Some late morning amusement from another Warmist, Forbes’ Todd Essig
Starts out with name calling. Check
But before describing what I saw I want to be clear about something; there is a strong consensus among climate scientists about human-caused climate change. That is fact, not opinion. Furthermore, the fact is that events like Hurricane Sandy and the Moore tornado are more likely and likely more severe, and will be increasingly so. And finally, the fact is that facts don’t change minds.
That “97%” consensus “study” has already been beaten like a rented mule. Consensus is not science, and the study is based exactly on opinion, in other words, of the roughly 32% of the papers which took an opinion, 97% mentioned anthropogenic causation. Hell, my stuff, were they papers, would be in that category, as I believe Man plays a small role, mostly through agriculture, landfills (global) and through the land use/urban heat island effect.
The tornado meme has been beaten up, too. And calling it climate change shows a predilection for politics, not science. Anyhow
1. Lost in the scientific weeds
They grab a fact, a factoid, or an isolated data point consistent with their group identity and then categorically assert that this scientifically proves—it absolutely proves!—that human-caused climate is the greatest hoax ever perpetuated. They ignore all those pesky peer reviews and concerns with methodological rigor. They know best. I mean, really, why bother with the actual science with which you,  your group, and your political leaders disagree?
That’s funny, because it is the Warmist side which has taken to saying that cold, snow, ice, no spring in Europe, etc, are caused by too much warming. Oh, and that the warming is hiding in the deep oceans.
2. Trashing scientists
They move up a level of abstraction. Instead of trashing the science they trash the community of scientists. Consensus is irrelevant because scientists are weak, craven, and dishonest. For them, scientists are just a bunch of liars and cheats who will say anything to get a grant. This group cites evidence of scientific wrongdoing that never happened and ignores the results of any contrary investigation.
Oh, we trash the “science”, but this is interesting considering Essig started out with the “denier” crap. Warmists constanly start out by saying anyone who doesn’t agree with their notions are in the pay of Big Oil and Big Coal, and want to kill granny and kids and all life…you know the hit parade.
3. Backwards policy prescriptions
This species requires both significant imagination and a radical suspension of logic. They start by pointing to dire, horrific, civilization altering consequences of policies that take climate-change seriously. And then, with a startling display of illogic, turn around to say that because the policy is unacceptable all this talk about climate-change must be nothing more than total crap.
Huh what? Warmists are the ones calling for doom and gloom somewhere in the far future when their pronouncements will not be remembered.
4. Name calling
Don’t mean to shock you but there are people who think name calling moves things forward. Among other things, I was accused of huffing glue and of being a pagan believer in “ecotheism.†Let me assure you that neither is true. The former would unacceptably interfere with running and biking while the latter implies a religious commitment beyond the grasp of my secular soul.
Says the guy, again, who started out by calling us deniers.
He ends thusly
The only question is on the basis of what will you act: cowardly leadership or scientific consensus? Just like Jolie had to make choices based on probabilities so too do our policy makers. It remains to be seen whether they will have the courage to make data-based decisions or continue hiding in the cowardice of science-denial. And as the leaders go, so too will many followers.
Right. So politics, not science.
