Climate Change Gets a Reality Check

Last week’s historic election in Britain, which saw the conservative Tories deal the Labour Party their worst defeat in 40 years, is also notable in what did not play a role in the outcome: climate change. Higher fuel prices, the threat of new carbon taxes, and a range of other costly “green” initiatives have sent politicians of both parties scrambling to change their tune on the environment.

We might just look back on May Day 2008 as the moment when the power of green politics peaked and went into reverse. . . .

David Cameron [the new Tory Prime Minister], the wind in his sails after the elections, held a prime ministerial press conference in which he set out his priorities for government. Significantly, the words “environment” and “climate change” did not appear in his 1,200-word statement.

I suspect we’ll see the same retreat here in the States — especially if Al Gore’s inconvenient truth continues to take beatings like this.

Memories

I recently stumbled across this song listening to Pandora at work. I just froze.

I’ve never heard of the artists, a Dutch metal band called Within Temptation (the vocalist is Sharon den Adel), but this song definitely caught my attention.

Guitar Like You’ve Never Heard It Before

There are some very good guitar players, and then there are those whose minds and fingers are merely an extension of the instrument. Dominic Frasca (”Eddie Van Halen for eggheads”) falls into the second category.

Spinning the Cooling Globe

The evidence continues to accumulate that our planet, rather than warming, is undergoing a slight cooling. Of course, those who have a vested interest in promoting the global warming agenda are not going to give it up so easily. Marc Sheppard looks at the efforts of some to twist the global cooling data into another global warming story. Sheppard concludes:

It remains an alarmist imperative to disassociate falling global temperatures and speculation of a possible impending “little ice age” with the yellow dwarf star we orbit in general and the late start of Solar Cycle 24 specifically. For indeed, if we are moving into another solar minimum cycle and global temperatures continue to plummet while atmospheric CO₂ levels continue to rise, attendance at Al Gore’s Scare-Story-Slide-Shows would quickly drop to close friends and family only. And with boat loads of very bad wealth-redistribution “climate change” legislation to pass in coming the years, a sympathetically alarmed press and populace remain essential during that time.

So what better way to buy time than to cloud the obvious solar connection by sacrificing their argument against a less threatening naturally occurring force? And then attributing that force to occasional periods of cooling by collectively admitting to its mitigating impact upon AGW forces? Especially when this little gambit allows them to continue reaping the benefits - for years to come - of the lie that an unchecked anthropogenic greenhouse gas effect threatens to literally destroy us all.

Lawnmowing for Real Men

Last week I acted on a long-time urge, and bought a Scotts 20-inch reel mower. These human-powered mowers are making a comeback, due largely to a desire to be “green.” Frankly, the only green I’m interested in is the green in my wallet. With the price of gas pushing four bucks a gallon, one can make a pretty good argument for needing more exercise pushing one of these babies around the yard.

The technology is a major improvement over the older reel mowers from generations past. Assembly was a snap — I was mowing less than thirty minutes after taking it out of the box. The cutting height adjustment is very easy to change. With two sets of wheels, it is stable and rolls easily across the grass.

To be sure, this is a human-powered mower, requiring a steady output of energy to propel. I enjoy walking, so I got plenty of that, but it’s definitely not a casual stroll in the park. Our yard is almost an acre in size, so it took me about six hours to finish the job. That’s not counting the frequent breaks to catch my breath. Still, at the end of the day I was tired, but in a good, that-was-a-great-workout sort of way.

Two negatives, neither of which is a mark against this model. First, reel mowers are notoriously inefficient at cutting weeds, especially tall ones. It was a little irritating to look back over a large area of freshly mowed lawn, and see a wide spread of dandelion stalks still standing proudly. The reel mower simply pushes them over, and they pop back up after the mower moves on. (I guess that’s a good incentive to implement a weed control program.) Second, it’s more difficult to keep a reel mower pointed in a straight line than my riding mower. I eventually developed a knack for it, but it requires much more focus.

But those are minor points. There are several positives: To mow the yard with my riding mower requires fifteen minutes of prep work: air the tires, fill the gas tank, check the oil, etc; with this reel model, I simply start mowing. There is almost nothing to break down (which is more and more frequent with my rider). I get a lot of good exercise. And there is something calming about walking behind a mower that is quietly depositing a gentle cascade of clippings at your feet.

Will I do all my mowing with this new toy? No way. The yard is simply too big, and I have too many other projects to tend to, to spend that much time just mowing. But I will likely continue to use it on areas close by the house.

