The thread started with a posting by the moderator linking to the BBC’s Great Global Warming Swindle video.

The initial response, posted here with permission from the

anonymous

author, was

There IS a lot of publicity that plate tectonics occurs. Darn that publicity! However, there isn’t a lot of publicity that the earth sits on the back of a turtle. Wonder why?

There IS a shortage of publicity for the “contrarian” view that the moon is really papier-maché. Why? That claim hasn’t gone through the gauntlet that is science, the scientific method and publishing system.

It is the same with the contrarian view regarding global warming: where are the peer-reviewed research projects?

The problem with the material on the contrarian side is that, for the most part, it is self-published, non-journaled, non-peer reviewed. Why are these processes important? They are the gauntlet through which science puts its work to ensure objectivity and accuracy. This gauntlet works surprisingly well; we can name on just a few fingers the times that bad science was published in the last three decades in respected journals – think Fleishman and Pons of “cold fusion” fame and SNUPY, the dog of South Korea cloning fame.

Imagine a doctor about to open you up for surgery saying, “Well, I read about this new procedure on a web site sponsored by bodyparts.com. In fact, I’m inserting into you a part made by Ennox, a multi-billion dollar company. They sponsor the web site…..but keep that part quiet. I just found about about this as I’m really clever.”

“Have the procedure or implant been verified?” you ask?

“No, but this has to be true as it is contrarian and links to several pieces on quite a few op-ed pages.”

You look skeptical. “Is there any original peer-reviewed research on this surgery?”

“Well……uh…..those peer-review folks are all alike. They are wacky. Trust me.”

I think you’d probably get off the operating table.

Imagine boarding a new jet that hasn’t gone through the testing process. Do you think you’d fly when the captain says, “Well, we’ve not really verified anything, but we didn’t agree with the way the old planes were designed and now we’re going to try this plane. Sit down and enjoy the ride.”

Science really IS a rigorous process. Scientists are conservative by nature; they aren’t into making outlandish claims or statements. Most often when their extrapolations err, it is on the conservative side. Add to this inherent careful nature of true scientists, the processes of science, which create even more layers of rigor. There is a difference between peer-reviewed, synthesis-based, journaled work and self-published, non-peer-reviewed material. Sadly, most Americans can’t distinguish the two.

On the other hand, Steve Milloy and his ilk, often secretly funded through fossil fuel “think tanks”, frequently “publish” their work on the internet, write articles and op-ed pieces, and self-publish books. They don’t go through peer review. Wonder why? I think the answer is obvious. It is the same reason the “tobacco-smoking-is-good-for-you” “research” didn’t get peer review. It wasn’t true. It didn’t hold up to rigorous examination.

Here is a review of a recent denier book. The review has some good points to make. Either listen or read. here.

In the 1970s and ‘80, we were warned about the damage to the ozone hole. We changed our actions. Those changes are having a measurable effect now. Lessons? 1) Human actions DO cause changes on a global scale. 2) You can get a lot accomplished when there isn’t a large industry spreading misinformation. (Read here )

Before arguing AGAINST something, it might be nice to know what the something is. You can read the original AR4 Synthsis report at here. Doing so would seem to be logical, unless data don’t matter and one’s mind already is fixed.

Some handy FAQs are here

This led to numerous replies, which were not forwarded by the list owner (this list is a notification list, not a mailing list).

My response was is the first response on this post. Please feel free to comment.

If this bald electioneering on the public payroll isn’t a crime, it should be! Once again, the teachers have shown that their selfish interests are more important than their sacred trust.

It is this sort of nonsense that causes me to ALWAYS vote against public school district funding – and I did so today.

My mother spent 20 years as a public school math teacher. When my daughter was born, there was one commandment: “No grandchild of mine should ever go to a public school!”

