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How Craig Kelly cons the punters

Member for Hughes and chairman of the Coalition backbench environment and energy committee, Craig Kelly, seems to split his time between appearing on Sky After Dark and 2GB, and posting clickbait headlines on his facebook page.

But the most cursory investigation shows Craig is either deliberately misrepresenting the articles he links to by cherry-picking a sentence or two, or he is a gullible fool who doesn’t bother reading the stuff he is being fed by others. Considering the volume of links he posts, I would suggest the latter.

On Monday, Craig posted “ANOTHER PROPHECY FAILS : GREENLAND ICE SHEET 150 BILLION TONNES ABOVE AVERAGE. The Climate alarmist prophecy affirms that the Greenland ice sheet is melting away. Meanwhile the measured real world reality is the exact opposite of the alarmist climate Prophecies.”

He links to an article that does show a higher than average “surface mass budget” but which also cautions they have not yet received data about calving and melting at the base of the ice sheet which they suggest will show “zero or close-to-zero total mass budget this year, as last year.”

But more importantly, Mr Kelly’s headline ignores the actual thrust of the article.

“The period 2003-2011 has seen ice sheet losses on Greenland averaging 234bn tonnes each year. The neutral mass change in the last two years does not – and cannot – begin to compensate for these losses. The comparison here does show that in any given year, the mass budget of the ice sheet is highly dependent on regional climate variability and specific weather patterns.”

On Tuesday, Craig was at it again. “ANOTHER PROPHECY BITES THE DUST : NEW STUDY FINDS 90% OF GLOBAL ATOLL ISLANDS GROWING NOT SINKING. The Climate alarmist prophecy affirms that Pacific and Indian Ocean islands are ‘sinking’, being consumed under rising sea levels, and it’s just a matter of time until they go under. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the facts are the exact opposite of the alarmist climate prophecy.”

The study does show that islands over 10ha in size have not decreased in size. However, the report is not quite as rosy as Craig would have us believe.

“Climate-ocean related changes, including sea-level rise, increasing wave energy, change in tropical cyclone frequency or intensity, and ocean warming and acidification, are considered as major threats to these islands’ persistence, as the surrounding reef ecosystem may lose the capacity to fulfill its major functions, that is, provide sediments to islands and buffer storm waves. Furthermore, recent modeling studies highlighted that future increased wave activity under sea-level rise may increase the frequency and extent of marine inundation on these islands in the event that coral reefs would not keep up with sea-level rise. This would cause increased soil and freshwater lens salinization, which would in turn affect water and food supply, thereby posing a threat to island habitability.”

Craig’s assertion that “90% of atoll islands are growing” is just a downright lie.

“Collectively, these atolls comprise 709 islands, 518 of which were stable (representing 73.1% of islands), while 110 (15.5%) increased and 81 (11.4%) decreased in size.”

A couple of hours later, Craig posted this clickbait gem which caused outrage. “YOUR DOG 🐶 IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GLOBAL WARMING : DUMP YOUR PETS TO TAKE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. According to a study out Monday on global climate change, your dog (or your cat) is probably killing the environment, and if you are a true believer that wants to ‘real action on climate change’™️ it’s time to say “good-bye” to Fido and Fluffy.”

Of course, if you read past the headline of the article, it says:

“The study isn’t designed to dissuade animal lovers from taking in the maximum number of pets possible, but rather encourage Americans to consume less meat. Livestock farming is a significant contributor to global climate change and the less meat we consume, the better it is for the environment. And humans make up the vast majority of that consumption; dogs and cats consume only around 19% of the meat protein humans do.”

But it appears Craig didn’t get that far.

In a flurry of social media activity yesterday, Craig also informed us that “80% of Australians DON’T want the government to put ‘’promoting renewables” ahead of; cost of living, health, housing, jobs and economic growth.”

Apparently Jo Nova had been kind enough to graph the results of an Essential poll which asked respondents “Which of the following issues are the most important for the Federal Government to address over the next 12 months? Select up to 3.”

It is true that only 20% chose Promoting renewable energy. But Coalition policies didn’t fare so well either. To use Craig’s logic, 80% of Australians don’t think promoting economic growth or addressing national security and terrorism are a priority. They ranked exactly the same as promoting renewable energy. Reducing the deficit only got 13% and business tax cuts trailed the field on 5%. Cost of living ranked highest but 69% of people did not see it as the highest priority.

It’s all in how you phrase the results isn’t it Craig.

36 comments

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  1. New England Cocky

    Naughty Kaye Lee!! Once again you have exposed the Liarbrals to their own misinformation and misrepresentation and held them accountable. Thank you.

