|
Climate hoaxers’ intentions unclear By Michael C. Guilmette Jr. Originally published on Dec. 3, 2009, in the Connersville News-Examiner. I picked a heck of a time to take a vacation.
During my time off, I paid only scant attention to the news, however, as I got into this vacation thing. Because of that, I almost missed a doozy — the revelation that man-made global warming is indeed a hoax, as many people have been saying all along. The story broke on Nov. 20 that an alleged hacker broke into the University of East Anglia’s computer network and absconded with hundreds of e-mails and documents from the Climate Research Unit’s supposed scientists, placing them on the Internet for all to see. It’s no surprise I almost missed it, since Fox News was the only major news organization in the United States to report the most momentous revelation since Watergate in the 1970s. The other major networks and news groups either ignored or pooh-poohed the story, instead running stories on Oprah’s departure from daytime television and the Edward/Jacob rivalry in the new teen vampire movie “New Moon.” They also ran stories about how global warming is still going to kill us all. Fox News had to drag the rest of the news media kicking and screaming to the ACORN prostitution scandal last summer, and nearly two weeks after ClimateGate broke, the news laggards are starting to take notice, albeit under protest. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the White House is defending its position that global warming is real and man is causing it. While the article makes mention of Congressional Republicans calling for investigations into the scandal, it also quotes a government scientist bent on towing the party line. “The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus ... that tells us the [Earth] is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity,” said Jane Lubchenco. who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On the contrary, Ms. Lubchenco, the evidence is quite damning. The e-mails and documents from Phil Jones, the now former head of the CRU, and his colleagues show a deliberate and systematic campaign of deception meant to promote the false notion of man-made climate change as well as to hide the actual evidence that so-called “climate denier” scientists have been saying for years — the planet is actually cooling. “The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate,” wrote climate scientist Kevin Trenberth in one of the leaked e-mails dated Oct. 14 of this year. Trenberth, who heads the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, is lamenting the fact the actual observed temperature data does not fit their climate warming models, saying something must be wrong with their process. Trenberth has long claimed that fossil fuel use is causing global warming, saying in 2001 that “the latest 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reaffirms in much stronger language that the climate is changing in ways that cannot be accounted for by natural variability and that ‘global warming’ is happening.” Other e-mails refer to “tricks” used to “hide the decline” as well as publications and scientists to avoid and marginalize because they are skeptical of man-made global warming and question the methods the favored climate change scientists are using. What I find lacking in this debate, however, is why they are doing this. If man-made global warming is not happening, then why is there such a concerted effort to convince everyone it is? In regards to the climate scientists involved with the CRU, I suspect the prestige they garner from the media as well as their insular approach to the research has contributed to a case of groupthink on a large scale. As far as they are concerned, humans are warming the planet and anyone who says otherwise is a charlatan. It wouldn’t surprise me either if among their ranks are people who watch their neighbors with video cameras and an air of superiority to see if they are putting enough in the recycling bins. But who knows for sure. What we do know for sure is that some of the so-called climate change experts want to seriously curtail human activity. Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the IPCC, has proposed heavy taxes on airline flights, limits on meat production and even banning ice water at restaurants. Pachauri also looks to proselytizing children to advance the movement, saying “I think [young people] will be far more sensitive than adults, who have been corrupted by the ways we have been following for years now.” In other words, don’t trust anyone over 30. Not to be left out, the United Nations wants to take it a step further. The increasingly questionable international organization is trumpeting a paper entitled “The UNEP That We Want,” which says “the environment should compete with religion as the only compelling, value-based narrative available to humanity.” Obviously envious of the influence faith has over people, the U.N. appears to be trying to throw a pony into that race as well. There is no scientific consensus on man-made global warming since there are many competing theories that have not been disproved. Now that the fraud has been exposed, perhaps some real science can now take place. Ahh, it’s good to be back. • Guilmette is managing editor of the News-Examiner. He may be contacted at mguilmette@newsexaminer.com. |
|||
|
|||
|
Copyright © 2009, Michael C. Guilmette Jr. |
It can be tough for me to take time off, since the advent of the 24-hour news cycle means news is breaking all the time, and if I’m not keeping my ear to the wires, I might miss something.
