Unfortunately, scientists in a number of organizations, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, confuse hypothesis testing with cherry picking – the selection of data that supports the hypothesis, ignoring the rest. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its followers use this erroneous procedure by ignoring forty years of atmospheric temperature trends which show that whatever greenhouse gas warming is occurring is not dangerous.
Quote of the Week: “Philosophers say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong.” – Richard Feynman Number of the Week: 2% THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) Oversimplified: Last week, TWTW…
Quote of the Week: “Aqueous vapor [water vapor] is a blanket, more necessary to the vegetable life of England than clothing is to man. Remove for a single summer-night the aqueous vapor from the air which overspreads this country, and you would assuredly destroy every plant capable of being destroyed by a freezing temperature. The…
Quote of the Week: “I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become…
Quote of the Week: “It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn’t get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man.” – Richard Feynman,…
Quote of the Week: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire Number of the Week: 25 to 100 times greater THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) Disruptive Wind: The electrical grid operators provide reliable electricity with narrow tolerances. Generally, grid operators plan that power…
Quote of the Week: “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarely, in your thoughts advanced to…
The Week That Was: 2020-05-02 (May 2, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “In God we trust, all others bring data” – Motto of Apollo Team Number of the Week: 1899, 2000, 1876, 1965, and 1918 THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and…
The Week That Was: 2020-04-26 (April 25, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert…
The Week That Was: 2020-04-18 (April 18, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “It is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits.” – Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics…
The Week That Was: 2020-04-04 (April 4, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “If I set forth a concrete proposal in all its particulars, I expose myself to a hundred criticisms on points not essential to the principle of the plan. If I go…
The Week That Was: 2020-03-28 (March 28, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself,…
The Week That Was: 2020-03-21 (March 21, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry… There is no place for dogma in science… And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they…
The Week That Was: 2020-03-07 / 14 (March 7 / 14, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “Aqueous vapor is a blanket, more necessary to the vegetable life of England than clothing is to man. Remove for a single summer-night the aqueous vapor from…
The Week That Was: 2020-02-29 (February 29, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” – Benjamin Franklin Number of the Week: $61,937 THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) Green…
The Week That Was: 2020-02-22 (February 22, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” – Sir…
The Week That Was: 2020-02-15 (February 15, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “”Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties…
The Week That Was: 2020-02-08 (February 8, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.” – Francis Bacon Number…
The Week That Was: 2020-02-01 (February 1, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “”Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” —John Adams (1770) Number…
The Week That Was: 2020-01-25 (January 25, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.” – George Orwell Number of the Week: 50 Million Gallons of drinking water per day at a cost…
The Week That Was: 2020-01-18 (January 18, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die.” – Martin Luther King Jr. Number of the Week: +/- 0.003⁰C THIS WEEK: By…
The Week That Was: 2020-01-11 (January 11, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” – Albert Einstein Number of the Week: 79% up 16% in two years THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental…
The Week That Was: 2020-01-04 (January 4, 2020) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “And that is what science is: the result of the discovery that it is worthwhile rechecking by new direct experience, and not necessarily trusting the [human] race[’s] experience from the past.…
The Week That Was: 2019-12-28 (December 28, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: When asked, what he would tell a generation living 1,000 years from now, Bertrand Russell (1959) replied: “I should like to say two things, one intellectual and one moral: “The intellectual…
The Week That Was: 2019-12-21 (December 21, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” ― Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays Number of the Week: 1/1,000,000,000,000…
The Week That Was: 2019-12-14 (December 14, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “In general, we look for a new law by the following process. First, we guess it (audience laughter), no, don’t laugh, that’s really true. Then we compute the consequences of the…
The Week That Was: 2019-12-07 (December 7, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language. The desire is to have the idea clearly communicated to the other person. It is only necessary…
The Week That Was: 2019-11-30 (November 30, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do.…
Quote of the Week: “We know what’s happening now. It’s the past that keeps changing.” – Old Russian Joke Number of the Week: 110 million people now drowning? THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) Grim Future? Historical discussions of the human condition reveal that humans tend to identify themselves…
The Week That Was: 2019-11-16 (November 16, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “’Theories, ideas are wonderful, but to me, they become established when passing tests,’ he continued. “’Theories of course, any bright physicist can make up theories. They could have nothing to do…
The Week That Was: 2019-11-09 (November 9, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “It’s a kind of scientific integrity, principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty–a kind of leaning over backwards.” “You must do the best you can–if you…
The Week That Was: 2019-11-02 (November 2, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “Climatology is becoming an increasingly dubious science, serving a political project… the policy cart is leading the scientific horse.” – Judith Curry, City Journal, Winter 2019. Number of the Week: 30…
The Week That Was: 2019-10-26 (October 26, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”— George Bernard Shaw [H/t William Readdy] Number of the Week: $11.69 billion up 31% THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President,…
The Week That Was: 2019-10-19 (October 19, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “The human mind is not capable of grasping the universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in…
The Week That Was: 2019-10-12 (October 12, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”— George Bernard Shaw [William Readdy] Number of the Week: Up 4850% in 20 Years THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President,…
The Week That Was: 2019-10-05 (October 5, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such persons, gullibility,…
The Week That Was: 2019-09-28 (September 28, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create…
The Week That Was: 2019-09-21 (September 21, 2019)0 Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “When in doubt, always tell the truth. It will confuse your enemies and astound your friends!”—Mark Twain [H/t Will Happer] Number of the Week: 250 Outlets THIS WEEK: By Ken…
The Week That Was: 2019-09-14 (September 14, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “If by the liberty of the press were understood merely the liberty of discussing the propriety of public measures and political opinions, let us have as much of it as…
The Week That Was: 2019-09-07 (September 7, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week – “In God we trust, all others bring data”. – Motto of the Apollo Team and the Johnson Space Flight Center Number of the Week: 5.5 million sq. km (2.1 million…
The Week That Was: 2019-08-31 (August 31, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: What I cannot create, I do not understand. – Richard Feynman Number of the Week: 6,000 times more accuracy needed! THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project…
The Week That Was: 2019-08-24 (August 24, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.” ― Richard P. Feynman Number of the Week: 116 Stations THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President,…
The Week That Was: 2019-08-17 (August 17, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”—Soren Kierkegaard [H/t William Readdy] Number of the…
The Week That Was: 2019-08-10 (August 10, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: ““The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is…
The Week That Was: 2019-08-03 (August 3, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.”— Michael Crichton [H/t William Readdy] Number of the Week: 1998 and 2016 THIS WEEK: By…
The Week That Was: 2019-07-27 (July 27, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.” – Richard P. Feynman, final sentence in his report on the Challenger disaster. Number of…
The Week That Was: 2019-07-20 (July 20, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn’t get confined,…
The Week That Was: 2019-07-13 (July 13, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “The interesting thing about the Green New Deal,” he said, “is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all. … Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? ……
The Week That Was: 2019-07-06 (July 6, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.” – George Orwell [H/t John Dunn] Number of the Week: 2012 THIS WEEK: By Ken…
The Week That Was: 2019-06-29 (June 29, 2019) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project Quote of the Week: ‘for the purpose of promoting scientific inquiry’ — Cambridge Philosophical Society – See Article # 2 Number of the Week: 2.34 mmb/d THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental…