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Obama Orders EPA to Regulate “Greenhouse Gases”

August 4th, 2010 by admin

News Item: The Washington Post reported this story on page 3 today: the Obama administration has ordered the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/03/AR2010080306366_pf.html). This is really front page news.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA had the authority to treat carbon dioxide like a pollutant. Some members of Congress, including Senators Jay Rockefeller and Lisa Murkowski seemed poised to push back against this unprecedented regulation of industry. But Obama did not get the Cap and Trade legislation he wanted from Congress before the summer recess and attempts to restrain the EPA failed(http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/06/11/11climatewire-effort-to-block-epa-fails-revealing-murky-pa-31482.html).

Climategate “Reviewed” (Again)

July 19th, 2010 by Kim Crockett

Last fall, the “Climategate” scandal erupted when emails and documents from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU) were released (without permission) to the public. The CRU emails, including some with Michael Mann at Penn State, revealed a pattern of conduct that no one– but especially no scientist– would be proud of; requests to delete inconvenient emails, the exclusion of scientitists who are viewed as “skeptics”  from the peer review process and hiding the ball from formal information requests. The terrible fall out–and the lesson to be learned for all of us— is that “science” has been revealed to be quite vulnerable to political pressures especially when combined with generous grants. The old saying “Follow the Money” certainly applies here. That sad point was made last summer at our Climate Change Symposium by Dr. Fred Singer. (And we continue to follow this important issue because the global warming activists, lead by Al Gore et. al., have captured our government at the local, state and federal level. The impact on free enterprise and individual freedom is profound.)

Climategate has now been “reviewed” several times by organizations we should be able to trust; a special committee of the British Parliament, Penn State, an environmental agency of the Netherlands and most recently the University of East Anglia itself.

The Minnesot Free Market Institute (and other members of the No Cap and Trade coalition) approach these “reviews” with great skepticism. The reviews seem less than indepedent in their methodology and conclusions; the self-dealing is just compounded . Moreover, we are impressed with the speed with which they were all done. It seems that the institutions who are committed to the UN’s view of  global warming (which relies on CRU data) were in quite a hurry to do damage control following Climategate.

The Wall Street Journal, which shares our skepticism, covered the latest review here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703394204575367483847033948.html

You can read more at the Volokh Conspiracy (by Jonathan Adler), including international commentary about the quality of these reviews here:  http://volokh.com/2010/07/11/climategate-revisited/  .

We think there is a better way to insure a clean environment and recommend to you the “free market environmentalism” approach taken by the Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana. Please visit them at http://www.perc.org/  .

Book Review “Climatism!” by Steve Goreham

March 8th, 2010 by Kim Crockett
I found the book “Climatism!!” by Steve Goreham to be so fascinating that I could hardly stop reading.  It should become a best seller since it exposes the greatest fraud in recent history.
From what Steve documents in the book, it appears that many of the world’s nations are committing economic suicide in the name of reduced carbon dioxide levels, while China and India continue to build coal fired power plants that will overwhelm any of their efforts. And, since it is provably clear that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are only a bit player in affecting the current natural cycle of global warming, it seems like the world has gone crazy. Furthermore, with energy being the driving force for economic growth and free enterprise, it boggles my mind to see the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill being given serious consideration in the face of current high unemployment in the United States.
I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the science of manmade global warming is primarily based upon inaccurate and misleading computer models. Since water vapor is the primary greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere – not carbon dioxide – these models currently cannot, and do not, accurately predict relative humidity and cloud cover. As a result, the analytical predictions are “force fitted” to match historical data. If we know the result that we are trying to achieve, and we have numerous independent variables to manipulate, we can get the computer analysis to predict almost any result we want!!
Although almost every page of the book contains documented facts to dispute global warming alarmists, I found that manipulation of the famous “hockey stick” graph to be the most disturbing. The graph completely ignores the indisputable fact of global warming that occurred in the middle ages; and illustrates, beyond any doubt, that the manmade global warming scare is politically motivated.
Furthermore, the deceptions resulting from the manipulated data from East Anglia University, plus other facts presented in Steve’s book, should put an end to this political charade. My concern now is for honest people who must now reject the false claims that they so fervently believe.
After reading the book, I have concluded that if the sponsoring organizations – especially the IPCC — supporting man caused global warming were to be tried in a court of law, they would unquestionably be found guilty of fraud and deception to the highest degree.
Don Bongaards www.hydrogenplan.net
Retired Westinghouse Engineering Manager and Author of the Book “A Sense of Urgency

“Climatism!!” by Steve Goreham

Review by Don Bongaards

I found the book “Climatism!!” by Steve Goreham to be so fascinating that I could hardly stop reading.  It should become a best seller since it exposes the greatest fraud in recent history.

