Too many politicians have staked a large part of their reputation on "saving" us from the imminent danger of climate disaster with non-scientific understanding of the role of CO2 in the climate... simplistic thinking. Walking away from their position means they are subject to the criticism of being "dupes." That is a career-ender for a politician. It is far easier for politicians to ignore facts and press ahead with positions. Look for President Obama to do just that in Copenhagen.Ah, Copenhagen.
Al Gore was interviewed by Der Spiegel early this month. He's "optimistic," although this was before Climaquiddick broke wide open:
SPIEGEL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was less optimistic after the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. She did not believe there would be a majority for a US climate change law in Congress before the world climate summit in Copenhagen in December.
But what of the prospects now, amid the Climaquiddick imbroglio?Gore: I am more optimistic. I do not think that we will have the final enactment of the Conference Committee Report in Congress before Copenhagen. But if President Obama is able to go to Copenhagen having passed legislation in the House and having passed it in the Senate, it will be inevitable that the legislation comes out even if the Conference Committee is still pending.
SPIEGEL: What are your expectations for Copenhagen ?
Gore: I think it is realistic to expect a treaty. It will not be as strong as I would like it to be. But it will put a price on carbon and change the forward planning of businesses and cities and states, provinces and nations. In 1986, when the first crisis of the global atmosphere emerged with the discovery of the ozone hole above Antarctica, one year later the nations of the world passed the Montreal Protocol. It was bitterly criticized by environmentalists as being too weak and insufficient. But then it was toughened and toughened, and it is working quite well, and we are on our way to solving that crisis. I am expecting a similar process for Copenhagen. We will produce a treaty that launches the beginning of a huge transformation process.
Well, Al Gore's mum about that. It's understandable, too. Anti-global warming protesters literally forced Gore to abandon a book signing in Chicago earlier this week, and the only thing we heard from him is a statement on President Obama's announcement that he'll attend the summit.
Perhaps to no avail (one can only hope, for an Obama fail). See, "As Copenhagen Summit Nears, 'Climategate' Dogs Global Warming Debate":
Climate experts insist leaked e-mails don’t undercut the science showing a warming planet. But public concern about global climate change is waning as delegates prepare to craft an international agreement at Copenhagen.The lastest news of the East Anglia document dump certainly throws more cold water on the festivities. See, "Climate Change Data Dumped" (via Memeorandum):
SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.And Tiger Hawk emphasizes the news:
It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.
... the hope that independent scientists could assess the "adjustments" made to the raw data is now dashed, for the raw data no longer exists. This fact has actually been known for months, but the mainstream media ignored it -- no doubt intentionally -- until the email scandal broke last week.With luck, Copenhagen will be total bust, with the added bonus of making folks like Al Gore and the AGW scientist looking like idiots. There might even be a special place reserved in ... well, let's just hold off on that for now, being above my pay grade and all ...
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UPDATE: Pirate's Cove links, "ClimateGate: CRU Agrees To Publish All The Data. That They Haven’t Thrown Away." Plus, linked at RealClearPolitics, "Best of the Blogs."
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