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On the Right on Saturday, May 10, 2008 4:36:36 AM
Schumer Chucks the FDA? - Who needs the Food
and Drug Administration? New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer and personal injury lawyers certainly don’t -- at
least to the extent the agency gets in the way of their political grandstanding and a multi-million dollar payday,
respectively.
A Climate of Belief
- The claim that anthropogenic CO2 is responsible for the current warming of Earth climate is scientifically
insupportable because climate models are unreliable
Brits offer a taste of Kyoto - Great
Britain is a decade ahead of Canada in the global warming debate and what's happening there today is instructive for
us.
British taxpayers were among the earliest conscripts into the war on global warming, long before Canada, where
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is only now talking about pricing carbon (i.e. a carbon tax) if he wins the next
election.
However, when you examine the views of the British people today, the news isn't good for climate hysterics or
Britain's Labour government, now led by Gordon Brown, which suffered heavy losses in recent local elections.
A survey last month of 2,002 British adults by the respected polling firm Opinium Research found:
- 72% are unwilling to pay higher taxes to fight climate change.
- 67% believe the government's green agenda is simply a ploy to raise taxes.
As Opinium's head of research, Mark Hodson, described the findings in the Daily Mail and Independent newspapers:
"Britain appears to be feeling increasingly negative about being more carbon neutral. We are questioning the
truth behind being greener and many feel the government is creating a green fear for monetary gain." (Lorrie
Goldstein, Edmonton Sun)
Federal Polar Bear Research Critically Flawed, Argue
Forecasting Experts in INFORMS Journal
Deficient forecasting methodology casts doubt on threat to polar bear population, say authors in Interfaces study
HANOVER, MD, May 8, 2008 – Research done by the U.S. Department of the Interior to determine if global warming
threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an
endangered species, according to a study being published later this year in Interfaces, a journal of the Institute
for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).
On April 30, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ordered the Interior Department to decide by May 15 whether polar
bears should be listed under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
Professor J. Scott Armstrong of the Wharton School says, “To list a species that is currently in good health as an
endangered species requires valid forecasts that its population would decline to levels that threaten its viability.
In fact, the polar bear populations have been increasing rapidly in recent decades due to hunting restrictions.
Assuming these restrictions remain, the most appropriate forecast is to assume that the upward trend would continue
for a few years, then level off.
“These studies are meant to inform the US Fish and Wildlife Service about listing the polar bear as endangered.
After careful examination, my co-authors and I were unable to find any references to works providing evidence that
the forecasting methods used in the reports had been previously validated. In essence, they give no scientific basis
for deciding one way or the other about the polar bear.” (Informs)
Shell
Oil president wants more access to energy resources - COEUR d'Alene, Idaho - The United States' reliance on
foreign oil is increasing because of limits on where companies can search for resources, the president of Shell Oil
Co. says.
"The U.S. prohibits access to its own natural resources," John Hofmeister said. "We need more oil and
gas, whether it's onshore Alaska, or offshore Alaska."
There are also large energy reserves in Alberta's oil sands and in oil-rich shales in Colorado, Hofmeister said in a
speech Tuesday to the National Association of Attorneys General conference here. (Associated Press)