Newspoll: Labor crashes further

5 April, 2011 by

Heading down

After a small recovery in the last Newspoll, Labor has continued its dive in popularity. Hmm, I wonder if the carbon tax has anything to do with it…?

SUPPORT for Labor has crashed again, collapsing to an eight-year, two-party-preferred low as Julia Gillard fights the Greens on “traditional values” and sticks by a carbon tax.

The latest Newspoll reveals backing for Tony Abbott and the Coalition has risen in the past fortnight, with the Opposition Leader making up ground to again trail Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister by only nine points.

During the past two weeks – as NSW Labor was wiped out at the state election and the Prime Minister targeted Greens’ policies as extremist – federal Labor’s primary vote fell from 36 per cent to 32 per cent and the Coalition’s rose from 40 per cent to 45 per cent.

The Greens’ support fell back to its 2010 election level of 12 per cent two weeks ago. The latest Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian last weekend, reveals it has not shifted, despite the Greens picking up their first NSW lower house seat in the state election.

Based on preference flows at the last federal election, the Coalition has a 10-point lead over Labor on a two-party-preferred basis of 55 to 45 per cent. This is the Coalition’s biggest lead after preferences and Labor’s lowest two-party-preferred vote since April 2003, when Kim Beazley declared he wanted to take the Labor leadership because Simon Crean was not making any impact on the Howard government in the polls. (source)

And in other news, climate alarmists fail at basic maths:

SEA levels are rising close to the upper end of predictions made in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s landmark 2007 report.

Oceanographer and climate scientist John Church, who is writing the chapter on sea level rises for the IPCC’s 2013 update, said the world’s oceans were on track to rise by between 60cm and 80cm by 2100. “There’s no evidence to say that the IPCC has overestimated (the predictions),” Dr Church said.

…

He said sea levels were rising at about 3.2mm a year. In the 20th century, he said it was 1.7mm a year. [another very suspect claim – Ed] (source)

The last time I checked, 89 years x 3.2 mm/yr = 28.4 cm. So the rate of sea level rise would have to double or triple, to between 6 and 9mm per year, to reach the IPCC’s predictions of 60 or 80cm. And there is no sign of any acceleration whatsoever (in fact even a slight slowing) (see here, bottom graph). So, Dr Church, please explain why you say that sea level rises “are rising close to the upper end of predictions.”

Filed Under: Climate

CSIRO: climate change to cause "fewer cyclones and smaller waves"

4 April, 2011 by

Al Gore's view…

From The Science is Settled Department. Three strikes for CSIRO today, and this last one is a peach, flatly contradicting all the Labor hype about more cyclones:

CSIRO research commissioned by the federal government suggests climate change could dramatically reduce the number of tropical cyclones in the Australian region and decrease wave heights on the nation’s east coast.

The surprise findings, which appear to contradict some common predictions about the impact of climate change, are contained in scientific papers on “Projecting Future Climate and its Extremes”, obtained under Freedom of Information laws by The Australian Online. [Why did it need an FOI request? Were the CSIRO hiding it under a filing cabinet somewhere? I wonder why… – Ed]

One paper, by CSIRO researcher Debbie Abbs, found rising temperatures could halve the frequency of tropical  cyclones.

“Climate change projections using this modelling system show a strong tendency for a decrease in TC numbers in the Australian region, especially in the region of current preferred occurrence,” Dr Abbs said.

“On average for the period 2051-2090 relative to 1971-2000, the simulations show an approximately 50 per cent decrease in occurrence for the Australian region, a small decrease (0.3 days) in the duration of a given TC and a southward movement of 100km in the genesis and decay regions.” (source)

So therefore, instead of imposing a carbon tax, perhaps the government should be paying us to burn coal and lessen the risk of damage from cyclones, right?

As usual, the science really doesn’t have the first clue about how the climate system works, and yet we are about to cripple our economy with a pointless carbon tax to “lessen the risks” from climate change? Facepalm.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: ,

Head of hopelessly politicised CSIRO "backs carbon price"

4 April, 2011 by

Scientist or politician? You decide.

