Even ad engines see the religious connection to global warming
Lately there’s been an ongoing series of rants in my local newspaper, the Chico Enterprise Record, from global warming activists posing as moralists with holier-than-thou views about how noble their world view is, and how terrible that of others who aren’t jumping on the bandwagon is. I’ve stayed out of the argument, because in this case, the levels of the arguments are not generally worth wasting time on, and I often think about the quote attributed to Mark Twain about “never argue with a fool, onlookers might not be able to tell the difference“.
Today though, that changed, with a letter so ridiculous, so repulsive, so condescending, and at the same time so hilarious, I thought it worth bringing to attention here. The screencap below made me laugh out loud today, not so much because of the ugly content, but because of the advertisement the ad engine decided to place next to the letter was delicious irony.
Heh. Priceless juxtaposition.
The citation of the Fugitive Slave Act is a nice touch don’t you think? /sarc As we’ve seen, if some people had their way, similar laws might be enacted for anyone who aids and abets a climate skeptic.
I would say that Patrick Newman’s letter to the editor suggests he is one of those “low information voters” we hear so much about. He appears to get his information from “approved” outlets, where he doesn’t get much more than talking points and platitudes for regurgitation elsewhere with a dash of faux moral outrage thrown in for good measure.
I wonder what Mr. Newman would say about Climate scientist James Annan’s new position on the issue where he says “the stubborn refusal of the planet to warm as had been predicted over the last decade, all makes a high climate sensitivity increasingly untenable.“. Would Dr. Annan be a “denier” too? Annan has come to realize that global warming has stalled, putting the theory to the test, while new papers being published point to lower climate sensitivity.
The break from consensus by Annan is notable and courageous, but also pragmatic. Data trumps theory every day of the week and twice on Sunday, and as even the IPCC seems to suggest with their graph of model projections versus actual data, the future doesn’t look so gloomy and doomy.
You can read the letter from Patrick Newman in full here. Anyone that wishes to respond, here’s the way to do so:
The Chico Enterprise-Record encourages letters to the print editor. They must be 250 words or fewer and should include an address and home telephone number for verification. Letters may be edited for length, taste, libel, and clarity. The Chico Enterprise-Record reserves the right to edit or reject any letters.
Send letters to letters@chicoer.com.
I’ll admit that about 1990, right after James Hansen’s famous 1988 address before congress (where they turned off the air conditioning in the room for “dramatic effect”, fearing their science was so weak) that I once saw the issue much as Mr. Newman did, less the angry condescension. Then I looked deeper, leaving my “comfort zone” then, and found the argument wanting.
The warmists will not admit that there is no “global” warming until everything north of the 49th, and 85% north of the 40th, are under a mile and a half of ice. Oh wait. I forgot global warming causes global cooling. Sorry. As you were.
Policy Guy says:
February 3, 2013 at 11:00 am
Bloke down the pub says:
February 3, 2013 at 10:31 am
I have not encountered a single weather event that is inconsistent with a warmists belief in cagw.
—-
Excuse me???
###
I think you have misunderstood the point that the Bloke was making.
“Utilitarian humanist” makes me recall the lessons of Asimov’s “I, Robot” and DF Jones’ “Colossus”. Not to mention the noble cause nutters who toss iron into the sea hoping to absorb CO2, and propose other unknown risk experiments. All precursors to unanticipated and undesirable side effects.
In the UK there are tens of thousands of people, like Patrick, who read and believe the Guardian – a newspaper which publishes the same sort of sanctimonious BS.
Sadly, these types of people sometimes get into positions of power and cause untold economic damage. They will always be with us and represent the Achilles Heel of western civilisation, consistently trying to save it by unintentionally attempting to destroy it.
A utilitarian argument that the greatest good for the greatest number would be served by the slavery of a few such as existed prior to the civl war would not stretch the utilitarian idea of good at all. Patrick is one very confused individual if he thinks utilitarianism gives him a claim to moral understanding.
Pat is a perfect mirror of the propaganda spewed out of our MSM.
And that wonderful human nature defect, holier than tho.
The beauty of the web, is these comments are digitally immortalized, and the end is nigh.
The moralizing of Pat and similar gullible folk will live on, as the science continues to contradict the impulse to panic.
I bet on cycles because my short life and limited knowledge point to this being natures way.
Straight lines and linear functions stand out from the natural background.
Evidence for either as driving forces in climate, weather or any natural cycle is limited.
As the correlation continues to disintegrate between atmospheric co2 and a warming planet, Pat is going to get very unhappy with the authorities, who he trusted to form that opinion.
The absolute certainty of Team Global Warming is to be their doom.
For nothing is more evil and vengeful than a disappointed true believer.
The word that is missing , Anthony, is sanctimonious. Wrapping an argument in a cause that no one will disagree with, to lend authority to that argument.
‘I am opposed to slavery, as I am to climate denialism’
yeah, right. therefore I dont have to provide any further, facts, analysis or reason.
Protect the home of the polar bear it is melting!
Mike M says:
February 3, 2013 at 11:26 am
Morality can only exist when there’s a surplus.
###
This is an incorrect statement that might apply to those with no faith.
Since he brought up the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, it is interesting to note that many northern jurors refused to convict abolishionists who violated the unjust law by applying the long held right, dating back to King John and the Magna Carta, of a jury to judge not only the guilt or innocence of the defendent but also the justness of the law itself. This right/dudy of jurors, called nullification, is something I will not hesitate to apply should I ever be on a jury hearing a criminal case brought against a person for violating one of the unjust green rules or regulations.
