The 'lukewarmers' show how environmentalists are in denial about denial | Mulshine

( Paul Mulshine)

Perhaps you have a gas stove in your kitchen.







Beware. You may be labeled a "climate denier."







Happer is being considered for a post in the Trump admistration. Both he and Dyson have been labeled "climate deniers" when in fact they accept the idea that some climate change is man-made.

The "lukewarmist" view is that atmospheric carbon dioxide has some good effects that may outweigh any negative effects.

One positive effect is that CO-2 makes plants grow faster, thereby literally making the world more green, said Knappenburger.

"When you come down to it, I can't really think of anything better than having plants grow," Knappenburger said. "Whether you're a herbivore or carnivore, all your energy is coming from plants."

As for CO-2's effect on temperature, Knappenburger argues that the apocalyptic scenarios pushed by people like Al Gore rely on feedback mechanisms that amplify the effect of CO-2 - in theory. In practice, he said, studies show a small increase in temperatures.

"I expect about 1.5 degrees Centigrade of warming across this century - an amount that should be readily adapted to and overall non-disruptive, but will include winners and losers," he said. "The U.S. contribution to that overall warming will be about a tenth of a degree."

The explanation for why the U.S. will have such a small impact is - ironically enough - "largely because of cheap gas" and its lower carbon footprint compared to oil and coal, he said.

For that reason environmentalists were supporting natural gas production until recently.

"They were in favor of natural gas while there wasn't much of it," he said. "The notion was that this was a bridge fuel. But now it's so cheap that the bridge goes on forever."

Here we come to what Gore might call an inconvenient truth:

The radical environmentalists' side lost the election.

The winner already pushed through that pipeline at Standing Rock that was so heavily protested. And he's given every indication he will do so with the pipelines planned for the rest of the country.

That's good news for Jersey consumers.

The protesters have failed to stop a pipeline - supported by both our Republican governor and our Democratic Senate president - that will permit conversion of a coal-burning plant in Cape May County to cleaner-burning natural gas.

And then there's the proposed PennEast Pipeline that will give residents of Central Jersey access to inexpensive gas coming in from Pennsylvania.

Despite all the protests, that pipeline is set for approval later this year by the federal government.

It looks like the lukewarmists are in the driver's seat for the next four years - in a vehicle propelled by fossil fuels.

As for the alarmists, they're left out in the cold - unless of course their homes have clean-burning gas heat.

In that case they can be lukewarm in reality - if not in fantasy.

BELOW: Note how Bill Nye - the "science guy" who is not a scientist - ends up telling Tucker Carlson we'd be in an ice age if not for man-made carbon emissions.