Hooray! Here Come Obama’s “Climate Hubs”

By William Teach February 5, 2014 – 7:29 am

Yeah, OK, uh huh

(NY Times) On the heels of the Senate’s passage of a long-awaited farm bill, the Obama administration is to announce on Wednesday the creation of seven regional “climate hubs” aimed at helping farmers and rural communities respond to the risks of climate change, including drought, invasive pests, fires and floods.

White House officials describe the move as one of several executive actions that President Obama will take on climate change without action from Congress.

In substance, the creation of the climate hubs is a limited step, but it is part of a broader campaign by the administration to advance climate policy wherever possible with executive authority. The action is also part of a push to build political support for the administration’s more divisive moves on climate change – in particular, the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations on coal-fired power plants.

How will they pay for it? Congress has not appropriated the funding. So, yes, a limited step. I love the part about drought and flood, because climate change causes everything, ya know!

The hubs will be located in Ames, Iowa; Durham, N.H.; Raleigh, N.C.; Fort Collins, Colo.; El Reno, Okla.; Corvallis, Ore.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Davis, Calif.

Hey, my town, Raleigh, will be part of this experiment.

With programs like the climate hubs, the Obama administration hopes to help farmers adapt to climate change while making the case for broader climate regulations.

In other words, this is about politics, not science. Let’s check the USDA page

USDA’s regional hubs will deliver science-based knowledge and practical information to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners within each region of the US to support decision-making related to climate change. These hubs are needed to maintain and strengthen agricultural production, natural resource management, and rural economic development under increasing climate variability. The Hubs will build capacity within USDA to deliver information and guidance on technologies and risk management practices at regional and local scales.

Does anyone get the feeling that this is a Democrat attempt to insinuate themselves into the rural population, which overwhelmingly votes Republican? To make them comply with Far Left politics? There will be lots of “outreach and education”. Think it will be science based, or political “climate change” based?

Finally, how is this a big EO from Obama? USDA had an application process for this, with a deadline to apply by 8/21/2013. Obama is not creating them out of thin air.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Hooray! Another Article Explaining How To Convince Your Friends Of “Climate Change”

By William Teach February 4, 2014 – 2:46 pm

Warmists have been nagging people for decades about the current warm period and how it’s all Mankind’s fault. Before then, it was on cooling. Then warming. Then cooling. They blamed witches before then. Anyhow, they current set have been agitating and whining and spreading awareness since the 80’s, and are still doing it. This time, the Washington Post trots out some propaganda in the health-science section. This should be in the opinion section

How to convince your friends to believe in climate change. It’s not as hard as you think.

Environmental­ists have a reputation for being self-righteous and a little naggy, which makes them ripe for parody. (Seen “Portlandia”?) The perception that the eco-conscious are trying to take the fun out of life, however, is unfair. It also has some unfortunate consequences: It drives people away. Nagging breeds defiance.

Yes, it does. So, let’s nag some more

Socially negotiated silences grow up around issues that we simply can’t agree on. But we have to find a way around this stalemate, because the consequences are monumental. Marshall recommends tweaking your language slightly to make yourself sound less judgmental.

“Speak openly of your personal ownership of your convictions,” he notes. “Say, ‘This is what’s important to me, and this is why.’

And I’m going to ask “if it’s important, what changes have you made in your life?”

Don’t get caught up in the scientific discussion. You’re not a scientist, and evidence doesn’t persuade people who reject climate change. What carries power is your personal conviction as a friend, colleague or neighbor.”

Sounds rather judgmental, especially coming from people who reject Earth’s natural processes as explanations for climatic changes.

Say that you, too, were once reluctant to accept the idea of climate change.

So, lie.

Now you’ll need a compelling argument to explain why you came around. As Marshall notes, communications research shows that “because scientists say so” is a loser.

Don’t expect Warmists to give it up. The science doesn’t back them up, so they have to go with “consensus”.

The writer goes on to describe some talking points, which are pretty much the same talking points they’ve been using for decades. Here’s a fun one

Illness terrifies people of all stripes, so it sometimes helps to emphasize the links between climate change and disease.

