Kerry: If We're Wrong on Climate Change, 'What's the Worst That Can Happen?'

[Coach is Back!]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/kerry-if-were-wrong-climate-change-whats-worst-can-happen_793392.html

Secretary of State John Kerry did not shy away from pejorative language when addressing "climate change" in his commencement speech at Boston College on Monday.  Kerry referred to those skeptical of the Obama administration's climate claims as "members of the Flat Earth Society" who are "risking nothing less than the future of the entire planet" by resisting implementation of the administration's policies.  At the very least, Kerry argued, what have we got to lose by taking the steps he and the president are advocating? [emphasis added]:

    If we make the necessary efforts to address this challenge – and supposing I’m wrong or scientists are wrong, 97 percent of them all wrong – supposing they are, what’s the worst that can happen? We put millions of people to work transitioning our energy, creating new and renewable and alternative; we make life healthier because we have less particulates in the air and cleaner air and more health; we give ourselves greater security through greater energy independence – that’s the downside. This is not a matter of politics or partisanship; it’s a matter of science and stewardship. And it’s not a matter of capacity; it’s a matter of willpower.

Kerry also suggested there's not much time to act, because "things will change in a hurry," and indeed some things have already changed:
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    Two major recent reports, one from the UN and one from retired U.S. military leaders, warn us not just of the crippling consequences to come, but that some of them are already here. Ninety-seven percent of the world’s scientists tell us this is urgent. Why? Because if crops can’t grow, there’ll be food insecurity. If there’s less water because of longer droughts, if there are stronger and more powerful storms, things will change in a hurry and they will change for the worse.

Kerry seemed to be echoing the words of French foreign ,inister Laurent Fabius who last week at an appearance with the secretary said that "we have 500 days to avoid climate chaos."  As CNS News later reported, Fabius went on to warn that the earth stands at "the edge of a climatic abyss." He was heartened, however, from some "glimmers of hope," adsserting that since the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, "climate denial is – at least in Europe – less audible."

[headhuntersix]

I don't know....my power bill is out of control. I can't imagine you folks in Cali and the bill there.

[dario73]

Ah, well let's see you stupid vice president. The dumbest vice president in history. What will happen is that the nation will fall even further economically. Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs lost in the pursuit of a ridiculous green agenda.

How short sighted can libtards be?

[headhuntersix]

If alt fuels were viable somebody would be trying to corner the market and make billions....somebody will...until then I'll drive on dead dinosaurs.

[Roger Bacon]

haha... nothing except we'll have given up more of our rights and tax money.

[headhuntersix]

You know in school when all you libs laughed at the Catholic church in the Middle ages and Renaissance when they insistence the world was flat or we were the center of the solar system...they imprisoned Galileo  and burnt witches...congrats you're all now the catholic church.


A Yale law professor penned a commencement address even though no one asked him to:

And, before I go any further, I would like to express my personal thanks to all of you for not rescinding my invitation. I know that matters were dicey for a while, given that I have held and defended actual positions on politically contested issues. Now and then I’ve strayed from the party line. And if the demonstrators would quiet down for a moment, I’d like to offer an abject apology for any way in which I have offended against the increasingly narrow and often obscure values of the academy.
In my day, the college campus was a place that celebrated the diversity of ideas. Pure argument was our guide. Staking out an unpopular position was admired -- and the admiration, in turn, provided excellent training in the virtues of tolerance on the one hand and, on the other, integrity.

Your generation, I am pleased to say, seems to be doing away with all that. There’s no need for the ritual give and take of serious argument when, in your early 20s, you already know the answers to all questions. How marvelous it must be to realize at so tender an age that you will never, ever change your mind, because you will never, ever encounter disagreement! How I wish I’d had your confidence and fortitude. I could have spared myself many hours of patient reflection and intellectual struggle over the great issues of the day.


...

The literary critic George Steiner, in a wonderful little book titled "Nostalgia for the Absolute,” long ago predicted this moment. We have an attraction, he contended, to higher truths that can sweep away complexity and nuance. We like systems that can explain everything. Intellectuals in the West are nostalgic for the tight grip religion once held on the Western imagination. They are attracted to modes of thought that are as comprehensive and authoritarian as the medieval church. You and your fellow students -- and your professors as well; one mustn’t forget their role -- are therefore to be congratulated for your involvement in the excellent work of bringing back the Middle Ages.

[Soul Crusher]

Kerry, Obama, biden , gore - notice a pattern?  These communist a-holes always beg for more power and money to cover up their failures

[RRKore]

Ah, well let's see you stupid vice president. The dumbest vice president in history. What will happen is that the nation will fall even further economically. Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs lost in the pursuit of a ridiculous green agenda.

How short sighted can libtards be?

Kerry is vice president?  Of what? lol

And I'm a little unclear about these thousands of jobs that you say will be lost.  Which jobs are these, specifically? 

[RRKore]

You know in school when all you libs laughed at the Catholic church in the Middle ages and Renaissance when they insistence the world was flat or we were the center of the solar system...they imprisoned Galileo  and burnt witches...congrats you're all now the catholic church.