CSIRO is no longer a respected, independent scientific advisory body, but a politicised mouthpiece for the Labor government and their efforts to “tackle climate change”:

The head of Australia’s leading science body says a carbon price should be a key part of the nation’s overall climate action.

CSIRO chief Dr Megan Clark will today join 600 of Australia’s top climate change scientists [environmental activists – Ed] at a meeting in Cairns to update the latest observations.

Dr Clark says global warming is one of the most challenging issues facing humanity and needs careful consideration.

“It’s an urgent issue, but it is also a very complex one and one that will affect us, not just in this country, in all aspects of society, but probably one of the most challenging issues we have ever faced as humanity.

“It does need careful consideration and it does need debate. [As long as the debate comes down in favour of a carbon price, right? – Ed]

“We need to debate the issue, come to grips with the issue, and it’s an important part of us coming to grips with it and stepping forward.”

Dr Clark has welcomed the pro- and anti-carbon tax rallies, saying she is not concerned the science may be overlooked as the political battle focused on the carbon tax.

“Clearly we need a price on carbon and a policy response [do we? Please explain – Ed], but we also need sustainable technologies that will take us into a low-carbon future and also our change in behaviour,” she said. (source)

When even the WA Nationals are considering backing a carbon price (see here), there really is little hope that sanity will prevail.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With:

"Poor information" hampers climate science

4 April, 2011 by

We need more climate scientists!! (click to enlarge)

It’s that old communication thing again. Nothing to do with the quality of the science, Climategate, wildly inflated scare stories, hysterical environmental groups desperate to cash in, the UN crusade for world government. No, people are too dumb to take any notice of that, it’s just that we can’t get the message across (despite the fact that two of the major news organisations in Australia, ABC and Fairfax, uncritically plug the alarmist line every hour of the day, every day of the week, every day of the year).

A LACK of “credible information” is one of the main reasons that 40 per cent of Australians do not believe that humans have a role in global warming, according to the head of the federal government’s Climate Commission, Tim Flannery.

And the fact that many Australians found the topic irritating [ha, I wonder why, with people like Flannery banging on about it every minute of the day – Ed], according to a CSIRO survey, was hampering efforts to communicate the science of climate change and to implement effective policy, he said.

“No enduring reforms will happen in this space until we get the weight of public opinion behind them,” Professor Flannery told The Australian [translation: “until we have successfully brainwashed the public into not thinking for themselves” – Ed].

“Climate scientists need to be more widely heard in the public debate.” [Please, no, anything but that – Ed]

He was commenting on the results of the most comprehensive study yet of Australians’ attitudes to climate change.

…

Most of the 5000 respondents to the survey thought Earth was warming. About half believed that humans were mainly to blame. But just over 40 per cent put the crisis down to natural causes, 5.6 per cent denied that the climate was changing at all and 3.8 per cent were unsure. (source)

I think that we should hear more from Tim Flannery. That will have the desired effect… In any case, CSIRO has ceased to be an impartial scientific organisation, and is itself plugging the alarmist line:

THE CSIRO will today launch a book highlighting the key economic, environmental and social concerns of climate change in Australia. [Note “economic” and “social” concerns. Gone are the days when CSIRO advised on science. Now it’s advising on policy as well – Ed]

The publication, Climate Change: Science and Solutions for Australia, will also provided up-to-date information on international climate change science and potential responses. [and responses – Ed]

CSIRO Chief Executive Megan Clark will launch the book at the Greenhouse 2011 climate change conference in Cairns.

She said the book draws on the latest literature from thousands of researchers in Australia and internationally.

