Shouted Down In Santa Monica

I expected no less from the Soviet Socialist Republic of Santa Monica. Knowing no opposing opinions would be allowed, I drove to Santa Monica for a talk on the current status of global warming and climate disruption given by the “Climate Reality Project”. I came prepared but I admit I had butterflies in my stomach. In the past I would never have spoken to an unfriendly audience. Now I do it all the time but it still makes me nervous.

It’s interesting that the group sponsoring this talk was named, “Climate Reality Project” considering reality was absent from the presentation. The audience was sparse, I’d say under a hundred and consisted of mostly elderly, birkenstock wearing hippies. A sweet white haired, grandmotherly woman named Sharon Markenson gave the prepared program. She used a glossily produced slide show that went through all the claims we’ve heard from Alarmists for the last 20 years starting with the claim that 97% of scientists say man is causing global warming. It covered the entire litany of claims, melting polar caps, droughts, flooding (apparently, the ocean is rising in some places but not others), extreme storms, extreme forest fires (ignoring that the government shut down logging and won’t allow the clearing of dead wood, not to mention tearing up roads fire trucks need to get into the forests, but I digress). She even showed Gore’s graph of CO2 and temperature following the same trajectory (again neglecting to mention CO2 HAS increased while temperature hasn’t). She repeated the claim that this year was the hottest year ever.

I was amused that several times the presentation included quotes from Republican politicians (taken out of context and not referring to global warming) and
for the only video of an actual scientist, Ms Markenson, made a point of describing the scientist as an evangelical, Republican. The scientist only said there was more humidity now than in the past. I’ve not heard that claim before so I don’t know if it’s true or not but she didn’t say man was causing it. Apparently, Ms. Markenson believes if an evangelical, Republican gives them a quote they can use, it’s compelling evidence.

Ms. Markenson went on to explain how solar and wind were so much better than fossil fuels (once again, neglecting to mention they are only affordable now because they are subsidized). She said we might wonder why America should be restricting it’s use of fossil fuels when China wasn’t, so she explained how they are using more and more solar power (ignoring that between China and India they are building one coal plant a day). She said of course America should set the example (example of what? How to destroy an economy?). She then explained how carbon taxes would give families carbon credits and they might not even use them all, so it would make energy cheaper (like Obamacare made health insurance cheaper). One of the funniest quotes from a Republican politician she used was, “is it a tax if the government doesn’t keep it”? I actually laughed out loud. What tax does the government keep? Our government has run up a nearly $20 Trillion deficit. I’m not aware of the government socking away any of our taxes. She was trying to make the point that if the government collected carbon taxes and gave families carbon credits it would be a zero sum game. Maybe she doesn’t realize there would be a huge, highly paid bureaucracy, that doesn’t exist now, to service this lovely scheme.
She then told the audience they should contact their representatives to support a carbon tax. She also said the “Climate Reality Project” had trained her to give these informative talks and if anyone wanted to get that training to contact the people at the table outside. She ended the slide show with a picture of her three grandsons and one granddaughter and said she was doing this for them. She finished and asked for questions or comments. I raised my hand and was given the microphone.

I started by saying I was a mother and grandmother too and I loved the planet as much as anyone in the room. I said I was sure she had the best of intentions but she was mistaken. I said I could go through her presentation and argue against each claim but I doubted they would give me equal time so I’d address the most easily disproved. I said the claim made by an Australian blogger that 97% of scientists agree man is causing global warming was debunked almost as soon as it was made, but it is repeated nevertheless. I held up a list of the scientists just in California that disagree. I fanned out the 28 pages and showed the audience. I then showed them a printout from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works website on the 650 current and former IPCC scientists who Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims.
http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2008/12/post-2158072e-802a-23ad-45f0-274616db87e6

I quoted from Noble Prize winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever, “I am a skeptic….Global warming has become a new religion”. And IPCC scientist Dr. Kimminori Itoh, award winning PhD in environmental physical chemist, “Warming fears are the worst scientific scandal in history…..When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists”. At this point people were shouting at me. They said, “What is your question?”. I said, “Science is based on skepticism, many things that were considered “settled science” have been proven wrong because skeptics kept asking questions. Why won’t you listen to skeptics?

As the room erupted in shouts at me, the microphone was taken (grabbed) from me and I sat down. Ms. Markenson said she had a scientist who could answer me. A white haired man in jeans and a plaid shirt stood next to her. I was expecting him to argue with me but all he did was ask me if I could give him the sources of my claims. I said I certainly could and would. A man behind me asked if he could see the list of California scientists. I showed it to him. He carefully looked at the first few pages and handed it back. The questions that followed from the audience were all from believers and I doubted they’d give me the microphone again, so I got up to leave. The “scientist” quickly came over to me and asked for my email address so he could get my sources. As we were talking another man came up and asked for a copy of the “list”. I told him he could google it. I said it was the “Petition Project”. He said, “Oh, they put anyone who took a class in science on it. I said, “Not true. I’ve met the scientists who circulated the petition and every name was vetted. All you have to do is click on a name and it tells what degrees they have.” He hurumphed his way back to his seat and I was asked to leave because I was being disruptive. I considered that high praise. There is nothing more entertaining than the tolerant Left.