I mentioned to you previously how the North Carolina general assembly had proposed legislation that would require that historical data be used to determine sea level rise predictions, which sent Scientific American into apoplexy. Now
(AP) The North Carolina Senate has approved a bill that ignores scientists’ warnings of rising sea levels.
Senators approved the bill on a 34-to-11 vote Tuesday. The measure received little fanfare and no senators spoke in opposition to the measure.
The bill now goes back to the House for a vote.
HB 819 says that only the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission can calculate how fast the sea is rising for state governmental purposes and those calculations must be based on historic trends, which are much lower than the science panel’s projections.
There was a choice between going with the hysterics from people who were looking into their crystal ball computer models and looking at what has actually occurred, and the Senate voted to go with that science stuff.
A state-appointed science panel warned sea levels could rise by more than three feet by 2100 and threaten more than 2,000 square miles of coastal land.
It could. Or could not. Probably won’t. There has essentially been no rise this century.
“This bill has made us the laughingstock of the country,” said Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe. “We’ve been on Stephen Colbert’s comedy show.”
It’s amazing that going with established scientific facts using historic, real world data instead of garbage in garbage out computer models can somehow make NC a “laughing stock”, when it should be the other way around. Steven Goddard points out
The IPCC forecast range is 7-24 inches of sea level rise. The 3 foot+ forecasts are from a few fringe lunatics who lack basic mathematics and science skills.
But Stephen Colbert made fun of NC! Oh, the humanity!
