The four-minute opening video at the Copenhagen Summit was a propaganda piece which would have made Goebbels proud. Entitled “Please Help the World,” it has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood end-of-the-world blockbuster. Loaded with emotional hysteria, moving imagery, and screaming children, it is indoctrination at its finest.
It finishes with the plaintive pleas of terrified little kids crying out “please help save the world”. After an impassioned video like this, complete with stirring music (heart-tugging strings, etc.), anyone would want to run out and do something immediately.
But that is exactly the problem with all this. In addition to scaring the life out of little children, it is content-free, image-soaked propaganda. The idea is to get you to forget about any rational discussion and debate about the science and social realities of the issue: it just pushes for an instant and emotion-based decision.
“We must do something” seems like the only appropriate response to such a barrage of guilt-tripping and emotional manipulation. It is a vacuous piece which does nothing to inform us and everything to scare us. Never mind that there is no scientific consensus on this issue, and that the Climategate revelations have thrown the whole matter up into the air.
Indeed, Climategate is the story of the decade, not the Copenhagen Cargo Cult. This story, which is being so assiduously avoided by the mainstream media, is “the climatology equivalent of discovering the bones of Jesus” as Cal Thomas puts it.
Yet our MSM prefers to wring its hands, falling for every bit of fear-mongering and propaganda that those at the Copenhagen junket can muster. And if the opening video is anything to go by, this entire conference is going to be one big farce which should henceforth be completely ignored.
Of course the targeting of children with bone-chilling propaganda is nothing new. The secular left is always presenting one doomsday scenario after another, seeking to persuade us to hand all of our freedoms and liberties over to the “experts” who will solve all our problems.
Thus we have had plenty of other ‘the end is nigh’ scenarios in the recent past. Remember the nuclear winter panic mongering, for example? For years our school kids were drilled with propaganda by the secular left that the world was about to go through a period of Armageddon brought on by the reckless use of nuclear weapons.
And America of course was at fault in all this. It was the nasty US which was holding the world to ransom with its stockpile of nuclear weapons. Never mind the actual truth that it was this nuclear capability which prevented another major war after WWII, and which eventually brought the Soviet Empire to its knees.
It was not the peaceniks and the nuclear winter panic merchants that did anything to empty the Gulag, but American Cruise missiles in Europe. It was that which brought down the Berlin Wall, and set the captives free. Yet if the scare-mongers had had their way, the US would have unilaterally disarmed, and we would all now be living in the People’s Republic of the USSR.
And of course the Soviets had an absolutely appalling track record when it came to the environment. There would be no Copenhagen Summit now if the nuclear winter crowd had gotten its way. So here we have yet more of the same. Scare the heck out of the little kids, who in turn will nag their parents to “do something”. Anything.
Never mind if the evidence for man-made climate change seems to be getting thinner each passing week. Never mind that the Copenhagen Religion is simply about massive international transfers of wealth, and a grand attempt to do away with national sovereignty.
Never mind the mega-carbon footprint created by all the jet-setting politicians, bureaucrats and rock stars who will attend this gabfest. In the meantime it seems that local and imported prostitutes expect a roaring trade. Going by media reports, we may not save the planet but a lot of young women will find a solid week’s worth of work.
But whenever madness reigns, it always seems that a little spark of sanity breaks out somewhere. In this case, we had what can only be considered to be the providential expose known as Climategate. Nothing takes the punch out of emotional hysteria like some good sound evidence.
And the evidence emerging from Climategate just gets better each passing day. It is the scientific equivalent of the daily discovery of yet more lovers from the Tiger Woods’ harem. Indeed, if the MSM were covering Climategate as thoroughly and energetically as they are covering Tigergate, the Copenhagen farce would have been forced to close two weeks ago.
But sadly it is going ahead, and sadly, it is using and manipulating children to push its agenda. I wait for the day when the MSM promotes an equally moving and emotive video, highlighting the ghastly nature of something like abortion for example. Somehow I don’t expect to see that soon.
However, as long as the alternative media is allowed freedom to present what the MSM will not, bogus religious festivals like the Copenhagen Summit will be subject to close and careful scrutiny. Sure, they will keep cranking out the propaganda pieces, but as Solzhenitsyn knew so very well, in the end, the truth will prevail.