Yeah, remember when that Black Plague spread as the climate turned cool and wet? It’s no wonder fewer and fewer people either do not believe in anthropogenic climate change or just don’t care. Warmists are nuts and naggy. And hypocrites.

Read: Hooray! Another Article Explaining How To Convince Your Friends Of “Climate Change” »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 44 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 4, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil CO2 infused beer, causing snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Hockey Schtick, with a post on 0.09C increase in sea temperatures since 1957.

Read: If All You See… »

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WHO: Tidal Wave Of Cancer Is Coming

By William Teach February 4, 2014 – 11:17 am

Can you guess what their prescription is to fix this?

(BBC) The globe is facing a “tidal wave” of cancer, and restrictions on alcohol and sugar need to be considered, say World Health Organization scientists.

It predicts the number of cancer cases will reach 24 million a year by 2035, but half could be prevented.

The WHO said there was now a “real need” to focus on cancer prevention by tackling smoking, obesity and drinking.

Restrictions, huh?

The WHO’s World Cancer Report 2014 said the major sources of preventable cancer included:

  • Smoking
  • Infections
  • Alcohol
  • Obesity and inactivity
  • Radiation, both from the sun and medical scans
  • Air pollution and other environmental factors
  • Delayed parenthood, having fewer children and not breastfeeding

I’m not so sure restricting alcohol usage (interestingly, that seems to jibe with the UN’s dhimmitude towards hardcore Muslim extremism) will fly with Liberals, who tend to drink more than Conservatives (nor will it fly with Conservatives, who are into that thing called personal responsibility/freedom). The others, though, see to be a wish-list of far left ways to control people.

One of the authors, Dr. Bernard Stewart “said it was not the role of the International Agency for Research on Cancer to dictate what should be done.” But,

“In relation to alcohol, for example, we’re all aware of the acute effects, whether it’s car accidents or assaults, but there’s a burden of disease that’s not talked about because it’s simply not recognised, specifically involving cancer.

“The extent to which we modify the availability of alcohol, the labelling of alcohol, the promotion of alcohol and the price of alcohol – those things should be on the agenda.”

He said there was a similar argument to be had with sugar fuelling obesity, which in turn affected cancer risk.

So, not their job to dictate, but they’ll recommend dictating. Not that the UN needs any help in that regards.

Is cancer a threat? Sure. Could it get worse? Well, certainly with more people, and more things that can be carcinogenic, yes. Of course, the UN and WHO, along with Progressives, will push for more far left solutions.

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Cover Oregon: Possible Criminal Fraud

By William Teach February 4, 2014 – 9:19 am

You remember Cover Oregon, right? It’s the Obamacare website that has essentially singed up zero people. All the enrollments have come via old school paper applications. The website is really still not working (not that the federal website is fully working correctly, either). Now we learn (via The Blaze)

(KATU) You already know the process that led to the failed rollout of the Cover Oregon website was bad.

But was it criminally bad?

Former Republican state Rep. Patrick Sheehan told the KATU Investigators he has gone to the FBI with allegations that Cover Oregon project managers initiated the design of dummy web pages to convince the federal government the project was further along than it actually was.

If Sheehan’s allegations are true, those managers could face time in jail for fraud.

Essentially, it looks as if those in charge of building the website were playing games in order to keep the federal funds flowing, even getting the funds (US taxpayer funds) increased from $48 million to $59 million.

To keep the money flowing, the website would have to hit specific benchmarks between 2011 and 2013. The state needed to show the feds it had picked a company to provide software and technical assistance; it had to demonstrate that the website was safe from hackers; and, most importantly, it had to show that people could actually sign up for insurance on the website. (snip)

(Carolyn) Lawson (the IT pro in charge of the project to build the website), however, chose to use an “iterative” approach. This time, imagine an extremely blurry picture of a whole car. With each iteration, the picture grows a little more clear.

What that meant for the Cover Oregon website was that it was able to paint a picture of a flashy website – imagine a concept car that looks flashy in the showroom but doesn’t actually run.

