Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Schwartz, John <jswatz () nytimes com>
Date: Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [IP] Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying
Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>



Dave,

  The "no major storms in 10 years" is a popular meme among those who deny
the overwhelming evidence that supports climate change, but it doesn't hold
up. Tell people from my home town of Galveston, Texas that Ike wasn't a
major storm, or the people of New York and New Jersey that the
extratropical cyclone Sandy wasn't a major storm. Both storms were probably
enhanced by climate change, but they did not meet the too-narrow definition
of "major storm" in general use: a Category 3 or higher. This is
statistical gamesmanship, not climate science, and people who make the
argument should have to say these things to my friends from Galveston. It
would be fun to watch.

   No respectable climate scientist says that storms are caused by climate
change, but all of them say that elements of some storms are surely
enhanced by climate change, especially surge and the amount of rainfall
dropped by storms; there is growing evidence, too, that storms that survive
wind shear and other challenges might be stronger than they otherwise would
be because of warming oceans and other elements of climate change.

   In an interview I did with Texas A&M climate scientist Andrew Dessler a
while back, he put it well: he  the question of climate change and weather
to trying to figure out which of Barry Bonds’s home runs were caused by his
steroid use.

“You know statistically some of them were, but you don’t know which ones,”
he said. “Almost certainly, it would have rained a lot even without climate
change — but it’s possible climate change juiced it, added a little bit.”



On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 6:50 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* Michael Robertson <mr () michaelrobertson com>
> *Date:* September 11, 2017 at 6:18:21 PM EDT
> *To:* David Farber <dave () farber net>
> *Subject:* *Re: [IP] Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying
> Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.*
>
> I think it's important to be intellectually honest and that means if one
> is going to say a storm is proof of anything than they must defend the
> point that the absence of storms is also proof of the inverse.
>
> One significant storm hitting US shores is not proof of any change in
> climate just like no major hurricanes hitting US shores for the 10 years
> priors proves no changes in climate.
>
> -- MR
>
> SolidOpinion <http://SolidOpinion.com> - Google For Comments
> OnRad.io <http://OnRad.io/1> - Click this to hear the #1 song on radio!
>
> 858-344-6911 <(858)%20344-6911>
>
> On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > *From:* Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> > *Date:* September 11, 2017 at 4:28:07 PM EDT
> > *To:* Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> > *Subject:* *[Dewayne-Net] Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying
> > Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.*
> > *Reply-To:* dewayne-net () warpspeed com
> >
> > Irma won’t “wake up” climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole
> > ideology is on the line.
> > By Naomi Klein
> > Sep 11 2017
> > <
> > https://theintercept.com/2017/09/11/irma-donald-trump-tax-cuts-climate-change-republican-ideology-capitalism/
> > >
> >
> > As one of the most powerful storms ever recorded bore down on the
> > continental United States, with much of Florida under evacuation order,
> > President Donald Trump was focused on a matter of grave urgency.
> >
> > He gathered his cabinet at Camp David and said there was no time to
> > waste. With Hurricane Irma set to potentially devastate huge swaths of
> > Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, now was the time, he
> > said, to rush through massive … tax cuts.
> >
> > Yes, that’s right. He wasn’t focused on getting massive aid to those most
> > affected. He wasn’t focused on massive change to our energy and transit
> > systems to lower greenhouse gas emissions so that Irma-like storms do not
> > become a thrice-annual occurrence. His mind was on massive changes to the
> > tax code — which, despite Trump’s claims that he is driven by a desire to
> > give the middle class relief, would in fact hand corporations the biggest
> > tax cut in decades and the very wealthy a sizable break as well.
> >
> > Some have speculated that seeing the reality of climate change hit so
> > close to homethis summer — Houston underwater, Los Angeles licked by
> > flames, and now southern states getting battered by Irma — might be some
> > kind of wake-up call for climate change-denying Republicans.
> >
> > As Trump’s address to his cabinet makes clear, however, Irma only makes
> > him want to double down on his reckless economic agenda. Flanked by
> > Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, he
> > explained that they were going to discuss “dramatic tax cuts and tax
> > reform. And I think now with what’s happened with the hurricane, I’m gonna
> > ask for a speed up.”
> > Some have pointed out that this is a classic example of what I have
> > called the “shock doctrine” — using disasters as cover to push through
> > radical, pro-corporate policies. And it is a textbook case to be sure,
> > especially because when Trump made his remarks, Irma was at the very height
> > of its potential threat.
> >
> > But Trump’s timing is even more revealing for what it shows about what’s
> > really driving climate change denial on the right. It’s not a rejection of
> > the science, but a rejection of the consequences of the science. Put
> > simply, if the science is true, then the whole economic project that has
> > dominated American power structures since Ronald Reagan was president is
> > out the window, and the deniers know it.
> >
> > Because if climate change is driving the kinds of catastrophes we are
> > seeing right now — and it is — then it doesn’t just mean Trump has to
> > apologize and admit he was wrong when he called it a Chinese hoax. It means
> > that he also needs to junk his whole tax plan, because we’re going to need
> > that tax money (and more) to pay for a rapid transition away from fossil
> > fuels. And it also means he’s going to have to junk his deregulatory plan,
> > because if we are going to change how we power our lives, we’re going to
> > need all kinds of regulations to manage and enforce it. And, of course,
> > this is not just about Trump — it’s about all the climate-denying
> > Republican governors whose states are currently being pounded. All of them
> > would have to junk an entire twisted worldview holding that the market is
> > always right, regulation is always wrong, private is good and public is
> > bad, and taxes that support public services are the worst of all.
> >
> > Here is what we need to understand in a hurry: Climate change, especially
> > at this late date, can only be dealt with through collective action that
> > sharply curtails the behavior of corporations, such as Exxon Mobil and
> > Goldman Sachs (both so lavishly represented at Trump’s cabinet meeting).
> > Climate action demands investments in the public sphere — in new energy
> > grids, public transit and light rail, and energy efficiency — on a scale
> > not seen since World War II. And that can only happen by raising taxes on
> > the wealthy and on corporations, the very people Trump is determined to
> > shower with the most generous tax cuts, loopholes, and regulatory breaks.
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> > Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp
> Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now>
> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/11273991-dfdbe772> |
> Modify
> <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>
> Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now
> <https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?&&post_id=20170911185043:A21A5124-9743-11E7-B36F-DD1CF96DD713>
> <http://www.listbox.com>



-- 


John Schwartz <https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-schwartz>

The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/>

twitter.com/jswatz

Telephone: 212 556 7353

620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018

Speaking only for myself since 1957



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170911191422:F04C3E54-9746-11E7-90C9-8B84A3F83905
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com