I saw maybe 10 seconds of the video from Copenhagen played on the nightly news. My immediate thought was “If they want us to watch this rubbish, what is going on elsewhere that they are trying to distract us from?”. Lack of decent factual evidence which hasn’t been tampered with perhaps? Disgraceful effort.
Steve Frost, Melbourne
Excuse me for going off topic and ignore this post if you wish to discuss Climatgate and Copenhagen.
Here is a “religious festival” worth visiting if at all possible: http://seeking7.org/
Sorry for posting here but there is no general discussion space.
By the way, thanks for the great coverage of the whole climate issue and all the replies to it, really worthwhile reading and info to share with others.
Servaas Hofmeyr
Yes John,
To think that 32% of Higgins voted for him! This is exactly what happens when people who do not have a moral compass based on God’s Word go on righteous crusades.
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt the Younger.
I don’t like agreeing with the Greens on anything.
But I have to say that I have observed, in my lifetime (60 years) a deteoriation in the environment. I’m ministering to farmers who havn’t had a harvest to speak of for now nine years. I observe evidence of erosion and drought. And if that’s part of climate change (which I think I also observe – we havent had a flood in our river for 40 years) then it may be.
And it may be that we human beings are causing it. We’re selfish, sinful beings on a planet in rebellion against it’s creator. It’s not just a humanist worldview that may blame human beings. It could be God allowing us to see the consequences of sin.
Not that I’m not hopeful. Ultimately all things are in God’s hands and I’ll trust Him for the future.
But what I’m saying, Bill, is that though I think your general skepticism of scientists, the MSM and humanist worldviews I absolutely agree with, I don’t think that you’ve made your case that a Christian perspective on these issues is to be a climate change skeptic.
I’ll be happy with a simpler lifestyle, and a transfer of wealth the poor, and more care for the environment. And that means more care for the world God has put me in.
Thanks, for your stimulating blog.
Andrew Campbell
Yet another reason to home-educate our children.
Mansel Rogerson
Hi Bill,
I’m sure that you have provided this before but which sites from the alternative media would you recommend we visit to get more balanced journalism? Top 5?
Dave Night
Thanks Andrew
I have said many times on this site that Christians are called to be good stewards of this planet. So no disagreements there. But the debate here of course has to do with various major questions:
Is in fact the earth warming at present?
If so, how much has it and how much will it?
Will this be a good or bad thing for the earth?
How much – if any – of this is due to human activity?
What solutions are there if it is induced fully or in part by humans?
If it is fully part of natural cycles, solar activity, and the like, can we do anything?
Are the draconian solutions being proposed – such as an ETS – going to in fact do any good for the environment?
Will such proposed solutions in fact do more harm than good in all sorts of other areas, eg., the economy?
So until we have some clear answers to these and related questions – and we do not at the moment – then I fear greatly for efforts like the Copenhagen Summit. All that of course does not mean I am not concerned about more immediate environmental issues, such as soil erosion and so on, which we should be now fixing our attention on, instead of something which may be a media and bogus science beat up.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks Dave
It partly depends. There are all sorts of specialised alternative sites, such as on climate change, or Islam, or bioethics, or sexuality, and so on.
Then there are more general alternative media sources and websites. The US Fox network would be an example. For general conservative commentary, there is townhall.com
Then there are sites such as moonbattery.com
If you wanted good commentary, there would be Melanie Phillips, Mark Steyn, etc.
For Christian worldview, we have Chuck Colson and his Breakpoint, or Albert Mohler’s blog, or WorldNetDaily, and so on.
So it depends on what you are looking for.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
G’day Bill,
You ask a series of questions … and fair enough … however the questions are not quesions that the Bible has a clear answer for. ‘Is the earth warming’ is a scientific and statistical question. It is legitimate for Christians who love God’s word to disagree on that answer. And the Bible does not help us. Now, we will be concerned about scientific dogmatism, and know-it-all-ism, but Bible believing Christians may come to different answers on the questions you’re asking. And mostly it’s more about a ‘gut feeling’ than reasoned inisght (like who can say whether it’s human caused?). Sorry, but I don’t ‘get’ that a Christian position is either favour of an ETS or skeptical. Actually, what we have to do (an analogy is slavery in the first century) is to preach the gospel regardless of, even, a great evil happening around us. Actually, despite the great evil, because ultimately the gospel of Christ is the only hope for this messed up world.
