Carbon tax will "strangle manufacturing" – Abbott

28 May, 2011 by

Carbon strangulation

A carbon tax will strangle Australia’s manufacturing industry, Tony Abbott has said this afternoon:

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has warned that Australia’s manufacturing sector would be slowly strangled by Labor’s planned carbon tax amid rising concern in business about the impact of the policy.

Mr Abbott made a direct appeal to manufacturing employers and workers today to take notice of the Coalition’s anti-carbon tax campaign at the same time as launching his latest personal attack against Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

He told the Victorian Liberal Party’s State Council that Melbourne would suffer badly if Australia followed the Labor course.

“Over time, a go-it-alone carbon tax means the slow strangulation of manufacturing in Australia,” the Opposition Leader said.

“Let the message go out to our country from here in Melbourne — the manufacturing heart of our country — that we must be a country that continues to make things. We must be a country with a first world economy.

“But we can’t be a first world economy if our manufacturing industry has been killed by Labor’s carbon tax.”

Read the rest here.

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Climate sense from Terry McCrann

28 May, 2011 by

Climate sense

Terry McCrann makes the very strong point that according to the Climate Commission, the science is settled and therefore the world will inevitably get warmer (because China and India will be increasing their emissions over the next decade). So, the argument goes, if we know that as a certainty, why are we flushing billions of dollars down the lavatory in a hopeless attempt to stop it, when we should be spending that money on adaptation? Don’t wait up for an answer from the warming zealots.

IF the science is as settled as climate commissioner Will Steffen asserts, then the Gillard government has only one rational policy option. It is the Lomborg solution.

It should immediately abandon all attempts to impose costly and inefficient wind and solar energy generation and, more broadly, abandon the 2020 target of cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent; with the redirection of all those freed resources to dealing with the perceived consequences of a hotter world.

Because it will get hotter; indeed, much hotter. That is to say, according to Steffen’s “settled science”. Because, simply put, global emissions in 2020 – at the end of Steffen’s “(absolutely) Critical Decade” – will be higher than they are today. Perhaps much higher.

The die will have been cast. For, according to Steffen and his settled science, that would then require the world to agree to cut global emissions by 9 per cent a year, every year from 2020, all the way to zero. That is, to total global decarbonisation in 30 years. And even that would only get us to a still 2 degrees hotter world. According to Steffen and his settled science.

You would have to rate the chances of doing that as zero. That a world that had allowed emissions to grow each year to 2020 would both agree to start cutting them immediately by 9 per cent a year, every year, and actually have a pathway to do that. Such an agreement is beyond even the most wishful of thinking.

As Danish statistician and “sceptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg has consistently and persistently argued, the best course (for the world) is to adapt to short-term temperature rises rather than engage in futile and costly attempts to stop them.

Read it here.

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US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative collapsing

27 May, 2011 by

Climate sense

Whenever anyone urges caution regarding Labor’s reckless and one-eyed pursuit of a carbon price, Gillard or Combet or Wong will wheel out how many other countries have cap-and-trade schemes in place, and claim that the rest of the world is “moving towards” more carbon pricing. They usually trot out the European cap-and-trade system, which accounts for 25 or so of the 30-odd countries, and which is so mired in corruption that the majority of transactions are fraudulent, followed by the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade scheme with ten [er, nine – Ed] states. Even that is less than one fifth of the US.

It simply isn’t true. The world is pulling back from carbon pricing, as people realise it doesn’t work. Japan has abandoned plans for an ETS, the EU scheme is doing little to reduce emissions, but everything to cripple an already struggling economy, New Hampshire voted to leave the US RGGI, and now its the turn of New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie spells out the blindingly obvious:

New Jersey is dropping out of the nation’s largest regional effort to reduce greenhouse gases in a move announced by Governor Christie on Thursday that was praised by business groups and criticized by environmental advocates.

Christie called the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative a “failure” and said it has been ineffective in battling global warming.

“RGGI has not changed behavior and it does not reduce emissions,” Christie said at a news conference in Trenton.

“RGGI does nothing more than tax electricity, tax our citizens, tax our businesses, with no discernable or measurable impact upon our environment,” he said.

Christie’s decision to withdraw by year’s end comes after similar efforts in New Hampshire, Maine and Delaware were met with resistance in recent weeks. New Jersey is the first state to opt out of the program, and some environmentalists fear Christie’s decision could provide momentum for other states to withdraw. (source)

Let’s hope so. Climate sense for once. Perhaps Gillard, Combet and Wong should follow New Jersey’s excellent example… How about a shot at Republican candidate in 2012, Mr Christie?

