Climate change is not about models

One of the most frequent claims deniers make to refute the science is that the models don't work. This is not only false, but irrelevant. The reality is, climate models are working quite well (Sorry, all of you anti-science people, but it's true.) But, climate change isn't about models, it's about the science - the data. If you doubt that, take a look at this nice series of graphics:

What's Really Warming the World?

Yes, this is the right time to talk about climate change

Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA, has stated that now is not the time to discuss whether or not Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are partly the result of climate change. This is not surprising. Scott Pruitt is one of the most corrupt people in Washington (and that's saying a lot) and is under investigation for lying during his Senate confirmation hearing. It is documented that he would take donations from fossil fuel companies, only to conduct private communications with those same companies before acting in their favor, even so far as to submit a letter to the US Interior Secretary on the letterhead of the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, which Pruitt was head of, even though it was written by Devon Energy. He is strongly anti-science and, even though he is charged with protecting it, has a record of hating the environment. It is, therefore, not surprising that he doesn't want to discuss science.

But, he's wrong. this is the right time to discuss climate change and it's effects on the twin disasters. In fact, it is our moral responsibility to discuss it in the light of what is happening. People are dying and suffering and we need to start acting to help prevent this from happening again. What the Trump administration, and anti-science people everywhere, want is to hide until the public attention moves to something else. They don't want to have to answer to the public about how they have acted all these years to prevent exactly this kind of occurrence. By denying the reality of climate change, they prevented actions from being taken to address the problems. The amount of human suffering is directly on their heads, and they know it. Now, they don't want to face reality. Why should they? They have been denying it all along.

But, the discussions are happening, whether they want them or not. The media is pointing out the science connecting the hurricanes to climate science, and this is a good thing. I'll have more to say on Harvey and Irma in a future post, but I wanted to bring your attention to a couple of well written editorials. Amazingly enough, one of them is in the fashion magazine Vogue. Even fashion people understand science better than the head of the EPA.

This is the editorial in Vogue:

After Harvey and Irma, When Will Trump Stop Denying Climate Change?

 
And, this one is in the New York Times:

Conspiracies, Corruption and Climate

In the meantime, do what you can to help the people who are suffering from these twin hurricanes. If the anti-science right gets its way, you could be a victim of climate change yourself in the next few years. 

Trump Continues His Vendetta Against Science

President Trump has made his disdain for science clear to everyone. The appointment of the strongly anti-science Scott Pruitt to head the EPA should be proof enough. But, he has continued with numerous other appointments and actions, including withdrawing from the Paris accord. Recently, he has really proven his utter hatred of science with two other nominations: Sam Clovis and Representative Jim Brindenstine.

Trump nominated Clovis to be the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics. Essentially, this position is the chief scientist in the department and overseas the agency's $3 billion research budget. Clovis graduated from the US Air Force Academy with a bachelor's degree in political science. After graduation, he served in the USAF for 25 years as a fighter pilot and instructor, retiring with the rank of colonel. He holds an MBA from Golden Gate University and a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Alabama. He taught economics and business at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and hosted a radio talk show.

All very fine qualifications, but none of them are applicable to the job. By law, this position must be filled by someone who is "among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education or economics." Clovis has no qualifications to justify that distinction.

But, this isn't what qualifies Clovis as someone who hates science. His comments do.

Clovis has spoken out concerning climate change and called it "junk science." He has called climate change a "hoax" and stated that it was a "campaign to redistribute the wealth." While campaigning for the US Senate in 2014, he stated, "I have looked at the sciencenand I have enough of a science background to know when I'm being boofed. And a lot of what we see is junk science." In response, I would suggest you take another look at his credentials above. In fact, he has no science background at all. No wonder he's "boofed" by the science, he's listening to the anti-science crowd and not the climate scientists.


He has stated that homosexuality is a choice, saying the science is "unsettled." (Does that phrase sound familiar?) He stated the legalization of same-sex marriage would lead to pedophilia and pastors wouldn't be allowed to preach against the "aberration" that "alternative lifestyles" were to church doctrine. He has also claimed Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States. When asked if he thought his words might be extreme, Clovis responded, "I don't think it's extreme. I think it's a logical extension of thought. And if you cannot follow the logic then you're denying your in denial."

And, this is who Trump wants to head a massive research program. But, Trump didn't stop there. He next had to find an new NASA Administrator because the last one resigned before Trump even took office. The agency has been under an acting administrator since then. Trump finally nominated Oklahoma US Representative Jim Bridenstine.

Bridenstine graduated from Rice University with majors in Economics, Psychology, and Business and has an MBA from Cornell University. He flies E2-C Hawkeyes in the US Navy Reserve and is the former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He has been a US Representative since 2013. Some nice credentials. But, none of them qualify him to lead NASA, one of the most premier science agencies in the world.

He, too, is a vocal climate change denier and has been quoted several times making false statements that do not conform to the facts, such as "if you look at the Chinese and the Russian and the Indian production of carbon emissions, it is overwhelmingly massive compared to the carbon footprint of the United States of America.” (The US is currently the second largest carbon emitter. Until recently, it was long the number one emitter.) In a 2013 speech on the House floor, Bridenstine stated, "Global temperatures stopped rising 10 years ago. Global temperature changes, when they exist, correlate with sun output and ocean cycles.” The facts say otherwise.

Interestingly enough, both US Senators from Florida have already stated they are opposed to his appointment. NASA is big business in Florida, remember.

We can only hope these two individuals will not have their appointments confirmed. That would slow down Trump's science hate-train a little, but I'm sure he'll find plenty of other science haters to nominate if these two aren't.

Rush Limbaugh Runs From A Hoax

After calling hurricanes a liberal hoax, Rush Limbaugh has evacuated from his home in southern Florida ahead of Hurricane Irma.  I can just hear Bugs Bunny. 

Hurricanes Are A Hoax: Rush Limbaugh

Just how bad has it gotten in the anti-science camp? Rush Limbaugh said Monday night that hurricanes are a liberal conspiracy to convince people that climate change is real. Read about it here. Of course, that would be the liberal media's conspiracy version, so go here and listen to it for yourself. He starts talking about the hurricane at the 1:30 mark.

I'm always amazed at how incredibly ignorant the anti-science people get, but please tell me no one believes this nonsense. Just his rant about bottled and tap water is astounding. Is he really so stupid to believe the "big water" business merely pumps water out of a lake and puts it in the stores without having to worry about environmental laws?

I'm wondering if Rush ever bothered to comment on the report of the anti-science denier organization that admitted to using false data. The British-based Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) admitted that it used "erroneous" graphs. My guess is Rush isn't quite smart enough to figure out what that means.

Weather Extremes

While everyone's attention has been focused on the tragedy from Hurricane Harvey (more on that in a future posting), there are some other weather extremes that have been taking place.

