The Pseudo-Science Coalition, Bible Science and Conspiracy Theories

Is it because of the Christian holiday - Easter time, that's brought out all the religious beliefs at WUWT?

Today there's an article (archived here) about how all the science according to the IPCC is wrong, but science according to the Old Testament is right.  The article is by a Tom Harris who is from the International Climate Science Coalition.  That's an organisation related to the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.  It's chief science adviser is Bob Carter.  Bob's a retired scientist who has taken up climate science denial to supplement his superannuation.  He's paid by the Heartland Institute and is also prominent at the Institute of Public Affairs, an Australian right wing lobby group.

The International Climate Science Coalition is a misnomer. It should be called the Climate Anti-Science Coalition. Or maybe the Climate Pseudo-Science Coalition.  I'll run with the latter.

Tom's the Executive Director and manages the show, according to DeSmogBlog. He's an engineer by training, not a climate scientist. He studied thermofluids.  That's outside my area of expertise, just like climate science is clearly outside Tom's area of expertise.

Tom and his pseudo-science organisation is pretty cosy with the Heartland Institute, which is probably why he's trying to promote their latest "not the IPCC" report.  After reading the executive summary of the last one I'm not sure that it's worth anyone's time reading the latest one.  I notice that while they tried to match the first two IPCC reports they didn't bother with matching WGIII.  That's probably because they don't want to mitigate global warming. The Heartland Institute advocate adaptation as the sole strategy.  Fortunately for them no-one's paying them any attention.  Their last big launch attracted the following people, according to skepticalscience.com:

• 5 Heartland participants
• 5 grumpy-looking old white guys 
• 1 supporter from the American Enterprise Institute
• 2 bored looking middle-aged guys playing with electronic devices
• 1 journalist from CNS news ("The right news. Right now")
• 1 guy running the Fox TV camera 
• 2 women who came in late
• An SkS author and co-conspirator.

Bible science not climate science

Tom from his pseudo-science coalition gets his predictions from the bible but disdains projections from scientists. His article thrice refers to Moses.  (Is that becoming the fashion?) At one point he wrote:

While historical evidence increasingly suggests that cataclysm really did follow Moses’ prophesies, modern-day forecasts of climate Armageddon are not coming true. 

Charlton Heston as Moses

I don't know what he's referring to by "climate Armageddon" or what he thinks should have happened by now.  Maybe he's impatient.  Perhaps he's also got his years wrong and thinks it's 2100 already. That's a common error made by science deniers.  They reckon that because it's not yet two degrees hotter it's never going to be two degrees hotter.  And because seas haven't risen by two metres they are never going to rise by two metres.  I call that dumb. Others might call it stupid or ignorant. Still others might call it deceitful. It depends who is making the claim. When it's the Heartland Institute or the International Pseudo-Science Coalition then it's fair enough to call it deceitful. They know better.

What mistakes, Tom?

Tom's article is littered with claims like "mistakes in the science" and is high on insinuation and low on evidence.  Actually it's not simply low on evidence it has no evidence.  It's all rhetoric.  He includes some twisted quotations from leading figures implying that they don't accept the science.  That's incorrect but it probably goes down well with WUWT readers.  He does bring up the "CO2 is Plant Food" meme, which has dropped to number 42 on the SkepticalScience list of denier arguments.

Need to develop alternative sources of energy

Tom is of the view that we face a long-term energy crisis and writes:

Irrespective of the validity of climate change theories, there are good reasons to develop alternative sources of energy, but climate concerns is certainly not one of them.

The sentence is a bit mixed up.  He should have topped or tailed it.  It also provokes some discussion in the comments.

Just another WUWT conspiracy theorist

Toward the end Tom wrote:

In the long run, the climate scare will be revealed as the most expensive hoax in the history of science. 

So it turns out Tom's just another conspiracy theorist.  Conspiracy theorists are common at WUWT.  (Given the large number of conspiracy theories Anthony Watts promotes, you'd think he'd support papers like the moon-landing paper. But for some strange reason that and it's successor, Recursive Fury, didn't go down to well at WUWT.)

What wolves?

Tom's final paragraph is curious.  He wrote:

Scientists and others who knew this but promoted the deception for what they considered good reasons will be disgraced. Then no one will believe them when wolves really are at our doors.

What are the wolves?

From the WUWT comments

Given the religious nature of the holiday weekend, there were quite a few religious comments:

Martin 457 knows it was hotter 6,500 years ago because of the garden of eden. And then it got cooler when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.  He says:

April 19, 2014 at 5:27 am
The bible, in it’s old testament, 6500 years ago, there was a garden of eden. We can look back to that time and see that the climate was warmer then. Then, there was a drastic cooling period. Doesn’t surprise me at all it rained for 40 day’s and nights. The atmosphere cooling like that can’t hold that amount of moisture any longer. DUH! Why that happened, un-explained.
The “not-see’s” are driving their cult away by sheer ignorance. Let them.

