Lex Libertas

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m some sort of dedicated global warming “denier,” but I have been posting a lot on the subject. Really, I just want the issue to be debated scientifically, and not hyper-politicized by bullies.

2007 was one of the coldest years all around the world, read the whole article for evidence from around the globe:

Al Gore says global warming is a planetary emergency. It is difficult to see how this can be so when record low temperatures are being set all over the world. In 2007, hundreds of people died, not from global warming, but from cold weather hazards.

Since the mid-19th century, the mean global temperature has increased by 0.7 degrees Celsius. This slight warming is not unusual, and lies well within the range of natural variation. Carbon dioxide continues to build in the atmosphere, but the mean planetary temperature hasn’t increased significantly for nearly nine years. Antarctica is getting colder. Neither the intensity nor the frequency of hurricanes has increased. The 2007 season was the third-quietest since 1966. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall in the U.S.

According to a Senate report, ” Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007:”

These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics “appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.”

Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.

Camille Paglia chimes in with her most recent article:

Al Gore got the Nobel Prize this week for his role as chief propagandist in spreading global warming hysteria into every nook and cranny of credulous minds. I expect that this baseless panic, like all fads, will evaporate when apocalypse doesn’t arrive on schedule. Meanwhile let’s focus on legitimate practical issues — such as the grotesque volume of pollution belched by big-rig trucks, which in the absence of an efficient interstate rail system in the U.S. are absurdly carrying freight for thousands of miles from coast to coast. Exhaust from family SUVs is nothing compared to the environmental damage wrought by trucks, whose massive weight and deadline-driven high speeds also constitute an unacceptable risk to passenger vehicles on the highway.

For a gander at nature’s pollution in action, behold this striking video of Mount Etna erupting in Sicily six years ago:

Those poison gases are no slouch. The massive, chattering booms give one some idea of how terrifying volcanoes were to ancient peoples and how eruptions were thought to be messages from an angry god in his gloomy underworld. Nature is not our victim but an awesome, uncontrollable force.

Today I left the office early, around 11:30pm. I’ll be up tomorrow, as I was this morning, at 6:30 to get some signs and presence in town. Then I’ll leave the state for a few days to celebrate Christmas with my family for the first time in about ten years – I’ve usually been out of the country. I finally found some time today to get my haircut and buy pants to replace those worn out on the campaign trail (crawling in snow, rolling in mud, climbing on/over fences).

As I normally do in town, I was wearing a McCain sticker on my shirt to get my hair cut. The stylist didn’t say anything, but as soon as I sat down, I saw a framed picture of her with Bill Richardson. A wonderfully nice lady, it turns out she’s a precinct captain for Richardson. A precinct captain is a regular voter in a precinct who is given a leadership role by the campaign. Their job is to convince voters in their precinct to support their candidate and push turnout on caucus night. They also talk about their candidates at the caucus and watch the vote counting to make sure everything is legit. The hairstylist supported Kucinich in ’04, and thinks he’s in the mainstream of the American electorate. In fact, she tells all her clients and friends to go to a quiz site that matches you up with the candidates, and surprisingly often they line up with Kucinich. She felt this time, however, that Richardson’s resume was simply the best out there. There’s a shocking amount of support out here for Richardson, more than the polls would let on. I went to a high school event, and the most popular candidate (judging by button/sticker wearing) was Richardson, followed by Obama.

We also got in trouble today with the police for passing out fliers on “federal property.” We fixed the situation by moving over, literally, two feet. “It’s just CYA” was the cop’s explanation. Some of these laws are ridiculous! But I guess there has to be a line somewhere in the current system, and moving that two feet didn’t terribly inconvenience us.

Senator McCain made it out to Iowa last week, and I finally got to meet him . . . briefly. Ok, I pretty much only shook his hand. After each event, his handlers rushed him out of the room rather quickly. McCain does much better in a town hall setting than in debates. He’s an amazing speaker and can really connect with an audience. People can ask whatever they want and get an answer on the spot. This is the reason that I support the primary system. If we just did a general election to get our candidates, they wouldn’t have to interact with regular people. Plus, anyone who thinks that John McCain is too old to be president needs to see him in person, he has more energy than most people years younger. It’s not an issue at all.

He did three events in the Des Moines area. First was a pre-debate rally, which I was unable to attend because I was busy setting up our signs at the actual debate location. In the afternoon he spoke at a meeting of young professionals called the “Bull Moose Club,” named after one of McCain’s heroes. In the evening he spoke at a house party, spending more time there than at any of the other events.

In order to save the planet and curb emissions, the UN Climate Change will draft a new agreement to replace Kyoto when it expires in 2012. They’ve decided to hold this meeting at a far-flung resort 600 miles from Jakarta, in a place requiring air-conditioning. Does the hypocrisy never cease? The summit will produce as much pollution as 20,000 cars operating in a year. This in an age of instant communications technology. Instead, they’ve decided to use the meeting as an excuse for a vacation.

And the polar bears, it seems, aren’t dying:

Dennis Compayre raises bushy grey eyebrows as he listens to the environmentalists predict the polar bear’s demise. “They say the numbers are down from 1,200 to around 900, but I think I know as much about polar bears as anyone, and I tell you there are as many bears here now as there were when I was a kid,”

“I think climate change is happening, but as far as the polar bear disappearing is concerned, I have never been more convinced that this is just scaremongering. “People are deliberately seeking out skinny bears and filming them to show they are dying out. That’s not right.

Update:

Climate Skeptics plan on showing up

“Climate change is a non problem. The right answer to a non problem is to have the courage to do nothing,” Monckton told participants.

“UN organizers refused my credentials and appeared desperate that I should not come to this conference. They have also made several attempts to interfere with our public meetings,” Monckton explained.

“It is a circus here,” agreed Australian scientist Dr. David Evans. Evans is making scientific presentations to delegates and journalists at the conference revealing the latest peer-reviewed studies that refute the UN’s climate claims.

“This is the most lavish conference I have ever been to, but I am only a scientist and I actually only go to the science conferences,” Evans said, noting the luxury of the tropical resort.

Evans, a mathematician who did carbon accounting for the Australian government, recently converted to a skeptical scientist about man-made global warming after reviewing the new scientific studies.

“We now have quite a lot of evidence that carbon emissions definitely don’t cause global warming. We have the missing [human] signature [in the atmosphere], we have the IPCC models being wrong and we have the lack of a temperature going up the last 5 years,” Evans said in an interview with the Inhofe EPW Press Blog.

“Most of the people here have jobs that are very well paid and they depend on the idea that carbon emissions cause global warming. They are not going to be very receptive to the idea that well actually the science has gone off in a different direction,” Evans explained.

For more information, read the whole article.