I was talking to a friend who lives in San Francisco and she told me the temperature there was over 100 degrees. I was floored! Sure enough, the recorded temperature on September 1 was 106 degrees F. We have a word for temperatures like that in Texas - heat wave! And, we're use to temperatures over 100 degrees. How does this compare to normal San Francisco temperatures? It's the all time high temperature ever recorded there. The average high for September 1 is 70 degrees - 36 degrees cooler.

At the same time, there are wildfires raging in the west. Fires have been burning all summer and, as of September, there are dozens still burning.

This is not some cherry-picking, either. While it is true the Northwest US is experiencing widespread record high temperatures, it actually is a worldwide thing. Worldwide 2016 temperature averages were the highest ever recorded and by a wide margin, breaking the previous record, set in 2015, by .2 degrees C (.36 F). That makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record high average temperature. (What was that? There hasn't been any warming since when?)

The thing I find interesting is how as soon as a snowflake falls, climate change deniers are out laughing and asking 'where is global warming.' And yet, when temperature records are smashed, they remain silent. The amusing thing is that their posturing actually supports the scientific evidence. When deniers come out and say something along the lines of, 'This particular date in this particular city was the coldest day recorded in 30 years,' what they're really saying is that temperatures that used to be the norm haven't been experienced in 30 years. Why would that be?

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is suffering from the worst flooding in 40 years. Bangladesh is a country prone to severe flooding, so that statement is highly significant. The death toll in Bangladesh from this one event is estimated at 142, as of September 3. Stunningly, over 1200 people have perished in flooding in Nepal, India and Bangladesh since June.

Even without Hurricane Harvey, we see severe weather is becoming worse and worse. And now, Hurricane Irma is on the way.

The Oceans Are Losing Oxygen

Two recent publications have shown that the oxygen level in the world's oceans has decreased over the last few decades.

Decline in global oceanic oxygen content during the past five decades, by Sunke Schmidtko, Lothar Stramma and Martin Visbeck, a letter in the scientific journal Nature in February 2017, found the average oxygen content decreased by 2% since 1960 in the zone between 100 and 1000 meters deep. Some areas experienced as much as 4% decrease with the largest decreases being measured in the tropical and North Pacific Ocean. Depths between 1000 and 2000 meters also experienced oxygen loss. While there are multiple reasons for the oxygen level to be decreasing, ocean warming is a main cause. The upper-level of the ocean is typically saturated with oxygen - even supersaturated. But, this saturation level goes down as the temperature goes up. The authors of this paper attribute 50% of the upper-level loss to thermal causes and 25% to thermal causes when the deeper layer is included. Overall, 15% of the total ocean oxygen loss is attributed to global warming, which is consistent with predictions from models. This is also consistent with reports showing the oceans have been taking up the vast majority of global warming heat.

The second paper is Upper ocean O₂ trends: 1958–2015, by Takamitsu Ito, Shoshiro Minobe, Matthew C. Long, and Curtis Deutsch, and appeared in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) May 2017.They found a decrease in ocean oxygen levels since 1980 with a corresponding increase in the ocean heat content. They find that, while most of the decline can attributed to non-thermally induced changes in solubility, they find the measured changes are still beyond what can be expected from natural fluctuations alone. Their study also reveals a tight relationship between O₂ inventories and the ocean heat content and these findings were consistent with models. They state the trends they have documented are suggestive of the effects of the ocean warming beginning to supersede natural variability and emerge as a recognizable signal.

So, how does a warming ocean lead to a decrease in dissolved oxygen?

As the oceans get warmer, the solubility of gases decreases. The oceans' ability to dissolve both carbon dioxide and oxygen decreases. There is very little good about this. You can point out the acidification of the oceans would decrease if less CO2 is absorbed, and that would be good. However, the acidification will continue because the oceans are not saturated with CO2, even at the higher temperatures. Instead, the amount of CO2 taken up by the oceans will decrease and the rate of increase of atmospheric CO2 will increase. 

But, the more important point is the decrease in oxygen, which the marine life needs to survive. This will impact fisheries, tourism and ocean nutrient cycles. Lower oxygen levels particularly affect larger animals, who find they don't have enough oxygen to engage in high-energy activities like feeding. Fisheries around the world are already stressed by over-fishing and pollution and now have another stress factor to make things worse. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, over one billion people worldwide (17% of the population) rely on seafood as their primary source of protein. Over 3 billion people get almost 20% of their protein from fish. So, the problem extents beyond simply warmer air temperature.

The Schmidtko, et al. paper also discusses the outgassing of N2O - nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is both a greenhouse gas and attacks the ozone layer, providing a double whammy effect, neither of which is good for us. As a greenhouse gas, it is about 300 times as effective as CO2. Nitrous is formed and destroyed in the ocean by bacteria and is normally made and destroyed at nearly the same rate. Oxygen-depleted zones create an imbalance between formation and breakdown and a surplus of nitrous is the result. Some gets absorbed by the water. The excess then gets released into the atmosphere but that amount increases with decreasing solubility. Fortunately, the concentration of atmospheric nitrous is very low - about a thousanth as dense as CO2 - and ocean production is estimated to be only about 4 million tons per year, which is much lower than worldwide CO2 production. But, these new studies indicate it may be increasing as the ocean loses its oxygen. Considering the size of the oceans, that has the potential to be a very serious problem. And, the studies indicate even a small imbalance in the bacterial formation/destruction cycle can have large effects on the amount of gas being released to the atmosphere.

Overall, these studies indicate another area of concern about global warming and climate change.

Plans

Two years ago, I posted that I would be closing this blog on August 30, 2017 - yesterday. This was because I wanted to simply walk away from the real world and its problems. However, something happened in the meantime - the 2016 election. In short, I'm proof it really is possible to hate both of the main candidates equally. People speak of how dismayed the were the day after the election when they learned Trump had won. That's the way I felt when Trump and Clinton became the two principle candidates during the primaries. I'm still disgusted that we chose those two candidates. (By the way, only 11% of eligible voters picked them in the primaries.) And, as much as I despise Donald Trump, you would have a hard time convincing me we would be better off with a President Hillary Clinton.

As you can imagine, this made me pretty angry and I realized I could not walk away from the fight over climate change. I have been involved for too long and have a history of being involved in fights - both literal and figurative ones. I spent 35 years in Naval Intelligence and was involved with a number of wars. I've also been involved with climate science for about the same length of time (I was a reservist, hence two careers). I'm trained and experienced in fighting and it's ingrained in my personality, as is research.

"Fine," you say, "What do you plan on doing about it?"

I'm not quite prepared to answer that question. I have made plans and am working on a project. I'm very dedicated to this project and it's taking most of my time this summer. I should know the initial results before Christmas and will then reveal what I'm up to. Until then, I will continue to make posts here.

CFACT Fraud About Climate Hustle

The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) is a far-right, anti-science organization that acts as a front-group for the fossil fuel industry, receiving millions of dollars per year from sources such as the dark money Donors Trust and the coal company Peabody Energy. ExxonMobil gave them over $500,000 between 1998 and 2007. Numerous other fossil fuel companies have donated to them. The list of people associated with CFACT reads as a who’s who of anti-science climate change deniers. None of this is controversial or a secret. In fact, CFACT seems to take pride in these facts.

