Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Paris Climate Deal Is President Obama’s Biggest Accomplishment




Left behind? That's the Tea Party GOP on Climate Change -- Global Warming.


It would be comical if the subject weren't so critical. 

The intransigent Tea Party GOP is isolated in its stubborn refusal to acknowledge climate change and global warming. 

Idiots who trot out photos of cold winters as "proof" that there is no global warming are showing off their willful ignorance on what the rest of the world and an overwhelming majority of climate scientists and NASA know.   

But those stubborn climate change deniers believe in tribalism more than they believe in facts and evidence. They actually tell themselves that they know more than NASA and other experts who've been studying this subject for years.  

They'll be left behind and will be remembered in the same way as those who denied that the internal combustion engine would replace the horse and buggy: 

LEFT BEHIND while the rest of the world went forward. 


From CNN:


History is littered with examples of thought leaders who did not embrace coming technological shifts. The consequence was simple: You get left behind and become less and less relevant. [...] According to financial analysts such as Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Bernstein Research, and leading investors, it's now very obvious: Creative destruction will inevitably flow through the energy economy in the coming decade, and innovation in renewables will do to coal and oil what cars did to the horse and carriage industry, what digital cameras did to Kodak, PCs to IBM, mobile phones to fixed-line telecoms, Amazon to bookstores and Netflix to Blockbuster.

 Republicans run a huge risk of being associated too closely with the old order, just as the IBM board did when it placed its faith in central mainframes. The psychology of such decision-making is well known. It arises from overconfidence in one's own position and something that psychologists refer to as confirmation bias: the tendency to gravitate toward facts that support one's existing viewpoint and ignore those that don't.



But Jay Bookman at The Atlanta Journal Constitution: 

But hey, maybe all that data are mere coincidence and the Republicans are right. Maybe the governments of more than 190 countries are wrong, and the Republicans are right. Maybe the overwhelming majority of climate scientists are wrong, and the Republicans are right. Maybe the folks at ExxonMobil and BP and other major oil companies are wrong, and the Republicans are right. 

Maybe earlier generations of Republicans that proposed to address the threat of manmade climate change were wrong, and the modern GOP with its cult-like insistence on ideological conformity is right. Maybe. 

But I don’t want to bet the planet I leave to my children and grandchildren on that unlikely event.


Here are some global warming -- climate change myths that the Tea Party ignorants trot out each time they pretend to argue with facts:




This is just one area from an MIT study that addresses climate change. It is a detailed report on just one area of climate change -- global warming.  And it is a far more intelligent approach than throwing a snowball in the U.S. Senate or publishing an image of a snow storm in winter as an argument against facts.


Biogeochemistry of Greenhouse Gases and Reflective Aerosols



Plus this (which will really make climate change -- global warming deniers' heads explode): 


 Al Gore's film was "broadly accurate" according to an expert witness called when an attempt was made through the courts to prevent the film being shown in schools.

22 comments:

Infidel753 said...

Yes, it's hard to imagine he could achieve something even more important than Obamacare and the Iran nuclear deal, but if this agreement sticks, he'll have managed it. Failure to get climate change under control would eventually threaten the survival of civilization and perhaps even of humans as a species.

The only downside is that he's saved the Republicans from the fruits of their own rejection of reality. They wouldn't have been too popular once the effects of climate change really started to bite and damage people's lives in a serious way, with everyone knowing who fought tooth and nail against doing anything about the problem while there was still time.

Clearwater, Florida said...

Didn't Bobby Jindal call it "The Stupid Party?" 'nuf said.

Ducky's here said...

I saw a piece about a restaurant in Shanghai that is charging a fee for providing clean air.
Some think that the chance to duck in for a meal in relatively clean filtered air is worth the charge.
But I'm sure they are just being alarmist.

I don't know what it is about the right that they refuse to grasp the idea of aggregate warming.
I do know why they are complaining about Obama's "imperial" action signing the climate agreement.
Better to be under the control of Mitch McConnell and Massey Energy, I suppose.

Somehow the agreement is all a diabolical plot by the U.N. and George Soros to cripple the U.S. economy.
Don't it drag on.