If you have a small yard, I would definitely recommend this as a viable option.

The Latest Trojan Horse from Higher Ed

Who could possibly be opposed to “sustainability”? A lot of Americans, that’s who — if they really understood what is being sneaked in under that label.

John Leo spells out the details of what is included in the push for “sustainability” by higher institutions of learning. It’s not merely a commitment to using fewer trees.

Peter Wood, executive director of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) says, “It turns out that virtually the entire agenda of the progressive left can be fit inside the word ’sustainability.” Adam Kissel of the educational watchdog group the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) wrote: “Documents written or promoted by residential life officials demonstrate that sustainability is a highly politicized comprehensive agenda including positions of such topics as affirmative action, gay marriage, abortions, corporations and worldwide distribution of wealth.” In addition, the movement apparently features codewords within the master codeword “sustainability.” “Secure livelihoods” and “strong economies” seem to mean redistribution of existing wealth, not economic development to create new wealth.

In other words, it’s just another effort to indoctrinate students in the dogma of the left.

Hillary, the Neoconservative?

Noemie Emery examines the recent changes in Hillary’s policy statements, campaign stump speeches, and overall persona that has some conservatives taking a second look at her. Of course, the fact that the mainstream media has turned against her is reason enough to befriend her (you know, the enemy of my enemy, etc.).

The Hillary of May 2008 is radically different from the Hillary of two months ago, much less the one of last year, or of eight years back. And this one (at least till the nomination is settled) has some traits the right wing can love.

Whatever the truth about Hillary’s neoconservative bonafides, my antipathy toward a Hillary presidency can be summed up in one four-letter word:

Bill.

More Evidence for Global Cooling

Another paper has been published in a prestigious scientific journal presenting evidence for a cooler planet for at least the next fifteen years.

The report, published in the journal Nature, argues that changes in oscillating ocean currents in the Atlantic will cause cooling in North America and Europe, while Pacific temperatures will remain flat.

More significantly, this research raises serious questions about the IPCC predictions that so much of the current policy discussions are based upon.

Physicist and ex-Harvard professor Lubos Motl, who was not involved in the research, says the discovery of such a large, previously unknown factor indicates a “critical flaw” in modeling predictions, “no paper so far has even properly combined the effects of ENSO, PDO, and AMO”. Motl believes the research indicates that IPCC climate predictions will be incorrect for as much as 70 years in the future.

Which is another way of saying, the debate over global warming is definitely not over.

UPDATE: This news item is also picked up by Gateway Pundit, who maintains a running compendium of these global cooling stories.

Fox News Legitimized

It wasn’t too long ago that the Democratic presidential candidates avoided Fox News like the plague. They boycotted debates on Fox, and generally shunned appearances on the network. The reason? Fox News is perceived to be tainted by conservative bias, unlike the rest of the media, which is so objective and balanced (hey, I don’t make this stuff up).

Now that Obama and Hillary are pulling out all the stops in their quest for the nomination, they have to deal with reality — Fox News is the most popular news network by far. If the candidates really want to reach the common people, they have to go on Fox News. So within the last week, both Hillary and Obama have given lengthy interviews with the network’s anchors. And the ratings went through the roof.

Of course, the lunatic fringe of the Democratic base is going ballistic, accusing the candidates of selling out to the evil conservatives. But the new legitimacy of Fox News among the candidates reveals a disturbing truth for the Democratic Party:

The Democratic leaders’ new openness to Fox reflects the liberal left’s diminishing power, at least at this point in the political cycle. Once feared by the Democratic candidates, these activists are now viewed at least in part as an impediment to winning the broad swatch of support needed to clinch the nomination.

For all their bluster, the radical left of the Democratic Party does not represent mainstream America. The candidates know, even if their leftist base does not, that they must distance themselves from the left, and go to where the average voters are, if they hope to have a chance in November.

Last of the Czar’s Family ID’d

DNA analysis has confirmed that the remains of two individuals found last year near the Russian village of Yekaterinburg are indeed those of Prince Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria. The remains of their parents, Czar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, and three siblings were found in a shallow grave nearby in 1991. DNA tests confirmed their identity as well. The royal family was executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries in 1918 during the turmoil that brought the communists to power.

The discoveries effectively close the book on the various stories that have circulated through the years that one or more of the children had survived and lived out their lives elsewhere.