Louis says:

April 18, 2014 at 7:24 pm
There’s a big difference between “evidence” and “proof.” Both the Bible and the Koran document the Ten Plagues. Such ancient documents don’t “prove” an event happened, but they do provide historical evidence for it. (The fact that the Passover is still being commemorated after more than 3000 years is also evidence.) People can be open to such evidence, or they can close their minds to it. But they ought to have honest reasons for doing so, not just naked bias against the Bible or against religion in general. 

David L. Hagen reckons Moses did alright with his prophecies and points to a book to prove it and says:

April 18, 2014 at 6:32 pm
Moses had an amazing sequence of prophecies that were fulfilled.
See God’s Track Record of Fulfilled Prophecy By Don W. Olson 2005 pp 9-12

If you follow his link you'll see strong evidence, like how the prophecy that the Israelites would leave Egypt with wealth was fulfilled by them getting backpay.  And how the prophecy that the Nile would turn to blood was fulfilled by the Nile and all the rivers in Egypt turning to blood. Heavy, man!


David M says:

April 18, 2014 at 7:54 pm
While I don’t doubt the serious amount of alarmist nonsense spouted about AGW, i’m sorry, but you lost me as soon as you suggested that Moses made predictions that were more accurate. There are so many things wrong with that I don’t even know where to begin, and only serves to diminish your credibility.. 

Felix is like David M and says:

April 18, 2014 at 6:56 pm
“While historical evidence increasingly suggests that cataclysm really did follow Moses’ prophesies, modern-day forecasts of climate Armageddon are not coming true.”

I’m always a little skeptical of people who accept biblical literalism and reject modern science. But, you all believe as you like. 

SAMURAI goes for (mixed up) ancient greek philosophy, invoking Plato's disciple Socrates (sic) and says (excerpt):

April 18, 2014 at 11:41 pm
An excellent post, Tom. Thank you!

Even as Plato’s disciple Socrates sipped his hemlock, he realized that Plato’s “Philosopher King” Utopia was a failed Utopian dream, and that democracies are ultimately and inextricably ruled by kleptocrats who form kleptocratic regimes designed to enslave and rob its citizens.

MarkW reckons there's a lot more fossil fuel in the ground waiting to be discovered and says:

April 18, 2014 at 9:55 pm
While it is true that we will some day begin to run out of fossil fuels, that day is at least several hundred years in the future.

Planning for it now is a complete waste of time as the technology and societal needs of that far distant future are completely unknowable, and any plans made now stand as much chance of making things worse than of making things better.

Pat Frank worships money, not the bible or moses or greek philosophers and says:

April 18, 2014 at 7:23 pm
I’d like to know how much the COP conferences cost. There have been, what, 19 of them so far? Who’s paying for those? How much has been spent on the salaries and expenses of the participants? Who’s paying for them?

How much has already been spent on mitigation of a non-problem? How much for pointless “carbon-capture” projects? How much has been squandered on the IPCC? How much paid for climate scientists to meet several times a year?

How much money has gone to subsidies for solar and wind farms that merely parasitize the productive economy? How much in tax money has gone to subsidize the Teslas that are just toys for rich people?

Someone should total up how much money has been squandered on the idiocy of anthropogenic global warming. 

While Janice Moore (unpredictably) has more faith in human ingenuity, even more than god this time, and says:

April 18, 2014 at 4:01 pm
The comparison with Moses while not exactly on point (ahem)… is an apt one: just as the Egyptians wanted to retain the economic benefits of the slave labor of the Jews,
so, too,
the Enviroprofiteers (and their henchpersons, the Envirostalinists) want to gain (or retain) the economic benefits (for the elite) of any socialist system that has ever blossomed into full flower — the bulk of the citizens become serfs.

“Equality for the world” and “save civilization as we know it” are mere euphemisms for a harsh, bitter, existence for the many to benefit the few.
(to quote with an edit Winston Churchill — from memory, only)
“Capitalism: the unequal sharing of blessings.
Socialism: the equal {except for the elite} sharing of misery.”
*****************************************************
*****************************************************
You make many good points, Mr. Harris, this, however is not one of them:
“… we do indeed face a long-term energy crisis… .”

Unless you are a prophet (like Moses really was), you do not know this. Moreover, historical evidence tells us that such doomsaying conjecture is highly likely to be wrong. You are forgetting, dear sir, that human ingenuity lives! Malthus predicted famine…. there was going to be a big copper wire shortage…. and robots were going to take away all the jobs……and on and on.

I will not believe, Mr. Harris! No, I will not believe your prophecy, for I have far too much FAITH IN OUR WONDERFUL ENGINEERS AND CHEMISTS (have you even looked at what nanotechnology is doing, esp. re: synthetic petroleum products?) to believe for one second that our fuel needs will not be met …. or redefined. 

And not one government regulation is necessary. Free markets will do it all.

So, take heart!
On Good Friday, things looked pretty bleak for a bunch of Jewish followers of a certain Jewish rabbi 2,000 years ago… GOOD THINGS LIE AHEAD!
REJOICE!
#(:)) 

Is Cliff Mass taking the piss?

Cliff Mass has a blog post (archived here) that he begins with:

A week ago I was on  a state legislative panel about the regional implications of global climate change and some climate policy folks on the panel described a range of unpleasant local effects of increasing greenhouse gases:  coastal inundation from rising sea level, droughts, an increase in severe storms, serious flooding on local rivers, extreme precipitation, insect infestations killing  forests,  heat waves, and ocean acidification killing local shellfish, among others.   

