Global Warming

Cindy Crawford Fights Global Warming Malibu Style

By Jeff Poor | May 7, 2008 - 12:20 ET

Another celebrity has seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and found green religion.

Supermodel-turned-mommy Cindy Crawford, now a blogger for Vanity Fair's Web site, appeared on ABC's May 7 "Good Morning America" to tell viewers they can save the environment by buying a $20 water bottle.

"But my kids go to a school in Malibu and it's super-environmentally conscious," Crawford said. "We do beach clean ups, try to use less plastic as a school. And so, that kind of made me think what can I do? And, I teamed up with PUR, which is a water filtration company. They do the things you can attach to your faucets, as well as those pitchers and we came up with a reusable water bottle."

Gore: Deadly Cyclone a 'Consequence' of Global Warming

By Jeff Poor | May 6, 2008 - 17:13 ET

It was bound to happen eventually - someone from the global warming movement tying the recent Myanmar cyclone to the so-called climate change phenomenon.

Former Vice President Al Gore in an interview on NPR's May 6 "Fresh Air" broadcast did just that. He was interviewed by "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross about the release of his book, "The Assault on Reason," in paperback.

"And as we're talking today, Terry, the death count in Myanmar from the cyclone that hit there yesterday has been rising from 15,000 to way on up there to much higher numbers now being speculated," Gore said. "And last year a catastrophic storm from last fall hit Bangladesh. The year before, the strongest cyclone in more than 50 years hit China - and we're seeing consequences that scientists have long predicted might be associated with continued global warming."

MSNBC Finds Penguins at North Pole... But Penguins Don't LIVE at North Pole

By Warner Todd Huston | May 6, 2008 - 14:02 ET

**Video added below the fold**

**UPDATE: Penguins Edited Out of Report!**

A 15-year-old British girl named Camilla Hempleman-Adams is being hailed as a "hero" for trekking across the ice floes of the North Pole to become one of the youngest women to explore the frozen world of the penguin... well, at least as far as MSNBC is concerned. In their report on the feat of endurance, MSNBC had a shot (about a minute into the video) of penguins on an ice floe. Only one little problem: penguins don't live at the North Pole. Oopsie.

So, the question remains; if these people can't even get a simple fact like that correct, how can we believe them that global warming is destroying the world? If they don't even know where the penguin lives, how can we believe their "science" that states the world is doomed with global warming?

New Data on Sea Ice Contradicts Media Climate Change Reporting

By Jeff Poor | May 6, 2008 - 10:24 ET

If the Earth has a fever, as former Vice President Al Gore suggests, it's not showing signs of it.

According to Climateaudit.org's Steve McIntyre, global sea ice has actually increased.

"On a global basis, world sea ice in April 2008 reached levels that were ‘unprecedented' for the month of April in over 25 years," Steve McIntyre wrote on Climateaudit.org on May 4. "Levels are the third highest (for April) since the commencement of records in 1979, exceeded only by levels in 1979 and 1982."

That data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) suggests the effects of global warming aren't as dire as some media reports would have you believe. A segment on ABC's March 28 "Good Morning America" warned melting sea ice is endangering the global warming alarmists' favorite mascot, the polar bear.

Meet the 'Hippy-crites': Green Celebs Who Don't Practice What They Preach

By Noel Sheppard | May 6, 2008 - 10:12 ET

For years, NewsBusters has been telling readers how much better the foreign press are at covering both sides of the global warming debate.

On Tuesday, Britain's Daily Mail published a perfect example of this maxim with a delicious piece about "hippy-crites": those pompous, holier-than-thou movie stars that go around the world advocating environmental causes and reducing one's carbon footprint while they themselves emit more carbon dioxide in a year than the average person will his entire life.

Here are a few of my favorites (h/t NBer Blonde, picture right courtesy Daily Telegraph, others courtesy Daily Mail):

When Will Media Expose Gore's Ethanol Investments?

By Noel Sheppard | May 5, 2008 - 14:43 ET

As media turn against ethanol due to the growing international food crisis, there's one idol they need to topple: Nobel Laureate Al Gore.

After all, this man has not only been strongly advocating the use of biofuels for years, but has also admitted to having investments in companies involved in such agri-business.

Of course, it's possible press members aren't convinced enough about the the connection between ethanol and rising food prices around the world that they're willing to fell their Green God.

If this is the case, might I recommend such fence-sitters immediately read Marlo Lewis's spectacular piece "Food for Fuel Is No Laughing Matter" published at the NRO's Planet Gore blog Monday (emphasis added throughout):

Sting's Tree Saving Charity Keeps Most of the Donations

By Noel Sheppard | May 5, 2008 - 13:18 ET

In last week's installment of "Sting's Eco-hypocrisy," we learned that the frontman for the rock band the Police, though supposedly an environmentalist, has a bigger carbon footprint than most third world nations.