The tragic story of the Czar’s family was dramatized in the 1971 film, Nicholas and Alexandra.

Britain Creates a “Why Bother?” Economy

That’s according to a recent report from a British think tank. A complex welfare system coupled with a moribund education system has created a subclass of citizens who have no motivation or even capability to work. As Van Helsing comments,

Basically, liberalism has reduced humans to farm animals. Just like chickens are raised by farmers for their eggs, welfare dependents are raised by the State for their votes.

What is the future of a democracy that operates on that principle?

Start Drilling!

So says Robert Samuelson in describing why America’s energy policy is such a mess.

We’re almost powerless to influence today’s prices. We are because we didn’t take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling. . . .

What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity. Americans favor both “energy independence” and cheap fuel. They deplore imports — who wants to pay foreigners? — but oppose more production in the United States. Got it? The result is a “no-pain energy agenda that sounds appealing but has no basis in reality” . . .

Oil Company Profiteering?

Here are a couple of  interesting factoids on those incredible oil company profits that I’ll bet you haven’t heard. First:

While crude oil has gone up from about $66 a barrel to almost $119 — an 80 percent increase during the last year — gas has gone from $2.71 a gallon to $3.60, an increase of only 33 percent.

In other words, the oil industry’s profits have not been keeping pace with the rising cost of their primary raw material.

Second:

Mutual fund giant Vanguard . . . has more than $18 billion in ExxonMobil stock. Most of that is owned by investors in the company’s S&P 500 index fund and its total stock market index fund. And it’s not just Vanguard. Almost every major mutual fund company owns oil stocks. Two of Fidelity’s mutual funds, for example, rank in the top 10 holders of ExxonMobil stock.

The oil companies are “broadly owned by tens of millions of middle-class Americans, anyone with a pension plan or 401(k) or IRA account, a mutual fund,” Dougher said. “They’re really the owners. So, when their stock portfolios go up, that’s really who benefits.”

In other words, if Congressional critics act on their threat to rein in those evil corporate profits of the oil companies, guess who’s gonna feel the pain? That’s right — the millions of small investors who are depending on those profits to finance their retirement.

It’s called “free enterprise,” people. Why aren’t they teaching this in high school anymore?

Steyn on the Biofuels Fiasco

Mark Steyn takes the eco-nut feel-gooders to task for pushing biofuels, no matter the cost to the world’s poor.

Big government accomplished at a stroke what the free market could never have done: They turned the food supply into a subsidiary of the energy industry. When you divert 28 percent of U.S. grain into fuel production, and when you artificially make its value as fuel higher than its value as food, why be surprised that you’ve suddenly got less to eat? Or, to be more precise, it’s not “you” who’s got less to eat but those starving peasants in distant lands you claim to care so much about. . . .

The biofuels debacle is global warm-mongering in a nutshell: The first victims of poseur environmentalism will always be developing countries. In order for you to put biofuel in your Prius and feel good about yourself for no reason, real actual people in faraway places have to starve to death. On April 15, the Independent, the impeccably progressive British newspaper, editorialized: “The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world’s environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it?”

Guns and Peace in America

Glenn Reynolds calls attention to the transcript of an amazing broadcast on BBC radio recently. The speaker, Justin Webb, gave a remarkably balanced commentary on the correlation between gun ownership among Americans and the sense of civility and serenity that pervades our land — in sharp contrast to the lawlessness (and lack of guns) that dominates Britain.

Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

“It seems so nice here,” they quaver.

Well, it is!

Ten or 20 years ago, it was a different story, but things have changed.

And this is Manhattan.

Wait till you get to London Texas, or Glasgow Montana, or Oxford Mississippi or Virgin Utah, for that matter, where every household is required by local ordinance to possess a gun.

Folks will have guns in all of these places and if you break into their homes they will probably kill you.

They will occasionally kill each other in anger or by mistake, but you never feel as unsafe as you can feel in south London.

It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.

Glenn didn’t mention it, but the speaker also pinpointed another factor contributing to the relative peacefulness of American society:

One reason - perhaps the overriding reason - is that there is no public drunkenness in polite America, simply none.

I have never seen a group of drunk young people in the entire six years I have lived here. I travel a lot and not always to the better parts of town.

It is an odd fact that a nation we associate - quite properly - with violence is also so serene, so unscarred by petty crime, so innocent of brawling.

