Constant Conservative

It is about time:

An outpouring of skeptical scientists who are members of the American Chemical Society (ACS) are revolting against the group’s editor-in-chief — with some demanding he be removed — after an editorial appeared claiming “the science of anthropogenic climate change is becoming increasingly well established.”

The editorial claimed the “consensus” view was growing “increasingly difficult to challenge, despite the efforts of diehard climate-change deniers.” The editor now admits he is “startled” by the negative reaction from the group’s scientific members. The American Chemical Society bills itself as the “world’s largest scientific society.”

I particularly enjoyed the comment from one of the scientists:

Theories are not proven by consensus—but by data from repeatable experimentation that leaves no doubt of interpretation.

The article is lengthy but worth a read. One important thing seems to be the number of scientists who were willing to go on the record with their disagreement on the “consensus” or simply that such an unscientific approach was being taken to the differences of opinion.

From the much misunderstood Claire McCaskill:

We simply cannot afford any more taxpayr $ to extend cash for clunkers. Idea was to prime the pump, not subsidize auto purchases forever.

Ma’am, have you ever, in all your time in office, seen a subsidy stop?

By the way, if you prime a pump, only to find that there is no water in the cistern, you must keep priming the pump to see any kind of fluid flow.

Gotta make sure there are no questions about influence peddling, you see:

“From time to time, White House guests are asked to reimburse for their meals, the reasons include ensuring there is no conflict or appearance of a conflict,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “That is consistent with our tough ethics rules and we will continue the practice when appropriate.”

Hey, just to warn you folks, but the next time you come to visit, I’ll need your card numbers. This is only because I have tough ethics rules and not really because I think you should pay for everything, including a little vacation to Martha’s Vineyard. What I really meant is that we all need to sacrifice here.

Herseth Sandlin happy that Blue Dogs have teeth–even if they are small.

Hospital good at cleaning up huge piles of laundry. Unknown how that will affect actual patient care.

Moose in hospital with broken bones. Moose injured while operating a motor vehicle (no, really).

Organization to try to establish grassroots support for bad climate law here in South Dakota.

Auto dealer hoping more cash will be forthcoming from my pocket by way of the federal government.

Millions more being poured into tribal housing sinkhole.

In a brief article at KELO, Senator Johnson puts his support behind greater government interference with you and me:

Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota says any bill aimed at reducing global warming must treat all regions of the nation fairly.

Why, sir? Why should all regions be treated fairly? What is government doing in the business of attempted weather modification? What happened to the concept that a government should be just, rather than fair?

The Democratic senator said a climate bill also must expand the use of renewable fuels and promote the production of electricity by wind turbines.

Why should we continue to spend taxpayer’s dollars for things which over decades of subsidies have shown that they cannot exist on their own?

I am deeply concerned that our elected officials, including the good senator, are perfectly happy to speak in the moral imperative, yet find no issue with assuming authority which does not pertain to them on matters near and far.

City needs more local hunters, but having trouble thinking outside the box.

Federal legislators considering use of “big stick” to stop vehicular texting.

Cap-and-trade not good for the farmers, despite being assured that offsets will make it all better.

Does not this tell us something worth listening to?

Simon Levy heads the Jewish Museum in Casablanca, a treasure trove of old Torah scrolls, garments and jewelry illustrating the rich culture of Moroccan Jewry. “That I still run the only Jewish museum in the Arab world is telling,” he said.

Here I knew I liked Casablanca for some reason (other than ancient film references).

“Free money” helps people buy new cars in Aberdeen.

Almost 1/3 of South Dakota children do not have two live-in parents.

Governor’s race will be warm (though perhaps not warmly received).

From the ultra-right-wing periodical der Spiegel, we have the following bit on the power of wind:

Germany’s renewable energy companies are a tremendous success story. Roughly 15 percent of the country’s electricity comes from solar, wind or biomass facilities, almost 250,000 jobs have been created and the net worth of the business is €35 billion per year.

But there’s a catch: The climate hasn’t in fact profited from these developments. As astonishing as it may sound, the new wind turbines and solar cells haven’t prohibited the emission of even a single gram of CO2.

Fancy that. Any guesses as to what might be causing this major difference between expectations and reality?

In the worst case scenario, sustainable energy plants might even have a detrimental effect on the climate. As more wind turbines go online, coal plants will be able to reduce their output. This in itself is desirable — but the problem is that the total number of available CO2 emission certificates remains the same. In other words, there will suddenly be more certificates per kilowatt of coal energy. That means the price per ton of CO2 emitted will fall.

That is exactly what happened in recent trading. A certificate to emit a ton of CO2 cost almost nothing. As a result, there was very little incentive for big energy companies to invest in climate friendly technologies.

Market forces at play with a European cap-and-trade setup? Pshaw. Here in the United States, where the current high priest of global climate change periodically basks in the warmth of a Tennessee summer, you know that we can do the Germans one better. After all, as the President says, “we won.”

It is common for most of us to rely outward appearances to differentiate between men and women. Apparently, in Saudi Arabia it is not enough that the women dress in head-to-toe drapes, they must also be properly identified as “female” in any captions. I came across the following while following a link to an article on Miss Moral Beauty.

It should go without saying that I’m not looking forward to seeing any of those male Saudi women (in Riyadh or anywhere else).

More rain = less water purchased for lawns. Too bad Congress struggles with simple math.

Stimulating bike trails and bridges.

Federal highway trust fund going broke. Never fear, the stimulus is here (for now, anyway).

Shooter unwell. Maybe more later. I do not like food poisoning whatever microorganism that knocked me (and now most of the rest of my family for a loop).