I came across the following article from the Australian news source
"The Age - Federal Politics"
"Climate sceptic MP Dennis Jensen wants to be science minister"
by Jonathan Swan - 9/12/2013
Coalition MP Dennis Jensen, who is a vocal climate science sceptic, has called on Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott to appoint him as science minister...
{...}
"In the climate area there is appeal to authority and appeal to consensus, neither of which is scientific at all," Dr Jensen told Fairfax Media on Thursday...
{In truth, it's down to Earth evidence that's driving the scientific understanding.}
{...}
The colourful Englishman, Lord Christopher Monckton, who toured Australia to debunk the "bogus science" of global warming, was closer to the mark, Dr Jensen suggested.
"Most of the stuff [Lord Monckton] says is entirely reasonable," Dr Jensen said.
"Some of it I don't agree with but on the whole a lot of what he says is in my view correct."
{...}
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Monckton mucking up the air-waves only serves as a tool for professional politicians - such as Australia's MP Dennis Jensen, who rather listen to a court jester, then do any hard thinking. Serious leaders should be listening to serious professional experts with genuine experience in their respective fields. Many of these experts have shared their knowledge in lectures that are freely available.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Lord Christopher Monckton Files - an index
http://whatsupwiththatwatts.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-lord-christopher-monckton-files.html
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September 15, 2013
http://nsidc.org
"NSIDC's Web site is currently unavailable because of severe weather and flooding. We expect to be online again this Monday, 16 September, around noon (USA Mountain Time). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Need to talk to us? You can always contact our friendly User Services Office at nsidc@nsidc.org or + 1 303.492.6199."
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You see the NSIDC is located in Boulder and as of about noon today (Sunday) Boulder has received over 15 inches of rain in the past week with another couple inches expected today. Australia has also received its share of extreme infrastructure damaging weather events.
What I don't understand is that although each extreme event once again reveals our complex society's vulnerabilities and it's dependence on relatively benign and predictable weather patterns - it hasn't dulled the hubris of these disconnected politicians.
Sadly, rather than being sobering learning moments, it seems like right-wing politicians and the ever present Murdoch media empire only get more disconnected and shrill when it comes to facing the reality of what we are collectively are doing to the weather we depend on.
In closing let me reflect a truism right back at the Australian politician Dennis Jensen - scientific reality {read Earth's geophysical processes} don't give a damn who denies it and don't give a damn how many deny it.
Here are some thoughts worth considering, not just for Australia's Mr. Jensen, but also for our own Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Perry, Mr. Barton and all the rest of them.
Climate Science in Lieu of Climate Action Is Unconscionable
Richard Steiner Posted: 11/12/2012
One of our most dangerous self-deceptions these days is the belief that simply studying the impacts of climate change will somehow avert the crisis. It won't. Studying climate change will not keep one carbon atom out of the global atmosphere. We already know enough about the disastrous impacts of climate change to know that we need to take bold, urgent action to solve it, and we know exactly what steps to take. Yet many in government, industry, and academia continue to insist that more study is needed before we take difficult steps to solve the crisis.
Scientific uncertainty is repeatedly invoked as an excuse to delay political action, particularly when such action threatens powerful interest groups. Tobacco was a tragic example. And on climate change, this is a catastrophic mistake. We know we are losing the climate battle, and we are running out of time to fix it. ... (link to full story)
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Grim warning on extreme weather for Australia
http://climatecommission.gov.au/effects/grim-warning-on-extreme-weather-for-australia/
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). This report brings together the latest findings on the relationship between climate change and extreme events, and their implications for societal development.
The report was prepared by 220 authors from around the world (including three Australians), and took four years to complete. It has undergone an exhaustive review process, and is an authoritative statement from the IPCC.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
US Rep. Inslee versus Lord Monckton at Climate Science hearing
Uploaded by shellius on May 11, 2010
Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington tells climate change denier "Lord" Monckton what he thinks of him and what a sad witness he makes against climate change science. This took place on May 6th in Washington at a special hearing on climate change science called by Rep. Ed Markey. Everyone else who spoke was an actual scientist or an actual member of Congress, but not "Lord" Monckton.
See more on the hearing website:
Hear the entire hearing in podcast form at
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Last minute update to include this article from the UK Guardian:
Questions for wannabe science minister and climate sceptic Dennis Jensen
The Australian Liberal MP Dennis Jensen agrees with many of the things Christopher Monckton says. But which things?
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/sep/13/climate-change-science-minister-dennis-jensen-monckton-questionnaire
Dennis Jensen, recently re-elected Liberal member for Tangney, wants to be Australia's new science minister, telling Fairfax Media that he has some "unique attributes" that he can bring to the new but not-yet-announced Tony Abbott ministry.
One of those attributes is that he doesn't accept the position of the world's science academies and Australia's CSIRO that climate change is caused mainly by humans burning fossil fuels and chopping down trees and that this might be bad. ...
The article goes on to link to a YouTube clip of climate science denier James Delingpole trying to make the very same argument Jensen does, to Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society. It makes for an interesting insight into the denialist's mind's mechanisms.
Uploaded bygolazoification on Jan 25, 2011
The full BBC Horizon programme is on iplayer here for the next month, and well worth a watch:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y4yql
This is the section of the programme featuring UK sceptic James Delingpole, who complained on his blog that this interview amounted to 'intellectual rape'.
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