In Sunday's episode, we found out that Sting's charity, the Rainforest Foundation, gives only 41 percent of the money raised to the programs it supports, and, as a result, "is rated one of New York City's worst charities, according to Charity Navigator."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up!

As reported by the New York Post Sunday (emphasis added throughout):

Headline of the Weekend: Shark Attacks Blamed on Global Warming

By Tim Graham | May 5, 2008 - 07:04 ET

The leftist British newspaper The Guardian carried the headline of the weekend:

Surge in fatal shark attacks blamed on global warming

Four recent fatal shark attacks pushed the media to contact the shark-bite gurus to find out what could be causing the phenomenon, and it must be the humans' fault for being too active at the beach and too willing to drive SUVs, apparently:

'The one thing that's affecting shark attacks more than anything else is human activity,' said Dr George Burgess of Florida University, a shark expert who maintains the database. 'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'

Some experts suggest that an abundance of seals has attracted high numbers of sharks, while others believe that overfishing has hit their food chain. 'I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a convenient excuse,' Burgess said. Another contributory factor to the location of shark attacks could be global warming and rising sea temperatures. 'You'll find that some species will begin to appear in places they didn't in the past with some regularity,' he said.

Weather Channel Founder's Letter to Environmentalists Re: Global Warming

By Noel Sheppard | May 4, 2008 - 11:42 ET

Since calling global warming "the greatest scam in history," the founder of The Weather Channel John Coleman has been an outspoken advocate for climate realism.

This weekend, Coleman posted at his KUSI-San Diego blog an "Open Letter to Environmentalists" challenging them to campaign for "environmental goals on the basis of their own merit" while urging alarmists to "[l]et go of the global warming frenzy before it leaves [them] discredited and embarrassed."

Although readers are strongly encouraged to review the entire piece, here are some of the highlights:

Foto Funnies: 'Bring Back Global Warming'

By Noel Sheppard | May 3, 2008 - 10:58 ET

Despite all the global warming hysteria emanating from the usual media suspects and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, it's been a cold, harsh, long winter throughout most of America.

Apparently, some of the citizens in the small, Idaho panhandle town of Craigmont are so fed up with the cold weather that they placed a request to "Bring Back Global Warming" on the marquee of their local high school.

With this in mind, the following hysterical picture was first published in the Lewiston Tribune, and reprinted Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle with the caption "Burn more fossil fuels so we don't have to wear sweaters: It's 35 degrees in Craigmont, Idaho, in May. What more proof do you need that global warming has ended?":

Astounding TV Commentary: 'End of the Ethanol Dream'

By Noel Sheppard | May 2, 2008 - 17:58 ET

In the past couple of weeks, NewsBusters has been noting that as food prices around the world have soared causing an international crisis, typically green press members have been surprisingly reporting a rather pessimistic view of ethanol.

Without question, the most comprehensive and daring commentary I've seen on this subject to date comes from a program north of the border called The National.

Though not a household name here in the States, the CBC's Rex Murphy is willing to address the heart of this issue in a fashion so honest and unconcerned with the currently in vogue climate alarmism that it is a metaphysical certitude viewers will want to see and read more of his opinions.

Frankly, I'd doubt any American broadcaster would have the nerve to say the following with cameras rolling and microphones switched on (absolutely must-see video available here, transcript follows, enthusiastic h/t to NBer Par for the Course):

Investment Group Puts Millions in Green Companies Gore Has Stake In

By Noel Sheppard | May 2, 2008 - 14:21 ET

Some more pieces of the "How Al Gore is Going to Become Amazingly Wealthy by Selling Climate Hysteria" puzzle came together Friday when the Silicon Valley venture capital firm he's now a part of announced a $500 million investment in green technologies.

Making matters more delicious, the firm already has investments in many of the same companies Gore admitted in March he has a stake in.

To begin untangling this web, let's first take a gander at what was reported Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle (emphasis added):

TWC’s Cullen Advocates Using Weather.com, Google Earth to Promote Global Warming Alarmism

By Jeff Poor | May 1, 2008 - 16:48 ET

The Weather Channel's Heidi Cullen says one of the steps to fight global warming is using images to affect people's outlook.

At the "Covering a Changing Climate: The Media Challenge" forum held at Harvard University in Boston, Mass. on April 30, Cullen suggested using Weather.com and Google Earth to add visual elements to promote the cause.

"[I] split my time between The Weather Channel and this think tank in Princeton and one of the things we've been trying to do is work with Google Earth essentially. And for me, coming from The Weather Channel, the most powerful tool that exists is Weather.com and you type in your zip code and you get a forecast out five days."

