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‘Scientist’ debunks global warming based on a typo, itself based on a fabricated data set. Fun.

Oh lordy, this is hilarious.

First, David Bellamy of The Conservation Foundation writes a letter to New Scientist denying global warming and claiming that "555 of all the 625 glaciers under observation by the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich, Switzerland, have been growing since 1980."

Subsequent letters debunked the claim, but it's a curious claim to begin with, yes? So writer/journalist George Monbiot decided to look into it, and after much valiant labor, tracked down the source. To quote from Tim Lambert's summary:

He got it from a crackpot web site ("The next ice age could begin any day"), which got it from Larouche's 21st Century Science, which got from SEPP, which seem to have made it up. Plus he made a typo, turning 55% into 555. [Emphasis mine.]

A typo! And yet it instantly spread through flat-earth circles, becoming part of the skeptical gospel.

I conclude with a quote from Monbiot that both Lambert and Mooney share, but which can't be spread too widely:

It is hard to convey just how selective you have to be to dismiss the evidence for climate change. You must climb over a mountain of evidence to pick up a crumb: a crumb which then disintegrates in the palm of your hand. You must ignore an entire canon of science, the statements of the world’s most eminent scientific institutions, and thousands of papers published in the foremost scientific journals. You must, if you are David Bellamy, embrace instead the claims of an eccentric former architect, which are based on what appears to be a non-existent data set. And you must do all this while calling yourself a scientist.

Immelt goes green(ish)

Dave flagged GE's ecomagination initiative on Sunday, and here's the Dow Jones wire report on Immelt's speech:

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. needs to be more like Europe and develop a clear environmental policy on issues such as climate change and use of renewable energy, said General Electric Co. (GE) Chief Executive Jeff Immelt Monday.

He called Europe "the global regulatory superpower" when it comes to environmental policy, noting that Europe is using more wind power now because five years ago it set a clear goal to do just that.

Similar actions need to be taken in the U.S., said Immelt.

"Long-term certainty would help us all make smart decisions," he said, sitting next to executives from some of GE's customers, such as American Electric Power (AEP) and Cinergy Corp. (CIN). Immelt and the other executives spoke at a press conference on a new environmental initiative GE unveiled Monday.

This is, I think, one of the dynamic effects of the Kyoto protocol that got short shrift amid discussion of whether the U.S. should adopt limits on carbon emissions and whether Kyoto would actually make a difference. We're seeing companies pivot and demand climate change action sooner rather than later so that they can plan accordingly. It also helps that GE is in the wind energy business.

Charisma

Over on American Prospect, Chris Mooney reflects on the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the strange role of charisma in our efforts to recover endangered species.

Huffington Post

I hope we can expect more than this in the way of environmental coverage over on Arianna's new playground.

A new cartoon from the Meatrix folks.

From the folks that brought you the legendary Meatrix comes Store Wars, the story of Cuke Skywalker, Ham Solo, and ... oh, man, I feel dumb even writing this.

It's funny, though. Go watch it.

Michael Klare makes the case.

Michael T. Klare has another great piece up on Tom Dispatch, this one about the logic of global energy, which is pushing pretty inexorably toward conflict.

With prices rising all over the world and serious shortages in the offing, every major consuming nation is coming under increasing pressure to maximize its relative share of the available energy supply. Inevitably, these pressures will pit one state against another in the competitive pursuit of oil and natural gas.

...

Indeed, once a problem like energy security has been tagged as a matter of national security, it passes from the realm of economics and statecraft into that of military policy. Then, the generals and strategists get into the act and begin their ceaseless planning for endless "contingencies" and "emergencies." In such an environment, small incidents evolve into crises, and crises into wars. Expect a hot couple of decades ahead.

Read the whole piece for the gory details.

What’s a PUV?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you …

... Mr. Floatie.

Now we know where it all went.

According to a new report, U.S. drivers stuck in traffic wasted 2.3 billion gallons of fuel in 2003 -- 69 million more than in 2002. This sobering fact brought to you by the Texas Transportation Insitute's most recent -- and somewhat incongrously named -- Urban Mobility Report.

Kenn Kaufman, birding guru, answers questions

Kenn Kaufman. What work do you do? I’m associated with National Audubon Society (currently as field editor for Audubon magazine), and I cooperate with other groups, but 90 percent of my work is freelance. All of my focus is on getting more people interested in nature: not just nature as an abstract idea, not just […]