Make sure to read the full article, which shows all the smoke and mirrors used to make the website look super awesome, even demonstrating it for CMS, which thought her design was awesome.

“That could have been the smoke and mirrors that they were showing everyone which was not a live demo,” Sheehan said. “It would just be wire frames or a mock up.

“If they were able to connect the dots and if it’s true, someone’s going to prison. It would be fraud. It would be the State of Oregon, actually, willfully, misrepresenting something for federal funding.”

Here’s a thought: Los Federales were spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on the State exchange websites to get them up and running, including the utter failure of Cover Oregon. Did no one think to actually audit these sites? To have people come in and really look at things? Look at the code? They did a poor job with the federal website, so we shouldn’t be shocked in the least about what happened with Cover Oregon.

BTW, KATU wants to know what the Governor, John Kitzhaber knew about the failed website and when. He deflected and failed, and, by his own words, wasn’t involved at all, much like Obama and Kathleen Sebelius.

Read: Cover Oregon: Possible Criminal Fraud »

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Obama To O’Reilly: I’m Waiting For John Kerry’s Approval On Keystone XL

By William Teach February 4, 2014 – 8:44 am

He’s simply running the clock out, as well as highlighting his pitiful leadership skills

(Fox News) President Obama told Bill O’Reilly Monday on “The O’Reilly Factor” that he was waiting to get an official recommendation from Secretary of State John Kerry before proceeding with the Keystone Pipeline.

Obama also took issue with the number of jobs the pipeline would create after supporters said it would create tens of thousands.

“Keystone Pipeline, a new study comes in, environmental impact negligible, 42, 000 jobs. You’re going to OK it, I assume,” O’Reilly asked.

Obama responded, “Well, first of all, it’s not 42,000. That’s not correct. It’s a couple of thousand to build the pipeline.”

Even if it ends up being “a couple thousand jobs”, it’s a couple thousand jobs. Permanent jobs. Probably more than have been created, in terms of permanent jobs, than for all of Obama’s green energy projects. It would also provide a large amount of temporary jobs as the pipeline is built (Keystone states that the number is 9,000, and 7,000 support jobs). The “shovel ready” jobs in Obama’s Stimulus where primarily temporary jobs. Did we hear him complaining about that?

He said the next steps in the pipeline approval process would be to get “agencies to comment on what the State Department did, public’s allowed to comment, Kerry’s going to, then, give me a recommendation.”

Obama does realize he is The President, right? There have already been numerous reports, agencies have commented, public comments, and such. And there are already a huge amount of pipelines running across the country. But Keystone XL has become a rallying cry for the “climate change” nuts, who are a big part of Obama’s wacko base. So, it appears as if Obama will look to run out the clock on this. And there may come a time when Canada, which has been extremely patient, just takes their ball and goes home, well, takes it to China.

This could set up an interesting situation if the GOP retakes the Senate, and Congress passes legislation allowing the pipeline to be built.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Obama To O’Reilly: I’m Waiting For John Kerry’s Approval On Keystone XL »

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Has The Over-selling Of “Climate Change” Hurt Science?

By William Teach February 3, 2014 – 6:20 pm

Well, that supposes that “climate change” is actually about science

(Forbes)  Will the overselling of climate change lead to a new scientific dark age? That’s the question being posed in the latest issue of an Australian literary journal, Quadrant, by Garth Paltridge, one of the world’s most respected atmospheric scientists.

Paltridge was a Chief Research Scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).  The latter is Australia’s equivalent of the National Science Foundation, our massive Federal Laboratory network, and all the governmental agency science branches rolled into one.

Paltridge lays out the well-known uncertainties in climate forecasting. These include our inability to properly simulate clouds that are anything like what we see in the real world, the embarrassing lack of average surface warming now in its 17th year, and the fumbling (and contradictory) attempts to explain it away.

You can see that paper and more links here.

Climate scientists have been profoundly defensive about the known problems. Paltridge elegantly explains that this has to be the case, and describes the likely horrific consequences when the day of reckoning finally arrives.