  2. OldWomBat

    It’s all well and good to highlight these actions here and in like-minded publiations, but the majority of people who listen to 2gb and sky don’t read these pages so they never get to hear the full argument, i.e the facts. That’s the biggest problem we face, the capture/take of of public air-space by the right anti-factualists. The question is, how to get the facts out across the broad spectrum of the Autralian public?

  3. Kaye Lee

    OldWombat, I have been posting all this information on Craig’s page for all the good it will do. The commenters there are far more interested in outrage than facts.

  4. John lord

    ”In terms of the environment I wonder what price the people of tomorrow will pay for the stupidity of today.

  5. terence mills

    Craig Kelly wouldn’t understand the science but it is a scientific fact that Arctic sea ice is melting faster than expected.

    As the Earth continues to warm and Arctic sea ice melts, the influx of freshwater from the melting ice is making seawater at high latitudes less salty and hence less dense. This diluted seawater freezes more readily than pure seawater, hence the ice-pack is increasing during winter months and melting during the summer but the net result is that arctic (and antarctic) ice is melting and global sea-levels are rising.

    Recently I had contact with some friends living a village lifestyle on the Papuan PNG coast : their traditional coastal land has been adversely affected by encroaching salinity which pollutes their freshwater wells as well as their vegetable gardens.

    The problem intensifies when When they seek to move further inland onto land that is traditionally owned by other clan groups thus creating social and tribal frictions.

    Sea levels are rising but the likes of Craig Kelly would never bother to consider the warnings we are observing or the need to adopt precautionary principles.

    As regards Sky after dark, there is only one journalist actually asking questions and that’s David Speers the rest of them are partisan sock-puppets.

  6. Kaye Lee

    Just as an example of how impossible it is to get through to people who have accepted the “cut-through” slogans….

    Kelly linked to an article extolling the virtues of Donald Trump under the banner “WHY THE LEFT HATES PROSPERITY”

    When I linked to an article from Moody’s Investor Services which cautioned that rising inequality was a significant threat to economic growth, their credit rating, their ability to repay their debt etc, this was the response from one commenter….

    “So you can cut and paste the unhinged left wing media reports – well done 👍. Rich people do not make poor people poor – welfare and victimhood make poor people poor, and NOBODY in a Western Capitalist country is worse off today than they were in the past. Everyone is better off if the rich are richer, and if corporations are successful. The politics of the left, control by bureaucracy, big government, high taxation, artificial distribution of wealth, anti aspirational policies of envy are poisonous, and it is just a form of Socialism, which has never been successful. You have everything you have because of capitalism and conservative government. Socialists in Venezuela are eating zoo animals for protein … just sayin’ 😘.”

  7. Kronomex

    I wonder what Kelly would make of this, if it was dumbed to the level a chimp could understand it that is –

    https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/we-have-one-foot-in-the-red-zone-earth-enters-sixth-mass-extinction-event-in-halfabillion-years/news-story/0fb59428ea46a12d1c5316942a11acda

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/australias-east-coast-named-as-deforestation-front-in-wwf-living-planet-report

    This report is no surprise to me in the least.

  8. Kaye Lee

    terence,

    Craig can prove sea levels aren’t rising. He posted a comparative photo of Bondi Beach in 1880 and 2018. That’s as close as he gets to science.

  9. henry johnston

    Craig needs to shore up support in his electorate other wise he’ll loose preselection. There’s no denying his constituents want a change.

  10. Keith

    An analogy might be that Australia has an extremely cold year, while the rest of Earth is particularly warm. Taking Kelly’s logic into account he would be saying that Earth is cooling. So even if Kelly was right about Greenland, the Arctic Ocean is not in good shape ice wise. Also, Antarctica had a low sea ice extent last summer.
    Another factor is that the melting of ice does fluctuate from year to year,and so, even if he was correct for 2018, it does not provide enough evidence for him to say what he does.

  11. Kaye Lee

    Keith, the report Kelly linked to, and obviously didn’t read, said

    “While much of the northern hemisphere had a summer of record-breaking heat, Greenland had a rather cool and snowy summer, particularly in the month of June, which ended with a large storm that dumped a large amount of snow on the ice sheet on the last two days of August.

    This “see-saw” pattern is a feature of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a source of variability over the Atlantic Ocean. If it is relatively warm over central and northern Europe, temperatures are below normal in western Greenland – and vice versa.

    This weather pattern persisted for several weeks, which explains why the Greenland ice sheet was colder than usual and had more snow than normal.”

