The failure of global-warming alarmists to rally the public

Notable & Quotable

Lawrence Solomon on the failure of global-warming alarmists to rally the public.

Environmentalist Lawrence Solomon writing in Canada's Financial Post, Feb. 7 :

WSJ.COM 3/10/13: Our thermometers simply haven't been rising. According to a study last month by NASA's James Hansen, Al Gore's mentor, temperatures have been "flat for the past decade." According to the U.K.'s Meteorological Office, every bit Al Gore's equal in alarmism, the temperature standstill has lasted 15 years and, its revised models say, may extend to 20. No wonder public opinion hasn't rallied to the alarmist cause.

For governments to muster the courage they need to impose carbon taxes or other unpopular measures, public opinion will need to swing dramatically to boost the number who worry that global warming threatens the planet. . . .

But what is the chance of that, when temperatures have risen only about one-half of 1C in each of the previous three centuries, and not at all so far in the 21st century? Alarmists will need to somehow up their game if they are to make progress in scaring the public into action.