Gender Discrimination in Higher Education

Christina Hoff Summers warns of a coming federal crackdown on gender discrimination in math and sciences in higher education. If Title IX is applied to these departments the same way it has been applied to college athletics, “equality” will be achieved by decimating the ranks of men who can apply for those positions. The long-term effect will be devastating to our national interest.

The continued excellence of American science and technology is vital to our security and prosperity — and depends on an exacting meritocracy and, at the top, an intensity of vocational devotion that few men or women can achieve.

Of course, as Glenn Reynolds notes, why should the feds stop there? Have you noticed the glaring gender discrimination that exists among elementary school teachers?

The Crisis that Isn’t

John Stossel puts the kabosh on all the screaming headlines about the looming financial meltdown due to the subprime mortgage mess. Words like “disaster” and “crisis” are not justified by the facts.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2007 fourth-quarter survey reports that foreclosures came to 2.04 percent of all mortgages. Many of those were speculators seeking flip profits rather than homeowners losing a dream house. During the quarter, only 0.83 percent of homes entered the foreclosure process. It may get worse — in March, “foreclosure filings, default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions rose 5 percent,” Reuters reports. But let’s keep things in perspective: Ninety-eight percent of borrowers are not in foreclosure. Only a small percentage of them are even late in payments.

So why all the wringing of hands in the media and among politicians? Simple — it gins up support for the government to “do something.” Which means another grab for your wallet.

Sigh. When will Americans learn that the government is the problem, not the solution?

Bundle Up! It’s Gonna Get Cold!

Phil Chapman (geophysicist, astronautical engineer, former NASA astronaut) has been looking at sun spots (or lack thereof), and presents a compelling case for climate change — but not Al Gore’s version.

There is a close correlation between variations in the sunspot cycle and Earth’s climate. The previous time a cycle was delayed like this was in the Dalton Minimum, an especially cold period that lasted several decades from 1790.

Northern winters became ferocious: in particular, the rout of Napoleon’s Grand Army during the retreat from Moscow in 1812 was at least partly due to the lack of sunspots.

That the rapid temperature decline in 2007 coincided with the failure of cycle No.24 to begin on schedule is not proof of a causal connection but it is cause for concern.

It is time to put aside the global warming dogma, at least to begin contingency planning about what to do if we are moving into another little ice age, similar to the one that lasted from 1100 to 1850.

Borrowing a page from the global warming alarmists’ playbook, Chapman paints a pretty bleak picture of what conditions would be like if we really are heading for another ice age. Global warming would be a godsend. He acknowledges an element of uncertainty here, but cautions people to at least consider the possibility, even if it’s not politically expedient.

All those urging action to curb global warming need to take off the blinkers and give some thought to what we should do if we are facing global cooling instead.

It will be difficult for people to face the truth when their reputations, careers, government grants or hopes for social change depend on global warming, but the fate of civilisation may be at stake.

(via InstaPundit)

Biofuels: A Greenie Boondoggle

Steve Milloy argues that the recent push to develop biofuels from food stocks is a lose-lose-lose proposition. The fuel-from-food has not reduced our dependence on foreign oil, it has not reduced carbon emissions (and according to some research, may even make it worse), and is driving up the cost of basic foods, which severely impacts the poorest inhabitants of the planet.

In the meantime, of course, the greenies are doing everything they can to restrict our access to cheaper, more dependable sources of energy, such as coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and wind.

Millions in the developing world have died and continue to do so from the greens’ campaign against pesticides such as DDT. Nothing less should be expected from their new campaign that threatens global food and energy production.

UPDATE: One U. N. official calls the hunger crisis “a silent tsunami,” and specifically calls out the biofuel craze for blame. Furthermore,

The World Health Organization views hunger as the No. 1 threat to public health around the world, responsible for a third of child deaths and 10 percent of all disease.

Hmmm. And all this time, I thought global warming was our greatest challenge.

Can I Take a Virtual Tour Online?

A new museum has just opened in Washington, D. C., dedicated to honoring the role of newspapers in preserving free speech in America.

Somehow this seems appropriate. As traditional newspapers are fast going the way of the dodo bird with the rise of the New Media, a museum will soon be the only place you can find a newspaper.

A Brokered Convention for Dems?

With Hillary’s win today in Pennsylvania, Jeff Greenfield examines the possibility of a brokered convention in Denver in August. The biggest problem, of course, is that there are no brokers to be found. Trying to bring order to all the disparate influences tugging at the super delegates is, in Greenfield’s words, like “herding cats.”

