Climate Of Fear

It looks like Global Warming Scares have reached their sell by date and are now being discounted. People are starting to fall away from the old time religion.

Here is a video from CNN. Not exactly your most conservative station.

Especially check out Bjorn Lumborg at about 9 1/2 minutes into the program. He says global warming will have dire consequences for Britain. He says 2,000 more people a year will die in Britain if warming trends continue. That is terrible and something must be done. However, 20,000 fewer people a year will die from the cold in Britain. Can we just let it happen? Do the math.

Then Bjorn goes on to list the top five problems in the world where a dollar spent gives many dollars of return. This was worked out by a number of Nobel Laureates and other economic specialists in a document called the Copenhagen Consensus. They are:

• AIDS


• Malnutrition


• Free Trade


• Malaria


• Agricultural Research

Also note that Al Gore comes in for a lot of ribbing. Especially about Kyoto. He was against it before he was for it. Al Gore in his own words. Always good for a laugh. I get it though. When he was Vice President he spoke for the American economy. Now that he is a freelancer all he cares about is his own personal economy.

Cris Horner at about 29 minutes in talks about how the IPCC gets its consensus. They write the summary for policy makers first and then make sure the science used in the report conforms to the policy prescriptions. You can read more about that in Manufacturing Consensus.

The host, Glenn Beck, says at the end of the program:

Just yelling "the debate is over and these people are heretics or Nazis" as loud as you can is not the best way to advance science, however many have discovered it is the best way to secure funding.

I worry about the Yellowstone caldera. It is 40,000 years overdue and will take out a significant fraction of the world when it goes and almost all the USA. And here we are piddling about a few degrees temperature rise. The money would be better pumped into geology, stress mechanics and hydraulics. Or better yet my field IEC Fusion Technology. Lord knows my project is more deserving than all this climate silliness. Besides I promise unlimited energy and an end to the common cold. Did the climate change folks ever promise that? Never. Well you know how it is. Honor dies where interest lies.

Which is why some debates deserve two or more sides. Some do not. They get them any way. If you have a position be prepared to defend it or acknowledge your faith.

Note: If you want to watch the movie as a bunch of Youtube clips it can be found here.