Busted!!!

Wow. The Oklahoman is pretty bad, but I didn't know that they could stoop to this level. Today, in one of their random hit-jobs (this time on climate change), they ran a letter by Jim Nieman of Oklahoma City who writes "Regarding “Reality puts international climate group in a pickle” (Washington Times, Dec. 21): From the first time I heard of global warming, I've contended that man hasn't caused it"

We can ignore for a moment a) why he's bothering to comment on a story that ran in the Washington Times (does the Oklahoman run stories from other papers?), and b) why anyone would care that some random citizen has doubts about global warming (perhaps Mr. Nieman can voice his opinion on treatment options for lung cancer, or the best ways to improve stealth technology on F-22s!). What's important here is what he says later on:

In a statement, The IPCC confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft of the forthcoming Fifth Assessment Report on climate. the mercury refused to cooperate with the warming hypothesis that year; in 2012, the temperatures also were frostier than assumptions in each of the groups' four previous reports.

A sensible explanation is that Mother Nature has been playing a more powerful role in determining the weather than some would care to admit. One organization says improper placement of weather stations resulted in the temperature increase being overstated by 92 percent, and the last thing government officials want to hear is that the planet isn't actually warming.

This is all pretty tame (and lame) stuff. Tame, that is, until you read this:

The scientific models of 1990’s First Assessment Report forecast temperatures would rise fast, reaching alarming levels by 2010. The mercury refused to cooperate with the warming hypothesis that year. In 2012, temperatures also were frostier than the generous assumptions in each of the group’s four previous reports.  

A sensible explanation is that Mother Nature has been playing a more powerful role in determining the weather than some would care to admit. “Natural events created the biggest peaks and dips in the observations portion of the IPCC chart, and the observations run cooler than the models,” meteorologist Anthony Watts told The Washington Times. The biggest recent drop in global temperatures in 1992 was due to the lingering effects of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The highest temperature in 1998 coincided with El Nino. 

Even though the official charts show no significant warming trend in the past 15 years, the planet may be even cooler than the IPCC figures suggest. Mr. Watts, who runs the Watts Up With That website, points out that IPCC is using adjusted data. In a forthcoming scientific paper, he demonstrates that improper placement of weather stations has resulted in the temperature increase being overstated by 92 percent. The last thing government officials want to hear is that the planet isn’t actually warming.

The above is from an editorial that appeared in the Washington Times just a few days ago.

Got that? The Oklahoman ran a letter by Mr. Nieman (if he even exists) that is, in fact, almost completely plagiarized from another newspaper's editorial!! If that's doesn't show how pathetic this paper is when it comes to its letters section, nothing will.