And besides, “even if you could somehow find the brokers, where would they gather? With all the ordinances and clean-air talk today, there’s not a single smoke-filled room to be found.”

Global Warming: Science or Emotion?

While doing a Google search on Thomas Kuhn and global warming, I stumbled across a lengthy review of a book by warming alarmist Mark Lynas, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. The review, written by Josie Appleton in Spiked, contained this nugget of wisdom:

The less self-reflective the science, and the more it is founded on political and moral campaigns, the less reliable it is likely to be. And in Lynas, we see how global warming science has become a foil for a whole series of political and moral agendas, a way of discussing everything from the sins of consumerism to human arrogance. Outlining the effects of a four degrees rise in temperature, Lynas writes: ‘Poseidon [God of the sea] is angered by arrogant affronts from mere mortals like us. We have woken him from a thousand-year slumber, and this time his wrath will know no bounds.’ Not only Poseidon and Gaia but also terms such as ‘Mother Nature’ and ‘nature’s revenge’ have slipped into everyday discussion about climate change. Darwin did not, so far as we know, give names of Gods to his finches. When scientific concepts start to be discussed in such emotional terms, it suggests that they say more about wish than reality.

I thought this quote was appropriate to share on this Earth Day, when we are being treated to so much blather about how we must change our ways for the sake of the planet. Perhaps some changes are necessary, but let’s be very careful here: Science that gets hijacked by political and moral agendas can cause a lot of unintended but serious harm.

Return to Feudalism

An article by Heather Whipps on the impact of the Magna Carta on English law prompts reflection on the current political scene.

For those who may not be familiar with this document, Whipps provides a brief history:

Feudalism was the framework by which all landowning was governed in England during medieval times. It essentially granted the king control of all the land in his kingdom, which was worked by peasants and overseen by feudal barons. Everyone in the hierarchy had financial and social responsibilities to the rank above them, including the barons, who reported directly to the king.

Most of England’s kings didn’t exercise all of their feudal rights, such as the power to control who their tenants married. That wasn’t the case, however, with King John, the ruler fictionalized as the bad guy in “Robin Hood.” John’s abuses of the feudal system were frequent and angered the barons, who were regularly extorted of their lands and profits.

Fed up, in 1215 the barons rebelled and pressured the king into signing the Magna Carta, a list of 63 clauses drawn up to limit John’s power. It was the first time royal authority officially became subject to the law, instead of reigning above it.

Whipps goes on to describe the influence of this groundbreaking document on later English law, and eventually the U. S. Constitution.

The key point to notice here is the principle that, as described in the American Declaration of Independence, men are created with “certain inalienable rights,” rights that derive from their free moral nature as human beings, not from the arbitrary whims of kings. We have these rights, not because a benevolent government grants them to us, but because of what we are. The recognition of these transcendent rights has been enshrined in English and American law for centuries, and has played a key role in our history as a free and prosperous people.

Today, however, Americans — largely ignorant of this history — are slowly surrendering their rights back to their rulers. More and more we are turning to the government to fix our problems and right our wrongs. We are quite happy to let the government punish others, if it gives us some sense of “justice,” not realizing that some day that same power will be used against us, for much the same reason. We are returning to the medieval order of things, where human rights are gifts of the king, to be dispensed as his royal highness deems fit.

At some point, we may, like the barons of 1215, get fed up and confront our government with another Magna Carta, demanding that it respect the human rights it has so willingly taken over.

The Future of Automotive Technology

. . . Is very small, as in tiny.

Two new cars are redefining the meaning of “compact.” The Smart Fortwo is already selling like hotcakes here in the U.S. And Volkswagon is developing its new Up! vehicle, which it hopes will match the sales phenomenon of the early Beetle. Both of these vehicles are reported to get gas mileage in excess of 70 mph.

Can you envision yourself tooling around town in one of these?

UPDATE (4/22/08):  But not every Smart car is a little toy. My son just returned from a business trip to Germany, where he snapped this pic of a Smart car that is much more manly.

Microsoft’s Vista Problem

Microsoft’s release last year of its new Vista operating system has been a disappointment for many users. Early adopters encountered annoying problems with their upgrades. Consequently, many current users of XP (including me) are quite happy with the status quo and have no desire to upgrade.

Now comes a report from industry analyst Gartner Group that Microsoft could be facing deeper problems if it doesn’t get its flagship product straightened out.