CFACT is one of the most active organizations in the climate change denier front – working to undermine climate science with false claims and logic failures. One of their recent creations is the anti-science movie Climate Hustle. This, they claim, has been a huge success and, according to them, is changing the entire debate. In one recent posting, David Rothbard, the president and co-founder of CFACT, boasted “When CFACT's Climate Hustle hit theaters it came in at number one per screen and it was shown in over 400 theaters nationwide!” Their website for the movie states, “CLIMATE HUSTLE was the #1 movie in America (per screen average) during its one-night national theater event and had enthusiastic audiences in over 400 theaters with sell-outs or near sell outs in multiple cities!” This is all very impressive, impressive enough that I did some fact checking and I discovered something.

It’s all a lie. It did not open in any theaters at all and did not have a single penny of box office revenue.

Yes, you read that correctly. The movie did NOT open in 400 theaters. In fact, it didn’t open in even ONE theater. And, it had ZERO box office receipts.

Take a look at Movie Insider, which lists all movie openings. The listing for May 2016 showed there were NO movies at all opening on May 2, 2016. A check for the rest of May 2016 did not show any listing for Climate Hustle. I checked April 2016 to ensure it was not listed there (May 2nd was the last weekend of April) and there was no listing there, either. Even the opening date should have been an alarm bell and an indicator of the coming deceit. May 2, 2016 was a Monday and there are, typically, no movies opening on a Monday. In other words, Climate Hustle could have generated $1 in box office receipts and it would have been the #1 opening movie simply because there would have been no other movie opening on the same day. You have to assume that was their strategy all along.

But, it didn’t get even the $1! Take a look Box Office Mojo, which lists all of the domestic movie grosses. The 2016 listing has Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the #1 movie of the year in 4,157 theaters with $532,177,324 in revenue for the year. The last movie listed, at #736, is Satanic, which opened at 3 theaters and made $252. What you don’t find anywhere between #1 and #736 is Climate Hustle. Not anywhere.

The record shows the movie did not open in any theaters and did not have any box office revenue. CFACT is lying!

What if someone comes forward and states they know the data is wrong because they went to see it on that night. First, I would want to see some proof because I’ve dealt with these people enough to know just how much they’re willing to lie. Did CFACT rent a bunch of theaters and have a private showing? It’s possible. But, then why are they hiding the attendance and revenue figures? Could it be because the movie was a bomb and they don’t want anyone to know?

Someone may argue that they are not being deceitful if it was all private screenings. The answer is, yes, they are. They specifically stated that it "hit theaters" and was the number one movie per screen. Both of those statements are lies.

CFACT has continued its train of fraud by taking Climate Hustle to Australia in July 2017. Again, they boasted of huge turnouts. Let’s check the facts.

The Australia box office receipts for the week of June 29 – July 2 listed Climate Hustle at: NOTHING! The movie did not appear in the box office receipts. It appears we’re seeing a pattern develop here. How about following weeks? July 6 – 9? Nope, no Climate Hustle. How about the following week, July 13 – 16? Nope. July 20 – 23? Fraid not. In fact, there is no listing for Climate Hustle box office receipts at all in Australia.

It appears they may have had at least one show. This website purportedly shows a crowd attending a showing. They claimed there were 300 people for the showing. Maybe, but with their record of lies and deceit, it's anyone’s guess what this picture is actually showing. As far as I know, this is a group of employees showing up to hear about the corporate medical plan and has nothing to do with Climate Hustle. Either way, it still did NOT open in theaters in Australia and had NO box office receipts.

They are being deceitful about this movie and you have to ask why. My guess is that it bombed beyond their biggest fears. And, by keeping the data secret, they can attack other movies they get so angry about – namely Merchants of Doubt and An Inconvenient Sequel. Let’s check in on the data for those movies. Not surprisingly, it’s easy to find the data on both of them.

Merchants of Doubt, which exposed the corruption of the anti-science organizations, was released in 2015 and came in at #298 with $308,156 in box office receipts from 30 screens. As of today (August 16), An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is coming in at #105 with $2,401,130 in receipts at 556 theaters.

So, unlike CFACT’s fake-science movie, these two movies actually did appear in theaters and had box office receipts. What a difference!

Again, you have to wonder why CFACT is being so deceptive about this. Well, just take a look at the organization and the people involved. Really, you only have to look at one of them – Marc Morano.

Marc Morano is a guy with a B.A. in political science from George Mason University who thinks this somehow qualifies him as a ‘climate science expert’ and thinks he’s smarter than all of the climate scientists in the world combined. He is paid $150,000 per year to act as the front man for CFACT as the executive director and chief correspondent for CFACT’s Climate Depot blog. On the subject of deceiving people on the climate science, Morano stated,

“The media is so easy to fall for misdirections on this issue, and the Trump nominees have mastered that this week,” he said. “You sort of just laugh at how gullible the media is.”

Morano has a long, dirty history of association with the fossil fuel industry and the incredibly corrupt James Inhofe, the senator from Oklahoma who has received more fossil fuel money than any other senator. But, that isn’t even the best highlight of Morano’s career. That would be the way he provides the email addresses of climate scientists and advocates his readers to commit hate crimes against those scientists and their families. In the movie Merchants of Doubt, he acknowledges this, laughs about it, and says its one of his proudest accomplishments.

Marc Morano is not qualified to speak about climate science, is a consummate liar, and advocates hate crimes. Yet, this is the guy CFACT pays to represent them. Do you still need to ask why they are lying about the movie? There is certainly a hustle going on here, and it is on the part of CFACT. After all, why bother producing any science when lies and deceit will work?

I just wonder - did they really think they would get away with this? Yes, it's been 15 months, but the Internet has a LONG memory.

Busted!

Russell Cook and his "25 errors"

I recently made a posting about how the denier hatchet-man Russell Cook had written a letter to the editor to beat up a woman who submitted a letter of her own. You can read about it here. Cook apparently took exception to my post about him and made one of his own, purporting to show 25 errors I made. Certainly, I’m always concerned about making errors and put a lot of effort into my writing to ensure it factually accurate, so I took a look at what he had to say. It was so humorous I had to go through and examine it point by point. I made a screen shot before he realizes how stupid it is. My analysis is below and I hope you have as much reading about it as I had writing it. I start out each section with my comment that Cook states is in error, followed by his comment (reprinted here verbatim). I then respond and determine if I made an error or not.

Enjoy!

Me: Tom Harris will lie

Cook:  1. Lie about what? Harris routinely refers to climate assessments from skeptic climate scientists, and what climatology expertise does Keating have to prove such skeptics lie about their science-based assertions

Response: My expertise is that I’m a professor of physics. Unlike Tom, who allows people to call him ‘Dr. Harris,’ or ‘Professor Harris,’ or to state that he’s a scientist, I really am one. I do my research in planetary geophysics and have been actively involved in research in climate science for over 25 years and a student of the subject for a good ten years before that.