Andrew Campbell
I agree that it was rubbishy propaganda. But let us all put our psychologists’ caps on: The alarmist camp continually sends out behavioural signals that something is horribly wrong with their position. For example, the leaders urge carbon restraint on the rest of us but swarm to their Fest in Copenhagen in fuel-guzzling jets, many of them private. And when they get there they “need” fleets of V8 limousines, never mind using buses, bicycles and walking. Then there’s over-heated Gore with his heated mansion and pool. What we have here is an emerging elite inclined to humbug. They are not unlike the proverbial scoutmaster who preaches virtue to the boys but is up to no good in the process.
John Snowden
I wouldn’t be surprised if the doomsday movie “2012” got “Best Picture” at the next Oscars. Hooray for Hollywood!
Anthony McGregor
Thanks Andrew
Yes you are quite right – they were scientific and social questions, not biblical ones. And you are right that we have no clear direct biblical positions on this. All we have are general principles, as I stated, such as being good stewards of the earth and its resources.
So yes, Christians can agree to disagree on some of these issues. There is no one clear “Christian” view on all this. I have said as much all along. Thus we can only try to offer a biblically imformed perspective on these complex and contentious issues.
My take on it is that there are still far too many important unanswered questions, and many of the proposed solutions seem like they will do far more harm than good.
But yes again, you are right to say that Christ is the ultimate hope for everyone and for everything.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks Anthony
Actually, as I mention in my look at 2012, the one good thing about the film is that is puts the impending destruction down to natural causes (solar activity), and not human causes. So it is much less of a propaganda piece than was, say, The Day After Tomorrow.
Much of the evidence brought to bear on the question ‘Is the Earth warming?’ is scientific and statistical, but you neglect to mention historical evidence which is also relevant. You are right that the Bible doesn’t give specific answers to the scientific aspect, but the Bible certainly does give much useful historical evidence.
The Bible tells us, for instance, that a global flood engulfed the entire Earth only 4,500 years ago. This means that all mainstream climate modelling, which completely ignores this event and the presumably very long-lived after effects, can be dismissed as bogus.
Christians may, however, legitimately debate the heat-balance type arguments and potentially reach different positions on (a) whether any significant long-term changes are in fact occurring and (b) the cause of these changes.
Mansel Rogerson
Hi Andrew,
I am a farmer in a drought effected part of the country and I absolutely reject any notion that the current drought is due to man-caused climate-change. I don’t know what part of the country you’re from but from my perspective in my lifetime (40 years) I’ve seen an improvement in the local environment. In-any-case these regional observations neither prove nor disprove global-warming. We are talking average global temperatures for that and they show nothing unusual or unprecedented.
As for droughts, a warmer world means a wetter world on average, so why do climate propagandists like pointing to droughts and deserts to aid their case? Remember also that Dorothea Mackellar wrote over 100 years ago those famous words that Australia is a land “of drought and flooding rains”. There is nothing unusual about droughts in Australia!
Ewan McDonald, Victoria
Nice piece here from The Washington Times, ‘Media Complicity in Climategate: The Global-Cooling Cover-up is not Considered Newsworthy’;
‘A tale of destroyed documents, fraud, conspiracy and the misuse of millions of government dollars would seem to have all the juicy ingredients of a scandal that journalists would kill to cover. However, the mainstream media apparently doesn’t think that Climategate is news. ABC News hasn’t deemed the story newsworthy. Neither has CBS nor NBC. If Americans only got their news from the networks, they would not know about the global-warming fraud or would merely think there was a simple misunderstanding about what scientists meant in some vague e-mails
Never mind that two major universities have at least temporarily removed prominent academics from heading major climate research facilities. Never mind that there are real questions raised about the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) controversial assessment report that the Obama administration and global-warming advocates have continually hyped in order to advance their case for new global regulations to curtail purported global warming…
…The networks found plenty of airtime to cover rumored family problems plaguing professional golfer Tiger Woods. Yet, even though there is climate-regulation legislation pending in Congress that could cost Americans trillions of dollars, network producers don’t see anything newsworthy in a scandal exposing fraud in global-warming research. Such omissions make mainstream news complicit in the cover-up.’
Sure, the jury is ‘out’ on whether what we’re seeing is climate change or drought. And also, of course, whether it’s man made or not. And then whether we can do anything about it.