P.S. As at 2pm AEST, this news is missing in action from ABC, Fairfax, and News Corp. Only Sky have reported it so far…

(h/t WUWT)

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Daily Bayonet GW Hoax Weekly Round up

27 May, 2011 by

Skewering the clueless

As always, a great read!

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Turnbull wants to destroy Abbott – and the Coalition

26 May, 2011 by

Revenge on his mind…

Malcolm Turnbull’s ego is bigger than the Coalition. Bigger than a victory over Labor at the next election. Bigger than putting Australia back on a path to prosperity after six years of Labor mismanagement at the next election in 2013. Oh yes, Turnbull’s lust for revenge goes way beyond those petty considerations.

He hates the fact that Tony Abbott is doing so well as Opposition leader. He hates the fact that he thinks Abbott is inferior to him (or so he believes) and he himself should still rightly be the leader of the Opposition. He hates the fact that he was defeated by Abbott by one vote in 2009. He hates the fact that his mindless climate policy was dumped at the eleventh hour, just before his party was due to vote with Labor to enact an ETS. He hates the fact that Abbott’s recent budget reply went down so well (as evidenced by his curt handshake and flouncing out of the chamber at the first possible opportunity).

So last week we had the Lateline debacle, where Turnbull made little attempt to conceal his disgust for his own party’s climate policy. The next day, the headlines were full of… Malcolm Turnbull. And today we have another distraction from the task at hand, his alleged failure to vote in divisions, followed by the leak of a stiff email in rebuke. And, again, tomorrow the headlines will all be full of… Malcolm Turnbull.

To my mind, the fact that Turnbull is in the headlines again is no accident. I strongly believe that Turnbull wants to torpedo Abbott and then ride to the Coalition’s rescue as their saviour, and have himself elected leader again. All the evidence points that way, and it seems that he is prepared to sacrifice anything and everything to achieve this end, including a Coalition victory at the next election, just so long as he can exact his bitter revenge on Abbott.

We should not be reading headlines about Malcolm Turnbull – we should be reading headlines about Gillard’s incompetence. We should not be reading headlines about “divisions within the Coalition” brought about by Turnbull speaking out of turn – we should be reading headlines about the effect of Labor’s disastrous carbon tax on our economy and prosperity. Whenever Turnbull is in the headlines, it distracts from the task at hand: holding this inept and arrogant government to account.

The more of this kind of distraction continues, and the more cracks that appear in the Coalition front, the more opportunities there are for Labor to attack, diverting attention from their own shortcomings, eroding away, tiny bit by tiny bit, the extraordinary lead that Abbott has delivered, until Labor are ahead once again, Abbott sinks into the role of a leader in crisis, on the way out, and is eventually, inevitably, replaced by…?

So the message to Tony Abbott is all too clear: sack Turnbull now, or he will destroy you, the Coalition, and any chance of victory at the next election – all in pursuit of his own selfish goals.

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Media meltdown on Climate Commission report

25 May, 2011 by

Hardly impartial

Millions of column inches have been taken up on the Climate Commission’s one-sided and alarmist report, and most of those column inches haven’t had the benefit of an ounce of critical thought. Oddly, none of the journalists at Fairfax or the ABC have considered the vested interests at work in the commission, the careers built on global warming alarmism, the corruption of science by the IPCC, the lack of any opposing or dissenting views, the political influence of a government desperate to pass a carbon tax, and any number of other red flags which any independent thinking person would raise.

No, the media regurgitate the press release and the report without any consideration of any of those issues. Of course, Labor has been spruiking the report for all its worth – as if its conclusion has come as some kind of surprise! What did they expect from a bunch of scaremongering alarmists like David Karoly, Will Steffen and Matthew England? Balance? I think not. And neither did they. This whole edifice is nothing more than a propaganda machine, spewing out climate predictions on demand from a government in thrall to the Greens, and desperate to get traction on its flawed climate policy.

Then there is the inevitable “trust the scientists.” As if everything a scientist says is beyond question. Wheeling out the old chestnut about the patient with cancer, they crow, who would you trust? The three specialist oncologists or the quack? Over at the Impact of Climate Change blog, this post sums that attitude up perfectly:

The Hon. Julia Gillard, yesterday, explained that she accepts expert, scientific advice:

“The science is in, climate-change is real.  The science is clear:  man-made carbon pollution is making a difference to our planet and our climate. […]

“When I first met Ian Frazer, and he told me he had a cervical cancer vaccine that could cut the rates of cervical cancer for women and girls, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about cancer to second-guess what he was telling me was right.

