Last 2 years running, The White House blamed extreme cold for the faltering economy

I always quote peoples’ words. Gates wrote:
My view is that both sides basically accuse the other of doing politically motivated science.
Accusations can be made by anyone. But in reality, skeptics want to get at the truth of the matter. In this case, the question is whether man-made global warming (MMGW) is a problem. Or, if it even exists in any measurable way.
OTOH, alarmists have made up their minds. But since they’ve lost the science debate (no measurements of AGW, see?) their arguments become more and more political. In politics, no measurements are necessary, and assertions rule the day.
So in reality, scientific skeptics are doing their jobs as required: they are deconstructing, if possible, all conjectures, including MMGW. Whatever remains standing after the smoke clears is accepted as current theory.
But the alarmist crowd simply believes. No facts or evidence can convince them otherwise. Since they can’t win the science debate, they move it to politics. That’s the problem.

Gates,
I wrote:
…the question is whether man-made global warming (MMGW) is a problem. Or, if it even exists in any measurable way.
No answer, and I’m not surprised. Show me a measurement quantifying AGW. Then we can talk.
Also, your chart is a fine example of natural global warming. So is this:
http://i.snag.gy/BztF1.jpg

In other words, you’ve got nothin’ but excuses, excuses.
But without measurements, everything is just speculation.
How many times have I told you: there is no direct measurement, only estimates.
I agree. There is no direct measurement, and no accurate indirect measurement of AGW. But measuring the percentage of man-made global warming (MMGW) out of total global warming is certainly possible.
If human emissions were the only forcing there was, the measurement would be 100%. If global warming tracked one-half the rise in anthropogenic CO2, AGW would be 50%. Almost any quantity in science can be measured. Science is all about measurements.
But global warming has stopped, while the rise in CO2 continues unabated. What does that tell us? I personally think that AGW exists. But the lack of any empirical evidence proves that the effect from MMGW must be insignificant.
Without any measurements, everything is speculation; nothing more than a conjecture. An opinion. That isn’t good enough to halt Western civilization in its tracks, for fear of the ‘carbon’ menace.
That isn’t even enough to slow down fossil fuel use. In fact, the only solid evidence we have concerning CO2 shows that it is completely harmless.
Not only that: we know that CO2 is highly beneficial to the biosphere. More is better, and there is no observed downside. No ‘harm’ from CO2 has ever been found. There is zero evidence that CO2 causes any problems at all.
Conclusion:
The original conjecture that rising CO2 would cause runaway global warming and climate catastrophe was flat wrong. It is exactly the opposite of reality. More CO2 is highly desirable and beneficial. It is an unmitigated good. The biosphere is starved of CO2, and it responds with alacrity when more is available.
The central problem is this: those who originally bought into the CO2/climate scare were simply wrong. There is no question about that now. The problem is that they refuse to admit that all the facts and evidence falsifies their original conjecture. So, how can we convince them to accept Planet Earth’s verdict that CO2 is a net benefit, and that it is completely harmless?
The answer is, we can’t. We might as well waste our time and energy trying to convince the Jehovah’s Witnesses to convert to Scientology. Climate alarmists operate on faith now, not on science or logic. Their belief is no different whatever than the strongest of religious beliefs. They are hopelessly lost in their belief. Most of them will never accept reality.
But the truth will remain. As the believers in the man-made global warming scare die off one by one, the truth will always remain the truth. It never changes. In the long run it will be seen that literally millions of people believed in a conjecture that had zero empirical evidence to support it. Then the MMGW alarm will fade into history along with phrenology, dowsing, witch doctors, and a hundred other delusions the human race once believed in. In retrospect the believers in the MMGW alarm will be seen as ridiculous, gullible fools.
But in the mean time billions, if not trillions of dollars will be completely wasted propping up the MMGW false alarm. That wasted money will never do the productive, beneficial things it could have done to improve everyones’ condition. It will be totally wasted for the great mass of humanity. Only self-serving charlatans will pocket the loot. Everyone else will be poorer.
I don’t have a better answer. But I know one thing for certain : if CO2 was a significant forcing then AGW could be measured. In all of science, we can measure processes. The few exceptions include measurements that are too small for the existing instruments to detect, or what is being measured is buried under ambient noise, or the uncertainty principle makes a measurement impossible. MMGW can’t be measured because it is just too minuscule. If it was a large effect, of course we could measure it.
After many decades of searching for evidence by thousands of highly trained scientists using the latest equipment, they still cannot quantify AGW. It’s just too insignificant. But they will never admit they were wrong. The money, fame and reputations are too much to give up. So they will keep searching for a needle in a haystack. It’s there. But it really doesn’t matter.
Finally, not one alarming MMGW prediction has ever come true. That fact alone should tell folks that they’re on the wrong track. The MMGW hoax is a scam being perpetrated by governments that have finally achieved their ultimate wet dream: taxing the air we breathe.