The Post below is taken from my column ("Legal News You can Use") published weekly by the Warner Center Newsgroup (in the San Fernando Valley, California):
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles recently delivered a speech, “Global Warming and Local Responsibility,” to the 2007 Mayors Climate Protection Summit held by the US Conference of Mayors in Seattle. With the constant refrain, “The heat is rising”, invoked throughout the speech, he touted “green” reforms both in process and promised—and which the taxpayers will, of course, have to fund.
Whatever your views about “global warming”, we should all be able to agree that public policy needs to be based on fact, not erroneous or incomplete information. The Mayor’s speech regretfully contained both.
1. Inaccurate statement 1. The Mayor proclaimed in Seattle: "Last year was the hottest on record." Fact: Per ABC News, August 25, 2007: "Was 1998 the hottest year in United States history, as most reporting on climate change has presumed? Or was that record set back in 1934 before ‘global warming’ became a scary household phrase?... A corrective tweak to National Aeronautics and Space Administration's formulation shows that the hottest year on record in the United States indeed was back during the Dust Bowl days."
2. Inaccurate statement 2. The Mayor warned his colleagues: "It's [that is, temperature] rising in the Gulf of Mexico, where climatologists warn that for the foreseeable future, the escalating surface water temperatures will intensify the violence of approaching Atlantic storms." Fact: This past season was one of the quietest, not most violent, on record. Fact: The implication that "climatologists" in unison believe what the Mayor said is, quite simply, erroneous. Per the Sydney Morning Herald, October 14, 2007 : "One of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize ‘ridiculous’ and the product of ‘people who don't understand how the atmosphere works’. Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth.”
3. Statement lacking scientific support. The Mayor stated that "Last year in Los Angeles, we got just 22 percent of normal rainfall. As a result, we have been scorched by fire. Just last week, Californians could see and feel the heat of a warming planet right outside of our own doors and windows." Fact: I am aware of no scientific support for the proposition that our present drought is caused by global warming, or that the fires were caused thereby. In fact, droughts have routinely occurred in our area as far back as there are records; and the fires in large part were caused by arson.
4. Statement of omission. The Mayor proclaimed: "In Los Angeles, we paved over our namesake, the river of the Queen of the Angels from which we draw our very identity." Fact: While the Los Angeles River was put in concrete after the devastating flood of 1938, this was done to preserve life and property from a repeat of such devastation. The Mayor’s speech did not mention the reason for such paving--or the risks that may reoccur if such flood-control improvements are destroyed.
The debate over "global warming", whatever your views, is not helped wherever the debate is premised on wrong information. Such incorrect information is precisely what underlay the Los Angeles Mayor's speech in Seattle.
Live richer and happier lives by living for others. One of
the comments I've seen is that he was nominated before February 1 of this year. Earlier today, the Norwegian Nobel Committee declared Liu Xiaobo the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Posted by: Manuela | November 17, 2012 at 02:25 PM
i love crime drama series and have wtaehcd them all over the years since 1960. Thats until the suits cancel them instead of giving them a chance maybe by changing the time slots or the nights theyre on. Anyway L&O LA has been one of thes best what with its action, well written and dynamic cast. BRING BACK L&O LA OR WERE NOT GOING TO SUPPORT YOUR SPONSORS.
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Posted by: jack07 | August 29, 2012 at 11:52 AM
I've never been to San Francisco, but I have heard a lot of good things about it. Guess you want to usanet Gavin, huh lol! As far as L.A. goes, I went there in 1995. Perhaps this is me but my experience there wasn't the most pleasant. I drove through a riot this was during the O.J. hearing, and the general vibe I got out of it was just plain crazy! I had felt down about NYC and wanted out of here SOOOO bad. After visiting L.A., it changed my mind about NYC for the BETTER!If I do go back to Southern California, I'll stick to DisneyWorld and San Diego (which I've also heard good things about). NEVER L.A.
Posted by: Bruno | May 05, 2012 at 07:16 PM