Bjorn Lomborg

He was nice to Gore

One thing worth noting from this morning’s hearing: Dingell, whom I expected to challenge Gore aggressively, asked him not a single question. In fact, he was enormously respectful of Gore. And the way he attempted to pronounce Bjorn Lomborg’s name made it clear that it was not him who invited Lomborg. Maybe he really has […]

Political wonks everywhere feel the electricity!

In what may be the blockbuster hit of the political season, Al Gore is testifying to Congress tomorrow — twice. Not only is his testimony expected to influence the direction of coming legislation, but it may also reveal something of his intentions on the presidential race. One way or another, there’s sure to be drama. […]

Why Broad’s NYT piece isn’t all that important

[ed. note from David Roberts: It appears everyone in the climate world was writing about this piece at once! My response is here; RealClimate's is here; Tim Lambert's is here. Now take it away, Andrew.]

William J. Broad writes today on the complicated relationship between Al Gore and the scientific community in the New York Times.

Here's the thesis of the article:

But part of his scientific audience is uneasy. In talks, articles and blog entries that have appeared since his film and accompanying book came out last year, these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore's central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism.

The gray lady gets it woefully, laughably wrong

Yesterday, Drudge breathlessly reported a coming “hit on Gore” from The New York Times. Today that hit has come, in the form of a state-of-the-art piece of slime from Bill Broad. This may be the worst, sloppiest, most dishonest piece of reporting I’ve ever seen in the NYT. It’s got all the hallmarks of a […]

This Bertrand Russell quote seems relevant to today’s climate debates

This quote from Bertrand Russell just caught my eye:

When one admits that nothing is certain one must, I think, also admit that some things are much more nearly certain than others.

I think the climate change deniers would do very well to keep this in mind.

Lomborg whines

Al Gore cancels interview with hostile newspaper editor and tired shtickster Bjorn Lomborg. Editor and Lomborg throw tantrum on Wall Street Journal op-ed page. Addendum: I don’t know how much it will end up costing to substantially reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions. My strong suspicion is that in the long-term it will have a […]

The former says nothing about the latter

“We found that there is just no way that the observed changes [in hurricane strength] [in sea-surface temperatures] could be attributed purely to internally generated natural variability.” (see correction at bottom of post) So said Tom Wigley — one of many people at NCAR with more expertise and peer-reviewed papers in the area of hurricanes […]

Richard Branson chats about embracing ethanol and slashing airplane emissions

Does a music mogul who signed the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson have what it takes to make a pop star out of biofuels? Sir Richard. Earlier this fall, publicity-chasing British entrepreneur Richard Branson made a $3 billion bet that he could do just that — and help solve the climate crisis to boot — […]

What’s the real cost of climate change, and where do all those numbers come from?

As serious governments shift the climate-change debate from whether the phenomenon exists to the best means to combat it, one of the first things officials want to know is how much economic damage it will cause — and how much measures to fight it might cost. It is the trillion-dollar question, and figures are flying […]