“It seeks to provide a bridge from the peer-reviewed scientific literature to a broader audience of society, while providing the depth of science that this complex issue demands and deserves,” Dr Clark said. (source)

More of that communication thing again. A quick scan of the document reveals that it is heavily based on the IPCC 2007 AR4, of course, and the key section (on feedbacks) states the following:

The net effect of all these processes is a set of feedbacks that have an overall reinforcing effect. A doubling in CO2 from pre-industrial levels (280 ppm) to around 550 ppm without feedbacks would result in a global warming of about 1˚C. Factoring in the effects of water vapour and other ‘fast’ feedbacks, however, means that a CO2 doubling will amplify the long-term average warming to about 3˚C. This important number, called the ‘fast climate sensitivity’, is somewhat uncertain and could vary between 2˚ and 4.5˚C according to IPCC estimates based on a range of climate models. (source – 14MB PDF, page 21)

So basically, despite the fact that there is plenty of research questioning it, they have swallowed the IPCC’s conclusion of high climate sensitivity and everything else follows from that. And you don’t need to read the book to work out that it won’t contain any credible challenge to the consensus. If it mentions sceptical views at all, it will be in the form of straw men, set up to be blown over and then ignored. I will eventually get around to reading the rest, but really, that’s all that matters.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: ,

BBC: "left-wing, shallow and oh-so politically correct"

3 April, 2011 by

Speaking out. Sissons (L) and Buerk (R)

This should come as a surprise to no-one. Like the ABC, the BBC is stuffed full of trendy urban lefties, pushing their own agendas, pro-Labour, pro-Obama, pro-Palestine etc, and which naturally include extreme environmentalism and a love of global warming alarmism. Only when they are too old to care do employees speak out.

We previously covered newsreader Peter Sissons’ memoirs here where he described the corporation as a “propaganda machine for climate change zealots”. Now another newsreader, Michael Buerk, has similarly let the cat out of the bag:

Michael Buerk has launched a withering assault on the BBC’s ‘creed of political correctness’.

The veteran presenter accuses staff at the Corporation of an inbuilt ‘institutional bias’ and warns that they read the left-wing Guardian newspaper as if it is ‘their Bible’.

Reviewing a memoir by his former colleague Peter Sissons, Buerk endorses his view that the BBC is warped by the prejudices of its staff.

He says fellow reporters have ‘contempt’ for business and the countryside – and that a left-wing culture means the national broadcaster has been cast ‘adrift of the overriding national sentiment’ on issues such as climate change.

…

Buerk, who has previously voiced criticisms of fellow newsreaders for being overpaid, autocue-reading ‘lame brains’, praises Sissons for attacking ‘Autocuties, “Elf ’n’ Safety” and ‘its culture of conformity’.

Buerk also accuses BBC reporters of an ‘uncritical love affair with environmentalism’. (source)

And for the BBC you could of course substitute our own ABC, which employs climate alarmists in its top science reporter positions (think Robyn Williams and Bernie Hobbs), and Left-leaning presenters in key political roles (think Tony “Has anyone seen me and Kevin Rudd in the same room” Jones, and Kerry O’Brien, “Red Kerry” as he was called, and not because of the colour of his hair…).

Not only that, but the editorial policy of ABC news is blatantly pro-warmist, with climate scare stories reported uncritically, and sceptical papers ignored or rubbished. Its Unleashed section is nothing more than a platform for extreme environmentalists like Clive Hamilton, with the ratio of alarmists to sceptics probably in excess of 20 to 1. I could go on…

A sad record for our supposedly impartial national broadcaster, which has gone the same way as the BBC.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , ,

Idiotic Comment of the Day: GetUp's Simon Sheikh

2 April, 2011 by

Hubris personified

Gotta hand it to GetUp – they breed an altogether different class of moonbat. Speaking at the Let’s Have a Carbon Tax Which Will Do Nothing For The Climate But Will Flush Our Economy Down The Drain rally today, Sheikh proclaimed, without a hint of irony:

“We are the last line of defence for Mother Nature.”

Yep. Planet’s been here 4.5 billion years, but only we (i.e. GetUp) can possibly save it. Other idiotic placards at the rent-a-crowd demo included:

“Price on pollution [sic]. Our kids are worth it.”

Actually the kids 30 generations away are worth it, if you believe Tim Flannery.

Read it here.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , ,

Daily Bayonet GW Hoax Weekly Roundup

2 April, 2011 by

Skewering the clueless

Apologies, a day late – but still a great read! Tim Flannery scores “Hippie of the Week”.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With:

Labor "at war" with Garnaut

2 April, 2011 by

Slapped down Garnaut

Add poor old Ross Garnaut to the list of who Labor is at war with: Greens, independents, the Opposition, the Australian people… It’s all shaping up for an epic battle.

