Pirate's Cove

Juan Cole has long been a leading voice of Crazy within the Left-o-sphere (here’s an oldy but goody where he wants coal use criminalized). Here’s another example

U.S. Public Worried About ISIL and Putin but Climate Change Is the Real Challenge

This post originally ran on Juan Cole’s Web page.

In a new Pew/ USA Today poll, the American public shows itself alarmed by the rise of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Iraq and Syria as a threat to U.S. security, finding it more threatening even than Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who has risen on the villain scale quite a lot.  Iran is seen as less menacing, as is North Korea.  The Israel-Palestinian struggle is seen as a threat to the U.S. by a little over half.  More Americans still think the U.S. is doing too much as the world’s policeman, but those who think it is doing too little have greatly increased in number, especially among Republicans.

But almost no Republicans think Global Warming is a threat, and only slightly more than a majority of Democrats do.  In short, the US public is again being misled by its media and politicians as to the true shape of the world, and is likely to suffer pretty badly for this ignorance.

Except for that part about no warming for almost 18 years.

Americans’ concern about the rise of the so-called “Islamic State” is justified.  It is an extremely nasty and vicious organization, and it has made significant advances this summer in northern Iraq.  The public largely supports giving U.S. close air support to Kurdish and Iraqi military forces against it.

And, he proclaims that North Korea, Iran, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are not threats to the U.S.

But Global Warming (what experts call Climate Change) is a dire threat to the health and well-being of millions of Americans.  In the coming decades it will do trillions of dollars of damage to the American economy.  Imagine what the city of Miami is worth;  but much of it is doomed .  We have locked in a four foot sea level rise over the next 80 years or so.  But that is an average.  In some places it will be higher (the ocean is not smooth).  There will be episodes of rapid rise and storm surges leading to substantial coastal flooding for some towns and cities.

You are much more likely to die falling in the bathtub or being struck by lighting than to be killed by terrorists or by Vladimir Putin, much less by Hassan Rouhani of Iran.  But Americans’ health and well-being is directly and powerfully threatened by global warming.

Doooooooom!!!!!!

I will give him props for using the terms CO2 and carbon dioxide, rather than the silly Warmist talking points about carbon and carbon pollution. Yet, he wants to worry about something which is mostly natural, has always happened, was warmer during multiple points in the Holocene, while minimizing the stated threats from Islamic terrorists. Typical head in the sand Progressive.