Global Warming ?

[scottw]

Originally Posted by PaulS

The scientists were not "discredited". 5 reviews (including one by Britian's Roayal Society and the House of Commons) did not dispute the science. Penn State also exonerated Michael Mann of any scientific wrongdoing.

The reviews did find that the emails were "mean spirited, others were dismissive of contrarian views, and others revealed a reluctance to share data".

The reviews also complained mildly about one poorly explained temp. chart discussed in the emails, but found no reason to dispute the scientists "rigor and honesty".

British panel clears ‘Climate-gate’ scientists of bias
A British report released Wednesday on the “Climate-gate” scandal criticizes a key group of scientists for lack of transparency and other problems with how they presented their data, but it concludes that their underlying scientific work is sound—and one of the top scientists is getting his job back.
In November, climate change experts at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit found themselves under intense scrutiny when over 1,000 internal e-mails were obtained and uploaded to the Web by hackers. Some climate change skeptics accused the scientists of manipulating data to suppress evidence.
But the experts’ overall “rigor and honesty as scientists are not in doubt,” the new report on the scandal found. The report was requested and paid for by the university, and the panel that conducted the investigation was led by Muir Russell, a retired civil servant and educator.
Last year, Phil Jones, a leading climatologist at the university, temporarily stepped down when he was caught in the center of the firestorm, but he was immediately reinstated based on the conclusions of the report.

just like Charlie Rangel......it's getting warmer....

But the final say will be in the hands of a skeptical inspector general at the National Science Foundation, the primary funder of the research into global warming. According to published documents. The IG must determine whether Penn State's investigation was adequate.

The Office of Inspector General confirmed that it will review the misconduct charges. According to a spokeswoman "OIG is provided with an institution's investigation report, we review it for fairness, accuracy and completeness" -- issues the investigation has already been faulted for.

Penn State's investigation came under severe attack by critics who argued that the university failed to interview any hostile witnesses, failed to examine the methodology that was at the heart of the controversy and was more concerned that the millions of dollars in grant money it gets by having Mann on the faculty could be jeopardized by adverse findings.

"It was set up to be a total whitewash, and the panel made no effort to investigate," said Steven Milloy, publisher of Junk Science, a Web site that casts doubt on global-warming research. "They didn't even interview the recipients of the e-mails. It is ridiculous,".

A British review board also looked into the leaked e-mails, studying allegations that East Anglia researchers had tampered with data or perverted the peer review process. That panel found the British scientists innocent on March 31 -- although the panel's review included just a single day of testimony, and also drew ire from warming skeptics.

"The University of East Anglia's enquiry into the conduct of its own staff at its Climatic Research Unit has highlighted criticisms of the department and staff conduct – but clears the path for the individuals concerned to carry on. The panel avoided examining the scientific work of the CRU team – as have the two other reviews of the leaked archive by Lord Oxburgh, and the Commons select committee on science. If the academics had used bats' wings or tea leaves to create temperature reconstructions, that wasn't a matter for any of the panels to judge. And this is undoubtedly a shortcoming.



bet they got a standing ovation too!

[buckman]

Napolitano Says DHS to Begin Battling Climate Change as Homeland Security Issue
Friday, December 17, 2010
By J. Brady Howell

(CNSNews.com) - At an all-day White House conference on "environmental justice," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department is creating a new task force to battle the effects of climate change on domestic security operations.

Speaking at the first White House Forum on Environmental Justice on Thursday, Napolitano discussed the initial findings of the department’s recently created "Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force."

This plan also noted: “Many USCG [Coast Guard] and Customs and Border Protection facilities, by their mission, are located in the coastal zone which will be adversely impacted by sea level rise. Costs will increase for protecting existing facilities from the impacts of sea level rise and some facilities might have to be abandoned in the longer term.”

The all day White House Forum on Environmental Justice also included talks by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.


This is getting a little bit crazy now....ya think????

[scottw]

more Obama Green Jobs....these Obama jobs are really...really expensive!

December 22, 2010
Taxpayer-subsidized solar cell maker shuts down
Thomas Lifson
So much for green jobs being the wave of the future, as promised by President Obama. Taxpayer-subsidized solar cell maker Spectra-Watt has announced it is shuttering its plant. The Poughkeepsie Journal reports:

In a stunning reversal, the frequently lauded and taxpayer-funded SpectraWatt Inc. has told the state it will close its solar cell plant starting in March and lay off 117 workers.