Enjoy tonight's debate. I'm sure Ben Carson will have something brilliant to say about climate.
Iowa caucuses coming soon.

Anonymous said...

amazing how we can predict what will happen in 85 years. And if the weather patterns don't change then what?

Shaw Kenawe said...




Anonymous@12:44


Anon, science can predict what will happen more than 85 years out. And the CLIMATE not weather is already changing. It appears you don't know the difference between climate and weather.


Shaw Kenawe said...

Ducky: "Better to be under the control of Mitch McConnell and Massey Energy, I suppose."


Ducky, did you read this:

Washington (AFP) - US House Republicans voted Tuesday to block President Barack Obama's regulations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- a move certain to spark his veto -- as negotiators work on a global climate deal in Paris.
The so-called disapproval resolutions, which already passed the Republican-controlled Senate, dealt a largely symbolic yet blunt rebuke to Obama, who attended the start of a major UN climate summit in the French capital.
[...]

The EPA rules incensed Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is from the coal-producing state of Kentucky, when the White House announced Obama's Clean Power Plan in August.


The Fright Wingers are all in a tizzy over Imperial Obama! and his signing the Paris Climate agreement so they've taken the only course they know: They're calling him a poopyhead!

LOL!

They are an embarrassment to this country. No wonder they're attracted to Trump, he's even worse.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Infidel753: "The only downside is that he's saved the Republicans from the fruits of their own rejection of reality."

That's a shame. The Tea Party Republican climate change deniers need to be mocked and ridiculed on a daily basis for their wrong headedness, most of which is exclusively attributable to their rabid Obama hatred. They'll be remember in history as the flat-earthers of the 21st century.

Shaw Kenawe said...

TSD, yes, Bobby Jindal pegged his party for what they've become. It never used to be like that, but it is now.

George W., Liberal said...



President Obama will be considered one of our greatest presidents considering all the obstruction and stupidity from the Rethuglicans he's had to put up with. The climate agreement among his best!

Dave Miller said...

Ducky, you hit the nail on the head.

Americans, for better or worse, want a muscular President. But they want one that agrees with their POV.

When W started the Iraq War, right leaning Americans cheered that he was showing leadership. Leftists claimed he was going too far.

Now that O is moving ahead on climate change, the roles are reversed.

I see few making the argument that regardless, we're in the grips of people/politicians out, in a lot of cases, for themselves and their amigos.

There is no virtue in the complaints of the right. Just a quick look at the comments on a few blogs and you can see they long for the same type of leader as Obama, but with their political leanings.

As you've said many times... Kabuki...

Les Carpenter said...

President Obama will certainly be considered a transitional president. It is uncertain at this time whether he will be considered a great president. That judgment will be determined based on the ultimate outcome of his decisions on both the national and world stage. IOW history will be the final judge; as it should be. Even 100 years hence it is likely there will remain disagreement.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Ducky: "Enjoy tonight's debate."

I turned off the sound after one of the Goopers said President Obama hasn't kept America safe. I yelled at the teevee "You mean safe like the way the last GOP president kept America safe?

Would one of those geniuses have been able to stop a shooter who has legally amassed an arsenal of weapons from going off and shooting up a school? How would any of them been able to stop that?

The NRA and our insane gun culture has made it easy for anyone to buy weapons and shoot up malls, churches, schools, military bases, movie theaters, anywhere, anytime. I'd like to know how a president can prevent that.

How can anyone listen to people who don't live in the real world?

Les Carpenter said...

I watched both tiers. Bush gave a decent performance for the first time, Trump continued to be Trump, Cruz is the brightest but is lot like Trump, Rand continues to be my choice, going no where, Rubio is a slick talker, Kasich Luke warm, Christie scored well. Fiorina was snooze moments, and Carson again out of his league.

Trump's numbers will continue to go up. The real contest will be Trump - Cruz with Cruz ultimately security the nomination.

Anonymous said...



"How can anyone listen to people who don't live in the real world?"


Wrong,wrong,wrong......they live in the real world, they just don't live in your world.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anon: ".they live in the real world, they just don't live in your world."

Anon, it's not just MY world. It's a world where millions and millions of other rational people exist. The TeaPublicans have admitted that they create their own reality.