As for Harris’ lies, let me provide some links to a few examples:

Tom Harris Deceives About Ontario Electricity

Tim Ball and Tom Harris Are Deceptive About the IPCC

Tom Harris' Latest Deception About Coal

Tom Harris Deceives About Science

When Deregulation of Coal Isn't Deregulation

Tom Harris the Fraudulent Scientist

Harris is Wrong. Manmade CO2 Is Pollution

Guest Post: Harris' article reveals the underhanded lies he utilizes to mislead the public

That is eight separate articles by Harris where I’ve exposed his intentional deceptions (i.e., lies) and documented his false science claims. And, that was for only the last three months. Harris has a very long trail of lies, deceptions, false arguments and false science claims. I’m not sure if Harris has ever gotten the science correct.

Harris continually states he has never been affiliated with the fossil fuel industry. Take a look at his bio from APCO which states, “Specifically, he has worked with oil and gas, coal…” Harris is lying every time he denies his affiliations with the fossil fuel industry.:

And to be clear, if I went around stating Harris was lying and I couldn’t back that statement up, I could be liable under libel and slander laws. You can be sure I was very certain of the accuracy of my statements before I ever made them.

Error/Not Error:  This one is such a non-error that I’m can’t believe Cook even claimed it was. It has to be embarrassing for both Cook and Harris to have his lies documented and pointed out like this. He should have let this sleeping dog lie.

Me: Russell Cook will show up to be his pit bull

Cook: 2.  Hardly. Tom Harris writes op-eds and letters-to-the-editor that I am totally unaware of, but he has alerted me via email to a few where he knows I would have some fun challenging his critics to prove he or others are paid by 'Big Coal & Oil' to lie.

Response: Incredible, Cook just stated he doesn’t come running to defend Harris by claiming he runs to defend Harris. Does he even read these things before he posts them? The truth is, as soon as the comments demand Harris back up his claims with facts and science, he goes into hiding and Cook shows up to try and do the heavy lifting. It’s typically pretty embarrassing for both of them.

Error/Not Error: Laughably far from being an error. Thanks, Russell. I needed that.

Me: Tom Harris is a paid shill of the fossil fuel industry

Cook: 3.  Two words: prove it. Keating has yet to produce an iota of evidence proving 'money paid' came under any instructions from anybody on what, when, where, and how to knowingly lie.

Response: Cook’s logic is that, since I was not sitting in a meeting where some fossil fuel executive said to Harris, “We’ll pay you a bunch of money to lie about climate change,” that Harris is, therefore, not a paid shill. Go back to the first statement about Harris’ lies. Take special note of his APCO bio showing he was a PR man for the fossil fuel industry. Clearly, Harris is lying on a regular basis. Further, all of his lies are to undermine climate science and promote fossil fuels, especially coal. Further, his comments about fossil fuels are almost always lies and work to promote that industry. Someone is paying ICSC to do all of this. Harris has long-standing ties to the fossil fuel and tobacco industries, including Heartland Institute, which is paid by the fossil fuel industry to undermine climate science. There is only one conclusion to reach here.

Error/Not Error: Majestically not an error. Harris paid shill status has been documented for decades.

Me: it's his job to place anti-science pieces

Cook: 4.  Harris often refers to science-based assessments from skeptic climate scientists who in turn cite peer-reviewed material published in science journals to make their case. Exactly what is anti-science about that?

Response: What is anti-science about Harris’ pieces is the fact that there is no credible, supportable science in his claims; the fact (yes, fact) that he lies; the fact that he misleads; the fact that he uses false arguments; the fact that all of this deception is to make the climate science appear to be non-credible and we shouldn’t do anything about it; and the fact that he’s paid to undermine the scientists. That is quite a track record of anti-science activity.

And, don't forget how his nearly sole source of information is the Climate Reconsidered Reconsidered report from the NIPCC. The NIPCC is itself paid by the Heartland Institute, making it a paid shill organization. The smell is getting bad here.

Error/Not Error: Not even close to becoming an error.

Me: campaign to undermine climate science.

Cook: 5.  What campaign? What evidence exists naming the participants, their strategy meetings, and what happens if speakers such as Harris have material which does not meet the approval of fossil fuel executives?

Response: Refer to the Luntz report. Harris, and other paid shills, are following the recommendations of this report to the letter. You can read the entire report at: http://www.motherjones.com/files/LuntzResearch_environment.pdf. This is a well-organized and well-funded campaign.

Error/Not Error: Not an error, but good effort on the part of Cook to maintain the appearance that he isn’t following someone else’s talking points.

Me: association with the fossil fuel and tobacco industries

Cook: 6.  "Associations" are worthless as evidence of corruption without proof that money was paid in exchange for material which all parties acknowledge is false, deceptive, etc.

Response: Not true. When Harris lies about his association with these industries and then openly works to promote them, that is corruption.

cor·rup·tion

kəˈrəpSH(ə)n/

noun

noun: corruption; plural noun: corruptions

1. dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

Synonyms: dishonesty, unscrupulousness, double-dealing, fraud, fraudulence, misconduct, crime, criminality, wrongdoing

Yikes! Even without the payoff, Harris has proven to be dishonest and fraudulent. And, of course, refer to the APCO bio above.

Error/Not Error: Most definitely not an error.

Me: TomHarrisPaidShill

Cook: 7.  And the page Keating links to contains zero evidence proving Harris is in any kind of conspiracy where he is paid to lie.

Response: What???? This is an example of Russell’s favorite line of logic: “It’s not true until I say it’s true. Therefore, if I say it isn’t true, it isn’t.” For further amplification, I refer you to my responses above. All of this is documented in the Tom Harris Clearing House, plus much more. And, the APCO bio is included there, among many other gems about Harris.

Error/Not Error: Not an error, but it is a great example of Cook’s faulty logic stem, which we will be seeing more of.

Me: Duluth New Tribune, a news media that is an unfortunately friendly place for the anti-science crowd

Cook: Aside: I'd like to see Keating defend this statement in front of the entire staff of the Duluth News Tribune.

Response: Gladly. And, I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Take a look at this letter to the editor complaining about this very issue. As long as they publish anti-science articles from climate change deniers who are attempting to undermine the science, it will be a friendly place for the anti-science crowd.

Error/Not Error: He didn’t actually call this an error, which is good, because it isn’t.

Me: You can read the response Terry and I made here.

