America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What Happened?

Some blog followers might be interested in recent post “America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What Happened?” [Hake (2012)]:

Art Hobson of the Physoc list wrote (paraphrasing):

“For insight into the influence of the oil industry and conservative politics on environmental issues, read Michael Mann’s (2012) book The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches From the Front Lines; also Naomi Oreskes’ and Eric Conway's Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming [Oreskes & Conway (2010)].

What's the “hockey stick”? It’s a graph of “Temperature Anomaly” vs “Time” from 1000AD to 2000AD that is relatively flat to 1900 so as to form the hockey stick’s “shaft,” followed by a sharp increase corresponding to the “blade” - see e.g., the Wikipedia entry “Hockey stick controversy” at http://bit.ly/O0cvHn.

For more on the "Global Warming Wars" see e.g.:

a. Spencer Weart & American Institute of Physics. 2011. “Discovery of Global Warming,” online at http://bit.ly/MdT3Ee;

b. James Powell's (2011) The Inquisition of Climate Science at http://bit.ly/LlV4RZ;

c. Naomi Oreskes’ (2012) review of Mann (2012), online to subscribers at http://bit.ly/NheAtP;

d. Toni Feder's (2012) “Climate scientists not cowed by relentless climate change deniers” in the February 2012 issue of Physics Today at http://bit.ly/LG2nQI ;

e. four responses to “d” in the June 2012 issue of Physics Today, scroll down to “Politics and Humility in Climate Change Debate” at http://bit.ly/NheAtP ;

f. Union of Concerned Scientists ACTION ALERT: Last Chance to Clear the Air of 2012 - sign the petition at http://bit.ly/MdOYQy.

Regarding “f” the UCS wrote (my CAPS): “We all understand that carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels - the gasoline in our cars and coal in our power plants - are contributing to global warming. And this spring, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took action by releasing a draft standard that, for the first time ever, will limit carbon pollution from new power plants. The public comment period closes June 25 - submit your comment at http://bit.ly/LNh8o5, today in support of the EPA's carbon pollution standard before it's too late. Dirty energy companies and other groups that oppose climate action, such as the Chamber of Commerce, have vowed to do everything they can to prevent the EPA from moving forward with this standard. But for the past three months, Americans across the country have been speaking out with a clear message: we are ready for climate action!. . . . . Be a Part of History. Submit your public comment today in support of the EPA's historic carbon pollution standard that protects public health and reduces global warming.”

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
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REFERENCES
Feder, T. 2012. “Climate scientists not cowed by relentless climate change deniers,” Physics Today 65(2): 22, February; online at http://bit.ly/LG2nQI. Four comments on Feder’s report are online for free in the June issue at http://bit.ly/NheAtP, scroll down to “Politics and Humility in Climate Change Debate.”

Hake, R.R. 2012. “America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What Happened?” online on the OPEN! Phys-L archives at http://bit.ly/Mn99Kg. Post of 21 Jun 2012 17:13:12-0700. The same post was transmitted to Physoc on 21 Jun 2012 08:08:06-0700 and to DieOff on 22 Jun 2012 07:09:00-0700.

Hobson, A. 2012. “Re: America Could Have Dropped Big Oil Decades Ago -- What Happened?” online on the CLOSED! Physoc archives at http://bit.ly/MJHBkr. Post of 21 Jun 2012 08:16:05-0700 to Physoc. To access the archives of PHYSOC one needs to subscribe :-(, but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on http://bit.ly/dVm2AM and then clicking on “Subscribe or Unsubscribe” in the right-hand column. If you're busy, then subscribe using the “NOMAIL” option under “Miscellaneous.” Then, as a subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post messages at any time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!

Mann, M.E. 2012. The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines. Columbia University Press, publisher's information at http://bit.ly/KZomB2. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/MzBwHu. Note the searchable “Look Insidea” feature.

Oreskes, N. & E.M. Conway. 2010. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Bloomsbury Press, publisher’s information at http://bit.ly/MGx4T7. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/LFYVFE, note the searchable “Look Inside” feature.

Oreskes, N. 2012. Review of Mann (2012), Physics Today 65(6): 54, June; online to subscribers at http://bit.ly/NheAtP.

Powell, J.L. 2011. The Inquisition of Climate Science. Columbia University Press, publisher’s information at http://bit.ly/LlV4RZ. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/MOY4jS, note the searchable “Look Inside” feature.

Weart, S. & American Institute of Physics. 2011. “Discovery of Global Warming”; online at http://bit.ly/MdT3Ee.