For their next trick, the Kochs accidentally fund peak oil studies that determine petroleum is not, in fact, an infinite resource. Oopsie:

Muller’s team appears to have confirmed the basic tenets of climate science. Back in March, Muller told the House Science and Technology Committee that, contrary to what he expected, the existing temperature data was “excellent.” He went on: “We see a global warming trend that is very similar to that previously reported by the other groups.” And, today, the BEST team has released a flurry of new papers that confirm that the planet is getting hotter. As the team’s two-page summary flatly concludes, “Global warming is real.”

Global warming denial is much like the business of denying a link between cigarettes and lung cancer. In either case, eventual defeat under the crushing weight of science is inevitable, but putting it off for as long as possible ensures maximum profit first. And after all, that’s what’s truly important, right?

Bob Cesca is holding his Fall fundraiser. He’s been incredibly generous to me over the years, so please click here and help a brother blogger keep his intertubes plumbed!

Right Wing Watch reports on a new video series about the “dangers” of environmentalism. Money quote:

Resisting the Green Dragon is therefore particularly timely because it not only refutes the scientific case for dangerous manmade warming and other “crises,” but also exposes how environmental organizations use sophisticated media campaigns and even seek increased global governance to promote their agenda among policy makers, religious leaders, and youth.

“One of the greatest threats to society and the church today is the multifaceted environmentalist movement,” says Cornwall Alliance founder and national spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner. “There isn’t an aspect of life that it doesn’t seek to force into its own mold.” (Emphasis mine)

Funny! Environmentalism is about man’s relationship to his environment and the preservation of those natural things that sustain life (like clean water and air). There is literally no aspect of human life that doesn’t impact your environment and isn’t impacted by it. Nor does the environment respect lines on maps.

Their scriptural references are not compelling, either. I know people who use the same word these guys do — “dominion” — to talk about preserving the natural environment rather than destroying it. Many of the folks at Appalachia Rising would take exception to their characterizations and insist environmentalism is about human rights.

And really, that’s where movement Christianity has lost its soul to Producerism, isn’t it? The green dragon is a mental construct to defend pollution and ecocide. They’re all about a right to life that ends at birth — and defeating their own mental dragon with magical powers of prayer. Who cares if the water is poisoned? Jeebus will set it all straight when he comes back.

If I could send this post back in time to myself, I would share it with friends whose moms came home from church with crazed stories of Satanic influence and threw away their childrens’  Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books. We’d probably laugh. Probably.

What was that I said the other day about climate change denial being the new evolution denial? Denialists are joining forces to say that “dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools.” When these people use words like “critical thinking,” what they really mean is that bogus unscientific nonsense should be taught as science. MoJo talked to

Lawrence M. Krauss, a physicist who directs the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University sums up what’s really going on here: “Wherever there is a battle over evolution now,” he said, “there is a secondary battle to diminish other hot-button issues like Big Bang and, increasingly, climate change. It is all about casting doubt on the veracity of science–to say it is just one view of the world, just another story, no better or more valid than fundamentalism.”

Meanwhile, this deliberate cognitive dissonance keeps diverging farther and farther from observable reality. Bad news from Siberia:

Arctic seabed stores of methane are now destabilizing and venting vast stores of frozen methane—a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The paper, in the prestigious journal Science, reports the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf—long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane—is instead perforated and leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Melting of even a fraction of the clathrates stored in that shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.

Past extreme warming periods were associated with increased methane levels as a result of CO2 release. But I suppose the denialists’ next move is to propose a “scientific” theory of the Second Coming will solve the problem.

Maybe he should use a visual aid:

All that smoke about Teh Socializms™ and climate-change denial doesn’t stop the ice from melting.

In the videos, little animals learn about the problem and teach Santa Claus about it. The right wing has been outraged over the antics of these bears and penguins. One conservative called for a boycott of Build-A-Bear, and another said the the videos amount to “indoctrination.” In response to this right-wing pressure, Build-A-Bear has taken down the educational videos.

As one of the core missions at Osborne Ink is a crusade against censorship, the episode in question is presented here for your viewing pleasure.

For months, the dialogue on climate policy has largely focused on the actions of China and of the United States—powerful and dynamic economies that are the two largest global polluters. Their electricity production, transportation and manufacturing industries account for the lion’s share of world pollution—with populous India not far behind. But these actions have grave consequences for smaller countries. Water wars between Burkina Faso and Ghana, or Pakistan and India, food shortages in Niger or oil shocks in American cities are all destabilizing to the global economy and political order. As the stakes mount and the conversation deepens, a new alliance among nations from the global south is asserting a voice in the debate.

This is the “welfare” argument writ on a global scale. The entire population of Bangladesh might be forced to relocate; but to where? IMHO, this is the reality that global warming deniers face. They insinuate all sorts of paranoid conspiracy scenarios aimed at reducing population (whether for capitalist, communist, or reptilian masters); but unless the human race begins to manage the problem, they will see millions dying of war, disease, famine, and hunger.

Svensmark is a longtime denialist. Solar radiation does indeed affect climate, but Earth is currently at a century-long low point in the solar cycle. In other words, if solar radiation affects global temperature a lot, then we are in for some new record high temperatures. Which makes denialists the equivalent of the special-needs kid who won’t take off his sweater and coat even in a sweltering room.

The Telegraph fails to report that Morner also claims to be an expert in dowsing. Kinda like this guy. Credible!

Geothermal activity, eh? Odd that no one can find the geothermal vents that are responsible, or point to a new upwelling of geothermal vents. But here’s what I find interesting about Ollier: I can’t find a lot of good references on the ‘net, though I can see his tracks in the astroturf “dissident” movement. One source said he was “retired,” which is probably another way of saying he works for the oil industry.

That would the Ian Plimer who refuses to debate Monbiot. He’s a “scientist” who’s afraid to debate a writer. As for his claim about volcanoes, it’s true they affect climate — eruptions cool the planet. They also emit CO2, but:

And now the pattern is complete:

As revealed in Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

The Usual Suspects. Which brings me back to this item, now verified:

There has apparently been more than one attempt, but the story today is climate science on the defensive instead of “desperate oil and gas conglomerates pay for Watergate-style break in.” SwiftHack is a story Teh Librul Media™ won’t do on their own, but climategate just shot through their stovepipe like cabbage through a rabbit. Some “liberal” media.