ENERGY Minister Martin Ferguson has slapped down the government’s chief climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, flatly rejecting calls for more regulation on electricity markets and warning that mandatory renewable energy targets are pushing up power prices.

Mr Ferguson rejected Professor Garnaut’s claims that electricity price rises were a result of “gouging” by electricity generators.

The senior cabinet minister said electricity prices had risen because of costs in replacing ageing plants and he warned that prices would rise by 30 per cent in the next three years because of investment costs, a carbon price and the mandatory target for renewable energy generation.

Mr Ferguson and the Australian Energy Market Commission both warned that the government’s compulsory target of 20 per cent electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020 was coming at a “cost to the community” and could “challenge” the national electricity grid.

Professor Garnaut this week recommended coal-fired power electricity generators not be compensated for a carbon tax and that a new energy regulator be formed.

At an energy conference in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Ferguson said Professor Garnaut had a role in advising the multi-party climate change committee, which includes the Greens, but he “does not speak for the government, nor for the Ministerial Council on Energy”, which represents every government.

Mr Ferguson’s comments come as the Labor government fights with the Greens over “extreme” policies. (source)

And in another piece of breathtaking hypocrisy, as news leaks that the carbon tax could cost families over $600 a year, Labor has warned against a “scare campaign” on the cost to families, whilst at the exact same time conducting its own “scare campaign” on climate change:

In a joint statement, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the Government had not made final decisions on the starting price or how much people will be compensated.

“No final decisions on the starting price or assistance have been taken and therefore it is far too early to speculate on any potential price impacts,” the statement said.

“Until the final design and modelling have been settled, anyone who uses these figures to scare families about prices is engaging in a dishonest, misleading scare campaign. (source)

They should know. After all, Combet and Swan are the experts on dishonest, misleading scare campaigns.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: ,

April 1 Shock: Gillard says "I'm now a sceptic"

1 April, 2011 by

Now a sceptic

In a shock about turn, Julia Gillard has taken a leaf out of Tony Abbott’s book and described the consensus on dangerous AGW as “absolute crap.” Speaking this morning she said she had experienced a “Damascene conversion” and was now a fully-fledged climate sceptic:

“I woke up this morning and realised that all the scares were just that. I spent a number of hours reading Australian Climate Madness and realised that the science wasn’t settled, and the debate wasn’t over.

The physics however is clear: a doubling of CO2 can only produce about a 1 degree rise in temperature. Anything beyond that is just the product of flaky computer models advocated by scientists desperate to secure more funding. Our policy for climate mitigation by way of a carbon tax and ETS was just plain wrong, and merely wealth distribution by the back door.

Nothing we do in Australia will make the slightest difference to climate locally or globally. Those policies will be abandoned as of today, to ensure the continuing standard of living of all Australians.

All of our nonsensical climate committees will be disbanded, and Tim Flannery will be permanently exiled to Christmas Island.”

And she also had words of warning for the Greens:

“The Greens aren’t a serious political party – they are an extremist environmental activist group that deserves no place in modern government. I cannot believe that I allowed myself to be duped by the likes of Brown and Milne for so long.

I would like to apologise to the Australian people for my blindness and stupidity. I intend to call an election immediately to enable the Australian people to elect a proper majority government.”

Check the date. Oh well, I guess we can dream…

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With:

Official: Fremantle the dumbest place in Australia

31 March, 2011 by

OMG

Why, you may ask? Because they thanked Julia Gillard for the carbon tax:

Fremantle thanks Gillard for carbon tax

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been showered with praise by Fremantle residents for her government’s proposed carbon tax during a community cabinet meeting in the West Australian port city. But that was to be expected at Australia’s only carbon neutral high school in a state electorate held by a green independent MP. On Wednesday night Ms Gillard chatted with people wearing T-shirts calling for action on climate change and posed for photos in front of a banner which read: ‘Thank you for the carbon tax’. (source)

Stupidity knows no bounds where the Greens are concerned.

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With:
«Previous Page
Next Page»