Ever wonder about the neutrality (or lack thereof) of scientists investigating the subject of global warming? Does it seem that far too many of them eagerly sound alarm bells when it comes to documenting and communicating the potential consequences of human-induced climate change to the public?
Well, that little voice inside your head telling you something is awry appears to be vindicated based on new research published in the journal Public Understanding of Science. -- Craig D Idso,
Cato at Liberty, 4 February 2016.
A representative survey of 123 German climate scientists (42%) finds that although most climate scientists think that uncertainties about climate change should be made clearer in public they do not actively communicate this to journalists. Moreover, the climate scientists fear that their results could be misinterpreted in public or exploited by interest groups. Asking scientists about their readiness to publish one of two versions of a fictitious research finding shows that their concerns weigh heavier when a result implies that climate change will proceed slowly than when it implies that climate change will proceed fast. --S. Post, S. 2016. Communicating science in public controversies: Strategic considerations of the German climate scientists. --
Public Understanding of Science 25: 61-70.
The United Nations global warming deal could make another five million people homeless in the world’s poorest countries, for the express purpose of setting forest land aside to slow global warming through conservation. Millions who live in and depend on forests for their livelihoods could be evicted from their wooded homes, according to new study which will be released later this month. The intended goal of this mass displacement is to set aside local forest land to fight global warming. --Andrew Follett,
Daily Caller News Foundation, 4 February 2016
Texas has a message for $30 crude doomsayers: Bring it on. A handful of shale patches in the state, which would be the world’s sixth-largest oil producer if it were a country, are profitable with crude below $30 a barrel, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. “It may be harder to kill many U.S. E&Ps than analysts originally thought,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst William Foiles said in the report. --Dan Murtaugh,
Bloomberg, 3 February 2016
Europe is tired of paying for renewable energy. In the past few years, Spain, the U.K., Italy and others have cut incentives for renewable-energy projects, citing desires to reduce government spending and electricity rates during a period of economic turmoil. And in turn, the number of new projects getting approval has fallen as investors turn away from an industry that offered the assurance of steady, government-backed profits. --Justin Scheck,
The Wall Street Journal, 4 February 2016