Cliff doesn't say which state.  There were several clues by which one can narrow down the state legislative panel.  For example, the parts about rising sea levels, droughts, extreme precipitation and insect infestations. My guess is that the state legislature was on the west coast of the USA - Washington, Oregon or California.  Cliff hails from Washington State but there were no panels held on climate change there that I could find. I don't have time to look up all the different jurisdictions.  It doesn't really matter except I would have liked to have checked what Cliff reported against what was actually presented - and by whom.

Update: Dan McShane in the comments has provided a link to the presentations - click here. Sou.

Never mind, we'll make do with what we have.  Cliff continued:

The list was biblical in length and severity.  All that was missing were the frogs and boils.

I think what Cliff is implying here is that the predictions couldn't come true because they suggest climate change will have serious consequences.  Perhaps Cliff doesn't think that the consequences of a 2, 4, 6 or more degree rise in average global temperature will be serious. Or, more likely, his mind cannot cope with the severity of the risk so he makes light of it.  It's a natural human reaction but not one you'd expect from a meteorologist who, during his studies, should have learnt at least a little bit about what shapes climate.

Cliff went on to say how people's eyes glazed over "as the endless list of disasters were described. "  Instead of pondering how to wake the audience up to the reality of climate change, I reckon Cliff joined in with glazed eyes of his own.

There's a difference between "in" and "by" with provisos...

Cliff said that "climate policy advocates" (surely by now all legislatures have a policy on climate change) provided "extraordinarily specific predictions--such as the snow pack being reduced by 35% in a certain year."

Now that would surprise me.

Perhaps not only were Cliff's eyes glazed but his ears weren't working too well either.   I suppose the person could have said that.  However I consider it more likely that the climate experts were predicting that the snow pack would be reduced by 35% (on average) by a certain year, not "in a certain year".  And with provisos, such as those relating to the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere. At least that's how all the projections I've seen are expressed.  And the scientists showing what's ahead of us also point out that in future there will continue to be natural variation such that there can still be a heavy snow year as well as a virtually no snow year.

[Update: I didn't see any mention of a "35%" in the presentations nor any suggestion of a 35% in a particular year.  There are projections along the lines I indicated above - by particular years for given scenarios as well as the amount by which snow has declined already. Sou.]

Glazed, rolling eyeballs falling out of sockets can be very distracting

The reason I suggest that Cliff's ear's had stopped working was because he indicated that by this stage not only were the audiences' eyes glazed over but there was "substantial" rolling of eyeballs.  Glazed rolling eyeballs would take some getting used to.  It would be safe to say if Cliff were suffering such a malady it would distract him from listening.  Even if he were merely watching such an impressive display he would be seriously distracted and likely didn't hear what the speakers actually spoke.  He did say he was busy worrying that some eyeballs might fall out of their sockets.  Cliff might not be skilled at multi-tasking.

Lurching backwards playing Pharaoh

You can tell Cliff's mind was wandering because after this he lurched backwards into some yarns from the Old Testament.  I think he was intimating that he was a Pharaoh, or that the elected representatives were Pharoahs or something and should act like the Pharaoh of old who took no notice of Moses' prophecies.

He said that Pharaoh's advisers advised that Moses' prophecies could happen with natural variation. Maybe Cliff is playing one of Pharaoh's advisers. Which reminds me of the talk given by Sophie Lewis last week, where she told us that it was virtually impossible for Australia to have had a year like last year without the extra greenhouse gases in the air.  Her experiments suggested that the chances of 2013 happening without AGW were at most one year in the past 13,000 years.  That's long odds.

Taking the piss...

Now I might be reading Cliff's blog all wrong.  Americans aren't known for subtlety but it could be that he is sending a subtle message to his fellow scientists that they need to present the science in a less boring way.  In a way that won't glaze eyes, roll eyeballs or cause eyeballs to fall from their very sockets.

Cliff didn't make any positive suggestion except to hint that if scientists grew their hair, sprouted a handsome beard, wore a flowing robe and carried a staff it would probably only make things worse.  Pharaoic advisers would continue to poo poo the science and make light of the risks.  To illustrate his point, Cliff put up this image of Charlton Heston dressed up as Moses with the caption:

Not successful in getting action using threats of environmental disaster to promote change.

Not even Charlton Heston dressed in flowing robes and waving a big stick would impress climate science deniers!

Whatever his message, Cliff ended his blog article with a comment that was too subtle for me to decipher.  He wrote:

"And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth"

Time to do the replenishing part. 

Maybe that was Cliff's subtle way of letting us know he was "taking the piss".


If you want to join in Cliff's religious discussion, you can do so on his blog.  If you prefer, you can speculate on his article, his message or his motives in the comments here :)

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Taking the piss: mocking the listener by telling them a tall tale to test their gullibility.  Often but not always in a friendly, light-hearted way. Does not involve urinating (to piss). Does not (necessarily) involve imbibing alcohol (a piss-up).