Wednesday
Dec152010
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Irish Examiner on post-Cancun world
Dec 15, 2010 Climate: other The Irish Examiner takes a look at the climate world post-Cancun and sees a changed landscape. The author sees campaigning against economic growth as a vote loser in the current circumstances. There is also this:
The talk about a "climate change consensus" never was a scientific consensus about climate change but at most as a political agreement to act and speak as if the major questions surrounding climate change had already been answered.
Yup.
Reader Comments (18)
Mostly a very good article. He condemns UK politicians with the following:
He obviously hasn't heard about Cameroon, Loony Huhne, Sillliband, Blair, Brown, Spellman, Yeo, Clegg etc etc: or he knows something about their sensibility.
Perhaps, at this point in time we are witnessing a supertanker changing course. This IMHO, will only accelerate as the cold begins to bite next week. The government is looking to cut back on expenditure and when the dismal results of Cancun are realised it will be an opportunity for the government to say well, if nobody else is cutting CO2 immediately why should we ? They might then rationalise that we can 'put off' pouring £18 billion a year into climate change and start pouring concrete into new nuclear stations.
In parliamentary speak 'kicking it into the long grass'
Just a thought
Who would have imagined such an article in a national newspaper appearing eighteen months ago?
Should Ireland vote the Greens out at the next election, won't the Greens just call for a new election so that the Irish can vote 'correctly'? I am sure there is an EU rule somewhere that allows that:(
It is good to see "the leak of thousands of emails and other files from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia revealed embarrassing discussions between high-profile researchers about tweaking data and excluding critics from peer-reviewed journals" here and elsewhere despite the plans of Acton and his 'enquiries' to prevent it.
Times are a changing - people are waking up to the reality of the punitive consequences of implementing energy pricing based on flawed science. Politicians should take note that proposing energy hikes is the surest way out of office.
Shame the UK will be the last to realise the scam, my guess is that they will realise one day after there friends and father-in-laws have recieved there very large subsides for there wind and solar farms.
They will 'wake up' only after they have managed to get their own money into a safer place !
This is a golden opportunity for some chancer, sorry politician. If they point out we cannot afford the scam in the UK until the next parliament they will be on relatively safe ground.
After all that's what the chancers, sorry, libdem politicians did when they got into bed with the conservatives.
The only problem is the labour chancers have nailed their colours to the mast of global warming as well.
Yes, this is another sign of change. I particularly liked the writer's scarequoting of "the science". That misuse of wording is one of the standard misleading rhetorical devices in this debate. The reification implies an indivisibility, as if denying the statistics in MBH98 implies denying Maxwell's equations. It's just wrong, and when used by one of the AGW proponents, it's a sign that they're bludgeoning with borrowed authority rather than genuinely engaging with the argument at hand. The more we see non-involved commenters rejecting these false constructs, the better.
@confused
I think the political world is more of a rhinoceros than a supertanker -- small of brain and slow to action, but capable of swift response once aroused.
Once politicians realize that pushing 'climate change' agendas is a guaranteed vote-loser, they will change quicker than The Sudarchikovis.
The author seems to be looking for some kind of compromise: "maybe we really do need to take some action about something at some point in time".
It's like he's just sent the Jehovah's Witnesses packing but decides that he should mend his sinning ways.
I recalled while reading this that not long ago we heard from Saint Bob Geldorf about his concerns that the vast sums of money promised during the "Live 8" program had spectacularly failed to materialise.
I wonder what proportion of the "$100 billion in a year from 2020 — for measures to protect forests, ..." will actually be forthcoming?
Are the Hoones, etc, really completely cynical in pretending this will happen, knowing full well that it wont (cf Green Bank story)
Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/stephen-king/lets-keep-our-cool-in-the-battle-over-global-warming-139411.html#ixzz18BQlNNHx
If anyone is interested:-
The Energy and Climate Change Committee will hold a one-off oral evidence session on the UN climate change negotiations in Cancun on Wednesday 15 December 2010 in the Thatcher room [updated], Portcullis House.
Who is giving evidence?
At 3.15 pm the Committee will hear from:
Department of Energy and Climate Change:
• Rt Hon Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State,
• Gregory Barker MP, Minister of State, and
• Mr Pete Betts, Director, International Climate Change.
Timings are approximate.
What will be discussed?
• The outcome of the Cancun conference and what this means for international efforts to tackle climate change;
• Key matters arising from the conference;
• The role of the UK and EU in the negotiations, and
• The prospects for further international action on climate change.
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=7322
There was a programme critical of wind turbines on the TV here in Ireland last night. First time they've I've seen them broadcast anything other than the party line. Might be available internationally here (starts at 15:00):
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2010/1214/primetime.html
Martyn
-Oh dear! - as my girlfriend says to me when something is not right!
I have great respect for the Irish - especially when they talk sense...!
FergalR: Thank you, it is available in the UK and it's well worth watching.
@ FergalR
Thank you for that - watched it from Spain. The numbers work out roughly the same as other countries but it was fascinating to watch your (smirking) politico argue against them: "wind is bringing down the cost of electricity" when the itemised bills clearly show the reverse.
simpleseekeraftertruth;
Well the latest opinion poll has the Green Party on 1% yet they have the Minister for the Environment and that clueless clown who runs the Ministry for Energy AND Communications. I'd be smirking too under the circumstances. They're trying to push through a climate bill for 80% cuts from 1990 emissions - which would be suicidal.
I like Richard Tol's deadpan take on exporting excess wind energy: "you would need to send the electricity all the way to China"