    He doesn’t understand the difference between weather and climate change.

  12. Keith

    How do the LNP Monash group reconcile the fact that prior to denial of climate change taking off, fossil fuel corporations were in receipt of studies showing the damage fossil fuels can do ..

    1979 Exxon Memo on Potential Impact of Fossil Fuel Combustion

    There are numerous such studies.

  13. Michael Taylor

    Keith, yes, it has been particularly warm everywhere.

    Having just returned from Europe, I can attest that everybody over there – well, maybe not everybody, I didn’t actually speak to the whole 325 million of them – was talking about climate change, which is a hard topic to ignore when the temperatures keep rising.

    You know it’s getting crazy when Oslo experiences temperatures in the high 30s.

    And Scotland has its problems too. Droughts have meant that livestock won’t have much food this winter. Food that is usually stored away in summer – and used for feed in winter – has had to be used for summer feeds.

    Yep, it’s crazy over there.

  14. Kaye Lee

    At least they are worried and talking about it Michael. It is beyond crazy here, and I am not talking about the weather.

    Here is an exchange I had with one of Craig’s regulars re the pet article after I said the headline did not represent what the report said.

    MS: Kaye Lee your thick as woman it calls for culling of all animals read it before you open your trap

    KL: MS I did read it. You obviously did not.

    MS: It is like ssm at the start it was just about ssm marriage now its about more than that.same here started with co2 which plants need to produce oxygen read futher on ask finkle your chief scientist their coming for trucks animal’s the lot.time to wake up.read the research for your self stop watching climate change warriors read the reports better yet watch senate estimates its all theirvin black and white

    KL: MS If you are actually interested in reading what the report said rather than Kelly’s spin on it, it says “People love their pets. They provide a host of real and perceived benefits to people including companionship, increased physical activity, improved mental health and social capital, benefits for child development , and social status. Many dogs are also working dogs and have roles in assisting the disabled, contributing to military and civilian security, and in traditional roles on ranches and farms. Cats, too, have traditional roles in pest control in addition to their roles as pets. This analysis does not mean to imply that dog and cat ownership should be curtailed for environmental reasons, but neither should we view it as an unalloyed good. It is clear that a transition to pets that eat less meat, and therefore have less environmental impact, would reduce the overall US consumption of meat. The results presented here indicate that exclusion of pets in calculations of food consumption can skew considerably estimates of the total energy actually consumed. As calculated, US dogs and cats consume as much dietary energy as ~62 million Americans, which is approximately one-fifth of the US population. Although there are fewer dogs and cats in the US than people, they derive more of their energy from animal-derived products (33% ± 6% vs. 19% for people). Thus, if pets’ consumption was included in calculations, the US would be equivalent to a country of ~ 380 million in terms of raw dietary energy consumed and a country of about 690 million in terms of animal-derived energy consumed. Thus, it is clear, at least for countries with considerable populations of dogs and cats like the US, that the consumption by these animals should be considered when calculating national food consumption.”

    KL: And here’s a tip sunshine. Before you call me “thick” and tell me not to “open my trap”, you want to be sure you know what you are talking about. Do some reading of the actual reports rather than being conned by clickbait headlines that completely misrepresent what has been said. Kelly is either a conman or a dupe who is feeding you crap.

  15. Zathras

    I’m sure that gallant plucky band of oil billionaires and fossil fuel executives that are fighting so hard to save us from the horde of conspiratorical scientists trying to take over the world will be cheering to have the brilliant mind of Craig Kelly in their corner.

    I suppose the faked moon landing and the truth about the JFK assassination will be next on his to-do list.

    The Flat Earthers and Hollow Earthers may just have to wait a bit longer.

    On the other hand, the real tragedy is that my taxes pay for this clown and provide him with media resources to broadcast his dodgy claims.

    Also Europe-wise, it may be warmer but Italy (and not just Venice) has become a lot wetter recently, as have France, Russia and some others – http://floodlist.com/europe

  16. James Cook

    Calling some dickhead “sunshine” in a debate on climate change is wasted irony, Kaye.

  17. Michael Taylor

    People like MS (Mainly Stupid?) astound me, Kaye. They hang off every word from the likes of Kelly, Bolt, Jones et al and then tell you (or us) to stop believing the bullshit.

  18. DrakeN

    As the saying goes, Kaye: “They walk amongst us.”

    And the stupid sods vote!!

    But it’s all right if it passes the “Pub test” – where you can find many of the kind spouting similar nonsensical opinion over their 10th beer.

