Where’s the “Global Warming” Dividend?
Happy Snowman! Sad snow removal budgets.
You know, like the peace dividend? We’ve been hearing for a very long time now that the Earth is getting warmer. Wouldn’t that mean, you know, warmer? Usually when it’s warmer you have less snow, not more! In fact, the blog Watts Up with That dug up a quote in The Independent dated March 20, 2000. The article quotes noted Scientist Dr. David Viner ( with the agency now embroiled in Climategate) as saying:
According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”.
This rare and exciting event has blanketed much of the nation. Many places saw a rare event indeed… as in the most snow ever from a December storm. Places like Oklahoma City, Washingto D.C. and almost the entire state of Iowa. Instead of getting a “Global Warming” dividend, many states are already straining under snow removal bills with over 3/4 of the Winter still to go. From today’s Wall Street Journal:
Maryland’s State Highway Administration has spent more than $27 million this year on snow removal, the bulk of that clearing away a massive pre-Christmas storm. But the agency’s annual snow-removal budget is just $26 million.
Officials will have to “make adjustments in other areas of their operating budgets” to cover the overrun, the state’s transportation secretary, Beverley Swaim-Staley, said in a statement.
Similar adjustments are going on across the country — and they often mean less plowing.
Colorado officials recently notified residents in rural areas that they will let snow sit overnight on 2,800 miles of sparsely traveled state highways to cut down on overtime costs.
The bad news for Maryland, and other snow weary locales? The AccuWeather Winter Forecast is tracking true. That means more snow for the south and especially the mid-Atlantic for the next couple of months. The only part that they are missing is the warm part for the Pacific Northwest… but I digress.
The good news is the Democrats in the Senate have all but given up on trying to pass Cap & Trade. they are recognizing the political danger of passing a bill that would cripple an already severely ailing economy. Perhaps they are also realizing that it’s getting colder, not warmer.