Frank Kotler says: A while back, Al Gore tried to equate us to “racists”.
Dividing people into groups and setting them against each other is the stock and trade of the commie progressive movement. Race, age, gender, sexual orientation, income, religion, and now … scientific persuasion. We skeptics are therefore by default all a bunch of old, homophobic, racist, rich 1%, white, male, Bible thumpers – whether any of those describe you or not.
Most earthworms may be tiny, but a new study suggests their impact on the climate could be mighty.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/earthworms-increase-soils-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-finds-15549
A new meta-analysis, published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that the presence of earthworms appears to increase soils’ output of CO2 by 33 percent and of nitrous oxide by 42 percent.
What’s a Utilitarian humanist? A bipedal Swiss Army Knife?
MattS says:
February 3, 2013 at 9:44 am
PaulH,
See here for a good definition of humanism http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-is-humanism.html.
Utilitarianism is a moral system where all moral judgments are made on the basis of maximizing happiness and minimizing suffering. “The greatest good for the greatest number” is a utilitarian type statement.
Combining these two philosophies can produce some truly barbaric behavior. If you believe that doing x will prevent 1 million deaths then killing a few hundred thousand to achieve x is easy to justify for the utilitarian humanist.
———————-
Absolutely, and a good example is the socialization of GM. The feds stealing from fewer stockholders enabled many more union workers to gain.
Thereby increasing available money for political donations to the democrat party.
Utilitarian humanism at its best.
cn
Sparks,
The home of the polar bear melts every spring and the polar bear is perfectly capable of dealing with this.
[…] there are global warming deniers by the millions […]
Hold on there … I was under the impression that ‘global warming deniers’ were numbered in the ‘tens’? A clique of oil funded activists working 24/7 to destroy ‘science’. My, my… how times change in the world of the ‘planet savers’.
“We have barely begun to question the morality of the self-serving consumption that gives us pleasure today – and will cause untold suffering tomorrow.” – Patrick Newman
Patrick, if you’re reading this, please name ONE living organism on this planet that does NOT engage in ‘self serving consumption’ for its own pleasure? And we know why you used the word ‘untold’ – because you cannot provide any empirical evidence that a warmer world, with or without more CO2, would cause any suffering whatsoever.
Anyhoo … we got there first … Slavery Abolition Act 1833
Unfortunately, even in 2013, slavery is still a major industry in many parts of the world.
He, Mark Twain… Americans should actually read his works. I think Christopher Hitchens added they should read him “before ir is forbidden”. Not unlikely in a country where people think the end is nigh in their lifetime…
DesertYote says: This is an incorrect statement that might apply to those with no faith.
(Morality can only exist when there’s a surplus.)
I contend that there is nothing ‘immoral’ in eating enough to stay alive when doing so means someone else will likely die. That’s the law of the wild, there are no ‘immoral’ animals out there in “the garden”.
@3×2 Nice catch, I guess at the church of global climaticism we are gruesome.
Serendipity; I was surfing happily along at a programming site, and came across this quote:
“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.”
— Laurence J. Peter
I don’t know who Laurence J Peter is, but Mr Newman might benefit from his insight.
Speaking of problems:
A scientific problem is resolved by resort to evidence.
An engineering or economic problem is resolved by resort to experience.
A political problem is resolved by resort to power.
A moral problem can only be resolved by resort to violence.
Dear Mr Newman, if you want the worst possible result for the largest number of people,
go make “global warming” a moral problem.
Apologies for double-post. There was presumably some kind of delay due to the unusual (for me) size of it and the preview didnt appear. So I thought it wasnt on its way and postedf again. Doh!
I find the AR5 graphic more than annoying: the use of the light blue surround is an intentional visual trick to bring observation into the considered range of the IPCC. If you stick to the error bars, you see observation to be clearly beyond the bottom of the range.
Mike Mann had his “Nature Trick”. The current IPCC writers have their “Powerpoint Trick.”
Shameful.
(Same for Tamino, who says the observations should be realigned about 0.2C higher, because a) he understands the importance of starting points to comparison very well, b) he understands the starting physics of CAGW better than the IPCC scientists and c) by doing so he can claim that observations ARE A VERY GOOD MATCH for the mid-range of the CAGW scenarios.)
There have always been people in America who take moralist viewpoints about social matters. I’m glad that they have done so, when it comes to matters like slavery — and in fact, Newman’s letter is wrong in its assertion that so many people in the US as a whole just before the Civil War either accepted or enthusiastically supported slavery. If that were the case, the South wouldn’t have felt the need to secede.
The problem, obviously, is moralism applied to a subject without understanding of both sides of, and the complexity of, something like “climate change.” Anthony himself was caught up in the Climate Change propaganda for a while, he writes above. It is only Anthony’s strong mind and scientific orientation that turned him around, and then helped many others see the overstatement and propaganda of the hockey stick crowd through WUWT. So you can understand how some kids, much younger than Anthony and without Anthony’s cast of mind, and coming from a political background that emphasized moralism, could take the stance that he did, out of ignorance.
The Patricks of this world, if they are to be won over, will be won over by facts and logic, rather than ridicule, it seems to me. On the whole, we have been winning minds, even against the great PR machines that feed the mainstream TV news programs and the major newspapers. To keep doing this, we have to maintain the strictest connections with data and fact, and show others by our rhetoric that we are of a scientific mind and have the better facts at our disposal.