From “The Hill”, even California Democrats aren’t buying the climate BS Obama and Holdren are selling on drought: (h/t to WUWT reader “Green Sand”)
Voters don’t hear the words “climate change” when Democrats in competitive races in California explain what’s causing the worst drought in the state’s history.
President Obama has repeatedly blamed global warming for episodes of severe weather, including wildfires and droughts in the Golden State, but Democrats seeking to unseat Republicans in the hard-hit Central Valley region are balking at that argument.
The drought is an issue in three of the five closest House races in California, but Democrats are opting against drawing a direct link between the drought and climate change.
“The way folks talk about the drought out here is: ‘We have a problem, let’s fix the problem,’” said Amanda Renteria, a Democrat challenging Rep. David Valadao (R).
“Climate change doesn’t really belong in the question, or answer,” said Renteria, one of her party’s best hopes of gaining a House seat this fall.
California’s drought is in its third year, with no signs of ending. It’s expected to cost the state $2.2 billion this year.
Renteria’s race against Valadao in California’s 21st District is smack dab in the middle of the agriculture-heavy Central Valley, where the drought is the single biggest issue for voters.
Renteria isn’t a climate skeptic and thinks there is something “going on” with climate change.
But her campaign isn’t focused on pinning the drought to the effects of global warming.
It’s focused on how federal and state officials were unprepared to deal with the drought, and how Central Valley lawmakers should have pushed Congress to take steps to build water storage infrastructure to help farmers.
“The fact that we need an answer, and needed an answer for years — this has been coming, we knew it was coming — adds to questions about who our leaders are, and what is going on in Congress,” she said.
Other Democrats in California districts impacted by the drought are tacking a similar tack.
OK, spot the portion caused by climate change:
The paper:
North American drought: Reconstructions, causes, and consequences, Cook et al. 2007
PDF here: NADrought
Figure 10 is the source of the above graph:
Fig. 10. Long-term aridity changes in the West (A) as measured by the percent area affected by drought (PDSIb−1) each year (B) (redrawn from Cook et al., 2004). The four most significant ( pb0.05) dry and wet epochs since AD 800 are indicated by arrows. The 20th century, up through 2003, is highlighted by the yellow box. The average drought area during that time, and that for the AD 900–1300 interval, are indicated by the thick blue and red lines, respectively. The difference between these two means is highly significant ( pb0.001).
From sturgishooper on August 18, 2014 at 1:16 pm:
If Kalifornia was really serious about saving water, there are several applicable methods mentioned in Frank Herbert’s Dune, one significant technique in particular. The denizens seem sufficiently leftist to support community ownership of water and that people are only borrowing it temporarily.
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From more soylent green! on August 18, 2014 at 1:18 pm:
Well, it was only in 1492 that Columbus brought civilization and syphilis to the Americas, explorers hacking that far inland might have missed it.
Curious. North American continent becomes much more inviting for settlers right when Europeans “discover” it and start settling. Must be a coincidence.
kadaka (KD Knoebel) says:
August 19, 2014 at 12:23 pm
Actually, Columbus’ crew carried virulent syphilis back with them to Europe from America.
Maybe strange, yet true, that North American climate did improve several decades to a century before the arrival of Columbus. However the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, VA did begin in the middle of a serious drought.
I’ve noticed that as soon as California droughts get bad enough to start serious discussions of policy change, it starts raining. In a way, that’s a shame.
jfreed27 says:
August 19, 2014 at 2:58 am
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It is good that you have found your way to this site. In a few years of steady reading of the posts herein, you will be able to better understand the problems of the world.
How about spending the CRAZY $68 Billion train money on a water project or three ….
Desalination Plant anyone ……. !!!
Anyone out there in CLOUD CUCKOO LAND listening …………. ???
$68 Billion? Please… When was the last time you saw a public project come in at less than 10X the estimates?
Going by the last two solar minima, there should be a strong increase in El Nino from just after this sunspot maximum until around the next sunspot maximum.