This is probably nothing to worry about (cont'd), or, Why does science hate America?, or, Perpetrators of most elaborate hoax ever going to ever more elaborate lengths to perpetrate hoax (cont'd)

Warming gas levels hit 'troubling milestone' (new team name?)

"It's been at least 800,000 years — probably more — since Earth saw carbon dioxide levels in the 400s, Butler and other climate scientists said."

Well then, I'd say this was overdue.
~

This is probably nothing to worry about (cont'd) ... wait ... what's that about coffee?

Tendentious lefty diatribe on global warming/food scarcity nexus, and even more ominously, global warming/coffee scarcity nexus
~

Union of Concerned* Scientists says "Welcome Your Freshman Class of Climate Deniers"

* But keep in mind that "concerned" is generally a euphemism for "commie."

The freshman class in their own words (from a UCS e-mail):

"With the possible exception of Tiger Woods, nothing has had a worse year than global warming. We have discovered that a good portion of the science used to justify 'climate change' was a hoax perpetrated by leftist ideologues with an agenda." —Todd Young, new congressperson from Indiana

"I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-caused climate change is proven. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think it’s far more likely that it’s just sunspot activity or something just in the geologic eons of time where we have changes in the climate." —Ron Johnson, new senator from Wisconsin

"I think we ought to take a look at whatever the group is that measures all this, the IPCC, they don't even believe the crap." —Steve Pearce, new congressperson from New Mexico

"It's a bigger issue, we need to watch 'em. Not only because it may or may not be true, but they're making up their facts to fit their conclusions. They've already caught 'em doing this." —Rand Paul, new senator from Kentucky

"There isn't any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth." —Roy Blunt, new senator from Missouri

To which you could add:

Bobby Schilling, IL-17 - "He doesn’t believe in global warming, putting him at odds with almost every major climate change expert in the world but in good standing with his base." (But with a name like Schilling, what could possibly go wrong? Ed.)

Randy Hultgren, IL-14 - "So, I don’t believe we have a significant impact on climate change. Now that said, I do think we have great responsibility as humans for stewardship of our world, and so there are things that we can do to make sure that our environment is well preserved for and I think that is really where we need to get to. So much of this effort dealing with climate change is literally billions and trillions of dollars that’s being spent to affect maybe tenths of a degree or hundredths of a degree of temperature. So we might be able, by spending trillions of dollars to lower our temperature by one one-hundreths of a degree, but that’s so minor and one blip of the sun could completely change it back by so much more. So, just a variation of a sun-spot or whatever that could have that kind of impact. So, again, I’m concerned with the amount of money and the impact on our productivity that we’re having focused on climate change when really I think we have very little direct impact on that." (Again with the sunspots? Ed.)

This is probably nothing to worry about (cont'd)

Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming

There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.

John Coleman hates to say he told you so, but John Coleman told you so

"Forty-four percent of U.S. voters now say long-term planetary trends are the cause of global warming, compared to 41% who blame it on human activity..."

this is probably nothing to worry about (cont'd)

On the plus side, it will make access to da oil down dere so much easier...

Scientists Report Further Shrinking of Arctic Ice
Area Is Close To All-Time Low

Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second-lowest level since record-keeping began three decades ago, a group of international researchers determined yesterday, a revelation underscoring how rapidly climate change is transforming ecosystems in northern latitudes.

The extent of Arctic sea ice is now 2 million square miles below the long-term average for Aug. 26, according to the International Arctic Research Center and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, a figure that is within 400,000 square miles of the all-time record low set in September 2007. This figure is already below the long-term average for September ice cover and because the ice traditionally reaches its minimum level in mid-September, researchers warned that a new low might be recorded within weeks.

wind power - just too difficult compared to drilling offshore or smashing atoms

An Energy Department plan to get 20 percent of the nation's electricity from wind calls for a high-voltage backbone that would span the country. It would use technology similar to 2,100 miles of power lines, mostly in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Indiana, that are already operated by a company called American Electric Power.

The cost would be high - $60 billion or more (five months in Iraq - Ed.) - but in theory could be spread across many years and many millions of customers who would benefit from access to new power sources. However, in most states, rules used by public service commissions to evaluate transmission investments discourage multi-state projects of this sort. In some states with low electric rates, officials fear that new lines will simply export their cheap power and drive up prices.

Corporate America - fullas#i+

Dear Kevin,

In the distant future, the Earth is barren of all life forms; humans have survived only by leaving the wasted planet behind. This doomsday scenario is reality for Wall*E, the lovable, animated robot in this summer's blockbuster environmental movie from Disney/Pixar. If you've seen the movie Wall*E, you probably got the same thrill out of it as we did here at Greenpeace. (It seems that I'm not the only one around here with an appetite for entropy - Ed.) Meanwhile, the movie's box office success is a clear indicator that its message resonates with Americans of all stripes.

That's why we were perplexed (maybe even a little puzzled? Ed.) to see that Kimberly-Clark is featuring Wall*E on boxes of Kleenex. If you look on the bottom of these boxes, you'll see a little recycled symbol that says: "This box is made from 100% recycled paper." What you won't see on the bottom of that box is a message telling you that the tissues inside it are made from trees up to 180 years old that were cut from forests up to 10,000 years old. Nor will you read that Kimberly-Clark refuses to use any recycled material in Kleenex even though doing so would save huge areas of ancient forests.

A movie about conservation being used to sell a disposable paper product that contains absolutely no recycled content? It's the height of irony. (I didn't embed the video here because it has the sKILLy effect.)

on the plus side, this is the first person he's hit with a bat all season

Elijah Dukes is day-to-day after his leg cramped up during Saturday's game.
Dukes was benched to start the contest after showing up late, but he entered in the sixth. In the eighth, he managed to hit himself in the leg with the bat while grounding out, causing the cramp.

