Climategate

Cliff Mass is our local weather guru. He is a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington and last winter he made a name for himself for being the only person willing to take on a powerful mayor in how he handled our two weeks of snow (or, how Mayor Nickels didn't handle the snow). Mass is a good guy.

And today, on his blog, he finally discusses what has become known as Climategate, where emails from the "elite" climate scientists from East Anglia University in England discuss their work with their colleagues here in the US. Needless to say the emails show a lot of "tough guys," trying to elbow out dissenting views on global climate change. However, from what I have read, I agree with Mass, the evidence does not lead to data tampering or a result that may be any different that humans are probably enhancing the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere which traps heat escaping gases, thus increasing the Earth's temperatures (ok, yeah, I know that explanation was rather simplistic).

None the less, after reading the emails, like Mass, I am discouraged with the lions of this particular area of research trying to stifle dissenting views or research. Mass's stories of his colleague who was fired by the State of Washington is chilling.

For us to figure out how to limit our emissions of green house gases it will take enormous political, but more importantly, social will. To corral or garner that will, it takes a willingness for the researchers to doubt their own work, to be open to critique and debate, so that everyone can resolve contentious points on their own.

And oh, by the way Al Gore, can you please stop exaggerating the research upon which you rely? It doesn't help in this debate.

Global Warming, Inc

I've had a love/hate relationship with Al Gore that stems back to the 1980s. Earth in the Balance was in many ways a phenomenal book, but it's optimism in technological solutions for disastrous environmental problems bothered me. There was no critical thinking about the environmental problems caused by technology.

And while I admire his emphatic and seemingly no-nonsense warnings about global climate change in Inconvenient Truth, I've always thought Tipper and he were a bit disingenuous promoting change in our life styles when their life style was rather, in my opinion, extravagant. I mean, how large of a house does one need, and I don't care if it's powered by coal, solar, or windmill. It's about consumption.

Plus, a little known fact about Gore, until today's article in the New York Times, is that he invests heavily in the technologies that he promotes will "save us" from global warming.

One of those technologies, smart meters, just received a huge grant from the Federal government. Metering of utilities has been around for a long time. It's one of the ways utilities figure out how much you owe them for water, natural gas, electricity. Smart meters are being sold to the public as a way for the consumer to determine when they are not using as much energy so they can spread their consumption around toward "off hours." But really, smart meters are a form of, well, er, intrusion. Currently, appliance manufacturers are installing in new appliances the ability for the appliance to "talk" with the electrical grid. The result of the "conversation," will be when your appliance turns on, for instance, when the dishwasher will operate. You wil no longer be able to just push the button. Smart meters will be able to tell the utility and frankly, at the risk of being paranoid, other agencies such as law enforcement, exactly when and how you're using energy.

Stop those indoor pot growers!

But seriously, it's a lot more intrusion than we are accustom.

But more importantly, Al Gore is making a lot of money off of his global warming warnings. Is that a good thing? What concerns me is his lack of, to use the over used word, transparency, on this. It's not like he stands up in his movie, or his speeches, gives his Power Point presentation, and then says: Oh, by the way, I've invested money and stand to make a lot of money in the very technologies I am advocating we all adopt.

Hmmm. Seems like a little bit of a conflict of interest to me.