Got Scared?

The global warming idiots certainly hope you do; their grant money depends upon it:

Hansen is far from alone in exaggerating climate change for his own political agenda. In 1989, at the same time Hansen was "emphasizing extreme scenarios," Dr. Stephen Schneider, now at Stanford University, opined in Discover magazine that "we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have." Hardly a recipe for encouraging an "honestly informed" public.

The irony is that, in recent years, Hansen's positions on global warming have come increasingly in line with those of the administration he claims is censoring him. In a 2003 article in Natural Science, he laid bare the faulty reasoning behind the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, which have become famous for predicting massive climate change over the course of the next half century.

He wrote that "we predict additional warming in the next 50 years of 3/4°C +/- 1/4°C, a warming rate of 0.15°C +/- 0.05°C per decade." This at the absolute low end of projections made by the IPCC and is precisely the value that has been argued by global warming "skeptics" ("moderates" would be a more accurate term) like myself, for over a decade now.

Hansen essentially argued that the extreme IPCC scenarios are exaggerations without firm grounding in reality, and that we are in all likelihood on an emissions pathway that lies near the low end of the IPCC projections. He was spot on about that.

But obviously, this conclusion doesn't sit well with the throngs of scientists and environmental organizations that have made it their business to scare the bejesus out of us in an effort to advance their own agendas and livelihoods. And, soon after his 2003 paper was published, very little was heard from Mr. Hansen.

But, as soon as he says anything alarmist, his face time returns. And if, while banging the tocsin, the Administration is a bit skeptical, he portrays himself as a martyr. So, while Hansen is certainly free to continue to draw attention to himself and to his personal opinions about climate change and how they are being suppressed, we can draw attention to another salient point.