Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Going into business

UPDATE: The Mad hatter by Tenniel
(the mice made Eli do it. He really wishes Keven and Jason, every success on their venture)

The mice bring word that Kevin Vranes has joined a startup, as consultant offering advice to industry on how to deal with climate change issues. They are going great guns, Kevin has joined the talking heads, with an interview on CNN's In the Money:
WESTHOVEN: What about companies that aren't green washing at all, what about companies that are actually out there maybe actively fostering debate about whether or not there is greenhouse gas emissions or whether or not they're having any affect?

VRANES: Well you know, the main culprit there has been Exxon Mobil. They're the poster child for trying to stall not just action on climate change, but also trying to confuse the public on climate changes. I'm actually starting to get a sense that they're starting to pull back away from that a little bit. I think they also see the writing on the wall, and I think they don't want to be the last man standing either and, so I kind of get a sense that they're starting to pull back too.

ROMANS: Kevin, there was a time when we would say global warming on television, and we would be inundated with, like, conservative think tanks and conservative oil industry tied groups whose only job was to try to change the wording global warming to climate change. Or to get it into something that didn't suggest that Americans were doing it or that the consumers weren't doing it or that energy companies had any kind of say in it. We've really come a long way on this debate, haven't we?

VRANES: We have. I mean, and that falls to science. I think what we've come to is maybe a tipping point in the understanding and the awareness of the issue from the public and from the business community. I think that maybe up until now they were just kind of taking a wait and see approach where they were saying, well, maybe next year new science will come out, maybe next year new science will come out, and finally here we are. It doesn't happen.

Every year new science comes out that says, no, it really is happening, and I think finally people have said, OK, we hear you. We've woken up, and we're going to make -- we're going to make progress on this issue.

ROMANS: There are some scientists, though -- I do have on point out that there are some scientists who still adamantly say there is a long period of temperatures in this environment and it maybe has nothing to do with human kind. There are those folks still out there.

VRANES: There are those folks out there. I would say that they're at the fringe, and I would say that they actually get more media attention than they deserve compared to the scientific weight of opinion. You know, there's going to be a new report released actually next week February 2nd. A big intergovernmental panel will come out with its latest consensus statement on climate change, and it will say the consensus of the scientific community is that we are 90 percent certain that global warming is happening, and we are the cause of did.
Jason Denner, the managing partner, worked at the Rocky Mountain Institute on such issues as more efficient autos, oil refineries and such. Welcome to the future.

However, as Ethon points out, Hi-Point 380 is a brand of 9mm target gun.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Every year new science comes out that says, no, it really is happening, and I think finally people have said, OK, we hear you. We've woken up, and we're going to make -- we're going to make progress on this issue."

But...but...but...I thought just a couple months ago, scientists were telling Vranes that they were concerned that they had oversold the science.

I guess that was when Vranes was wearing his Science Policy hat.

Now he's wearing his consulting hat, so I guess he wants to convince people that there really is a problem, now doesn't he?

It must be so hard for Vranes to keep all those hats straight.

Anonymous said...

You've heard of the revolving door?

EliRabett said...

Eli has been trapped in it.

Anonymous said...

Eli's idea of blog accountability: blame it on the mice.

EliRabett said...

Say cheese:)

Anonymous said...

Oh boy....I'm sure now that Vranes will work even *harder* to position himself as a "man in the middle."

Expect more concern trolls about "scientists out on a limb" and "overselling the science," blah,
blah, blah.

Anonymous said...

We dance round in a ring and suppose
But the policy wonk sits in the middle, and knows.

(with apologies to Robert Frost)

Anonymous said...

Is it just my imagination, or is Roger Pielke violating the rules set down by the IPCC by citing a draft report before it is given the final OK?

The document he links to on his blog (The one he cited and displayed the Disasters and hazards "graph from) says at the very top:

"CONFIDENTIAL: Do Not Cite – Do Not Quote"

When i go to the IPCC website, I see that the Summaryu for Policymakers has been released, but apparently the final report is to be released in early May, after all the comments (comment period just closed April 6) have been read and the draft has been OK'ed by the IPCC working group.

The letter asking for comments said this:
"It should be emphasized that the Report and its SPM are still drafts, and as yet not accepted or
approved. They must not be cited or quoted and you are further requested not to distribute the
documents or the passwords for the closed website except for the purpose of your Government's
consideration of the final drafts."

I don't know anything about this other than what I have read, so perhaps someone might clarify for me whether RP is violating the IPCC request.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how Vranes is going to thread the needle on this one. Is he going to continue being an "academic" or is he going to start publicly disclosing his ties to industry?

Anonymous said...

Some are already in bidness.