Cook: 8.  Keating's link DOESN'T go to the paper of record, the Duluth News Tribune's version of his letter-to-the-editor, which is at this link:  http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/readers-views/4294271-readers-view-climate-skeptics-hard-believe

Why? Because Keating's and his co-author's original version, which he DOES link to. contained unsubstantiated personal attacks against Tom Harris, which the DNT does not permit. Compare what appears at the DNT against what Keating originally proposed. After his LTE did appear online, Keating altered the introductory  paragraph about his LTE to what is seen here  http://dialoguesonglobalwarming.blogspot.com/2017/06/tom-harris-deceives-about-science.html , to mention its publication, albeit without a word of why he deleted the post for 10 days.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/readers-views/4294271-readers-view-climate-skeptics-hard-believe

Response: He isn’t even saying this is an error. He’s merely complaining that he doesn’t like the way the other kids play. I provided a link to my posting on my blog and there was nothing deceptive about it. After all, it says in big letters at the top: Dialogues on Global Warming. Here’s the story: I and Terry wrote a response together and submitted it to the Duluth News Tribune. We received the following response from the editor,

Hello, Mr. Keating. Just an FYI. To help assure the letters to the editor that we publish remain civil, we don't allow letters to be about previous letter writers but rather the content of their letters. That helps head off personal attacks. So your letter in response to Tom Harris's letter was edited as you see it below. Just didn't want you to be surprised.

I also posted the original response on my blog. What I didn’t know is that Russell Cook contacted the paper and tried to prevent its publication (see the next Cook statement below.). The paper asked me to take it down because they required it to have not been submitted for publication before. I did not realize that posting it on my blog counted as previously published, so I removed it as they asked. Once it was published, I was allowed to post it again. In order to ensure I wasn’t violating anything, I included the original version instead of the paper’s version. Besides, I wanted to highlight how Harris was deceptive again.

Error/Not Error: Again, he didn’t even say it was an error, so it certainly falls under the Not Error category. This is another example of Cook’s deceptions. All he did was complain about me and then made the bold statement that I had made 25 errors.

Me: called in Russell Cook to do one of his attack pieces.

Cook: 9.  Harris did no such thing. The actual sequence of events happened as follows: Since I periodically look at Keating's blog as a matter of curiosity, I found his then-proposed 6/28/17 letter-to-the-editor (archived in original form here http://archive.is/Iid5o ), and I alerted a DNT editor to it as yet another potential opportunity to challenge people like Keating to prove their assertions. The editor replied to say Keating's publication of it at his blog violated the newspaper's requirement about having first-publication exclusivity to such pieces, and he asked Keating to delete his blog post, which Keating did. Before Keating's LTE reply to Harris was published, I saw another LTE critical of Harris at the DNT of a rather similar nature, which prompted me to write the letter Keating is referring to here. I did this entirely on my own with absolutely zero prompting from Tom Harris.

Response: I’ll stand by this statement without hesitation. It is irrelevant if Harris called him about this specific issue when Cook has already stated Harris has him responding to comments and articles. If that is the working relationship they have established and he acts on his own (or, possibly, not), he is still being called in by Harris.

Error/Not Error: Not an error.

Me: Russell Cook is a hatchet-man for the Heartland Institute

Cook: 10.  No, I'm not. They do know of my history of challenging letter writers and article commenters to show readers where the proof exists indicting skeptics of corporate corruption, and they sometimes suggest places where I can pose those challenges, but I receive no instructions on what to write.

Response: Did he really just say that? Heartland tells me what to do, knowing that I write stupid comments to harass people, but I’m not their hatchet man.

Error/Not Error: Not an error. I’m glad I took a screen shot of this one before Cook realizes what he said and takes it down.

Me: gets paid thousands of dollars

Cook: 11.  I'm not paid a dime by anybody to do what I do. I have fully disclosed my strings-free grants from Heartland from the start of my blog:  http://gelbspanfiles.com/?cat=1

Response: Compare this one to the claim above (number 10). Heartland knows what he does, tells him where to go to make comments, and pays him. Somehow, in Cook’s weird universe, that is not getting paid.

Error/Not Error: Not an error. I’m trying to think of some witty comment to go along with this, but I can’t think of anything funnier than what Cook just said.

Me: gets paid thousands of dollars to obsess over Ross Gelbspan.

Cook: 12.  My GelbspanFiles blog - which Keating cannot bring himself to link to here - dissects Gelbspan's role in the accusation that skeptic climate scientists are paid industry money to lie. Since Gelbspan is widely described as the 'discoverer' of this alleged corruption, astute readers will see this as a focus of mine, and certainly not any kind of unwarranted obsession.

Response:  Let’s see: His blog is called the “GelbspanFiles.” It’s since been changed, but his “Who We Are” page on the Heartland Institute previously stated "He specializes in research of the origins of accusations leveled at skeptics and the associations of people surrounding it, most notably anti-skeptic book author Ross Gelbspan." And, he can’t stop talking about him. Sure looks like obsession from where I’m sitting. As for the pay, see claim number 11 above.

Error/Not Error: Not an error.

Me: won the Pulitzer Prize

Cook: 13.  If this is so, why is it that the Pulitzer organization itself, the final arbiter of who receives their prizes, does not acknowledge Gelbspan as a Pulitzer winner?  http://www.pulitzer.org/search/Gelbspan

Response: Cook is technically correct on this one. Ross Gelbspan conceived, directed and edited a series of articles in the Boston Globe that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984. The prize actually named Kenneth Cooper, Joan Fitz Gerald, Jonathan Kaufman, Norman Lockman, Gary McMillan, Kirk Scharfenberg and David Wessel of The Boston Globe. So, Gelbspan’s name was not on the prize. 

What is amusing about this is that Cook was the first one to tell me how Gelpspan was a Pulitzer winner. Take a look at his comment:

Meanwhile, what's up with the "the sold[sic] job of attacking one particular blogger" line? What blogger? Show us all exactly where it says that. Surely you don't actually believe the "Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist" Ross Gelbspan is a mere blogger, do you?? Really???

After reading his comment, I did some research and misinterpreted the statement concerning the prize. Apparently, so did Cook.

Error/Not Error: This is an error. I suppose I could try a Russellism and blame him for stating Gelbspan won the prize in the first place. But, I won’t. It was my responsibility to get my facts straight and I obviously take that responsibility much more seriously than Cook, so I’m the one to blame.

Me: My first run-in with Cook was several years ago when he made a poorly-disguised threat on this blog to sue me

Cook: 14.  As I described with screencaptures in my prior analysis of Keating  http://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=4936  , his very first reply to me struck me a so bizarre that my immediate response was to re-phrase my challenge in an entirely different manner to overcome any kind of perception problem he had about what the challenge was.

Response: Picture this scenario: You are talking to someone who wants you to stop saying the things you’ve been saying and that person says to you, “If you had to answer a court subpoena as a defense witness supporting people accused of committing libel/slander against skeptic climate scientists, is that material from ExxonSecrets all you'd have to bring with you?” (Exact quote.) How would you interpret that? If you didn’t interpret it as a threat or an effort to intimidate, then you are different from most people.

Error/Not Error: Not an error. Cook can try to recant as many times as he wants, but the fact is that he was trying to intimidate me with a threat of a lawsuit. Suck it up, Russell, put your big boy pants on and take responsibility for your actions.

Me: if I didn't stop criticizing the Heartland Institute.