  19. Trevor Greenstein

    When Craig Kelly says, “Your dog is responsible for global warming,” he inadvertently admits that there is global warming. That’s a first for Craig. Good to hear.

  20. terence mills

    In the meantime, the leader of the western world is seeking to change the US constitution so that children born in the USA of foreign parents will not be classed as US citizens :

    I think I can do that, I think I can change the constitution by an Executive Order. I don’t need to go to the Congress. I think I can do that !

    George III would have said that’s my boy !

  21. Henry Rodrigues

    There is an acquaintance ‘good with numbers’ who works in the financial sector and who firmly believes that renewable energy is the reason why his power bills are high. And he listens devotedly to Alan Jones and Ray Hadley and is a regular church goer too. Scummo and his band of dickheads like C.Kelly, are poster boys for such people. Its reassuring to these people that the pollies give their views so much credibility. That’s why the dickheads say and do things they know are far from the truth.

  22. SteveFitz

    Yeah Kaye Lee, it’s part of the trifecta required to keep the LNP in power and coal producers digging up black gold. Kelly and his mate Jones are part of the equation. The corporate, LNP, MSM coalition required to give the top end of town control of the country. If he supports coal he should just say so, who’s going to object? Since his argument is that there’s no one out there with any proof of global warming. See, he is just proving to the world with his own dialogue that he is a… ? Mmmm – I don’t know who to insult, the effwits or the morons. I wonder who hands him his instructions and script for the week?

  23. guest

    The Right is becoming desperate and more and more the Murdoch media is feeding misinformation about climate change at an increasing rate.

    Recently they resuscitated Michael Asten, retired professor of geophysics and attached to mining interests, by republishing a decade old denier piece which has been debunked from the start – as has been eveyr other denier piece by him.

    Recently Murdoch had Lomborg telling us we would be more economically better off if we spent money on ridding the world of tuberculosis.

    Judith Sloan has attacked peer-assessed research findings and tries to debunk the IPCC.

    And a regular band of other deniers are referenced: Ian Plimer, John Christy, etc etc.
    As a result letters to the editor in Mudoch medi are full of denier nonsense.

    The economic arguments never attempt to answer the economic question: What is the cost of cooking the planet?

    Nor do they debunk the fact that for at least the last 10,000 years CO2 has kept the average earth temperature at 14 degrees C, but in the past 60 years the average earth temperature has risen by one degree C – a rate 20 times faster than any previous equivalent rise in average temperature.

    So all this talk about there being climate change in the past ignores the facts about the current climate change, such as the fact that CO2 levels have risen from the pre-industrial level of 280ppm to currently 410ppm and rising.

    When deniers deny, they hoist themselves on their own petards. And they need to be vigorously called out for it.

  24. Kaye Lee

    Kelly’s latest offering…

    “INCONVENIENT FACTS

    To meet America’s current demand for electricity alone—not including gasoline or jet fuel, nor the natural gas required for things like space heating and fertilizer production—would require covering a territory twice the size of California with wind turbines.

    Yet, the delusion continues.”

    He links to an article written by a guy from the Manhattan Institute (a known denialist group funded by the Koch brothers) about a study published recently.

    If you look at the study rather than the denialists’ spin on it, what it actually says is…

    “Power densities clearly carry implications for land use. Meeting present-day US electricity consumption, for example, would require 12% of the Continental US land area for wind at 0.5 We m−2, or 1% for solar at 5.4 We m−2. Of course, no such single-technology scenario is plausible. A mix of energy sources and storage is essential to addressing temporal and seasonal variability.”

    The author said…

    “Wind beats coal by any environmental measure, but that doesn’t mean that its impacts are negligible,” says senior author David Keith, an engineering and public policy professor at Harvard University. “We must quickly transition away from fossil fuels to stop carbon emissions. In doing so, we must make choices between various low-carbon technologies, all of which have some social and environmental impacts.”

    But hey, you should hear the lemmings jumping on the anti-wind bandwagon fuelled by Kelly’s misleading articles.

  25. Kaye Lee

    Wow, he’s on a roll.

    “ANOTHER PROPHECY FAILS : GLOBAL FOREST COVER HAS INCREASED 7% OVER THE PAST 35 YEARS.

    The Climate alarmist Prophecies hold that the world is experiencing a decline in forest cover; a deforestation.

    And claims of ‘’global deforestation’’, as proof that the world is going to hell, play an important emotion role in attracting new starry-eyed recruits.

    But meanwhile, back in the real world, the latest peer-reviewed science from the University of Maryland, and published in the journal ‘Nature’ tells us that contrary to this alarmist scaremongering, the world’s tree cover actually INCREASED by a total increase 2.24 million square km over the past 35 years.

