Greens prevented environmental testing

From the introduction to the Environment Agency's report on water at the Balcombe drilling site:

Many people have expressed concerns that the Cuadrilla drilling site near Balcombe West Sussex will cause the water quality to deteriorate. Before drilling took place, both Cuadrilla and the Environment Agency tested the borehole water and surface waters (streams) around the site.

We reported the findings in August 2013 in our Pre-drilling report. We wanted to repeat the water quality sampling during the test-drilling to see if there were any changes. However, we weren't able to do this as access became difficult during the protestors' occupation of the area in August. We did, however, collect a sample from the borehole at this time and subsequently took samples from the Lower Stumble area when it became safe for our staff to do so.

Greens not only damage the environment, but they prevent others from protecting it.

Cue popcorn

The Guardian is really turning into the most extraordinary publication. In its desperation to stay afloat financially it has ditched professional journalists left, right and centre (or at least left, leftish and very left), replacing them with a mixture of hippies and ecoactivists. The results are inevitable.

This morning we find that the paper has published what looks as if it's going to be a spectacular own goal, with Dana Nuccitelli fabricating what he says is a Richard Lindzen prediction, misrepresenting another one by Hansen and generally making the whole publication look like something out of the darkest recesses of the internet. It's astonishing stuff.

Steve Goddard is on the case here, here, here, and here. Monckton's take is at WUWT.

Pull up a seat and enjoy the fun.

Walport and Ridley

Mark Walport has a letter in the Times, taking issue with an article that Matt Ridley wrote a few days before. Matt's article was about cherrypicking in science, and mentioned Briffa's Yamal series.

Sir,

Matt Ridley falls into his own trap in his Opinion column (Jan 6), though the title “Roll up: cherry pick your research results here” is apposite, because that is exactly what Ridley does with respect to the research evidence for global warming.

Click to read more ...

Travelling Tina

Readers may remember my interest in Tina Rothery, the anti-fracking activist who suggested to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that she was a local resident protesting against the Lancashire shale developments. This was surprise since she had also spent the summer in Balcombe protesting developments there as well as having been involved in the Occupy movement in London.

Today, she turned up again on the Radio 5 phone-in, described as an anti-fracking activist from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The show also featured James Verdon of the Frack Doctor blog, and a very balanced contribution from Roger Harrabin.

28gate hits the MSM

David Rose has a big spread in the Mail on Sunday in which he gives the 28gate story a good going over. (If you haven't read it before, get yourself a copy of my pamphlet on how Tony Newbery and I uncovered the story.)

The BBC has spent tens of thousands of pounds over six years trying to keep secret an extraordinary ‘eco’ conference which has shaped its coverage of global warming,  The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The controversial seminar was run by a body set up by the BBC’s own environment analyst Roger Harrabin and funded via a £67,000 grant from the then Labour government, which hoped to see its ‘line’ on climate change and other Third World issues promoted in BBC reporting.

The new attention on the 28gate seminar has been prompted by disclosure of documents showing how the Department for International Development responded to a funding request for funding from the International Broadcasting Trust a body that lobbies broadcasters on behalf of green NGOs. What we have, in essence, appears to be government paying for subversion of the state broadcaster.

Which is pretty appalling when you think about it.

Update on Jan 12, 2014 by Bishop Hill

Tony Newbery has more at his blog, together with links to the FOI release.

As what has happened becomes more widely known, perhaps now is the time to consider writing to those in a position to do something about the bias. The Culture Secretary and the chairman of the Commons Culture and Media Select Committee are obvious candidates.

What better way to spend an evening in January?

Shout out for Donna

Donna Laframboise has been invited to give evidence to the Commons' Energy and Climate Change Committee's inquiry on the Fifth Assessment Report and is looking for help in paying her way over. It goes without saying that to get a sceptic in front of the inquiry is a major step forward, so it's an excellent use for your spare tenners.

Donate early and donate often, here.