A Yale law professor penned a commencement address even though no one asked him to:

And, before I go any further, I would like to express my personal thanks to all of you for not rescinding my invitation. I know that matters were dicey for a while, given that I have held and defended actual positions on politically contested issues. Now and then I’ve strayed from the party line. And if the demonstrators would quiet down for a moment, I’d like to offer an abject apology for any way in which I have offended against the increasingly narrow and often obscure values of the academy.
In my day, the college campus was a place that celebrated the diversity of ideas. Pure argument was our guide. Staking out an unpopular position was admired -- and the admiration, in turn, provided excellent training in the virtues of tolerance on the one hand and, on the other, integrity.

Your generation, I am pleased to say, seems to be doing away with all that. There’s no need for the ritual give and take of serious argument when, in your early 20s, you already know the answers to all questions. How marvelous it must be to realize at so tender an age that you will never, ever change your mind, because you will never, ever encounter disagreement! How I wish I’d had your confidence and fortitude. I could have spared myself many hours of patient reflection and intellectual struggle over the great issues of the day.

...

The literary critic George Steiner, in a wonderful little book titled "Nostalgia for the Absolute,” long ago predicted this moment. We have an attraction, he contended, to higher truths that can sweep away complexity and nuance. We like systems that can explain everything. Intellectuals in the West are nostalgic for the tight grip religion once held on the Western imagination. They are attracted to modes of thought that are as comprehensive and authoritarian as the medieval church. You and your fellow students -- and your professors as well; one mustn’t forget their role -- are therefore to be congratulated for your involvement in the excellent work of bringing back the Middle Ages.

Maybe.  Or maybe it's just that the questions that are being debated have changed.  For example, nobody these days is arguing that the world is flat nor that the sun and other "heavenly bodies" orbit the Earth.  These questions have already been conclusively answered.

Re: Climate change specifically, it seems that nearly all are in agreement that it is happening, but that doesn't mean that the related questions about how much of that is man-made and, more importantly, what can man do about it aren't being discussed. 

[RRKore]

Kerry, Obama, biden , gore - notice a pattern?  These communist a-holes always beg for more power and money to cover up their failures

All democrats?  All from East of the Rockies?  I give up.  What's the pattern?

[RRKore]

Ah, well let's see you stupid vice president. The dumbest vice president in history. What will happen is that ...

YO!  Dario!  Care to explain why you think/thought Kerry was vice president?  (HEHEHEHE!)

[dario73]

YO!  Dario!  Care to explain why you think/thought Kerry was vice president?  (HEHEHEHE!)

I had a brain fart during work. Most of the posts I make here is during work time and I am rushing between tasks.

I guess at the moment I placed the post I was thinking that the only other person that could be that delusional was Biden.

Sorry for my stupid mistake. It's just that all white people look alike

[RRKore]

I had a brain fart during work. Most of the posts I make here is during work time and I am rushing between tasks.

I guess at the moment I placed the post I was thinking that the only other person that could be that delusional was Biden.

Sorry for my stupid mistake. It's just that all white people look alike

Fair enough.  Funny that you made an admittedly stupid mistake while labeling someone else stupid, though.  Shit happens, I guess.

[Coach is Back!]

Snowed in mammoth this week.

[RRKore]

Snowed in mammoth this week.

Pretty cold inside my refrigerator, too.  WGAF?

Globally, OTH, well...
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2013/13

The year 2013 tied with 2003 as the fourth warmest year globally since records began in 1880.
...
 To date, including 2013, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have occured during the 21st century. Only one year during the 20th century—1998—was warmer than 2013.
...

Wise up, Coach.

[240 is Back]

I agree the earth is getting warmer.  Anyone on the right that denies that is just not using facts.  Yes, the planet is getting warmer.

I agree we don't know man is to blame.  Turns out, there were global temperature fluctuations long before man invented the smokestack or car exhaust systems.  Anyone on the left that denies this happened long before human is also just not using facts.

I agree higher snow levels or higher summer heat levels show ZERO indication of either proving/disproving it.  Everytime I read "Oh, it's 85 degrees, I guess that proves the global warmers right", OR I hear "Oh, it's record snowfall, totally proves Al Gore is a fraud", I want to hit that person with a fcking book.

Truth is in the middle.   Extreme positions on either side are based in emotion, not fact.  It's true.

[2Thick]

The barage of radical legislation the left wants to pass in the name of trying to fix "climate change" will needlessly destroy the US economy. It won't work, because China will continue to do far more than we are doing to pollute the planet. It will all be in vain. And the Chinese will continue to kick our ass economically in the process, only more so.

[RRKore]

The barage of radical legislation the left wants to pass in the name of trying to fix "climate change" will needlessly destroy the US economy. It won't work, because China will continue to do far more than we are doing to pollute the planet. It will all be in vain. And the Chinese will continue to kick our ass economically in the process, only more so.

What you're predicting about future Chinese behavior may well be true but how about some links to credible online sources saying the same thing?  (Somehow, "2Thick from Getbig.com" isn't a source that most I know would think is so credible. lol)

[2Thick]

What you're predicting about future Chinese behavior may well be true but how about some links to credible online sources saying the same thing?  (Somehow, "2Thick from Getbig.com" isn't a source that most I know would think is so credible. lol)

Haha - ok "RRKore".  

