http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/02/25/currys-2000-comment-question-can-anyone-defend-%e2%80%9chide-the-decline%e2%80%9d/#comment-607368

I don't know how I missed noticing this Climate Change Conference at Edinburgh University this week end:

http://cameronrose.blogspot.com/2011/02/climate-change-conference-this-week-end.html

Alas I can't go.

Cumbiran Lad

you said

It's a very odd view of the world when the bien pensent consider the prime product of a power generation company is pollution, rather than power.

Unfortunately the Australian political system has coined the term 'carbon pollution' The Australian ABC has followed up this with glee.

I'm shocked and/or annoyed by the use of this plainly political term. My annoyance is the ABC is parroting it. My shock is that a presumably rational Government has approved this term as part of a propaganda campaign against its citizens.

Jerry, It's a very odd view of the world when the bien pensent consider the prime product of a power generation company is pollution, rather than power. This comes from being in the luxurious position of being able to take electricity for granted. Ask those caught in 3 day power cuts here in the UK's recent deep winter snows if electricity is a luxury, or if CO2 levels are important when it's -15C and the power's out. There is too much detachment from the real world.

It would be nice to set up an experiment; three polytunnels with the same crop, and differing levels of CO2 - one with the current atmospheric level, one with double, and one with half. I wonder what the 'low carbon' crew would say on walking through the likely results. [Of course the first two cases are easy to find in real life, the third for some reason does not seem to be so commercially attractive!]

Normally I'm not easily annoyed. But this piece by Australian ABC is in the extremely annoying category.

Malcolm Roberts, executive director of the National Generators Forum, whose members are some of Australia's biggest polluters, says he needs more information.

Since when has power generation been 'pollution' other than in the minds of the climate change activists and the Australian ABC.

Full article on Australia's proposed carbon thax at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/24/3148316.htm?section=justin

Note that Labor categorically promised that there would be no carbon tax or cap-n-trade as part of their recent election campaign. They are a minority Government and the Opposition has promised to fight this tooth and nail.

Check out Steve McI.'s post at CA on disappearing email. It looks like the NOAA Inspector General has spoken with Eugene Wahl who "...believes..." that he responded to the request to delete certain emails by doing so.

Has anyone else noticed the nonsense happening at The Graun - George's page.

I really hope that this is a joke by hackers or by George his-self rather than a genuine piece of journalism. The reccommends below the line are gobsmacking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/feb/23/need-to-protect-internet-from-astroturfing?commentpage=last&msg=a#end-of-comments

Richard Black has been a busy boy again. The latest headline on endangered corals again highlights the 'feared' effects of possible climate change, but the article itself lists the main causes of the dangers to be over exploitation, including (I kid you not) fishermen lobbing sticks of dynamite into the water to kill fish. He needs to get shirty with his headline writers.

(He is improving though, talking about decrease in pH rather than ocean acidification, though he promptly throws in "usually known as ocean acidification" just in case.

Andrew
Were you aware of the parliamentary inquiry into peer review?

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news/110127-new-inquiry---peer-review/

[BH adds: Yes - I blogged about it some time back]

It seems that your Feb. 21 post re Sir John Beddington's comments lead Judith Curry to reassess her thoughts on the subject of when scientists should speak out. I am sure that your readers will enjoy her thoughts at judithcurry.com/2011/02/22/hiding-the-decline Gavin attempted to weigh-in in the comments but he ran into a great deal of heavy weather and seems to have sought safer haven.