Our long international nightmare is almost over

Arctic may hold as much as a fifth of undiscovered oil and gas reserves

The race for petroleum resources above the Arctic Circle is likely to speed up in coming years, as the polar ice cap melts and access to oil and gas reserves in many other places around the world becomes more challenging.

The lure of the Arctic as oil's next big frontier was vindicated this week as a major geological survey found the region might hold as much as a fifth of the world's yet to-be-discovered oil and natural gas reserves.

Many of these new resources, according to the survey, are to be found in Russia. If true, that would cement Russia's position as one of the world's dominant energy players, particularly for natural gas, and increase its already powerful clout over Europe's energy supplies.

As the melting polar caps open up prospects that were once considered too harsh to explore, a race has begun among countries including the United States, Russia and Canada for control of these Arctic resources. The findings by the United States Geological Survey, which constitute the largest-ever survey of petroleum resources north of the Arctic Circle, could accelerate this scramble.

imperviousness to irony (cont'd)

Exclusive: Scientists warn that there may be no ice at North Pole this summer

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

. . .

If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic nations being able to exploit the valuable oil and mineral deposits below these a bed which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above. (YAY! Ed.)

coincidental things in my in-box this morning

News item: Democrats have long alleged that Vice President Dick Cheney played a key backstage role in thwarting U.S. efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but they have had little evidence. Until now.

A best seller in France, and already translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Korean, Hervé Kempf's How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth now appears in its first English edition. Bringing to bear more than twenty years of experience as an environmental journalist, Kempf describes the invincibility that many of the world's wealthy feel in the face of global warming, and how their unchecked privilege is thwarting action on the single most vexing problem facing our world.

if we close our eyes and put our hands over our ears and hum a chipper tune, the bad news will go away

As QT would say, we may be governed someday by grownups again.

WHITE HOUSE REFUSED TO READ E-MAIL WITH EPA'S GREENHOUSE GAS CONCLUSIONS: The New York Times reports today that in December, the White House "refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened." The document thus sat unreleased for six months. In the past five days, "the White House successfully put pressure on the EPA to eliminate large sections of the original analysis that supported regulation," resulting in "a watered-down version of the original proposal that offers no conclusion" that will be released this week. The original EPA analysis "showed that the Clean Air Act can work for certain sectors of the economy, to reduce greenhouse gases." But according to a senior EPA official, "that's not what the administration wants to show. They want to show that the Clean Air Act can't work." The document is part of the EPA's effort to comply with a 2007 Supreme Court ruling requiring it to "determine whether greenhouse gases represent a danger to health or the environment."

If Richard Clarke were VP this wouldn't be happening, or, stick your head between your legs and kiss your @ss goodbye (cont'd)

The Pakistanis are our very good friends and allies (see also: Earf blowing up), espatially, da rezzziDUNCE's boy, Pervez "Pervy" Musharraf...

Nuclear Ring Reportedly Had Advanced Design

WASHINGTON — American and international investigators say that they have found the electronic blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon on computers that belonged to the nuclear smuggling network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist, but that they have not been able to determine whether they were sold to Iran or the smuggling ring’s other customers...

But the latest design found on Khan network computers in Switzerland, Bangkok and several other cities around the world is half the size and twice the power of the Chinese weapon, with far more modern electronics, the investigators say. The design is in electronic form, they said, making it easy to copy — and they have no idea how many copies of it are now in circulation (YAY!... Ed.)

the shame of it all

News item: China increases lead as biggest emitter of carbon dioxide

China is rapidly extending its lead over the U.S. as the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, according to figures released by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Bush to future generations: phokk you kids

Bush weighs in against Senate climate bill

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush weighed in Monday against a Senate bill that would require dramatic cuts in climate-changing greenhouse pollution, cautioning senators "to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans."

The Senate climate bill expected to be debated much of this week would cut emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases by about 70 percent over the next four decades. The bill targets power plants, refineries, factories and transportation.

Supporters argue that the shift away from fossil fuels can be made without significant economic damage and that failure to address global warming itself would produce greater economic harm later this century.

Bush, during a White House event that focused on keeping taxes low, said the Senate bill "would impose roughly $6 trillion in new costs on the American economy." The president in the past has expressed opposition to mandatory limits on carbon dioxide and other pollution linked to global warming.

“There's a much better way to address the environment than imposing these costs ... which will ultimately have to be borne by American consumers,” said Bush, who has favored voluntary efforts and technology innovation to address global warming.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush would veto the bill as it stands, but said it seems unlikely the legislation would clear the Senate anyway.

Bush, meanwhile, did not say how the $6 trillion figure he cited was arrived at.

if it's not one thing, it's another

News item: Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), predicts that unless present trends are reversed, there will be more than 25 nuclear weapons states in a few years, many of them unstable and prone to takeover by extremists. The likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons would then be greater than at any time during the Cold War.

what being a weatherman in San Diego does to your brain

"It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. ... I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct.*"
-- The Weather Channel founder and long-time "TV weatherman" John Coleman, 11/7/07

Like being a weatherfraudster in the Land Without Weather isn't the biggest scammiest fraud of all time...

* Behold the Bushian self-assurance

Rush wants to puke

Here's hoping he horks up a lung.

Alaskan youth testifies on the Hill — and draws Limbaugh's ire

Obama wanted for crime against humanity

"Obama will invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure..."
-- Obama website

"It is a crime against humanity to convert agricultural productive soil into soil which produces food stuff that will be burned into biofuel."
-- Jean (French phokk?) Ziegler (maybe not French phokk), UN Special Rapporteur (definitely French phokk) on the right to food