Cook: 15.  I never even mentioned the Heartland Institute in my very first comment at Keating's blog:  http://gelbspanfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Keating-5-15-weirdness-1024x939.jpg

Response: The blog post and the conversation were about Heartland and the NIPCC (Heartland’s fake science group). There was no other topic. If Cook decided to start discussing something else in the middle of the conversation he gave no indication of that. Therefore, it was, and is, logical to assume he was referring to my criticisms of Heartland.

Error/Not Error: Not error and not even very ingenious of Cook.

Me: He quickly backed down

Cook: 16.  Again, my second-ever comment at Keating's blog was to rephrase the identical challenge to produce evidence proving skeptic climate scientists were paid to lie, and I politely but relentlessly posed this challenge, with apparently enough damaging effect that he chose to ban me from commenting there: http://gelbspanfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Keating-delblacklist.jpg

One reason why he claimed he did this was my alleged personal attacks, but I'm confident readers will find no such thing within the entire history of my comments at his blog: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:dialoguesonglobalwarming.blogspot.com+%22russell+cook%22

Response: I delete comments that are overly offensive. Cook was making repeated uncivil comments and was trolling my blog. After several warnings, I banned him. No, you won’t see his offensive comments on the blog. But then again, you’ll see very few uncivil comments from other trolls. I even banned one person because of a racially offensive handle.

What Cook isn’t telling you here is when he first tried to intimidate me I told him the first thing I was going to do was “subpoena the necessary financials of the individuals and organizations involved.” He immediately backed down and has had a bug up his butt about it ever since. Just like any playground bully, stand up to them and they back down, but they don’t like it.

Error/Not Error: Not an error.

Cook: Aside:  Keating has never yet identified who these lawyers are or what type of law they practice.

Response: Really? That’s your argument? I didn’t identify these lawyers, so, therefore, it isn’t real.Sorry, I'm not providing that kind of information and it really isn't any business of yours.

Error/Not Error: Not an error (or even a credible complaint). But, of course, he didn’t actually say it was an error. He was simply jumping at another opportunity to embarrass himself. I would’ve thought he already had enough of those, but I guess not.

Me: simply proclaim nothing is evidence until he says it is.

Cook: 17.  Hardly. I demonstrate at considerably length at GelbspanFiles how particular narratives do not line up right, and how the 'corrupt skeptics' accusation falls apart no matter which angle it is viewed from. I leave it to readers' judgement about such problems.

Response: Please see his number 7 claim above for an example of this strategy of his. It is consistent with Harris’ strategy of stating, “I stopped reading when...,” only to then discuss topics that occurred after the point he claimed he quit reading. Cook is kind of similar – a very shallow, unimaginative tactic that proves nothing, but makes him sound clever.

Error/Not Error: Still not an error and yet another statement of mine that Russell proved correct with his own words and actions.

Me: show me where the author describes "cataclysmic-sounding situations" anywhere.

Cook: 18.  "deniers of global climate change also support an "alternate reality," one that may well spell disaster for humans in the next 25 to 50 years" / "the imminent calving of the Larsen C ice shelf" / "continued loss of ice on the Greenland ice sheet" / "water flowing into Davis Strait and the Arctic Ocean, raising sea levels"

When such events are described by global warming believers as potentially causing millions of refugees, that's the definition of cataclysm: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cataclysm

Response: The writer of the letter did not make any claim about millions of refugees, so you’re already wrong on this claim. But, keep in mind that droughts, floods and famines are all disasters. All of these, and much more, are already happening and getting worse because of climate change and will continue to do so. The other instances you mentioned are things that have already occurred. A disaster is not a cataclysmic event.

Error/Not Error: Not an error (or even a very good try).

Me: Maybe it's to attack the author of that letter

Cook: 19.  No, the objective was to set up how such letter writers are enraged when the science-based emotionless assessments from skeptic climate scientists undermine the alarmism of global warming believers, and that such believers often refuse to engage in reasoned, calm debate, but instead launch into emotion-laden personal attacks. Which is exactly what the letter writer did with zero evidence behind the accusation.

Response: First, in this comment Cook is describing the actions of the anti-science deniers, not the writer of that letter. But, in no way did Cook demonstrate that was his intention. What he did was to attack the writer of that letter (and continues to do so in these comments of his). He started with the attack, “are often livid at the mere mention of famous-name climatologists and climate-denier organizations which doubt it,” without ever producing any of these famous-names. He then presents false statements concerning the denier movement as being factual without ever backing them up. Funny, that’s what he accused the letter writer of doing. This is yet another example of his “it’s not true until I say it is” logic.

Error/Not Error: Not an error. Cook is a bully and he showed it by beating up an anonymous woman.

Me: people like Cook hate is the fact that essentially every climate scientists in the world who is active in the field acknowledges manmade climate change is real.

Cook: 20.  Keating is of course guessing what my opinion is. The question of course is not whether humans have some effect over climate, it is entirely whether our activity is the primary driver of global warming.

Response: No, you’ve expressed this opinion many times. There is no guessing involved. Take a look at my last posting about you for an example of this.

http://dialoguesonglobalwarming.blogspot.ca/2017/08/russell-cook-demonstrates-lack-of.html

Error/Not Error: Not an error.

Me: Cook provided NO climatologists who doubt it.

Cook: Aside:  Letters-to-the-editor have word limitations. Whether Keating chooses to acknowledge it or not, climatologists exist who dispute the notion that human activity is the primary driver of what little global warming we've seen over the last 150 years.

Response: Interesting that Cook didn’t provide any of these climatologists. Maybe he’s thinking of Roy Spencer, who has been caught committing fraud with his research so many times he can’t get anything published anymore. Or, Tim Ball, who is not a climatologist and whose record led a court to state, “The Plaintiff is viewed as a paid promoter of the agenda of the oil and gas industry rather than as a practicing scientist.” Or, maybe Richard Lindzen, who stated for years he received no money from the fossil fuel industry for his research until it was discovered he was receiving up to $2500 per day for ‘consulting.’ Or maybe he means Willie Soon, who is an aerospace engineer and not a climatologist, who has close ties with the anti-science Heartland Institute and has received over $1 million over the last decade in funding exclusively from the fossil fuel industry. Or, maybe he means Christopher Monckton who is not a climatologist and has falsely claimed, among many other lies, that he is a member of the House of Lords to the point that Parliament sent him a letter to stop making it and posted the letter on its webpage. Or, maybe he means John Coleman, the founder of the Weather Channel, who claims to be a meteorologist, even though he isn’t, and has no degree in science at all and has his every claim routinely debunked. I could go on, but the point is made. I’m waiting for Cook to produce even a single credible climatologist who says manmade global warming isn’t real.

And, please note that he STILL hasn’t produced one, even with as many words as he wants.

Error/Not Error: A complete face-plant by Cook. Not an error.

Me: It's because he can't.

