Another point of view:
20 Years of Winter Cooling Defy Global Warming Claims - Forbes
Face it, as with so many other agenda-based schemes, this one is nothing more than a vehicle to expand the power of government. Laws on this issue have/will reduce your freedom and empty your wallet.
Authored by a Heartland Institute Senior Fellow. "... senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute ..." Hmmm. What policy exactly does the Heartland Inst. create? Sounds like the Heartland Shadow Government. He is definitely more interested in keeping score than science.
From his bio: "I studied atmospheric science and majored in government at Dartmouth College. I obtained my Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University." I'd like to see his transcripts for his "atmospheric science" studies. A Government major who completed Law School. All the credentials needed to go on the Pro Liars Circuit. :laughing:
From the first link at ICECAP--also an organization with an agenda--the graph clearly shows the average Contiguous US Dec-Feb temperature has slowly increased. The "trend" line with temperatures (in red) shows increasing weather extremes: colder winters, hotter summers, more active storms are part of the predicted climate change results by real climate scientists.
Of pine beetles I know little. I know real foresters recently determined that extreme cold temperatures have little effect on Hemlock Wooly Adelgids, but Emerald Ash Borers don't have the same tolerance to extreme cold below -21F. However, since the EAB spends the winter under ash bark giving them some protection, open air temperatures cannot be correlated with EAB mortality. In summation, the ash and hemlock are in trouble.
The Heartland Institute:
Heartland Institute - SourceWatch
It's pretty bad when a Texas judge says this about the Heartland CEO:
An August 2014 Travis County Texas court ruling highlighted President and CEO Joseph Bast's lack of credibility and reliability:
"Mr. Joseph Bast, president and CEO of the Heartland Institute, testified for the Intervenors regarding the Texas Taxpayers’ Savings Grant Programs (“TTSGP”), a school voucher bill that failed in the 82nd Legislative Session. As a threshold matter, this Court finds that Mr. Bast is not a credible witness and that he did not offer reliable opinions in this matter.
While Mr. Bast described himself as an economist, he holds neither undergraduate nor graduate degrees in economics, and the highest level of education he completed was high school. Mr. Bast testified that he is 100% committed to the long-term goal of getting government out of the business of educating its own voting citizens. Further, his use of inflammatory and irresponsible language regarding global warming, and his admission that the long term goal of his advocacy of vouchers is to dismantle the “socialist” public education system further undermine his credibility with this Court.
Who is ICECAP? Who funds it? Who knows? Why don't whoever they are want us to know?
ICECAP - SourceWatch
Really, from any position on this discussion a person needs to understand where the message is coming from.