The Scientist - Q&A: Debate Over Climate Panel Bias

http://the-scientist.com/2011/07/18/debate-over-climate-panel-bias/

A climate change writer is concerned over possible bias within an IPCC working group that assesses options for combating climate change.

By Jessica P. Johnson | July 18, 2011 ( also see January 2011 blog post -

Climate Heretic: Judith Curry Turns on Her Colleagues - Scientific American )

In June, a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report that reviewed options for mitigating climate change that limit greenhouse gas emissions—such as renewable energy technology—and enhance activities that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Over a month before the report’s publication, the IPCC highlighted an optimistic scenario for future renewable energy use—that it may comprise 77 percent of the total world energy supply by 2050—in press releases and summary reports issued to policy makers. But when the full report was released last month, it became clear that the scenario was based on data from a study by Greenpeace—a non-profit environmental campaign organization that supports renewable energy as a solution to energy shortages and dependence on foreign oil—and that the IPCC report chapter that included the data had been drafted in part by Greenpeace’s Renewable Energy Director Sven Teske.
This week, Nature Climate Change published two commentaries that argued whether this represents a conflict of interest and indicates bias by the IPCC. While Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of the IPCC working group that drafted the report, argues that all perceptions of bias are unfounded, climate policy journalist Mark Lynas says that prominence given to an unlikely prediction from a campaign organization is cause for concern. The Scientist spoke with Lynas about how the panel’s actions could undermine the public’s confidence in the IPCC and whether he thinks the report can be trusted.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/113156/sell-signal-for-stocks-barrons?mod=bb-budgeting%20&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

A Sell Signal for the Stock Market?

by Michael Kahn
Tuesday, July 19, 2011

provided by

A big drop in the transportation sector killed hope for a Dow Theory buy signal.
As the month of July began, the stock market was in the midst of a rather significant rally and the Dow Jones Transportation Average broke out to all-time highs.
But within a few days, the good times turned to bad as this economically-sensitive sector crumbled.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 94 points, though the index was trading even lower earlier in the day.
The bears have apparently resumed control of the stock market and that keeps the market on track to challenge its previous 2011 lows one more time.
When the transports reached their new high recently, followers of the century-old Dow Theory suddenly got excited. The theory states that a major new high in both the Dow Industrials and the Dow Transports means the market is in sync and ready to move even higher.
Of course, the composition of the industrials index has changed drastically and we can argue that truckers and railroads have less to do with transporting products in a service and information-based economy than in the past. But even with such changes, Dow Theory has still been able to keep investors on the proper side of the market for many years.