deru kugi wa utareru♠

For John, BLUF:  Having a reasonable discussion seems unlikely.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Climate of Unintended Consequences

OK, this is another shot by Columnist Bret Stephens, of The Old Gray Lady.  This effort is dated 4 May 2017.  In case you don't remember, Mr Stephens is the chap who tried to bring some reason to the climate change discussion and got pummeled by responses.  In this column he notes:

I’ve been accused of obscurantism, closet climate denialism and willful misdirection — all for the crime of insufficiently attesting to the dangers of a warming trend I do not deny.

You dare not question the conventional, the received, wisdom of the Progressive realm and of the Snow Flakes who populate it.  Mr Stephens did it.

Now he is back with another swack at the issue.  Here is the lede plus two:

“Converting biomass feedstocks to biofuels is an environmentally friendly process.  So is using biofuels for transportation.  When we use bioethanol instead of gasoline, we help reduce atmospheric CO2.”

These confident assurances come from “Biofuels:  A Solution for Climate Change,” a paper published in 1999 by the Clinton administration’s Department of Energy.  Feels a little dated in its scientific assumptions, doesn’t it?

I raise the subject of biofuels since the subject of science — what we know as opposed to what we think we know about it — has been on my mind in recent days.  I’ve been accused of obscurantism, closet climate denialism and willful misdirection — all for the crime of insufficiently attesting to the dangers of a warming trend I do not deny.

I just want to know the facts.  The thing is, what I knew to be true yesterday (salt is bad for you) I know know is false (yes, salt can be good for you).

Well, and I want to know if there are any positives to Global Warming Climate Change.  For example, what does a warming of the climate do to farming in Canada and Siberia?  Do we get a net increase in food production or a net decrease.  Or, I would settle for knowing who knows the answer.

Hat tip to the Tweeter Lachlan Markay.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Translation from Japanese:  The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.