Cook: 21.  Keating's assertion here is acutely ironic, because my first-ever comment at his blog was in reference to the NIPCC Reports, which features numerous names of internationally recognized skeptic climate scientists, and as I mentioned in one of my GelbspanFiles posts  http://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=609 , my email address book reads like a “Who’s Who” list of skeptic scientists. 

Response: Take a look here or here to see just how incredibly bad the NIPCC report is. That is only a very small reference list of places you can go to to find out about the lack of credibility in that report.

Anyone who thinks the NIPCC has anything to do with science is suffering a mental illness. This report of theirs has been completely debunked. It’s so bad that it is a joke and a punch line rolled in one. If it is so good, why isn’t they can’t support their claims with any experimental evidence? Answer: It’s because they can’t.

Error/Not Error: Most definitely not an error. Cook needs to seek psychiatric counseling if he really believes the NIPCC reports show any kind of science undermining climate scientists.

Me: Cook goes on to claim there is no evidence that the fossil fuel industry has been funding the anti-science community to protect it's profits.

Cook: 22.  Keating torpedoes his own assertion with my subsequent verbatime quote. Nobody denies that skeptic climate scientists have received some funds from industry people. Clear as day, I say there is no evidence proving the money bought lies as part of any explicit arrangement acknowledged by all parties as corrupt action.

Response: Once again, Cook uses his “it’s not true until I say it is” line of logic. There is a mountain of evidence. See the next comment for some of these references as provided in my original post.

Error/Not Error: No error here except on the part of Cook.

Me: try reading this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.

Cook: 23.  What's the common thread among all those links? 'Deniers are funded.' What's missing at every one of those? Evidence that the funding was in exchange for specific lies that all parties know were lies designed to keep 'Big Coal & Oil' profitable.

Response: So, given nine separate reference, Cook denies them all. “It’s not true…”

Error/Not Error: Not an error so much that it’s pretty disgraceful of Cook to even try.

Me: includes internal documents from the Heartland Institute

Cook: 24.  No, the genuine leaked documents were utterly benign, devoid of any evidence of a conspiracy to lie, but the one fake memo had to be concocted in order to make a conspiracy mountain out of a boring mole hill. See: http://fakegate.org/study-gleick-forged-fakegate-memo/

Response: Not even the least bid credible, Russell. Take a look here.

Or here.

Or here.

There’s lots more, but the point is made. It was a Heartland internal document and did a lot of damage.

Error/Not Error: Heartland and Cook made errors, but I didn’t.

Me: Cook will just tell you this isn't evidence.

Cook: 25.  The inexplicable appearance here is that Christopher Keating seemingly does not comprehend what the meaning of corrupt is: "having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain."

Response: I posted it above, but it’s worth repeating:

cor·rup·tion

kəˈrəpSH(ə)n/

noun

noun: corruption; plural noun: corruptions

1. dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

Synonyms: dishonesty, unscrupulousness, double-dealing, fraud, fraudulence, misconduct, crime, criminality, wrongdoing

Cook (and Harris) have repeatedly shown intent to deceive. In this way, they are dishonest and fraudulent and that makes them corrupt. But, of course, Cook will tell you, “If I don’t say it’s true…”

Error/Not Error: There was no error here and I stand by my posting. I also stand by this one.

Conclusion: Out of 25 so-called errors, one was, in fact, an error on my part while 24 were not. That’s about right for Russell Cook’s batting average on the facts and science.

Of course, Cook will read this and reply, "Until I say it's true, it isn't true. Therefore, this isn't true."

Russell Cook Demonstrates Lack of Credibility

A tip of the hat to Dave James for alerting me to the following comment by Russell Cook.

Debunking the Heartland Institute's hatchet man, Russell Cook, is both fun and easy. But, it does take time and I have a very full plate. That means spending time on his inane drivel is time away from something more productive. I need a reason to do that and, sometimes, I find it useful. Cook is a little man who wouldn’t amount to anything important if not for the Internet. But, that’s the world we live in and little people who are given a large forum find it possible to have an impact. The fact is climate change is already the most serious issue of our day and is only becoming more so. Russell Cook is not a serious person, but he, and others like him, have an effect that we need to pay attention to.

[UPDATE: In the comments Cook made in his posting about my 25 so-called errors, Cook states (referring to Heartland:

They do know of my history of challenging letter writers and article commenters to show readers where the proof exists indicting skeptics of corporate corruption, and they sometimes suggest places where I can pose those challenges, but I receive no instructions on what to write.

Here Cook is admitting to doing the dirty work for Heartland.]

So, let’s look at his comment below and review it for credibility and accuracy. Below is a comment Cook made in a recent article by the anti-science team of Tim Ball and Tom Harris. As soon as people showed up to point out the factual errors in it, Cook showed up.

Russell Cook ·

Institut européen d’administration des affaires

Here's a bit of an aside on this Tom Harris-commenter Dave James situation: Over at a blog which James is seen frequenting in its comment sections, the blogger accused me ( http://dialoguesonglobalwarming.blogspot.com/.../russell... ) of among other things, fitting a pattern where I supposedly was at Harris' beck-and-call to defend him. I count 25 errors in that blog post here http://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=5509 , but that is another story. What I would suggest to readers is a simple test of that particular accusation, in relative comparison to what the actual situation is: Place the name Tom Harris and mine within quote marks in a single Google search window, and see how many times I supposedly 'come to Tom's defense.' Then do a similar search, but substitute the name Dave James for my name. Again, put his within quote marks which narrows the search to only his name and Tom's. The results are most fascinating.

The larger lesson is more critical - how often do we see pushers of the notion of catastrophic man-caused global warming resort to various forms of character assassination ('he's not a climate scientist / 'he's a paid industry shill' / 'his religious/political leanings/education level taints his viewpoints' etc) as a means of marginalizing opposition, instead of conclusively demonstrating how skeptics' science assessments are refuted? How often do we also see false premise attempts to deem the issue a 'settled science' via worthless references to a so-called consensus (scientific conclusions have NEVER been validated by a 'show of hands') or via worthless appeals to authority (science societies' proclamations are pointless if influential members having control over public relations statements have been misled or have political agendas to promote, and if the proclamations do not reflect many of their own members' viewpoints).

What Tom Harris attempts to do is make up for the lack of reporting by the mainstream media about the skeptic side of the issue. While the skeptic side doesn't call for the censorship of comments such as those coming from folks like Dave James, his side does not benefit from having the appearance of having dedicated stalkers who follow Tom Harris around the internet with comments ranging from unsupportable assertions about Harris' positions to outright accusations about taking industry money to lie. But don't ask James about the latter problem; ask Al Gore to provide us ALL with the evidence he has against ANY skeptic climate scientist over that specific accusation. Deer-in-the-headlights ambush opportunity for intrepid reporters, anyone?

In his first line, Cook states, “fitting a pattern where I supposedly was at Harris' beck-and-call to defend him.” Please notice this comment was made on an article by Tom Harris and Tim Ball that was receiving comments by people showing where Harris is factually incorrect. In other words, Cook is denying he runs to defend Harris by running and defending him. Really!