WARNING: Californians, DON’T MOVE TO ARIZONA unless you like the following:

• We have lots of guns and allow open carry or licensed concealed carry.
• We have plenty of conservatives.
• We have the country’s largest nuclear power plant.
• We allow and have plenty of evil-looking assault rifles&#153, and we keep them pointed west.
• We don’t have Hollywood stars to tell us how to think.
• We don’t label everything that has a .00000000000001 chance of causing cancer.
• We used to have lots of trees to hug, but the environmentalists let many of them burn. The rest are for us, not you.
• We don’t have a coastal commission.
• We don’t have any nude beaches.
• We have annual hunting seasons, including one on tree-huggers and another on animal-rights extremists.
• Barry Goldwater was from here.
• Dan Quayle and Gordon Liddy live here.
• It gets warm here, although today it is only 107F.
• Every wild bee in Arizona is a KILLER BEE!
• We also have lots of these (picture from my street a couple of days ago – Tiger Rattlesnake):
  

Trust me… if you don’t like this, don’t come!

“I’m angry Arizona is being put through this because this pipeline broke and there didn’t appear to be an adequate backup plan,” Napolitano said during a news conference. “And I’m angry that the private sector, which is supposed to be in charge of running gasoline into the Valley, doesn’t have its act together to deal with a critical situation, so now the public sector has to step in.”

Actually, Gray Janet, the private sector is in charge of making profits and obeying the law. Furthermore, the public sector is responsible for the problem in the first place, by requiring that the Phoenix area use a blend of gasoline used nowhere else in the country, and then by failing to act appropriately when the shortage was predicted. The private sector’s main contribution to the problem was media hyping causing a buying panic.

Here is the chronology:

• July 30 – Pipeline Ruptures
• July 30 – Kinder Morgan (pipeline company) notifies US Department of Transportation (which regulates the pipeline).
• July 30 – KM notifies Arizona Corporation Commission (which works for Gray Napolitano, of course).
• Aug 8 – KM shuts down pipeline completely for repairs.
• Aug 8 – KM notifies US DOT.
• Aug 8 – KM notifies the Arizona Corporation Commission, which works for Napolitano.
• Aug 8 – KM starts preparing paperwork for government approval.
• Aug 10 – Arizona Petroleum Marketer Association notifies Napolitano, who should have already heard of it from the ACC. Predictions of spot shortages over the weekend of Aug 17-18 were made, based on normal demand.
• Aug 11 – Pipeline repaired but not turned on due to government regulations.
• Aug 11 – AAA Arizona warns public of possibility of spot shortages.
• Aug 15 – Kinder Morgan submits government paperwork. Government tries to apply natural gas testing standards to liquid line.
• Aug 13 – Napolitano predicts spotty gas outages. The media starts hyping the problem, finding the few stations short on gas and highlighting them on TV.
• Aug 17 – Massive gas shortages in Phoenix because of media-induced panic buying.
• Aug 19 – Government finally approves testing of line.
• Aug 19 – Napolitano finally takes action, demanding conservation among state employees (unlikely to have much effect), urging private companies to reduce commuter trips (unlikely to have any effect) and lifting restrictions on how many hours truck drivers can work in a shift (either these restrictions are unnecessary to begin with, or she is endangering the public by lifting them).
• Aug 19 – The EPA finally gives a 30 day waiver on the requirement for the “Phoenix blend” fuels (either the requirement is unnecessary or the EPA is endangering public health. In any case, this was NOT mentioned in the article.).
• Aug 20 – Just in! Pipeline test fails.

Does anyone notice the heavy hand of government in this? Certainly Gray Janet doesn’t.

Napolitano’s biggest complaint is that her office wasn’t notified until two days after the start of the incident, even though offices reporting to her were notified the same day as the pipeline rupture. She also complained that the petroleum industry failed to anticipate the consumer panic, but this was caused largely by irresponsible media coverage, which Janet’s entire state government also failed to anticipate.

Napolitano failed to mention that the entire problem would never have occurred except for EPA rules requiring a unique “Phoenix blend” of gasoline in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Had Napolitano been forward looking, she would have requested a temporary EPA waiver, which would have been granted in time to avert the crisis.

Finally, nowhere in the superficially comprehensive newspaper article are environmental restrictions or the “Phoenix blend” requirements mentioned. The detailed listing of events even fails to mention the most significant recent event – the EPA waiver!