From what Steve documents in the book, it appears that many of the world’s nations are committing economic suicide in the name of reduced carbon dioxide levels, while China and India continue to build coal fired power plants that will overwhelm any of their efforts. And, since it is provably clear that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are only a bit player in affecting the current natural cycle of global warming, it seems like the world has gone crazy. Furthermore, with energy being the driving force for economic growth and free enterprise, it boggles my mind to see the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill being given serious consideration in the face of current high unemployment in the United States.

I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the science of manmade global warming is primarily based upon inaccurate and misleading computer models. Since water vapor is the primary greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere – not carbon dioxide – these models currently cannot, and do not, accurately predict relative humidity and cloud cover. As a result, the analytical predictions are “force fitted” to match historical data. If we know the result that we are trying to achieve, and we have numerous independent variables to manipulate, we can get the computer analysis to predict almost any result we want!!

Although almost every page of the book contains documented facts to dispute global warming alarmists, I found that manipulation of the famous “hockey stick” graph to be the most disturbing. The graph completely ignores the indisputable fact of global warming that occurred in the middle ages; and illustrates, beyond any doubt, that the manmade global warming scare is politically motivated.

Furthermore, the deceptions resulting from the manipulated data from East Anglia University, plus other facts presented in Steve’s book, should put an end to this political charade. My concern now is for honest people who must now reject the false claims that they so fervently believe.

After reading the book, I have concluded that if the sponsoring organizations – especially the IPCC — supporting man caused global warming were to be tried in a court of law, they would unquestionably be found guilty of fraud and deception to the highest degree.

Don Bongaards www.hydrogenplan.net

Retired Westinghouse Engineering Manager and Author of the Book “A Sense of Urgency.”

Senate Moves on Climate Change Bill

November 5th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

baucusThe “Kerry-Boxer” bill made its way through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this morning, despite bipartisan opposition to the bill. The legislation calls for an ambitious 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020, a number that will undoubtedly meet tough opposition by Senate Republicans and coal state Democrats. Montana Senator Max Baucus already voiced his displeasure with the number, saying he had “overall concerns” about the effects of a 20% cut. However, Baucus did pledge to work with Senate Democrats to craft climate change legislation.

Republicans boycotted the senate panel, preventing any amendments to the legislation. Under Senate rules, two Republicans needed to be present to debate and amend the bill. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee voted for the measure saying she is, “voting to bring this bill out of committee (anyway) because we need a signal to the world that America wants to be a leader” on climate change.

For More Information:

The legislation is S. 1733, information on the legislation can be found here.

Information on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works can be found here.

Amy Klobuchar’s Senate website can be found hereEmail

New Monckton Presentation Video Includes Slides

October 22nd, 2009 by Adam Axvig

Ever since we posted the first video from the presentation Lord Christopher Monckton gave a week ago, we have been inundated with requests to have the video updated to include Lord Monckton’s slides.

We finally completed the updated video today.

Thank you to all the bloggers, tweeters, talk show hosts, news outlets, neighbors and others who made this video such a huge success. We have had interest pour in from all over the world including; Argentina, Australia, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Thank you all for spreading the word!

We have had a lot of requests for DVDs of the presentation. If you are interested, please fill out the form below and we will mail you a copy free of charge. If you are interested in donating please click here.

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Update – More Than 12,000 View Full Monckton Video, 120,000 View Conclusion

October 19th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

The video of Lord Christopher Monckton’s presenation in St. Paul has been viewed over 12,000  times in the last 3 days. We have had a lot of requests for DVDs of the presentation. If you are interested, please fill out the form below.

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Updated with video and Links: Monckton Speaks to Over 700 at Minnesota Free Market Institute Event

October 16th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

Last week, climate skeptic Lord Christopher Monckton spoke to an audience of over 700 in St. Paul. The event also featured the national premiere of a new documentary from the Cascade Policy Institute titled “Climate Chains.” The event was an enormous success. Thank you for all who came!

Note: For those interested, Monckton’s slide show can be found here. The video above is best viewed while following along with the presentation.

Information on the treaty that Lord Christopher Monckton is referencing can be found here. The actual proposed treaty language can be found here.