God bless you optimistic farmers who hope it is ‘only’ a drought and that next year (or soon) things will be normal. I pray that you’re right. I really do. But as each year passes, and my farmer friends harvest non-paying crops, it’s my concerned outlook that has to be considered.
I’m thinking of a farmer (yes, still optimistic that it was a drought) I was with in his paddock yesterday, harvesting a non-paying crop that was yielding, he said, a quarter of what he would expect 12 years ago.
As every year passes we have to consider the possibility of climate change (whether man made or not, and whether we can do anything about it or not).
But, Lord, please, may this be just in the cycle of ‘droughts and flooding rains.’
Andrew Campbell, Wagga Wagga
Andrew Campbell of Wagga Wagga,
Ewan’s point about history is still relevant, though.
I recall studying Australian history (when it was seriously taught), and recall the arduous journey Sturt and his men took in solving “The Riddle of the Rivers” and the search for an inland sea.
Their course along the Murray-Darling system was greatly impeded by having to carry the boat and supplies across lengthy dry sections – where the rivers were not flowing at all.
Today our revisionist manglers of Australian history (along with their environmental science colleagues) would say the rivers are dead/dying. Then, they simply got on with the task of exploring and mapping.
And I may add that from a Biblical perspective, God is in charge of the weather and climate patterns, and actively upholds His creation.
We as believers can therefore challenge the assumptions of humanist arrogance whereby humanity is so powerful and important that
a) we are collectively capable of destroying the planet
and
b) we “MUST do something immediately”.
I believe it was the Greeks who explained that Hubris was followed by Nemesis!
John Angelico
Ewan’s and Andrew’s arguments sum up the dilemma perfectly. Each is convinced that his perception of the situation is the right one. Therefore, until science ultimately decides which view is correct – and this is in no way clear at present – we are obliged to continue making the best use of our God-given talent’s to provide for ourselves and those who are less fortunate.
Dunstan Hartley
Dear Bill, Thank you for showing how we must shelter our youngsters in giving them the truth of God’s word in simple language. Albert Mohler and Chuck Colson are worthy defenders of the faith.
Prior to the sham exposure I had prepared a study now on our web site: http://www.biblestories.stellaris.com.au
Under bible studies is ‘Environment and climate change.
Man-made or God’s judgment’. Unassailable eternal reality.
Harrold Steward
“Remember the nuclear winter panic mongering, for example?” I was at school in the ’60s (13 in 1964), and I well remember our teachers assuring us it would happen before long (“All the tyrants in history who’ve had a big stick have used it; well Russia has a big stick ..”). I never thought it would happen (a sceptic even then! But Ahmadinejad is a different matter; he courts death/armageddon, the USSR never did).
John Thomas, UK
Dunstan Hartley:
Therefore, until science ultimately decides which view is correct – and this is in no way clear at present – we are obliged to continue making the best use of our God-given talent’s to provide for ourselves and those who are less fortunate.
But the warm-mongers want to put their hands in our pockets and restrict our freedoms.
Jonathan Sarfati, Brisbane
Dunstan
If the science isn’t settled then we need to fight the global warming faith anyway. Even if the world is warming it would have definite benefits such as much less snow storms such as this one that killed 16 people in Illinois
It is much better for the planet to warm than cool.
Also, carbon regulation is going to cost the western big time. Which means less economic opportunities for the poor and more power to bureaucrats.
Damien Spillane
Damien Spillane, thanks for mentioning Tiger Woods. Our local newspaper has been preoccupied with his promiscuity for days, and readers dutifully cry “shame!” Yet no one complains about the same newspaper’s daily ads for female promiscuity in the form of “sex services”.
John Snowden
Bill, it’s even worse than that.
Try this:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2765351.htm
referred from Andrew Bolt’s blog at
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/leave_my_children_alone_hamilton/.
John Angelico
I saw maybe 10 seconds of the video from Copenhagen played on the nightly news. My immediate thought was “If they want us to watch this rubbish, what is going on elsewhere that they are trying to distract us from?”. Lack of decent factual evidence which hasn’t been tampered with perhaps? Disgraceful effort.
Steve Frost, Melbourne
Excuse me for going off topic and ignore this post if you wish to discuss Climatgate and Copenhagen.
