Why oh why...

...does this ludicrous AGW farce continue ? Like a Terminator that won't die, or a Monty Pythonesque knight with severed arms and legs that won't yield, the malevolent AGW ghost won't depart. The science behind it has been shown to be dodgy, the statistics shonky, the main instigators are accused of self interest (think Al Gore) yet politicians such as our Minister for the Environment, Mr Nick Smith continue to defend it and the costs it will incur. Smith has announced an Emissions Trading Scheme that aims to halve our CO2 emissions by 2050. For once, I have to agree with the Alfred E. Neuman look alike Russell Norman of the Greens who says...the pledge to halve New Zealand's greenhouse gases emissions is "unambitious" and shows the Government is not serious about addressing climate change ..."If they were serious about a target they would set milestones that they could be held accountable for, not a target that is 13 electoral cycles away." Nobody is in the least concerned any more about so-called catastrophic climate change, nobody that is except the socialist greens, so why on earth even bother ? More here...

Inconvenient Truths...the NZ perspective...

...I have commented before that pragmatic southern hemisphere policies on climate change are likely to lead the world. I wouldn't have made that prediction 6 or 7 months ago, when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's ETS was the only political option on the table for Australia. However, a lot has happened since then; most of those happenings ending in 'gate'. Exceptions to that terminology though are Copenhagen and Tony Abbott. Both have exploded into the debate and changed it forever.

Here in NZ, conscious of our size we like to think that internationally we "punch above our weight". And certainly with a look at the statistics of sport and child abuse we do a lot of punching. With regard to saving the planet though, our ex-PM Helen Clarke, now pulling levers at the UN, was a dutiful and obedient party liner, eager to destroy our economy if she could . Her successor, John Key has played a more cautious pragmatic line, leaving comment largely up to his Environment Minister Nick Smith. And Smith's most recent pronouncement was "I've had calls...to abandon or defer the ETS. That's not what the Government's going to do. It's a very important first step."Smith is also quoted as saying NZ would do its fair share (to cut emissions) but that "it would not be a world leader".The two sentiments seem very difficult to reconcile. In Australia, Kevin Rudd is now seen as "being alone and exposed" over his failure to maintain support for the ETS. If an Australian election dumps Rudd in favour of Tony Abbott, and the USA so-called 'cap and trade' bill fails, as seems likely, NZ and Europe will be the world's only champions of an ETS. Where I wonder would that leave Nick Smith ? Is he reading this, do you think ? Is anyone even asking ?

...The Business Council of Australia no longer considers the introduction of an ETS as providing business certainty and has put a caveat on support for an Australian scheme that cannot be met.
Given the fiasco of Copenhagen, the BCA has urged the government to change its scheme "in line with other international responses". Further, it has demanded the unconditional target of cutting greenhouse gases by 5 per cent by 2020, the same target as the Coalition's, not be lifted "before we have clear and credible commitments, and actions, from both developed and developing countries that are verifiable and monitored".
That's impossible for nations such as China and India to meet: the BCA may as well have urged an ETS be set up on the moon before Australia lifts its target...more here...

A contempt for scientific objectivity...

...whatever the outcome of Copenhagen, whatever stitched up shonky deal is made, the verdict of history and of science will remain the same; climate alarmists are frauds, and their stooges within the science establishments and in the media are guilty of collusion, lies and deceit. The information is now released, and the stink and shame of corruption will follow those who wilfully choose to ignore it...

...In the last few days, the cause of climate alarmism took a big hit when more than a thousand e-mails exchanged by scientists at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) suddenly surfaced online...But notwithstanding the e-mails’ route to publication, their actual content is extraordinary. These behind-the-scenes discussions among leading global-warming exponents are remarkable both in their candor and in their sheer contempt for scientific objectivity. There can be little doubt after even a casual perusal that the scientific case for global warming and the policy that springs from it are based upon a volatile combination of political ideology, unapologetic mendacity, and simmering contempt for even the best-intentioned disagreement. Especially in anticipation of the major climate summit taking place in Copenhagen next month, the significance of this explosive disclosure is hard to underestimate. According to climatologist Patrick J. Michaels, “This is not a smoking gun; this is a mushroom cloud.”...more here...

...and from Ian Plimer in the Daily Mail...They put forward an ideology that is blind fundamentalism, unrelated to scientific facts. Politicians build new bureaucracies and pose as environmental saviours without having to face the consequences of their actions. Heads must roll. Meanwhile, the planet will do what it has always done: change...more here...

...remembering the warning message from George Orwell.. “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” George Orwell, 1984.

...and here's Rodney Hide's "please explain" letter to Nick Smith...

Memo to voters. Here's the deal...You go broke...

...official US Treasury figures estimate the cost of cap and trade carbon legislation (aka The Waxman Markey Bill) to be $US1761/year/household... According to CBS “the equivalent of increasing personal income taxes by about 15 percent”. This comes in way over previous claims made by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) that claimed that the legislation would cost $83.95 /year/person.

So, what do taxpayers get in exchange for expensive green legislation ?

Answers on the back of an envelope (Freepost) to:

Nick Smith

Minister of Silly Green Posturing

Parliament Buildings

WELLINGTON.

...and a warning for Nick Smith...I’m betting that the Senate never bothers to even put together a bill that they can vote on. Too contentious, too dangerous for too many Senator’s re-election chances. And the best part is that if US efforts fall apart, (they will) then everyone else in the world who’s facing hard choices will take that as a cue and their efforts will fall apart too.
Copenhagen could easily turn out to be a sad joke...more from WuWT here...

...and Quotes of the day; re education and intellectuals ...By the end of that summer, I had concluded that the population cannot be divided into an intellectual class and a nonintellectual class; instead, I concluded, everyone is to some extent an intellectual. The college professor is an intellectual who, it is hoped, applies his intellect to his teaching and research. The skillful auto mechanic is an intellectual who uses logic to eliminate various possible causes of an engine's failure in order to narrow it down to the actual cause. Everyone is an intellectual. Compulsory schooling has robbed millions of people of the knowledge of their intellectual birthright...more here... H/T Samizdata...

...and re ex-President Jimmy Carter's opinion that opposition to President Obama is race-based...Carter's remark drew the condemnation of Michael Steele, the first African-American to become chairman of the Republican National Committee. "President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy," he said in a statement. "This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run healthcare plan that the American people simply oppose."...more from Reuters here...