What The Hell Is Long Range Weather?

The short answer is, its a website run by two guys named Cliff Harris and Randy Mann which, among other things, and for $129 U.S. (per year?), advises clients on "profitable weather commodity trades" and "highlights the major commodity markets that have been and will be affected by Ma Nature's wild ways in recent years."

It also hosts some pretty graphs (see above) which, according to NuzeBuzzster's Noel Sheppard, Al Gore doesn't want you to see.

So who the heck are Cliff Harris and Randy Mann? Well, Randy Mann is a weatherman for the Spokesman Review, a newspaper out of Spokane Washington, and is known locally for his ant-GW rants. But the real gem here is Cliff Harris. Although, according to the site, he "has been...rated as one of the top ten climatologists in the world for nearly 4 decades", he is entirely self-taught, having studied weather since he was "nine years old". In his predictions,

...he bases his predictions on a wide variety of scientific resources and historical records. “He’s also a devout Christian and believes the Bible is loaded with clues on predicting the weather.”

And while at this moment, Mann and Harris seem to be predicting a bout of cooling (none of their archived pieces are dated), a couple of years ago they were firmly on the side of the "warmers":

Although Harris stresses that he believes “global warming” as a theory is exaggerated, he does believe, however, in a period of extreme global warming. “That will be in The Tribulation period … and for those us believers, we’re looking forward to it.”

“I believe this planet is a breathing entity, made by God, to clean itself, adjust itself.” Harris said in the article by James Hagengruber. This would be The Rapture. The premise of this argument appears to be: human beings are not responsible for climate change because it is part of God’s greater Plan, therefore investing in costly forms of clean energy is not necessary or useful. In addition, curtailing business and the economy by demanding reductions of carbon dioxide emissions is actually counter-productive. Instead, Harris asserts, our limited resources should be devoted to” ending poverty, curing diseases or providing universal health care”.

Note that, minus the biblical references, he sounds quite alot like Lomborg, although I don't think Lomborg would be willing to offer advice to good Christians wondering how to invest during the "Tribulation Period". Mann and Harris, on the other hand, say buy real estate!

Yo Noel Sheppard! Consult A Thesaurus!

Noel Sheppard is an economist, business owner, and the Associate Editor of NewsBusters, an Exxon-funded right wing Nuze source devoted to "exposing and combating Liberal Media Bias". He also has an extremely limited vocabulary. A few excerpts from his many postings on environmental and other issues:

How disgraceful.

One of the most disgraceful assertions from global warming alarmists such as soon-to-be-Nobel Laureate Al Gore is that a scientific consensus exists concerning man's role in climate change.

How disgraceful.

How disgraceful.

As NewsBusters reported Saturday, the Associated Press published an unbelievably disgraceful article about global warming induced sea level rises supposedly destined to wipe out large amounts of American coastal communities in the next 100 years.

However, coming exactly two weeks after the Times published MoveOn's disgraceful "General Betray Us" ad, conservatives around the country better be prepared for these kinds of attacks during this election cycle.

Fortunately, unlike American media which typically only quote alarmists in such reports -- much as the Associated Press disgracefully did Saturday -- the Times cited people who were actually concerned about biofuels:

If you thought the controversy over MoveOn's disgraceful "General Betray Us" ad was going away any time soon, think

Here's one where he uses it twice in the same posting!

Unbelievably Disgraceful Global Warming Hysteria by the AP
[...]
After ABC News published a disgraceful photo essay featuring computer generated pictures of drowned American cities at its website last Friday, followed by NBC News reporting Monday that Greenland's ice sheets are melting so quickly that it "could ignite worldwide disaster," the Associated Press on Saturday cautioned that "In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased."

What follows are some of Garofalo's most disgraceful utterances Friday evening in chronological order (video available here courtesy of our friend Ms Underestimated):

Time's Joe Klein is unhappy with Matt Drudge, and thinks he's a disgrace.

Here's another twofer!

Disgraceful Global Warming Hysteria at NBC: ‘Meltdown in Greenland’
[...]
Alas, the really disgraceful hysteria was yet to come:

NewsBusters reported Sunday that infamous netrooter Jane Hamsher lambasted Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards, for having the nerve to come down on MoveOn's disgraceful "General Betray Us" ad.

Holy crap, Noel! Your English skills are disgraceful! Could you not try changing it up occasionally with equivalent terms like "shameful!" or "scandalous!"? If these are too hard for your readers, you could perhaps include a glossary on the newsbusters website.

In any case, nobody will take you seriously until you learn to sling a little classier brand of abuse.

Just trying to help.

BCL

Gunter On Thin Ice

Because the long version is here, this will the short version. Lorne Gunter writes in this morning's Post re the melting Arctic and the "opening" of the Northwest Passage:

As Mr. [Noel] Sheppard points out, the great Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen navigated the Northwest Passage in 1905 in a wooden sailboat with a crew of just seven. The passage was sufficiently ice-free that year for the little craft to make it through with little ice-breaking capacity.

And in 1944, the tiny RCMP patrol vessel the St. Roch (which can still be seen at the Vancouver Maritime Museum) sailed from Halifax to Vancouver through the passage in a single season --a first --because it met little ice.

This is almost a word for word re-hack of a Noel Sheppard Blog Post from NuzeBuzzsters, so in honor of the sloppy journalism it represents, let me just note that:

1) Amundsen's ship, The Gjøa, was a shallow draft sail-boat. During the voyage, it travelled through water less than a foot deep. No other vessel could have followed its course and made that passage.

And, oh yes, it spent months stuck in the ice.

2) The St. Roch's success on its second trip through the Arctic (during the first it spent a winter...wait for it... stuck in the ice) was due as much to a specially designed, "ice fortified" hull that had itself been upgraded and reinforced for the journey, than it was to "ice free" conditions in the Arctic Sea.

The situation today is very different, and when people say that the Northwest Passage is "open" they mean "Open for Business", not that your boat just might squeak through if it has a reinforced hull and you are willing to spend weeks camping on an iceberg.

Climate Skeptics On Christian Environmentalism, Redux

Overheard in the Climate Skeptic's Cafe.

Noel Sheppard of Newsbusters, August 28th, 2007:

Folks,

If religious leaders are going to get in on the con, we're in
trouble: (link)

Sonja A Boehmer-Christiansen, Editor of Energy and Environment, on Sept. 16, 2007:

Right, and likely. Think of the much desired power (control over behaviour) this promises to religious groups.
Sonja

Interesting in that Sonja appears as one of the non-Evangelicals with "special expertise in climatology or related sciences" to sign “A Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Response to Global Warming.”. This open letter was itself a rebuttal to “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action”, which urged that Evangelicals take ownership of and take action on the climate change issue.

According to Sonja, the signatories to this latter document desire power, and should presumably be discouraged.

Are Christians Bad For The Environment?

Just one of the many questions former IPCC chair for scientific assessment and practising Christian John Houghton considers in his new Physics Today interview. His answer?

Of course, it's a very broad human responsibility, not just a Christian one. But on the whole, Christians have been lagging behind many other groups in their concern for the environment, care for the Earth, and care for poor people. And Christians, because of their beliefs, should really be out in front.

Houghton also discusses the greening of the Evangelicals and blames America for being the seat of the Denialist movement. Important stuff because, as Newsbusters columnist and Denier extraordinaire Noel Sheppard has written:

Folks, If religious leaders are going to get in on the con, we're in trouble...

Damn right.