What do you consider a "credible" website, and why should I give a rat's ass enough to bother trying to educate you?

[RRKore]

Haha - ok "RRKore".  

What do you consider a "credible" website, and why should I give a rat's ass enough to bother trying to educate you?

Any news source that isn't strongly associated with the right-wing agenda, I suppose.

As for why you should give a rat's ass about anything, well, who am I to answer that question for you?

Here's what I think, though:  When it comes to predicting what will happen in the future, you can either state your prediction with conviction or you can present your prediction as just your own speculative opinion.  So if your opinion is just what you think is likely, I probably don't question it.  In your post, though, when you predicted what the Chinese would do, you didn't sound like you were just saying what you were guessing they'd do.  No, you sounded like you were saying what you KNOW they'd do. 

So, if you know it, then tell us why by providing sources or providing your own credentials that would support your prediction.  (Honestly, I think I've read the same prediction before so it shouldn't be difficult to provide sources.) 

Otherwise, you're just blowing hot air and might as well be telling us about how Obama will be broke and chooming on a piece of cardboard in some inner-city alley somewhere shortly after he leaves office.  lol

Ya feel me?

[Soul Crusher]

And obama wont?   Have you read the national emquirer thia week? Fatchelle is already got the papers drawn up

Any news source that isn't strongly associated with the right-wing agenda, I suppose.

As for why you should give a rat's ass about anything, well, who am I to answer that question for you?

Here's what I think, though:  When it comes to predicting what will happen in the future, you can either state your prediction with conviction or you can present your prediction as just your own speculative opinion.  So if your opinion is just what you think is likely, I probably don't question it.  In your post, though, when you predicted what the Chinese would do, you didn't sound like you were just saying what you were guessing they'd do.  No, you sounded like you were saying what you KNOW they'd do. 

So, if you know it, then tell us why by providing sources or providing your own credentials that would support your prediction.  (Honestly, I think I've read the same prediction before so it shouldn't be difficult to provide sources.) 

Otherwise, you're just blowing hot air and might as well be telling us about how Obama will be broke and chooming on a piece of cardboard in some inner-city alley somewhere shortly after he leaves office.  lol

Ya feel me?

[RRKore]

And obama wont?   Have you read the national emquirer thia week? Fatchelle is already got the papers drawn up

Sweet typo's.  Trolling after drinking or what?

Anyway, I haven't heard the first lady called "Fatchelle" before and don't, FWIW, think it's catchy enough to become popular. Not even among your kind, SC.

[2Thick]

You would label any site I would link that suggests anything radical leftists would disagree with as "strongly associated with the right-wing agenda". The Chinese ignoring "global warming" fear mongering and producing far more pollution than we do is a fact, and nothing I could waste time digging up will change your mind. I have better things to do than get sucked into some nonsensical argument with a liberal frat boy.

As for my own credentials... I'm a money man, not a scientist.

Any news source that isn't strongly associated with the right-wing agenda, I suppose.

As for why you should give a rat's ass about anything, well, who am I to answer that question for you?

Here's what I think, though:  When it comes to predicting what will happen in the future, you can either state your prediction with conviction or you can present your prediction as just your own speculative opinion.  So if your opinion is just what you think is likely, I probably don't question it.  In your post, though, when you predicted what the Chinese would do, you didn't sound like you were just saying what you were guessing they'd do.  No, you sounded like you were saying what you KNOW they'd do. 

So, if you know it, then tell us why by providing sources or providing your own credentials that would support your prediction.  (Honestly, I think I've read the same prediction before so it shouldn't be difficult to provide sources.) 

Otherwise, you're just blowing hot air and might as well be telling us about how Obama will be broke and chooming on a piece of cardboard in some inner-city alley somewhere shortly after he leaves office.  lol

Ya feel me?

[RRKore]

You would label any site I would link that suggests anything radical leftists would disagree with as "strongly associated with the right-wing agenda". The Chinese ignoring "global warming" fear mongering and producing far more pollution than we do is a fact, and nothing I could waste time digging up will change your mind. I have better things to do than get sucked into some nonsensical argument with a liberal frat boy.

As for my own credentials... I'm a money man, not a scientist.

You're wrong about me but whateva.

Judging from the last rash of your posts, you're only interested in making quick off-the-cuff posts that don't add much to any discussion and, while some of your "facts" may be true, you aren't supported what you're writing with links.  Now that's fine and all since it takes all kinds to make up a political discussion forum, you shouldn't expect anyone to take you seriously. 

Not too thick to understand that viewpoint, are ya?

[2Thick]

Whatever you say, "RRKore". Oh Brother. 

You're wrong about me but whateva.

Judging from the last rash of your posts, you're only interested in making quick off-the-cuff posts that don't add much to any discussion and, while some of your "facts" may be true, you aren't supported what you're writing with links.  Now that's fine and all since it takes all kinds to make up a political discussion forum, you shouldn't expect anyone to take you seriously. 

Not too thick to understand that viewpoint, are ya?