40 years is not short term

The Climate is disappointed to report that the long term trend of decreasing Myron Ebell content in the press has been reversed. In a week when huge cracks are opening up in the Arctic ice cap, the demented death beat of the fossil fuel industry still continues to fight for all the coal in the world to be converted into CO2 enriched smoke.

Like he says:

"We find it difficult to see how America can meet its energy needs without coal," says Myron Ebell, director of lies and disinformation for the Institute.

Perhaps solar and other renewable power sources might work, but what is needed in the 30 to 40 year short term are more coal-fired power plants, not fewer.

"What we need is a mix, but the base of our electricity supply is with much cheaper coal. If we move away from that, we're going to pay more for our electricity."

At least the Clean Air Act has done a good job of improving air quality. Where the battle will be most hard-fought, he says, is in the controlling of greenhouse gases, which are not actually pollutants.

"Some proposals demand this, and thus they will increase the cost of coal use and ultimately the price of electricity"

Having had his every argument exposed as a lie -- a decade too late to save us from the consequences -- the last refuge of the scoundrel is in the votes of the right-wing extremist block occupying the unfit-for-purpose United States legislative process.

Of the watered down global warming proposals presently under debate, Myron says:

"We're taking it seriously... My view is that it takes several Congresses to get any controversial legislation enacted, and the only way you can stop it is by fighting it every step of the way. However far they (the bill's supporters) get this year will be a benchmark for where they start next year."

Yup. The work should have started ten years ago, at least. Thanks at lot, Mr Ebell, for delaying it so effectively. We're all going to have a very hard time in the future because of all your daily work.

You're the sort of cad who would cover up a nuclear power accident until everyone has been thoroughly exposed and doomed to get cancer.

To the BBC

On the BBC on Friday

The Mundane Movement in Science Fiction

Should sci-fi writers create plots which feature futuristic space ships flying faster than the speed of light, or should they focus instead on today’s real scientific discoveries and the changing nature of the planet we live on? That's the debate that been sparked off by a new manifesto for Mundane Sci-Fi. Geoff Ryman, one of the founders of the movement, explains his aims to Kirsty Lang.

The May edition of InterZone Magazine is dedicated to Mundane Sci-Fi. It is published on 8 May.

Click here to listen to it quick. You only have another 6 days until it goes off-air.