Here is a “religious festival” worth visiting if at all possible:
http://seeking7.org/
and another story to keep an eye on:
http://rifqabary.com/
Sorry for posting here but there is no general discussion space.
By the way, thanks for the great coverage of the whole climate issue and all the replies to it, really worthwhile reading and info to share with others.
Servaas Hofmeyr
Yes John,
To think that 32% of Higgins voted for him! This is exactly what happens when people who do not have a moral compass based on God’s Word go on righteous crusades.
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” – William Pitt the Younger.
If only Copenhagen had opened with this instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAzlXeCa46g
Mark Rabich
G’day Bill,
I don’t like agreeing with the Greens on anything.
But I have to say that I have observed, in my lifetime (60 years) a deteoriation in the environment. I’m ministering to farmers who havn’t had a harvest to speak of for now nine years. I observe evidence of erosion and drought. And if that’s part of climate change (which I think I also observe – we havent had a flood in our river for 40 years) then it may be.
And it may be that we human beings are causing it. We’re selfish, sinful beings on a planet in rebellion against it’s creator. It’s not just a humanist worldview that may blame human beings. It could be God allowing us to see the consequences of sin.
Not that I’m not hopeful. Ultimately all things are in God’s hands and I’ll trust Him for the future.
But what I’m saying, Bill, is that though I think your general skepticism of scientists, the MSM and humanist worldviews I absolutely agree with, I don’t think that you’ve made your case that a Christian perspective on these issues is to be a climate change skeptic.
I’ll be happy with a simpler lifestyle, and a transfer of wealth the poor, and more care for the environment. And that means more care for the world God has put me in.
Thanks, for your stimulating blog.
Andrew Campbell
Yet another reason to home-educate our children.
Mansel Rogerson
Hi Bill,
I’m sure that you have provided this before but which sites from the alternative media would you recommend we visit to get more balanced journalism? Top 5?
Dave Night
Thanks Andrew
I have said many times on this site that Christians are called to be good stewards of this planet. So no disagreements there. But the debate here of course has to do with various major questions:
Is in fact the earth warming at present?
If so, how much has it and how much will it?
Will this be a good or bad thing for the earth?
How much – if any – of this is due to human activity?
What solutions are there if it is induced fully or in part by humans?
If it is fully part of natural cycles, solar activity, and the like, can we do anything?
Are the draconian solutions being proposed – such as an ETS – going to in fact do any good for the environment?
Will such proposed solutions in fact do more harm than good in all sorts of other areas, eg., the economy?
So until we have some clear answers to these and related questions – and we do not at the moment – then I fear greatly for efforts like the Copenhagen Summit. All that of course does not mean I am not concerned about more immediate environmental issues, such as soil erosion and so on, which we should be now fixing our attention on, instead of something which may be a media and bogus science beat up.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks Dave
It partly depends. There are all sorts of specialised alternative sites, such as on climate change, or Islam, or bioethics, or sexuality, and so on.
Then there are more general alternative media sources and websites. The US Fox network would be an example. For general conservative commentary, there is townhall.com
Then there are sites such as moonbattery.com
If you wanted good commentary, there would be Melanie Phillips, Mark Steyn, etc.
For Christian worldview, we have Chuck Colson and his Breakpoint, or Albert Mohler’s blog, or WorldNetDaily, and so on.
So it depends on what you are looking for.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
G’day Bill,
You ask a series of questions … and fair enough … however the questions are not quesions that the Bible has a clear answer for. ‘Is the earth warming’ is a scientific and statistical question. It is legitimate for Christians who love God’s word to disagree on that answer. And the Bible does not help us. Now, we will be concerned about scientific dogmatism, and know-it-all-ism, but Bible believing Christians may come to different answers on the questions you’re asking. And mostly it’s more about a ‘gut feeling’ than reasoned inisght (like who can say whether it’s human caused?). Sorry, but I don’t ‘get’ that a Christian position is either favour of an ETS or skeptical. Actually, what we have to do (an analogy is slavery in the first century) is to preach the gospel regardless of, even, a great evil happening around us. Actually, despite the great evil, because ultimately the gospel of Christ is the only hope for this messed up world.