Climate Change to Worsen L.A. Traffic, Says NPR President

By Jeff Poor | May 1, 2008 - 15:57 ET

Talk about finding every reason to push the war on climate change. National Public Radio President Kevin Klose found a way to get at the sensibilities of southern California commuters - by telling them global warming will make driving even worse.

Klose was a panelist at the forum "Covering a Changing Climate: The Media Challenge" held at Harvard University in Boston, Mass., on April 30. He said the effects of climate change will include migration from the south and cause a U.S. population boom of 100 million people. Klose told the audience this would be the subject of a series on NPR.

"We're going to do a unique one-week series called ‘The Next Hundred Million,' because in the next 30 years, absent of anything else, there will be another hundred million people living inside the United States of America," Klose said.

New York Times: New Climate Model Predicts Global Cooling

By Noel Sheppard | May 1, 2008 - 14:11 ET

The blogosphere was abuzz Wednesday evening with a new study indicating that "global warming will stop until at least 2015 because of natural variations in the climate."

New York Times environment reporter Andrew C. Revkin wrote an article about this Thursday, although it appears mostly to point out to his readers that this hardly disproves man is destroying the planet by burning fossil fuels.

Before we get there, here are the pertinent facts reported by the British Telegraph Wednesday (emphasis added throughout):

Gingrich Answers Limbaugh's Criticism of Global Warming Ad

By Noel Sheppard | April 29, 2008 - 18:21 ET

Last week, NewsBusters reported the peculiar occurrence of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich appearing alongside current Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a global warming ad funded by Nobel Laureate Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.

Included in this piece was an explanation the former Speaker offered at his website regarding this matter which sparked largely uncomplimentary reactions in the rightosphere as well as from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Two days later, Gingrich appeared on Fox News's "O'Reilly Factor," and answered Rush (video embedded right):

Time Rejoices over World's Green Conscience, Banning of DDT

By Amy Menefee | April 29, 2008 - 12:32 ET

Fresh off its controversial Iwo Jima cover with Marines raising a tree, Time magazine's May 5 issue celebrates with an Earth Day roundup. The cause for celebration? That in 2008, "every day is Earth Day," exulted Nancy Gibbs.

Gibbs celebrated, among other things, the banning of DDT, which led to millions of preventable deaths from malaria. "Back in 1970, there was ... poison in our pesticides," she said, but after the Environmental Protection Agency was created, "DDT was banned."

Perhaps she missed the fact that DDT was reinstated for use in malaria-ridden countries by order of the World Health Organization in 2006.

Another part of this year's Earth Day roundup: "Bolivia's socialist President Evo Morales told the U.N. that 'if we want to save our planet Earth, we have a duty to put an end to the capitalist system.'" Meanwhile, Gibbs wrote, "capitalists polished their image to a green sheen."

Inhofe Calls for Congressional and EPA Action on Ethanol Mandates (w/video)

By Noel Sheppard | April 29, 2008 - 12:26 ET

As food prices soar, and international experts as well as media members call for action, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, took to the Senate floor Tuesday calling for a Congressional review of biofuel policy, and for the Environmental Protection Agency to waive the current ethanol mandates.

Coincidentally, this occurred minutes after President Bush told reporters that he believes ethanol and biofuels are key to solving the nation's long-term energy problems.

With that in mind, given the amount of press coverage biofuels have been given in the past few weeks, it will be interesting to see which side of this story media will report this evening and in the days to come.

After all, what Inhofe called for today was for Congress to "revisit the recently enacted biofuel mandate," and for the EPA to exercise its waiver provision granted in the 2007 Energy Bill "that offers protection to consumers if corn prices or availability become unsustainable."

What follows is the full prepared text of Inhofe's speech (fvideo embedded upper-right):

Wherever in the World Matt is He's Worrying About His Carbon Footprint

By Geoffrey Dickens | April 28, 2008 - 16:48 ET

NBC's Matt Lauer appeared live from Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of the latest installment of the "Today" show's "Where In The World Is Matt Lauer?" ratings gimmick and he went out of his way to assuage viewers that NBC News was doing their part to stay "green" in his travels.

Prompted by an e-mailer's question, read by co-host Meredith Vieira, Lauer assured the "Today" audience that they were going to purchase "carbon off-sets," as he dutifully noted: "We are taking great note of a green side of this trip, as much as humanly possible."

The following exchange occurred on the April 28, "Today" show:

MEREDITH VIEIRA: Listen I've got some e-mail questions that have been coming. And first off is Shaun from Jersey City, New Jersey, and he, who asks, "I have not heard any mention on how Matt Lauer plans to offset his carbon footprint from his upcoming trip around the world. I'm surprised that you have not incorporated a 'green' perspective into this year's trip?" What do you have to say, Matt?