The announcement was startling because in the past two months, the company, which had been promised about $8 million in tax dollars, planned to train more workers and changed its work shifts to enable a 24-hour operation.

The company blames the unusually cold winter in Europe: Al Gore...where are thou??

this also.......


Solyndra to Close Factory, Layoff Dozens
By Ucilia Wang Nov. 3, 2010,

This year just hasn’t panned out for Solyndra. The company is going to close its first factory, is delaying expanding its gleaming new factory and is laying off dozens of employees.

The New York Times posted the news on Tuesday night. Solyndra received a federal loan of $535 million last year to build its second factory, which it had aimed to have 500 megawatts of annual production capacity. The Obama administration held up Solyndra as an example of a home-grown cutting-edge technology developer that would deliver lots of green jobs through its factory expansion plan and more than $2 billion in announced sales deals. should have been an omen

Instead, Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison — who joined the company only recently, replacing the founding CEO — told the Times that the company plans to let go about 40 employees and will not renew contracts for 150 temporary workers. (The company said Wednesday morning the number is actually 135.) The Fremont, Calif., company will shutter its first factory to save at least $60 million in capital spending. Instead of boosting its overall production capacity to 610 megawatts by 2013, it’s now looking at up to 300 megawatts by then: less than half the original plan.

can we get half of our money back?

Call Barry, if he's not too busy in Hawaii, maybe he can "save" these jobs!!!! or maybe retrain these people in the field of "environmental justice"(watermelon marxism)

wouldn't it be ironic if a mini ice age caused by Global Warming destroyed the Green Agenda?

[likwid]

Sudden market slump cited SpectraWatt closure plan | poughkeepsiejournal.com | Poughkeepsie Journal

WICCOPEE — In an exclusive interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, a SpectraWatt Inc. official said a sudden change in economic conditions was to blame for the notice given Tuesday that the company will lay off 117 workers and may shut down its solar cell plant beginning in March.

What exactly would temperature have to do with photovoltaic cells?

[scottw]

you tell me...


In a news release, the company said it hopes to reverse the situation that led to the decision, but SpectraWatt officials did not respond to requests for details.
Created with nearly $100 million in private and public investments and announced in April 2009, SpectraWatt ramped up quickly, creating jobs in the midst of high unemployment. It began production by March this year and became one of the brightest new lights in the Hudson Valley economy. Now it has blinked, and may well go out.
"You could have knocked me over," said John MacEnroe, president of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp., which less than seven weeks ago hailed the company with a Business Excellence Award.

Charles North, president of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce, said, "I'm certainly disappointed, and, actually, I'm shocked."

SpectraWatt was offered about $8 million in government subsidies to help get it started, along with at least $91.4 million in private investor support from Intel Capital and others. It could not be determined Tuesday how much of the public subsidy has been given so far to SpectraWatt and what liabilities, if any, were attached to the money. State officials and elected representatives could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The company said, "This action is undertaken in response to deteriorating market conditions resulting from a harsher-than-usual European winter causing a large drop-off in demand for solar cells."The company continues to pursue alternatives aimed at improving its current situation and hopes to reverse this action," the company said.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/a...plans-shutdown

[scottw]

THEN
Monday, 20 March 2000

Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives.

However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".
"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.


NOW

30th December 2010
WINTER MAY BE COLDEST IN 1000 YEARS

Britain's winter is the coldest since 1683 and close to being the chilliest in nearly 1,000 years.

Latest figures reveal that the average temperature since December 1 has been a perishing -1C.

That makes it the second coldest since records began in 1659.

The chilliest on record was 1683/84, when the average was -1.17C and the River Thames froze over for two months.

But with January and February to come, experts believe we could suffer the most freezing cold winter in the last 1,000 years.

The Met Office’s Charlie Powell said: “It’s rare to have cold this prolonged, with temperatures falling incredibly low.

“Temperatures will be down again by Sunday, with nights below freezing and daytimes below average at 3C to 5C. Our outlook forecast to January 26 shows temperatures 2C or 3C below average, frost and ice likely and the highest chance of snow or sleet over the northern half of the UK.”

Although official weather records only go back to 1659, weather experts said the centuries from 1100 to 1500, dubbed the “Medieval warm period”, would not have produced winters as cold as today.

So 2011 could end up being the coldest winter of the last millennium.


Brian Gaze, of The Weather Outlook, said: “It’s very unusual to have a sub-zero month.”


I need an Adderall....