so strong, why did Senator Wirth need to make use of cheap stage tricks?
Here he admits his stagecraft in his own words:
TIMOTHY WIRTH: We called the Weather Bureau and found out what historically was the hottest day of the summer. Well, it was June 6th or June 9th or whatever it was. So we scheduled the hearing that day, and bingo, it was the hottest day on record in Washington, or close to it.
DEBORAH AMOS: [on camera] Did you also alter the temperature in the hearing room that day?
TIMOTHY WIRTH: What we did is that we went in the night before and opened all the windows, I will admit, right, so that the air conditioning wasn’t working inside the room. And so when the- when the hearing occurred, there was not only bliss, which is television cameras and double figures, but it was really hot.[Shot of witnesses at hearing]
Watch the Frontline video:
UPDATE: Joe Bastardi suggests this graphic is relevant to Hansen’s 1988 testimony to illustrate how warming has stalled:
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Gunga Din says:
July 6, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Ha ha ha ha
Snickering
http://climaterealistponderings.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/homerbillboard2-620x229aaaa.png
Say, how’d this org get permission to set up shop on the National Mall. Would contrarians be allowed to do so?
It is SO unfortunate that Senate security back then was not at today’s level because I’m sure that a certain duo would have received the business end of a taser.
What wonderful timing, on the level of AlGore timing. Should DC get the same cool off that we in Kansas are expecting, around Sunday/Monday, this little get together will just as quickly as changing weather become a memory, if even that much.
“Symbolism over substance.” I’m not sure who said that first but here it is again.
Alexander Feht says:
July 6, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Make an identical sculpture from crystal glass, and substitute the ice one at night.
Oh, that is a great Idea, I wonder if Heartland could come up with it in time to do the switch.
I have a 7 foot tall by 14 ft long stock trailer I could donate to the “cause” (snicker) I could also make sure the trailer isn’t cleaned before use…..
This was the prediction in ’88. Allowing Hansen et al room to modify with new information, has his 2012 model changed from what, if applied to 1988, would be today’s situation?
So: 2012 Hansen ideas. Dropped back into the data to 1988. Where would be now? Is it possible to do this?
What would be fantastic is if as the letters spelling HOAX? melted, they revealed the letters spelling YES. Might involve some creative typography.
I’m hoping that the event is interrupted by a freak hail storm!
If there’s a god in heaven, PLEASE let someone slip in the puddle and sue them blind…
Who in theee heck that is possessed of two brain cells to clangtogether would be on the mall THIS Saturday?!??!! 30 minutes in and the 42 people who show up will have licked most of the sculpture to near oblivion for relief from the heat.
( Actually, I’ve got five bucks that says the sculpture will weigh more than the attendees and will outlast them.)
P.S. Forecast for Saturday for Washington DC is for 105 degrees F.
H.R. says:
July 6, 2012 at 6:19 pm
P.S. Forecast for Saturday for Washington DC is for 105 degrees F.
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Hmm … Now that there is a genuine heat wave happening here (I know there is not one going where other readers live.), I wonder if the next tactic will be to low-ball the forecast so they can say or people will think, “It’s even hotter than expected!”. Just a thought …
What are the plans for their annual meeting — on the backside of the comet Hale-Bopp and hosted by the Heaven’s Gate cult?
I’m not an engineer, but would estimate that the skinny bottom of the question mark will be the first to go, and then all will be right with the world.
What would be really funny is if it turned suddenly cool in DC and slowed down the melting (Gore effect) or if someone had put an AC vent under the sculpture.
I wonder if the 350.org bozos will show off the same sculpture in Minnesota in February.
So wait let me see if I understand this. They are going to put a big ice HOAX out and watch it melt to represent their position?
If I lived anywhere near there, I’d be tempted to sit by that thing with a sign saying “Ice melting in July is NO hoax!”
You could do this but then it would not be a prediction. It would be current events and so meaningless.
LamontT says:
July 6, 2012 at 8:04 pm
So wait let me see if I understand this. They are going to put a big ice HOAX out and watch it melt to represent their position?
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That’s the only proof they have.
John Norris says:
July 6, 2012 at 4:24 pm
“Apparently this will not be the first global warming ice sculpture stunt in DC:”
The linked You Tube video was dated July 15, 2010. Looks like it didn’t have much of an effect then either. High temp that day was 92F, low was 74 F. According to Wunderground, that was the only day of the week without measurable rainfall.
Boy, they sure are picking a good day to do it with the record breaking heat and all.
Mr. Watts, you say, “… this isn’t much different than Dr. Jim Hansen picking a hot Washington day in June 1988 to disable the air conditioning while he addressed the Senate over his global warming concerns.”
Your claim that Dr. Hansen picked the day of the hearings and disabled the air conditioning is unsupported by the transcript you linked to. Your fetish with Dr. Hansen is remarkable.
Gunga Din says:
July 6, 2012 at 8:22 pm
LamontT says:
July 6, 2012 at 8:04 pm: “So wait let me see if I understand this. They are going to put a big ice HOAX out and watch it melt to represent their position?”
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That’s the only proof they have.
It’s also probably the only idea they had.