    That’s an INCREASE in forest area of 7% over the past 35 years.

    It’s important we protect our forests across all areas of the globe, however yet again the peer-reviewed science is the exact opposite of the alarmist prophecy.”

    Quickly followed by…..

    “FAIR-DINKUM ?

    You’ll know they’re ‘’fair-dinkum’’ when they call for 100’s of giant (unsubsidised) wind turbines to be installed around their homes on Sydney Harbour.

    You’ll know they’re ‘’fair-dinkum’’ when they travel economy class, give up their car and ride a push bike, give up their pets, and desist from all meat and dairy products.

    Then they can claim to be ‘’fair-dinkum”.

    But then, they are just virtue-signallers.”

  26. Very Special Guest

    Alan is a must in the mornings. The greatest insane comedy show around.

  27. Adrianne Haddow

    I wonder where is this ‘real world’ Kelly and his cheer squad live?

    Although I am becoming increasingly concerned about the about the world I am living in, I wouldn’t want to share theirs.
    A band of bullying ignoramuses who seem to know all these “facts” without fully reading reports, unless it suits their interests, and who are allowing themselves to be duped into thinking their homespun opinions outweigh the years of study and research of experts in the field of climate science, and observable global climate events.

    I’d be more convinced by Kelly’s reference to peer -reviewed science, if it came from sources other than the IPA – like think(?) tanks, and universities who are beholden to corporate grants which fund said research.

  28. Diannaart

    Craig Kelly’s sciencey moments:

    Bird craps on his head, Craig claims drought is over.

  29. Kronomex

    Diannart,

    “Bird craps on his head, Craig claims drought is over.”

    Part 2,
    “Bird craps on his head, Craig’s IQ goes up by one point.” Which gives the old adage, “Shit for brains.” a whole new meaning.

  30. SteveFitz

    Yes, they manipulate and bend the fact to suit their agenda and when that doesn’t work they resort to the rock solid scientific approach of “I reckon”. And, “If I can think it, it must be true”. In academic circles it’s considered to be the hallmark of an idiot. Most would reckon.

    Why would he put all that time and energy into denigrating something unless he had an agenda! When someone is hanging shit on something and dragging it down, they have an alterior motive driven by self-interest. When you see this behaviour – Buyer beware!

    Now, a politician with proven self-interest suggests Corruption of that pollie. And, that’s where he needs to be pigeon holed – Right beside “Don’t vote for corrupted politicians at the next election”.

  31. helvityni

    “Bird craps on his head, Craig’s IQ goes up by one point.”

    Kronomex, that’s called fertilizing, that’s why as a gardener I invite birds to my backyard by feeding them…..

  32. Kronomex

    Oozlum bird just before it vanishes up its own arse?

  33. Diannaart

    Kronomex

    😆😆😆

  34. SteveFitz

    If you don’t laugh you’ll cry… My monies on a 40lb gerbil.

    Mr Morrison told Sydney radio host Alan Jones something or other about Turnbull being a naughty boy in Indonesia.

    Back to bloody 2GB again. So, we have Craig Kelly, Alan Jones and Scott Morrison all in cahoots and playing pass the parcel with a 2lb piece of coal. 2GB should be sanitized before we get an outbreak of Ebola virus. You can add 2GB to the extreme right wing, coalition, media, boys club list of media to boycott. Are you listening James?

    Fairfax Media currently has a 54.5% shareholding in Macquarie Media, the company which owns radio stations 2GB. So, follow the trail – 2GB – Macquarie Media – Fairfax Media – Nine Entertainment – James Packer – Nine/Fairfax merger – Nine shareholders will own 51.1% of the combined entity.

    Why the hell is Packer letting Jones get away with pissing in the pocket of arch rival Murdoch? Wake up boys or, you too will be branded as tractors to democracy.

  35. Kronomex

    On a side note: Anyone disagree that Scummo should be given The Donald Trump Dunce Award?

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-s-attack-on-malcolm-turnbull-s-truth-telling-turns-into-a-full-blown-shambles-20181101-p50dfi.html

    He’s making a complete fool of himself just about every day of the week. All his prayer to his favourite deity to get him out of the sewer he’s created (and make everyone love him ’cause he’s brave and strong and smart) doesn’t seem to be working out well.

    Steve, the LNP can’t handle facing the true media because they ask and demand answers to awkward and hard questions. And, anyway, they’d only print fake news not like the real news that Alan and Rupert, and Ray release.

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