Nate Silver’s Challenge to Climate Change Deniers

This should be interesting. I haven’t been paying much attention to FiveThirtyEight.com a whole lot since the US election, but it appears I should be.

In a recent post, Nate has decided to take on the problem of the faulty “its cold today therefore climate change is a myth” logic. His challenge (open to US residents only) is that for every day the taker’s hometown is at least 1 degree Fahrenheit above average, the taker owes him $25. For every day it’s at least 1F below average, Nate pays $25.

No takers yet. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone does eventually takes him up on this, and before anyone asks; no I won’t be making a similar offer for a number of reasons - not the least of which is that I have better things to do with my time than manage the data for this sort of wager.

Why I'm envious of the United States

In watching the whole health care debate unfolding south of the 49^th, I can’t help feeling a bit envious.

Don’t get me wrong; I still believe that Canada stands head and shoulders above our southern neighbors on issues like same sex rights, not executing people, and not invading middle-eastern countries because our leader has deep-seated daddy issues. However, after watching President Obama giving various press conferences defending health care reform, I find myself hoping that our own leaders are taking notes.

Health reform has been a third rail of American politics, yet by taking it on less than a year into his first term – without even having the united support of his party, Obama has shown a willingness to thumb his nose at conventional political wisdom in order to do what he believes is right.

It’s not like there are no of hot button issues up here that need dealing with: a real response to climate change, expanding clinics like Insite, constitutional and electoral reform, etc. All we need is a couple politicians willing to get a little bit “mavericky”.

Today we see why “changing the PCs from within” is a fruitless endeavour

Considering the omnipresence of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in my home province, one would be forgiven if they jumped to the conclusion that the best way to affect actual change in the province is by trying to fix the system from within. Indeed, during the last provincial election, a PC volunteer who I had the opportunity to chat with admitted she supported the LPC federally – definitely not a unique position among the ranks of Alberta’s “Red Torys”.

I’ve questioned the effectiveness of such attempts, and it seems my skepticism has been somewhat vindicated today. Guy Boutilier; a former cabinet member (and current MLA for Fort McMurray) who has been recently vocal about his criticisms over the postponement of a long term care facility in his riding was kicked out of the PC caucus Friday for his efforts. I’ve been no fan of Boutilier, but this seems incredibly heavy handed – even for a party that seems to prize personal loyalties above all else like the Alberta PCs.

Ken Chapman has spoken at length about efforts by the Edmonton-Whitemud PC association to overturn the controversial Bill 44, and while the individuals in that case are working within the party structure to change the legislation rather than embarrassing the Premier in a public forum, I suspect their efforts won’t get much further than Mr. Boutilier’s attempt to loosen the purse strings of Alberta Health.

More on this story

Why would the Government of Alberta sack its top virologist in the middle of an influenza pandemic?

You’re the Government of Alberta. Your province is in the middle of a health care crisis. There’s a global influenza pandemic, and your province has seen over a thousand cases (behind only Ontario and Quebec in total numbers) and two deaths in three months. What do you do?

Why, fire the head of a laboratory responsible for the provincial response to the pandemic, of course!

Can someone explain to me why, in the middle of a pandemic, would the government choose to sack someone who appears to be respected by peers both internationally and locally? Especially since co-workers appear to be “impressed with how well-prepared the provincial laboratory was for the deluge of testing for the H1N1 virus.” The only possible rational I can make of it so far is that the Stelmach government is so determined to show that less government is better, It’s decided to prove it by acting as incompetently as possible.

Conservative Government Punishes Minister of State for Funding Pride Parade; in Related News, Water is Wet.

According to a social-conservitive news site, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) Diane Ablonczy, faced political repercussions after federal funds she oversaw were used in funding Toronto’s Pride Parade (an event that brings in 500,000 to a million attendees). For those playing along at home, the Parade got $400,000 (as did the Edmonton Fringe Festival). The Calgary Stampede got $2 Million, and the Montreal Jazz Festival got $3 Million.

After reading this story, the original one at “LifeSiteNews”, and other bloggers’ take on the story, for whatever reason, I can’t summon up the appropriate outrage, or even a dramatic rolling of the eyes. I mean, were we expecting something different? A kinder, gentler, live-and-let-live social conservative, perhaps?

Maybe I’m feeling extra cynical tonight, but I doubt that this will affect a single vote whenever we next go to the polls. Those who are outraged would never have voted for the Harper Conservatives anyway; a fact likely not lost on Tory campaign strategists.

Edmonton Journal asks: “Is climate change behind drought?”

"Nobody can point with any authority to global warming as the culprit. It does not move from normal weather to abnormal weather in a straight line. One bad year does not climate change make. But there is a disturbing trend here that meshes with predictions from climatologists who fear we're headed into more and more climate trouble--2008 was a particularly bad year for hail damage in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. If this is indeed evidence of climate change, farmers must feel as if they're the canary in the mine shaft."

"…assuming they are victims of global warming, our farmers might deserve compensation from those that have made their lives miserable. That would be the oilsands plants and the electricity companies that burn coal. In short, it would be all of us. We collectively, through our lifestyle and fossil-fuel economy, have contributed to the predicament of climate change."

Huh. Indeed.