Here’s a video of Congressman Joe Kennedy challenging witnesses yesterday who were invited by Republicans to dispute conclusions about the the impact of human activity on climate change.
Kennedy challenges GOP witnesses on impact of climate change
by Greg Reibman | May 30, 2014 | Newton | 7 comments
Disgusting. We shouldn’t treat one witness generously with time and badger another. What a classic example of failed committee leadership.
Although I’ve been an admirer of many Kennedys, Joe Kennedy 3rd is a huge disappointment. He was the only member of congress from all of New England to vote in favor of NSA spying on law abiding American citizens, and he voted against accessibility to medical marijuana for veterans. I’d love to see a genuine progressive Democrat challenge him for the seat, because I think those votes are indefensible.
Climate has always changed. The uptrend accompanying the Industrial Revolution began at the depths of the Little Ice Age (approximately 1700) and progressed fairly steadily through the 20th century. It became known as Global Warming (GW) during the comparatively steep rise in the last quarter of the 20th century. GW ended before 2001. Two natural drivers have been identified that explain measured average global temperatures with 95% correlation. Search AGW unveiled to see the analysis and discover the drivers.
Denial kills. To mislead is unconscionable.
Yes, climate changes and for a reason: earth’s orbit, tilt, sun intensity, etc. Right now the only reason is the additional man-made CO2.
So say our most trusted messengers: NOAA, NASA, dozens of Nobel Laureates, 98% of published climate scientists, every scientific academy in the world, etc. Policy makers should look to them rather than to arm chair scientists or industry hacks.
Denial kills – hundreds of thousands per year, 88% of them children (World Health Organization) My only question to the deniers: : “Is it for fun or profit?”
A science based search for the truth resulted in the discovery that CO2 change is not a significant driver of climate change. The consumption of fossil fuels, as practiced in the U.S., has not had and will never have a significant effect on climate.
Carbon dioxide is an odorless, tasteless, transparent gas that is absolutely mandatory for all life on earth. Change to its level has no significant effect on climate. Calling it pollution is scientific incompetence. Calling it carbon makes it sound more ominous and distracts from attending to real atmospheric pollutants from coal such as particulates, mercury, NOX and sulfur (as the Chinese are discovering. The US uses precipitators to remove the real pollutants).
I kept asking myself “who is Dan Pangburn? Turns out he doesn’t live in Newton or even in Massachusetts. He’s a mechanical engineer who is licensed in California. I think he lives in San Diego. It’s hard to tell because there is no bio about him anywhere on Google and no web site to respond to. He’s one of a not so small band of climate deniers that tries to get into any blog or media outlet they can. What he wrote could appear just as easily in Fargo, North Dakota or Selma, Alabama. Then it gets picked up by Fox News, conservative talk radio and religious broadcasters. Collectively, these are very powerful media sources and they have a tremendous impact outside of metropolitan area. They post in places like Village 14 knowing full well that many will read it, but only a very few will respond. They probably got into Village 14, by monitoring articles and blogs about Joe Kennedy in relation to this hearing, and were then directed to this website.
The overwhelming majority of scientists and national governments that understand the threat of climate change just can’t target the media this way. The only time they get a hearing is when some dramatic weather event (that may or may not be related to a changing climate) hits the nation and the airwaves.
I’ve been reading and rereading a lot of recent and great books on climate change. The ones that have struck me the most are
Collapse, by Jared Diamond
Consilience– by E.O. Wilson,
Watchman’s Rattle— by Rebecca Costa, and
James Lovelock: In Search of Gaia—by John and Mary Gribbin. Lovelock is one of the World’s most respected scientists, inventor and public advocate. At 98 he’s still going strong. What I love about this book is that it shows the friendly but exciting fighting, cajoling and cooperation that goes on among the best in the scientific community and how they are willing to be wrong about a theory if it reveals new truths that propel us onward to defining the broad scope of the problem and realistic solutions.
That Dan makes me laugh a lot!