A new analysis from Gartner warns . . . that Windows is on the verge of collapse under its own weight and that if it doesn’t do something quickly it is a matter of inevitability that a more able competitor will eventually dethrone it.

Fortunately for Microsoft, Linux and Apple are not ready to go head-to-head against Windows — yet. But that could change.

Boomers Enter Retirement Years

As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement age, demographers ponder what impact their exit from the workplace will have on the nation’s economy.

The conventional wisdom is that millions of new retirees will put a strain on the system that cannot be sustained.

But some are not convinced that the boomers are all that eager to retire. There is evidence that many are “re-careering” at the age when their parents were settling into their rocking chairs. This trend is aided by longer life spans that make the traditional retirement age seem younger than it used to be.

Megan McArdle conducts a careful examination of both sides of this equation, and comes to this conclusion:

If we will be worse off than we could be in an ideal world, we will still be better off than we are now, workers and retirees alike. We’ll not only be at least somewhat richer; we’ll also have years and years more to enjoy our health and wealth.

As a boomer myself who is sees retirement age creeping up on me, I can honestly say I really have no desire to retire. I enjoy what I do for a living, and look forward to many more productive years ahead.

Of course, it’s probably genetic. My 81-year-old mother — long retired from her “real” career, but still healthy and sharp — is still working at a part time job. Not because she has to, but because she’s bored sitting around the house.

Hillary Prediction

Peggy Noonan offers an intriguing prediction about Hillary:

At some future point Mrs. Clinton will leave, and at a more distant one she will try to come back. But more than one cycle will have to pass before she does. She’ll need more than four years to shake off the impression she made in 2008. And this is how you’ll know she’s making another bid for the presidency. She will wear skirts. Gone will be the pantsuits that made her look like a small blond man with breasts. It’s the new me, I wear skirts! Her first impulse is to think cosmetically. A long and weary life in politics has left her thinking this is the way to think.

So file this away for a few years and look for the sign: When Hillary starts wearing skirts, she’ll be gearing up for another run at the White House.

X-Files: “I Want to Believe”

That’s the official name of the new X-Files movie, due in theaters July 25. Chris Carter, the director, describes the extraordinary lengths to which he went to keep the plot secret from the public. He did reveal, however, that the usual aliens conspiracy does not play a role in this movie.

Climate Change in Wikipedia

I often use Wikipedia to get quick facts on a wide range of topics. I have usually found its user-generated information to be thorough and helpful.

But on the subject of global warming, there appears to be a global warming zealot in the editor’s chair, who is working tirelessly to ensure that only the “consensus” viewpoint is given credence. Lawrence Solomon relates his own experience at trying to post information on the history of the global warming debate. He no sooner posts his information, than the esteemed editor deletes or changes his entry.

By patrolling Wikipedia pages and ensuring that her spin reigns supreme over all climate change pages, she has made of Wikipedia a propaganda vehicle for global warming alarmists.

Solomon’s experience demonstrates once again that the current global warming alarmism is not based on science, but on a political agenda.

Solomon, by the way, has just published a compilation of articles he has written over the last couple of years profiling a number of distinguished scientists who challenge the prevailing wisdom on global warming.

What Happens When Science Mixes with Politics

The mad push to convert a large segment of the North American grain market into biofuels is encountering the law of unintended consequences: Poor people elsewhere are starving.

Convinced that global warming due to the burning of fossil fuels is the Number One problem of our age, governments have adopted policies that reward growing crops for ethanol production, rather than for food. The markets have responded accordingly, and now the poorer nations of the world are struggling to find food for their people.

Whatever the arguments, politics is intruding. Food export controls have been imposed by Russia, China, India, Vietnam, Argentina, and Serbia. We are disturbingly close to a chain reaction that could shatter our assumptions about food security. . . .

The world intelligentsia has been asleep at the wheel. While we rage over global warming, global hunger has swept in under the radar screen.

Bjorn Lomborg is right: Whatever the science surrounding climate change, this planet has a lot bigger problems to worry about than global warming. The politicization of the climate debate is now costing lives.

UPDATE: Simon Jenkins in The Guardian notes, “Until recently, most greenery has seemed no more than a feelgood parlour game. Now it is getting serious.”

The marketplace is never perfect, but in this matter it could not be worse than government action. Playing these games has so far made a few people very rich at the cost of the taxpayer. Now the cost is in famine and starvation. This is no longer a game.