Here is an excerpt from his speech:

Here is why the truth matters. It was all very well for jesting Pilate to ask that question and then not to tarry for an answer. But that question that he asked, “what is the truth?” is the question which underlies every question and in the end it is the only question that really matters. When you ask that question what you are really asking is “what is the truth about the matter?” And we are now going to see why it matters morally, socially, and politically, as well as economically and scientifically. That the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth should inform public policy on this question. Now, 40 years ago, DDT, the only effective agent against the malaria mosquito was banned. And you saw in that film [Cascade Policy Institute film "Climate Chains" was shown prior --ed] what the effect of that ban was. Before the ban, the inventor of DDT got the Nobel Peace Prize because he had saved more lives than anyone else in the history of the planet. Malaria, one of the greatest killers of children in the Third World had all but been eradicated. There were still 50,000 deaths per year. But when DDT was banned by exactly the same faction, that is now trying to tell us we must close down five sixths of the United States economy that figure is actually in the Waxman- Markey bill. That same faction banned DDT worldwide. The consequences are on the slide there. The number of deaths went up from 50,000 to a million a year and stayed there. For 40 years. 40 million people, nearly all of them children, died of malaria solely and simply because DDT had been banned for no good scientific reason or environmental reason whatsoever. And it was only after every single one of the people responsible for that dismal, murderous decision had retired or died that on September the 15th 2006, Dr. Arata Kochi of the World Health Organization said “Normally in this field, science comes second and politics comes first. But we will now take a stand on the science and the data, and he ended that ban on DDT and made it once again the front line of defense against the malaria mosquito. After pressure from me, among others.

The left, the environmental left, the intolerant, communistic narrow minded faction that does not care how many children it kills it is campaigning once again for DDT to be banned. Because they do not want children to be born in the Third World. They want as much of humanity as possible, it sometimes seems to me, to be wiped off the face of the planet. And there is a better way to control population than to withdraw the one effective agent against one of the worlds biggest killers and that is to raise the standard of living of the poorest. That has long been a moral imperative since the time of Our Blessed Lord himself it has been a moral imperative that we help Our Lord’s the sick and Our Lord’s the poor. And we work for them and we raise them up and we make them healthy and we make them wealthy, because if we make them wealthy, then their populations will stabilize. This is something that every demographer knows perfectly well . Make the population wealthy and it stabilizes. Keep it poor and it will continue to increase. Make it poor if it was wealthy, and it will start to increase again. And if the environmental left were really serious about saving the planet from a huge CO2 footprint (which I will show doesn’t matter at all) then the first thing they would do is pursue policies that would not, as the extinction of five sixths of your economy would do, make you poor. They would be trying to make everybody rich.

——————

Cascade Policy Institute releases “Climate Chains”

October 15th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

climateChainslogonumber1Today, the Oregon based Cascade Policy Institute released “Climate Chains,” a documentary that “exposes extreme environmentalism and the misguided pursuit of cap-and-trade legislation.” The Minnesota Free Market Institute featured the documentary last night as part of its program with Lord Christopher Monckton. Click here for more information.

Climate Chains from Climate Chains on Vimeo.

BBC – “What Happened to Global Warming?”

October 13th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

coldAs the snow flew in the Twin Cities yesterday, many Minnesotans had to question the now seemingly mainstream theory of anthropogenic global warming. The cold snap broke records from Vancouver, British Columbia through Montana all the way to Mason City, Iowa. Was it a fluke? Or have storm clouds gathered over the science of global warming?

article

Over the weekend, the article was among the BBC's most popular.

Over 4,000 miles away, on the other side of the pond, the BBC was asking itself the same question. The headline read, “What Happened to Global Warming?” A bold headline for an institution that, up until now, had been a prominent voice in the call for action on climate change. The BBC has long been a supporter of the theory of anthropogenic global warming, their website even boasts a special section dedicated to educating people about the evidence and effects of global warming. The article addresses the inconvenient fact that for 11 years, the planet has stayed below the record high temperature set in 1998, something climatologists had to admit their models did not predict.

To be clear, the BBC is not performing a u-turn on its endorsement of anthropogenic global warming, but it is highlighting subtle evidence that perhaps the science isn’t as sound as once thought, a bold step outside the mainstream for the world’s premiere public television network.

Minnesota Free Market Institute Welcomes Lord Christopher Monckton, October 14th.

September 29th, 2009 by Adam Axvig

Monckton3 (2)The Minnesota Free Market Institute will host Lord Christopher Monckton Wednesday, October 14th at the Benson Great Hall on the campus of Bethel University. The evening starts at 7:00 pm with the national premiere of the Cascade Policy Institute documentary, “Climate Chains” (view the trailer here). Lord Monckton will give the keynote after the documentary.

The event is free and open to the public, view the flyer here.

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