Here's the real world:

A majority of Americans, NRA MEMBERSHIP, and police officials want background checks for gun purchases. How did the TeaPublicans and some Dems vote? They voted NO! Republican controlled Congress even voted NO! on researching gun violence. RESEARCH!

A MAJORITY of Americans support climate change initiatives.

A MAJORITY of Americans support Planned Parenthood and don't want it shut down, as do the TeaPublicans.

So your coming here and claiming it's MY world and I'm WRONG, WRONG, WRONG only reinforces the fact that the TeaPublicans live in a bubble and don't know what the hell is going on with the majority of Americans. HINT: It's not even close to what you think.

Anonymous said...

Stupid comment: "All you gotta know, outside of the fact that obama is doing Jack Nothing about ISIS. Absolutely nothing."


More than six months since the U.S. began airstrikes against ISIS, Congress may finally vote on it in the next few weeks.

The administration (now along with allies France and Britain) has been bombing the crap out of ISIS for six months and the moron who wrote the quoted statement above says the administration has done absolutely nothing."

This is why the Tea Party is so attracted to Trump, he is as ignorant as his supporter. But it's hard to find anyone as bottom of the barrel stupid as the person who wrote the quoted above.

Too bad stupidity isn't painful.

skudrunner said...

Are you referring to the global warming deal that is voluntary, has not repercussions for non compliance and will cost the American taxpayers over a trillion dollars. I do agree with infidel in this is liken to obamacare. Punish 300 million people with higher healthcare premiums to benefit 30 million who don't have healthcare where only 9 million take it. Oh well, at least my 28 year old single son has pregnancy benefits as well as my 70's plus sister.
Punish the majority to reward the minority, the new American Way.


Anonymous said...

Biggest accomplishment??
There isn't even a clause to force nations to comply.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Non-binding does not mean meaningless.

It’s worth taking a moment and thinking about what a binding agreement is. If I offer to pick your child up from daycare Thursday afternoon, is that a binding agreement? You can’t, strictly speaking, punish me if I leave little Sarah sitting on the curb. But — and this is a big but — you can shame me. You can avoid me, distrust me, and not make any more social agreements with me.

This idea of social pressure and participation does not only apply to carpools. It also applies to the international community. Sure, China could renege on its promises to transition off coal. The United States could decide it’s not going to give any money to developing nations to help build renewable energy. But that would make for pretty bad foreign relations.

In fact, most international agreements rely on countries’ desire to continue having good relationships with their counterparts, Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, told ThinkProgress.
“International agreements operate under good faith,” Burger said. “Whether a country is an upstanding member of the international community is what’s at stake.”

Of course, this particular agreement has even larger stakes, as well. Nearly 200 countries came together with the recognition that continuing to burn fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases is going to irrevocably alter our environment. In some ways, the Paris agreement is simply codifying what the entire international community wants to do: Stop global warming.
“The leaders of the world recognize that the consequences of noncompliance are disastrous. We are looking at a wholesale transformation of our global climate,” Burger said. “The main incentive here for compliance is not the threat of some civil penalty — non-compliance would mean environmental disaster.”


--ThinkProgress

skudrunner said...

I disagree, non-binding means I will do it if I feel like it and if I don't, tough.
The administration was in such a panic to gets something done that it resulted in nothing meaningful resulting from the agreement. It was all about optics and pleasing the base which he accomplished because the progressives are praising it and the rational are going huh.
Have a climate change agreement and don't have China show up.
Fortunately or unfortunately no one on this blog will live to see if it is successful or not, but our grandchildren will. What will we do when we have global cooling, have another summit?

Shaw Kenawe said...

No, you got that wrong, skud. The rational are praising it, and the TeaPublicans hate Obama.

Got that? Anything. Anything. Anything he accomplishes is hated by the TeaPublicans and shit on by you.

The rest of the world is with President Obama and his great accomplishment. You and your fellow TeaPublicans have been left behind.



Shaw Kenawe said...

Oh, I forgot to mention this, 2/3 of the American people support this.

As usual, the TeaPublicans are on the wrong side of history.