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Rhetorical cheapshots from a usual suspect

Global warming is complicated, and often counter-intuitive, which is one reason most scientists prefer the phrase "climate change" to describe it. But whether you call it climate change or global warming, its complexity offers easy opportunities for rhetorical cheap shots to right-wing zealots such as Drudge, who would like the whole issue to go away. Yesterday his popular tabloid ran an item about how a House hearing on the "warming of the planet" had to be canceled due to freezing rain.

One problem with the irony: this kind of "precipitation event" is exactly the scenario scientists predict for a warming planet.

In a statement prepared before his testimony about climate change to the same House Committee on Science and Technology last week, leading climatologist Dr. Kevin Trenberth, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research warned:

Mildly funny

In other video news, last night scientist Michael Oppenheimer appear on the Colbert Report. He did a fairly good (though not particularly funny) job, though it really highlights the disparity between the horrendous consequences forecasted and the wan, pitiful solutions offered (light bulbs!). Video below the fold:

He does not fare well

Christopher Horner, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute [no, no! He works at the Competitive Enterprise Institute — very different thing. Jon Stewart got it wrong too. My apologies. See comments.], has a book out called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism. He appeared on The Daily Show last night. He […]

Now he’s lobbying America on climate change

Am I huffing glue, or is this a real story? Tony Blair is to devote himself to fighting global warming when he quits power this summer by promoting an American rethink on the Kyoto protocol. Tony Blair decided the best time to lobby America for a “rethink” on global warming is after he’s divested of […]

Washington is still the weakest link

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Washington was the West Coast's weakest link when it comes to climate policy. Since then, the Evergreen State has stepped up with the outline of a plan to put a sizable dent in emissions. (That's in addition to some small-caliber but near-term policies). This was such great news that I was tempted to change my handicapping.

But then I read the papers yesterday ...

Maybe

After years of rumors and false starts, Edward Abbey’s classic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, credited with inspiring the Earth First! movement, may finally make it to a movie theater near you. The 1975 book follows a foursome of activists angry about the overdevelopment of Utah’s canyonlands and not afraid to show it — by […]

Tell us when green bursts from the screen

For the second time in two nights, I was innocently watching bad TV when a green theme popped up. A gal can’t get a break from her day job these days with so many producers rushing to prove their eco-cred. So how far-reaching is this trend? Figuring that out will either require me to watch […]

McCain and Lieberman have it

McCain and Lieberman have an op-ed on global warming in The Boston Globe today. It’s good enough, but this bit — no one will be surprised to hear — rubs me the wrong way: How can Congress close the deal to prevent catastrophic global warming while it still has the chance? In the same way […]

Czech pres. isn’t on board with the climate change thing

Václav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic, thinks the whole global warming thing is a hoax: Global warming is a myth and I think that every serious person and scientist says so. It is unfair to refer to the United Nations panel. IPCC is not a scientific body: it’s a political institution, a kind […]

A new green blog

Joel Makower wrote to let me know about an intriguing new blog on Greenbiz: "Turning the Ship." It’s about greening the U.S. economy, and features posts from smarty-pants types from Yale, Harvard, Pew, and other smarty-pant hotbeds. Check it out. (Hopefully I can convince Joel to kill the frame. Didn’t frames in web pages die […]