“He was right; he’s a scientist.  We’ve got climate scientists here who are telling us exactly the same about the nature of global warming and the climate of our planet.”

That’s “harmless carbon dioxide gas”, rather than “carbon pollution”, Julia, by the way. And the response?

When I met Claudius Ptolemaeus and he told me that he could accurately represent the geocentric universe as a set of nested spheres, I didn’t pretend to myself I knew enough about astrology to second-guess what he was telling me was right; he’s a scientist, and couldn’t be mistaken. (source)

And what is the difference between oncologists and climate scientists? Climate science has been corrupted by money and politics, things that the medical profession manages, in the main, to rise above [yes there are specific exceptions, primarily in connection with pharmaceuticals of course, so don’t bother writing in]. For years, climate science was obscure, and suddenly, a crisis! Climate science is suddenly on the front pages of newspapers. Entire climate science departments have sprung up at universities all over the world, government climate departments have been established in virtually every country, the UN has climbed aboard the bandwagon and set up hundreds of climate committees, such as the IPCC. In other words, billions and billions of dollars spent, and the careers of thousands of scientists at stake.

And we somehow expect the results of all this to be impartial? If there were no climate crisis, none of these departments would exist, and climate science would return to that forgotten corner of the lab. That is why it is mainly retired scientists who dare speak their doubts about the “consensus” out loud.

So until the Climate Commission opens its eyes and ears and invites dissenting views to be part of its reporting process, it will remain nothing more than a hopelessly biased propaganda machine and mouthpiece for a government hamstrung by the Greens.

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Galileo Movement's rebuttal of Climate Commission's report

24 May, 2011 by

Galileo Movement

The Galileo Movement (link) has recently been set up, in their own words, to “expose misrepresentations pushing a ‘price on carbon dioxide’. We care about freedom, security, the environment, humanity and our future.”

They have produced a response to the Climate Commission’s scaremongering report of yesterday, and an associated press release, which states:

The Galileo Movement asks: Why are all eight of Australia’s publicly prominent academics promoting the notion of global warming due to human causes when all fail to provide specific, scientifically measured real-world evidence for their core claim of human causation?

Why are people funded by the government included in the Climate Commission’s Science Advisory Panel? This appears to be a conflict of interests.

The Climate Commission’s report coincides with release of Dr Wes Allen’s book ‘’The Weather Makers Re-examined’. This is the first and only serious review of Chief Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery’s book ‘The Weather Makers’.

Dr Allen’s solid data reveals serious errors, misrepresentations, exaggerations, contradictions and inaccuracies in Tim Flannery’s book that became a foundation for the public’s unfounded alarm about climate.

The Galileo Movement calls for an immediate investigation into what it sees as misrepresentation of science by the government funded Climate Commission and by the government itself.

The Climate Commission’s report diverts valuable attention from real environmental and humanitarian challenges. We urge Australian politicians to take the Climate Commission’s Key Messages as not factual. (source – PDF)

The response to the report can be found here (PDF).

ACM sends best wishes to the new organisation: the more people out there rebutting the government-sponsored misrepresentations and propaganda the better.

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Minchin: "offensive nonsense from known global warming alarmists"

23 May, 2011 by

Nick Minchin

Senator Minchin we salute you. Speaking for all of us on this side of the debate, Nick Minchin doesn’t mince words in a classic quote:

LIBERAL powerbroker Nick Minchin has attacked a new report that declares the world is in imminent danger from human-induced climate change as offensive nonsense from known “global warming alarmists”.

Senator Minchin, who played a key role in terminating Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership over his support for emissions trading, said there was still a legitimate debate over the role of humans in climate change.

“The so-called Climate Commission is a Labor government-appointed committee of known climate alarmists, selectively appointed … to further the cause of global warming alarmism,” he said following today’s release of the commission’s first report.

“I think everybody should take anything they say with a grain of salt,” Senator Minchin said.

“What’s most offensive is (climate commissioner) Will Steffen suggesting the scientific debate is over.

“That’s nonsense because there is a very lively scientific debate about the role of human-induced Co2 emissions in climate change.” (source)

Couldn’t have put it better. BRAVO!

