The UEA response has been frankly pathetic. It was informed by Real Climate of the hack on 17 November but only reacted two days later when journalists caught on to the story. It refused to confirm whether the emails were accurate or not and, for a long time, refused to comment at all.
Climate Outreach and Information Network founder George Marshall • Discussing the University of East Anglia’s weak response to the hacked e-mail controversy despite the fact that the e-mails don’t reveal any sort of conspiracy. He argues instead that it’s merely been integrated into longstanding skeptic opinions. “The speed with which the emails have been cut apart and fed into existing storylines is remarkable,” he notes. He also notes the timing is extremely suspect. source
He’s got name recognition, he has a following, he surely knows how to give a speech. He’s mastered the art of sophistry, and of sounding like he knows what he’s talking about while actually not. I mean, he’s about perfect.
Guardian columnist Michael Tomasky • Tossing around the same idea we had when we watched Lou Dobbs’ show last night – his wording was open-ended enough that he may not be leaving to go to another show, but angling towards political office. Not that Tomasky supports it – he refers to Dobbs as a “stupid man” – but he might actually make sense in that role. The only thing to keep in mind is that he’s something of an in-betweener: His opinions on climate change and immigration (and birthers!) make him conservative, but his populist, pro-middle-class stances are actually pretty leftist. We can see it now – Palin/Dobbs 2012. • source
I’ve been making this argument for a number of years, but it has not been a focus because a lot of people had not connected the dots.
Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who chairs the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee • Regarding climate change and the effect it could have on the world’s stability. Some regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia – areas which already could be considered among the world’s more unstable – could face rising tides, droughts, food crises and other problems as a result of global warming. Recent war games have suggested this, and the U.S. is considering how it will handle these issues down the road. • source
It is clear that the less we do in the near-term, the more we have to do in the long-term. But if we set a target that is un-meetable technically, or we can’t pass it politically, then we’re in the same position we are in now… where the world looks to us and we are out of the regime.
Jonathan Pershing • The U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, speaking at a UN conference in Bonn, Germany. The big kids on the block are trying to improve their global warming standards but at a feasible rate – a notable change from Bush administration policy. • source