[Coral-List] carbon offsetting AND slowing down

[Douglas Fenner]

     I can't think offhand of the fossil fuel industry trying to block
research (but maybe that is something I'm just unaware of).  The fossil
fuel industry is trying to mislead the public and trying to stop any
government action to fix the problem, and some in the US gov't appear to be
trying to suppress information they don't like.  The fossil fuel industry
has also been financing a legion of people to come up with all kinds of
reasons why global warming and climate change aren't real and humans aren't
causing it.  That denier industry is the one that has produced the 179
bogus arguments debunked on "skeptical science."  Yes, your points No. 1
and 3 are very much related, No. 1 is financing and egging on most of No.
3.  There IS, legitimate questioning, and that's fine.  There was a
scientist who wasn't convinced, who was concerned about the "island heat
effect" that cities heat the air around them, and that many of the
temperature monitoring stations were around cities.  He investigated, more
data was collected, and after quite a while, he was convinced that the
earth's surface as a whole is indeed warming up.  That's real science, and
it is good.  But the majority of it is not, it's all about coming up with
bogus excuses to mislead people to protect giant profits of dirty fossil
fuel industry.
      There are parallels in other settled scientific issues.  For
instance, there is a huge portion of the US population that thinks that
there is no evolution, the world was created 6000 years ago, and Darwin was
all wrong.  All the evidence is that those people are wrong.  On the other
hand, there is lots of legitimate discussion about evolution.  There are
other processes involved in evolution besides natural selection.  Darwin
himself discovered sexual selection.  Genetic drift is an important aspect
independent of selection.  There are theories like punctuated equilibrium
and selfish genes and sociobiology.  There are even modern data that show a
few things that follow Lamarkian evolution.
      There is a vast difference between a huge industry-funded effort to
protect their profits with disinformation propaganda campaigns, and
legitimate discussion based on actual evidence.
      Cheers,  Doug

On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 12:33 AM Ulf Erlingsson via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Yes Steve, but this is not a two-sided debate, it is a three-sided debate.
>
> 1. Industry that is trying to block the research
> 2. Researchers who are working with theories and data
> 3. Other researchers who are being critical for good reasons.
>
> If you are conflagrating 1 and 3 you are making 1 a favor.
>
> Ulf Erlingsson
>
>
>
> > On 2019-06-14, at 17:06 , Risk, Michael via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> >
> > Some context as to who is David and who is Goliath:
> >
> > "Every year, the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas
> companies spend approximately $200 million on lobbying designed to control,
> delay or block binding climate-motivated policy." (Forbes, Mar 25/19)
> >
> > -and this doesn't count the Dark Money from dark places. (No, not THERE,
> Steve-get your mind out of the gutter.)
> >
> > It's no mystery why action on this front is so difficult.
> > ________________________________________
> > From: Coral-List [coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] on behalf of
> Steve Mussman via Coral-List [coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]
> > Sent: June 14, 2019 3:38 PM
> > To: coral list
> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] carbon offsetting AND slowing down
> >
> > I have no problem with Gene’s post being allowed on list. To me it’s a
> first amendment issue. However, I do take issue with the fact that the post
> used an anonymous source to make a rather serious accusation about the
> veracity of the SST data analysis and projections compiled by NOAA - all
> without bothering to cite a reference to the data that the author claims
> refutes the warming trend. Such tactics should be condemned by all.
> > This egregious modus operandi is nothing new, but it certainly runs
> counter to the ideals generally adhered to throughout the scientific
> community. As for bullying, one has to be totally disconnected and/or
> somewhat confused not to realize that we are living in an era of
> unprecedented attacks on science and scientific integrity. The post in
> question clearly epitomizes this unfortunate state of affairs.
> >
> > Steve Mussman
> >
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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> >
>
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-- 
Douglas Fenner
Ocean Associates, Inc. Contractor
NOAA Fisheries Service
Pacific Islands Regional Office
Honolulu
and:
Consultant
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

A call to climate action  (Science editorial)
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6443/807?utm_campaign=toc_sci-mag_2019-05-30&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=2840296

New book "The Uninhabitable Earth"  First sentence: "It is much, much worse
than you think."
Read first (short) chapter open access:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/read-a-chapter-from-the-uninhabitable-earth-a-dire-warning-on-climate-change

Want a Green New Deal?  Here's a better one.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/want-a-green-new-deal-heres-a-better-one/2019/02/24/2d7e491c-36d2-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?utm_term=.a3fc8337cbf8