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Anatomy of Debunking

  UPDATE:  For an independent vindication of my reporting here, see Bloomberg interview of Dubner and Caldeira backs up my reporting on error-riddled Superfreakonomics. Dubner is baffled that Caldeira “doesn’t believe geoengineering can work without cutting emissions.” I wish I didn’t have to waste valuable blogging time writing this post to set the record straight.  […]

Error-riddled 'SuperFreakonomics,' Part 5

n SuperFreakonomics, Levitt and Dubner write of Ken Caldeira (page 184), “Yet his research tells him that carbon dioxide is not the right villain in this fight.”  What he really believes, as he wrote me last weekend, is: I compare CO2 emissions to mugging little old ladies….  It is wrong to mug little old ladies […]

Error-riddled 'SuperFreakonomics,' Part 4

This post looks at Nobelist Krugman’s first take-down of the single most stunning economic error in SuperFreakonomics.  I’ll also take on the authors disingenuous response to the critics (including me), “The Rumors of Our Global-Warming Denial Are Greatly Exaggerated.” No, I don’t know any critics who called them global warming “deniers” — I don’t use […]

Error-riddled 'SuperFreakonomics,' Part 3

First a favor:  Please digg my original debunking of Superfreakonomics by clicking here. I’m trying to draw as much attention as possible to the post since the book comes out Tuesday, it has a huge media blitz, and will be heavily reviewed.   My post already been referenced by Nobelist Paul Krugman on his blog […]

NOAA – Second hottest September on record

NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center has issued its latest monthly, “State of the Climate: Global Analysis,” which found: The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for September 2009 was 0.62°C (1.12°F) above the 20th Century average of 15.0°C (59.0°F). This was the second warmest September on record, behind 2005, and the 33rd consecutive September […]

EPA analysis appears doubly flawed

Midwesterners are operating under the misimpression that the allocation formula in the House bill is unfair to them.  It doesn’t, although a new, flawed EPA “analysis” (”here“) suggests otherwise. Certainly the formula is a tad ambiguous and that will no doubt be fixed in the Senate.  The figure above shows the results of analysis by […]

Santer, Jones, and Schneider respond to CEI’s phony attack

When we last left the Competitive Enterprise Institute, they were going ape for the Scopes climate trial that the Chamber of Commerce had proposed for the EPA.  The deniers just stick their fingers and their ears and scream whenever they hear any science-based finding that GHGs harm human health.  What else can you expect from […]

Error-riddled 'SuperFreakonomics,' Part 2

UPDATE: For an even bigger shocker, read Myhrvold’s “rebuttal,” which actually endorses my main critique (!):  Nathan Myhrvold jumps the shark — and jumps ship on Levitt and Dubner (on their blog!) asserting: “Geoengineering is proposed only as a last resort to try to reduce or cope with the even greater harms of global warming! […]

Saudis want aid if world cuts oil use

Let’s call it The Audacity of hOPEC.  AP reported last week: Saudi Arabia has led a quiet campaign during these and other negotiations — demanding behind closed doors that oil-producing nations get special financial assistance if a new climate pact calls for substantial reductions in the use of fossil fuels. That campaign comes despite an […]

Murkowski praises Kerry-Boxer

The climate train is leaving the station.  It is becoming increasingly likely Congress will pass a comprehensive energy bill that includes a shrinking cap and a rising carbon price (with a price collar).   Key swing Senators are moving away from obstructionism toward a bipartisan deal.  Those who stand on the sidelines not only risk ending […]