This is not the first time that the Arizona Republic has shown a significant pro-environmentalist bias in its stories.

Anyway, our dynamic duo, the Democrat Attorney General and the Democrat Governor are now proposing to ensure that future shortages of gasoline are bad. They are going to outlaw “gouging.” Always a sensible voice, Zonitics emphatically demands “gouging” and shows one of the ways it would help, and why it is needed!

The Arizona Anti-RepublicanRepublic details the idiotic response to this totally environmentalist-made crisis:

Attorney General Terry Goddard …
Democrat, son of a former Democrat governor, probable future governor

has received hundreds of complaints about runaway price increases at the Valley’s gas outlets that still have fuel.
From failed graduates of our “educational system” who believe that the government should interfere in the market whenever convenient
…
But Channel 12 (KPNX) spotted a north Phoenix tire shop charging $4.27 for regular unleaded and $4.97 for premium Monday morning. After the film crew showed up, employees lowered the price to $2.97 for regular and $3.97 for premium; the regular price rose to $3.47 by evening.
In other words, the sensationalist media spotted some entrepreneurs whose self-interested actions would help reduce hoarding. These entrepreneurs knew that the press would vilify them, so they unsuccessfully tried to prevent this.

Goddard said that legally there is nothing he can do about claims of price gouging. Arizona has no law against it.
Good! Leave it that way!

He and Gov. Janet Napolitano
Democrat, of course. Appointed as US Attorney general during Clinton’s “night of the long knives” for US Attorneys. Persecutor of Republican Fife Symington, the best Arizona governor in recent history, whom she drove from office with political prosecutions.

said Monday that they would push to change that when the legislative session begins in January.
Can’t keep her hands off the economy.
…
Goddard said he is investigating the complaints anyway, to help build a case for a new law against unfairly profiteering during an emergency.
Perhaps he should be studying Economics 101 instead. Arizona State University is not far from his office.

While the laws may prevent oil companies from taking advantage of consumer panic during emergencies, they also can have a downside for retailers who must pay higher wholesale prices.

“If a retailer can’t sell his fuel for what it’s worth, he may say to hell with it and not even open,” Gagliano said. “You run that risk if you demand that these guys open their stations and sell at a certain cost.”
Good for this reporter! He quotes at least one person who understands something about the free market. Even better would be a recognition that higher prices might cause people to reduce unnecessary hoarding (a rational action in a shortage, but one that increases the problem). Higher prices could lead to innovative increases in supply, such as fuel trucks coming to the area, seeking a profit by carrying fuel that the pipeline cannot carry!

Republican Rep. Joe Hart said gas prices shot up 25 cents over the past week in his hometown of Kingman even though the community gets its fuel trucked in from Las Vegas, unlike most of the state.

“That has a foul odor to it,” Hart said. “I believe in the free enterprise system, and I think the free market should prevail. But if they can cripple us like this, I think we better look it.

“I just can’t believe we just have a single source for our most valuable resource in the state.”
Notice that at least the Republican is looking at something practical, like investigating why a single pipeline failure can lead to such shortages. He didn’t even mention “gouging!”

The problem could, of course, be quickly solved by waiving the rules until the pipeline is flowing again, allowing the plentiful supplies of normal gas to be used. But since a federal bureaucracy and federal environmental laws are involved, such a common sense measure has not been taken.

Also, the pipeline has been fixed. But it cannot be used again until it is tested, and that requires federal bureaucratic approval. It will take 7 to 10 days to get that approval. Why? Well, a bureaucracy is involved!

Governmental bureaucracies, especially the EPA, are a favorite instrument of the environmentalists for ruling the people of America. In this case, the Phoenicians are suffering as a result.

And then to make matters worse, the media and the same democrat politicians who enable the environmental bureaucrats are condemning gas stations for “gouging.” Gouging, of course, is really just the market responding to shortage by increasing prices. It has a positive effect by creating disincentives for nonessential gasoline purchases, and incentives for ingenious people to increase the supplies.

Don’t expect the ignorant media or the leftist politicans to understand this, or care! After all, it’s not like America has a free market economy!

Edward at Zonitics is feeling the pain, too!