That day is coming closer, because, as Paltridge notes, people are catching on:

“…the average man in the street, a sensible chap who by now can smell the signs of an oversold environmental campaign from miles away, is beginning to suspect that it is politics rather than science which is driving the issue.”

It is politics. If Warmists truly believed, they might change their own behavior to match their rhetoric, as I’ve written ad nauseum. Instead, they make excuse after excuse why they won’t and don’t, but why you should, preferably forced by Government.

“A new and rewarding research lifestyle emerged which involved the giving of advice to all types and levels of government, the broadcasting of unchallengeable opinion to the general public, and easy justification for attendance at international conferences—this last in some luxury by normal scientific experience, and at a frequency previously unheard of.”

Most refuse to debate, and use words and phrases designed to shut down debate. Yet they love all those government funds and cushy conferences held around the world.

“In the light of all this, we have at least to consider the possibility that the scientific establishment behind the global warming issue has been drawn into the trap of seriously overstating the climate problem—or, what is much the same thing, of seriously understating the uncertainties associated with the climate problem—in its effort to promote the cause. It is a particularly nasty trap in the context of science, because it risks destroying, perhaps for centuries to come, the unique and hard-won reputation for honesty which is the basis of society’s respect for scientific endeavour.” [emphasis added]

I’m not so sure I agree, because people are quickly grasping that the “climate change” movement has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with far left politics. But, certainly, Warmists using science to push their politics can hurt for a short time.

Read: Has The Over-selling Of “Climate Change” Hurt Science? »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming, Science | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

NJ Dem: No Proof That Christie Knew Of Lane Closures

By William Teach February 3, 2014 – 3:03 pm

Funny, after weeks of hyperventilation reporting and investigating (the same type not done for Obama scandals excepting a few reporters), no one has found a thing

A New Jersey Democrat who’s leading a probe of a bridge traffic scandal that has engulfed Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday that he’s seen no evidence to support claims that the governor had been aware of the politically motivated traffic jams as they happened.

If such evidence does exist, a state panel investigating the closures has not yet seen it, Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Sunday.

Maybe there is, maybe not. Christie isn’t exactly an awesome person, he’s a politician. If he did it and it can be proved, he should resign. I’m not thrilled over the possibility of him being the GOP 2016 nominee. But, there’s that thing called “proof”.

Interestingly, he and his team are actually complying with subpoenas, no fuss, no stonewalling. Almost like he’s innocent.

Read: NJ Dem: No Proof That Christie Knew Of Lane Closures »

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 3, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a monument to capitalism and wasting Earth’s resources, putting vast amounts of carbon pollution in the atmosphere, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Lonely Conservative, with a post on Bill O’Reilly’s interview with Mr. Obama.

Congratulations, Seahawks! BTW, why do Northwest liberals like to riot and burn things when they win a championship?

Read: If All You See… »

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Whiny Warmists Plan Protests Across US Against Keystone XL

By William Teach February 3, 2014 – 11:24 am

Which is hilarious, since much of the nation is going to be cold, and about a quarter of the nation will see snow today

(UPI) A consortium of U.S. environmental groups said a chorus of voices will let President Obama know the Keystone XL oil pipeline “fails his climate test.”

The Sierra Club, anti-Keystone group Bold Nebraska, the Natural Resources Defense Council and more than a dozen other environmental groups scheduled “protest vigils” across the country Monday to oppose the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment to send the message to President Obama that Keystone XL fails his climate test and he must reject it,” the consortium said.

They’ll even be protesting in South Florida, forgetting that the pipeline will come nowhere near the state. Whiners in Washington State will hold a candlelight vigil (yeah, I’m shaking my head about that one, too). They’ll even be a sit-in in Halifax, as in Nova Scotia.

One has to wonder how all these Warmists will get to the sit-ins, protests, vigils, etc. Fossil fueled travel, anyone?

They have stated that they will take more “direct action” if the pipeline is approved. Because liberals are peaceful or something.

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