Flooding flak

Inside the Environment Agency has collated a fascinating collection of stories in the local media about the floods. You get the impression that outside the insular world of London liberal media folk the story is about the performance of the agency rather than Owen Paterson's belief or otherwise in climate change.

Click to read more ...

Diggin' in the dirt

On the website of somthing called "Project Dirt" I find this job advertisement offered by our old friend Brendan Montague who, readers will recall, has been conning his way into the homes of more or less prominent sceptics and raking through their bins looking for who knows what:

We've been running a two year investigation into climate change and how policy is formulated and influenced by special interest groups. We've collated a comprehensive database of facts, figures and key quotes and now we are trying to open up the results of our investigation in a searchable online database. In order to make the database searchable, we'll need your help to tag and categorise each of the records we've collected.

Friday funny

According to Peter Stott of the Hadley Centre, it was fair of David Cameron to suspect that the recent UK storms were linked to climate change.  Myles Allen agrees.

Cameron may not be right, but he has the right suspicions.

Daily Politics returns to climate

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett was up against Matt Ridley on the Daily Politics today, discussing - inevitably - the floods.

The self-awareness of the green

The sad fact is that quite often legitimate camps can be a magnet for alcoholics, people with severe mental health disorders, people who have no genuine interest in the issues and people who simply think it funny to disrupt other people's hard work.

A Barton Moss protestor, busy disrupting the hard work of iGas employees, muses on those firing flares at the police.

Fracking flares up

A few days ago a flare was allegedly fired at a police helicopter which was landing near the Barton Moss anti-fracking protests. At the time the allegations were strenuously denied by the organisers.

Rachel Thompson from Frack Free Greater Manchester said: “We refute this claim. Greater Manchester Police have refused to show any evidence of this alleged incident."

However, James Verdon has been looking around the activists' social media and has discovered that the identity of the culprit is well known to those in the camp including, apparently, Rachel Thompson, the organiser who issued the original denial.

Well Rachel Thompson can in her words "refute absolutely these claims" but the cruel truth is that several of us know who did this, why it was done and the reasons behind the present cover up (bad PR in short).

There are simply too many people who saw it happen to try and claim it was a cop fit up when it wasn't. I'm not in any way defending what the cops did and I was one of those who had their tent turned over by them but IMHO we are better off telling the truth, booting out the twat who did it (without informing cops of course) and moving on. This issue is too important to let it become another 'Us v Cops' slanging match (climate camp ! ) that obscures the important reason for the protesting.

Read James' article and the activists' website.

A survey

Brandon Shollenberger is doing a survey of climate sceptics.

Take part here.

More BBC balance

This morning's Today show feature the very epitome of a BBC interview on matters green. We had an environmentalist - Mark Lynas - an IPCC scientist - Rowan Sutton - and a credulous interviewer in the shape of Evan Davis. And not a dissenting view in sight.

The lack of self-awareness of the participants is hilarious. We have the pie-throwing green calling for a higher standard of discourse and the scientist saying perhaps the greens had been overstating things a bit (and not, presumably IPCC scientists - like the one who described global warming as a barrage of ballistic missiles).

Enjoy.

listen to ‘Is there a 'green hush'?’ on Audioboo

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Inside mathematics

Updated on Jan 10, 2014 by Bishop Hill

Updated on Jan 10, 2014 by Bishop Hill

Updated on Jan 10, 2014 by Bishop Hill

The BBC's Inside Science programme looked at the Ship of Fools expedition yesterday. We were treated to the unedifying sound of presenter wondering about whether what he called "deniers'" views on sea ice extent in the Southern Hemisphere carried any weight. We were led to beleive that they did not. Normal BBC fare I hear you say.

Some of what was said was bizarre though. Interviewee Professor John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey said the rise in Antarctic sea ice extent was less than 1% and was therefore well within the bounds of natural variability. I have no problem with the second part of that statement, but 1% seemed very low to me. Here is the relevant graph from the Cryosphere Today website.

Click to read more ...