(h/t Dave N in the comments)

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Will Steffen: Labor's Alarmist-in-Chief

23 May, 2011 by

Knows everything there is to know about the climate

It really is no wonder that the Climate Commission, headed by warmist Tim Flannery (salary $180k), and advised by Will Steffen, the Labor government’s chief scaremonger, has produced the skewed and catastrophist projections that it has. Let’s look at Steffen’s previous form:

In January 2011, Steffen linked the Queensland floods to climate change (whilst at the same time saying he wasn’t):

Climate change committee member Professor Will Steffen, the executive director of the ANU Climate Change Institute, said there was no direct link between global warming and the tragic flash flooding in Toowoomba which has killed at least nine people in southeast Queensland.

But he told The Australian Online that climate change would lead to heavier, more frequent rain.

“As the climate warms, there is more water vapour in the atmosphere,” he told The Australian Online.

“This means that there is a probability that there will more intense rainfall events around the world.

There is some evidence that we can see them now. I think the place where the best data is the US.” (source)

Then back in May 2010, he compared those sceptical of catastrophic man-made warming to “flat-earthers”:

While there were uncertainties about the pace and impact of change, he said, the core of climate science – that the world was warming and the primary cause since the middle of the last century had been industrial greenhouse gas emissions – should be accepted with the same confidence as the laws of gravity and relativity.

“Right now, this almost infantile debate about whether ‘is it real or isn’t it real?’, it’s like saying, ‘Is the Earth round or is it flat?’ [Climate change] is a hugely important question and yet we are not having a rational discourse in the media in Australia on this question. That is my biggest frustration.” He called on the media to focus on areas where there was not a consensus, including the link between climate change and the south-east Australian drought and how rapidly sea levels would rise. (source)

Steffen has never, ever, conceded that there is any doubt in the debate. EVER. He clearly believes that he knows all there is to know about the climate, and anyone who dares suggest there are unknowns is simply branded a filthy denier.

So is it any wonder that a climate report prepared by him spouts the usual alarmist hysteria? Nope. Not in the slightest.

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Shock: "It's all worse than we thought!" sez Commission

23 May, 2011 by

Alarmism in graphical form

What a surprise. Just exactly as expected, given the Climate Commission doesn’t have a single sceptical viewpoint represented, and right on cue for Julia Gillard to say, “see we told you so, we need to take action on climate”, despite the fact that nothing Australia does alone will make any difference whatsoever.

Parroting the IPCC line all the way, and blaming the media (natch), the Climate Commission  is simply a cheer squad for climate alarmism, and that’s exactly the result they have delivered. The Sydney Moonbat Herald virtually wets itself this morning:

THE evidence for global warming is now ”exceptionally strong and beyond doubt” and actions this decade will determine the impact of climate change for the rest of the century, according to the first big report produced by Australia’s Climate Commission.

The report, to be presented to federal parliamentarians today, is designed to cut through the noise of political debate about the government’s carbon tax and find common ground.

It catalogues the latest [alarmist] research on the impact of climate change on Australia, updating the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including reduced rainfall, recorded sea level rises and increasing temperatures.
Climate science was ”being attacked in the media by many with no credentials in the field”, the report said.

”The questioning of the IPCC, the ‘climategate’ incident based on hacked emails in the UK and attempts to intimidate climate scientists have added to the confusion in the public about the veracity of climate science. [See? Climategate and fudging data was just a storm in a teacup – move along, nothing to see here – Ed]

”By contrast to the noisy, confusing ‘debate’ in the media, within the climate research community our understanding of the climate system continues to advance strongly.” (source)

Words are useless to describe the hysteria. Coming at the same time as new research in Nature shows that it is the oceans that have far more of an effect on the climate than the composition of the atmosphere. And then there’s the non-existent sea level rises:

SYDNEY will be the Australian capital most vulnerable to extreme flooding events, the Climate Commission says.

While the likelihood of damaging floods, storm surges and king tides will increase around the coast, Sydney can expect to see ”extreme events” once a month by 2100, the commission’s report The Critical Decade says.

”While a sea-level rise of 0.5 metre … may not seem like a matter for much concern, such modest levels of sea-level rise can lead to unexpectedly large increases in the frequency of extreme high sea-level events,” it said. (source)

Sea level has been rising at 3mm per year since the year dot, with no sign of acceleration. Yet the Climate Commission manages to spin this into a scare story.

Isn’t it funny how the decade we are living in right now just happens to be the “critical decade” and we must act now. Planet has been here for four and a half billion years, but we have to save it in the next ten…

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