Andrew Campbell
I agree that it was rubbishy propaganda. But let us all put our psychologists’ caps on: The alarmist camp continually sends out behavioural signals that something is horribly wrong with their position. For example, the leaders urge carbon restraint on the rest of us but swarm to their Fest in Copenhagen in fuel-guzzling jets, many of them private. And when they get there they “need” fleets of V8 limousines, never mind using buses, bicycles and walking. Then there’s over-heated Gore with his heated mansion and pool. What we have here is an emerging elite inclined to humbug. They are not unlike the proverbial scoutmaster who preaches virtue to the boys but is up to no good in the process.
John Snowden
I wouldn’t be surprised if the doomsday movie “2012” got “Best Picture” at the next Oscars. Hooray for Hollywood!
Anthony McGregor
Thanks Andrew
Yes you are quite right – they were scientific and social questions, not biblical ones. And you are right that we have no clear direct biblical positions on this. All we have are general principles, as I stated, such as being good stewards of the earth and its resources.
So yes, Christians can agree to disagree on some of these issues. There is no one clear “Christian” view on all this. I have said as much all along. Thus we can only try to offer a biblically imformed perspective on these complex and contentious issues.
My take on it is that there are still far too many important unanswered questions, and many of the proposed solutions seem like they will do far more harm than good.
But yes again, you are right to say that Christ is the ultimate hope for everyone and for everything.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thanks Anthony
Actually, as I mention in my look at 2012, the one good thing about the film is that is puts the impending destruction down to natural causes (solar activity), and not human causes. So it is much less of a propaganda piece than was, say, The Day After Tomorrow.
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2009/11/17/2012-and-the-end-of-the-world/
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hi Andrew,
Much of the evidence brought to bear on the question ‘Is the Earth warming?’ is scientific and statistical, but you neglect to mention historical evidence which is also relevant. You are right that the Bible doesn’t give specific answers to the scientific aspect, but the Bible certainly does give much useful historical evidence.
The Bible tells us, for instance, that a global flood engulfed the entire Earth only 4,500 years ago. This means that all mainstream climate modelling, which completely ignores this event and the presumably very long-lived after effects, can be dismissed as bogus.
Christians may, however, legitimately debate the heat-balance type arguments and potentially reach different positions on (a) whether any significant long-term changes are in fact occurring and (b) the cause of these changes.
Mansel Rogerson
Hi Andrew,
I am a farmer in a drought effected part of the country and I absolutely reject any notion that the current drought is due to man-caused climate-change. I don’t know what part of the country you’re from but from my perspective in my lifetime (40 years) I’ve seen an improvement in the local environment. In-any-case these regional observations neither prove nor disprove global-warming. We are talking average global temperatures for that and they show nothing unusual or unprecedented.
As for droughts, a warmer world means a wetter world on average, so why do climate propagandists like pointing to droughts and deserts to aid their case? Remember also that Dorothea Mackellar wrote over 100 years ago those famous words that Australia is a land “of drought and flooding rains”. There is nothing unusual about droughts in Australia!
Ewan McDonald, Victoria
Nice piece here from The Washington Times, ‘Media Complicity in Climategate: The Global-Cooling Cover-up is not Considered Newsworthy’;
‘A tale of destroyed documents, fraud, conspiracy and the misuse of millions of government dollars would seem to have all the juicy ingredients of a scandal that journalists would kill to cover. However, the mainstream media apparently doesn’t think that Climategate is news. ABC News hasn’t deemed the story newsworthy. Neither has CBS nor NBC. If Americans only got their news from the networks, they would not know about the global-warming fraud or would merely think there was a simple misunderstanding about what scientists meant in some vague e-mails
Never mind that two major universities have at least temporarily removed prominent academics from heading major climate research facilities. Never mind that there are real questions raised about the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) controversial assessment report that the Obama administration and global-warming advocates have continually hyped in order to advance their case for new global regulations to curtail purported global warming…
…The networks found plenty of airtime to cover rumored family problems plaguing professional golfer Tiger Woods. Yet, even though there is climate-regulation legislation pending in Congress that could cost Americans trillions of dollars, network producers don’t see anything newsworthy in a scandal exposing fraud in global-warming research. Such omissions make mainstream news complicit in the cover-up.’
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/07/media-complicity-in-climategate/
Damien Spillane
Thanks Damien
Yes that is a great article.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
G’day Ewen,
Sure, the jury is ‘out’ on whether what we’re seeing is climate change or drought. And also, of course, whether it’s man made or not. And then whether we can do anything about it.