[UPDATE: I am currently working on reviewing the so-called 25 errors I made in my posting concerning Cook. One of his comments was:

Tom Harris writes op-eds and letters-to-the-editor that I am totally unaware of, but he has alerted me via email to a few where he knows I would have some fun challenging his critics to prove he or others are paid by 'Big Coal & Oil' to lie.

While stating he is not at Harris' beck and call, he simultaneously states he is at Harris' beck and call. Great logic.]

The bigger issue is that Cook is well known for showing up when the comments get too difficult for Harris to deal with. Cook comes in and uses his favorite approach – “it’s not real until I say it is” in an attempt to counter the science. I can’t recall even one instance where Cook actually produced any science or data to support his arguments. I would be interested in anyone pointing out to me any instance where he did.

He next states I made 25 errors in a blog post about him. I’ll review that one in detail in a post.

Then, he makes one seriously flawed statement that really demonstrates his lack of credibility:

The larger lesson is more critical - how often do we see pushers of the notion of catastrophic man-caused global warming resort to various forms of character assassination ('he's not a climate scientist / 'he's a paid industry shill' / 'his religious/political leanings/education level taints his viewpoints' etc) as a means of marginalizing opposition, instead of conclusively demonstrating how skeptics' science assessments are refuted?

WAIT A MINUTE! What he’s doing is describing the actions of the denier community and doing it at the same time! He actually starts by stating “pushers of the notion of catastrophic man-caused global warming” before accusing people of character assassination. For those of you not familiar with this, the common form of this statement is to call people who accept the science ‘alarmists.’ This is an effort on the part of the denier community to marginalize the science and anyone who accepts it. He then follows up by claiming that pointing out someone, who professes to be an expert on climate science, is not, in fact, a climate scientist is somehow character assassination. Wow! And, I bet Cook actually believes that line of reasoning.

And, pointing out someone is a paid shill of the fossil fuel industry is not character assassination. If someone is going to make statements to the public and claim they are an unbiased source of information, then the public has a right to know that the person in question is, in fact, not unbiased at all. When a person is paid to promote an agenda, that person is a paid shill. Tom Harris, Tim Ball, Russell Cook are just three examples of a plethora of people who fit this description and fail to advise readers of their affiliations to the very industry they are promoting.  

And, I find it very interesting to see him make comments about political and religious viewpoints. This is very much the tactic taken by the deniers, not the science community. I cannot even begin to estimate how many times I’ve been accused of being a liberal Democrat or a Hillary-lover. And, you should see the spectrum of claims about my religious beliefs. All from people who have no knowledge whatsoever of either. And, I’m not the only one. I routinely see this tactic taken by deniers when they attack pro-science people with claims anyone who supports the science of being “extreme leftists” or “Hollywood elites.” This doesn't even include the amount of vulgarities hurled by the deniers at pro-science people. No, character assassination is something the deniers do. Cook can’t put this one on the pro-science people.

As for demonstrating how “skeptics’” science is being refuted, the fact is that deniers very seldom even attempt to produce any science. They typically merely attack the IPCC or Al Gore or Michael Mann or make political/religious attacks, such as the ones mention above. But, when they do, it is routinely and easily shown to be false. The very fact of the matter is that there is no science to support the claims of the denier crowd. None! Yes, the science really is settled and anyone who tells you differently is not telling you the truth. I even went so far as to offer to pay anyone $10,000 of my own money to anyone who could produce any such science and no one could, out of hundreds of submissions (many duplicates) could do so. And, unlike similar denier challenges (which inspired me to make my challenge), I posted all original submissions and showed why each was invalid. Many denies claim that it was rigged because I was the judge. Well, I’ve offered to pay if anyone can show how any of my decisions were invalid. They are right there for everyone to see. If it was rigged, it would be easy to show it, so why hasn't anyone done so? The offer still stands. You can see all submissions and my responses here.

Once again, we see Russell Cook has zero credibility.

Let’s continue. He next attacks the consensus. This is an area that is great concern to the denier community and that level of concern can be traced back to the Luntz memo from the George W. Bush administration entitled “The Environment: A Cleaner, Safer, Healthier America.” See the a copy of the entire memo here. http://www.motherjones.com/files/LuntzResearch_environment.pdf. Luntz stated (page 137, 7^th page down) (emphasis original),

Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore, you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate, and defer to scientists and other experts in the field.

You can see, Cook is sticking to the blueprint by claiming there is no consensus. But, it is real and you can read about it here, here and here, for starters. Notice how Cook uses his favorite tactic here – “It isn’t true until I say it’s true and I didn’t say it’s true, therefore it isn’t true.” You can tell by his language it infuriates him that there really is a consensus. This consensus has not only been confirmed with multiple studies, but has even been confirmed by deniers themselves. Read about it here. 

 

And, Cook continue with his zero credibility in the last paragraph, stating,

“What Tom Harris attempts to do is make up for the lack of reporting by the mainstream media about the skeptic side of the issue. While the skeptic side doesn't call for the censorship of comments such as those coming from folks like Dave James.”

Oh, beautiful. One of the things I keep documenting is how often comments providing refuting documentation get flagged and deleted by the deniers. They censor so much you could describe it as a plague. If fact, you can’t voice any dissenting opinion at all on many of denier sites without it being deleted. So, Cook is being less than honest on that issue. 

[UPDATE: In Cook's posting about my 25 so-called errors, Cook stated in a comment:

Since I periodically look at Keating's blog as a matter of curiosity, I found his then-proposed 6/28/17 letter-to-the-editor (archived in original form here http://archive.is/Iid5o ), and I alerted a DNT editor to it as yet another potential opportunity to challenge people like Keating to prove their assertions. The editor replied to say Keating's publication of it at his blog violated the newspaper's requirement about having first-publication exclusivity to such pieces, and he asked Keating to delete his blog post, which Keating did.

In other words, Cook is admitting to trying to censor my letter. Fortunately, it didn't work. The Duluth News Tribune published my letter.]

Concerning Tom Harris, if Harris actually produced any valid science there wouldn’t be any comments showing his errors. I have documented Harris’ efforts to deceive and mislead the public with false logic, deception and outright lies. You can read all about Tom Harris here and see for yourself. Don’t take my word for it, let Harris speak for himself.

What we have seen in this comment is that Russell Cook has less than zero credibility. In fact, like his buddy Harris, he is a paid shill, taking money from the Heartland Institute to promote their anti-science agenda. One of the things Cook is obsessed about is Ross Gelbspan. Gelbspan was an accomplished reporter and won the Pulitzer prize while with the Boston Globe, but he has since retired. Today, he writes an occasional blog post. So, Cook is either obsessed with a retired guy or a blogger. Take your pick.

I’ve spent a lot of time on this guy, but it’s for a purpose. Russell Cook is representative of so many of the anti-science trolls that it’s useful to examine his nonsense so we can combat it wherever we see it.

In a future post, I’ll review Cook’s claim about my 25 errors. It’ll be fun.