God bless you optimistic farmers who hope it is ‘only’ a drought and that next year (or soon) things will be normal. I pray that you’re right. I really do. But as each year passes, and my farmer friends harvest non-paying crops, it’s my concerned outlook that has to be considered.
I’m thinking of a farmer (yes, still optimistic that it was a drought) I was with in his paddock yesterday, harvesting a non-paying crop that was yielding, he said, a quarter of what he would expect 12 years ago.
As every year passes we have to consider the possibility of climate change (whether man made or not, and whether we can do anything about it or not).
But, Lord, please, may this be just in the cycle of ‘droughts and flooding rains.’
Andrew Campbell, Wagga Wagga
Andrew Campbell of Wagga Wagga,
Ewan’s point about history is still relevant, though.
I recall studying Australian history (when it was seriously taught), and recall the arduous journey Sturt and his men took in solving “The Riddle of the Rivers” and the search for an inland sea.
Their course along the Murray-Darling system was greatly impeded by having to carry the boat and supplies across lengthy dry sections – where the rivers were not flowing at all.
Today our revisionist manglers of Australian history (along with their environmental science colleagues) would say the rivers are dead/dying. Then, they simply got on with the task of exploring and mapping.
And I may add that from a Biblical perspective, God is in charge of the weather and climate patterns, and actively upholds His creation.
We as believers can therefore challenge the assumptions of humanist arrogance whereby humanity is so powerful and important that
a) we are collectively capable of destroying the planet
and
b) we “MUST do something immediately”.
I believe it was the Greeks who explained that Hubris was followed by Nemesis!
John Angelico
Ewan’s and Andrew’s arguments sum up the dilemma perfectly. Each is convinced that his perception of the situation is the right one. Therefore, until science ultimately decides which view is correct – and this is in no way clear at present – we are obliged to continue making the best use of our God-given talent’s to provide for ourselves and those who are less fortunate.
Dunstan Hartley
Thanks guys
You all should see this. It is the latest Monckton speech and it is well worth watching in its entirety: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17736
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Dear Bill, Thank you for showing how we must shelter our youngsters in giving them the truth of God’s word in simple language. Albert Mohler and Chuck Colson are worthy defenders of the faith.
Prior to the sham exposure I had prepared a study now on our web site: http://www.biblestories.stellaris.com.au
Under bible studies is ‘Environment and climate change.
Man-made or God’s judgment’. Unassailable eternal reality.
Harrold Steward
“Remember the nuclear winter panic mongering, for example?” I was at school in the ’60s (13 in 1964), and I well remember our teachers assuring us it would happen before long (“All the tyrants in history who’ve had a big stick have used it; well Russia has a big stick ..”). I never thought it would happen (a sceptic even then! But Ahmadinejad is a different matter; he courts death/armageddon, the USSR never did).
John Thomas, UK
Dunstan Hartley:
But the warm-mongers want to put their hands in our pockets and restrict our freedoms.
Jonathan Sarfati, Brisbane
Dunstan
If the science isn’t settled then we need to fight the global warming faith anyway. Even if the world is warming it would have definite benefits such as much less snow storms such as this one that killed 16 people in Illinois
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1234747/Snow-storms-batter-U-S–killing-26.html
It is much better for the planet to warm than cool.
Also, carbon regulation is going to cost the western big time. Which means less economic opportunities for the poor and more power to bureaucrats.
Damien Spillane
Damien Spillane, thanks for mentioning Tiger Woods. Our local newspaper has been preoccupied with his promiscuity for days, and readers dutifully cry “shame!” Yet no one complains about the same newspaper’s daily ads for female promiscuity in the form of “sex services”.
John Snowden
Thanks guys
You have got to watch this video clip on Hitler flipping out over the leaked CRU emails. It is a riot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8O-E_GN0Kg
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Hey that clip is a riot indeed!
Ewan McDonald
Thanks guys
Watch Lord Monckton run circles around a Greenpeace activist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuj_tlRRQdQ
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Yet more great Monckton dissection of Greenpeace activists at Copenhagen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxIjygRPpmk
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
First Climategate, now Goregate: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/al-gore-faces-own-inconvenient-truth-after-arctic-ice-estimates-revealed-to-be-off-target/story-e6frg6xf-1225810599409
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch