“The Air Is Gone” From Climate Change Issue, Says Veteran German Journalist. Ohio Is To Blame Claims Warmist

The dead silence we’ve seen on the climate issue during the 2012 Presidential campaign is getting a strong reaction in Germany. Today I’m presenting 2 short views on this. One from a German skeptic, and one from a devout treehugger/climate crisis believer.

Ulli Kulke of DIE WELT

At his DIE WELT site, veteran journalist Ulli Kulke writes a piece titled: Al Gore is used up. In it he states that climate change as an issue is rapidly losing importance internationally.

Al Gore tweeted and tweeted last Monday evening, but it didn’t help. His agitated electronic pulses went unheard in the last TV debate…”

Not only is the issue completely off the radar in the United States, Kulke tells us, it is also now being increasingly challenged in Great Britain, and even the Germans are losing their angst of climate change.

Excerpts of what Kulke writes:

The complete absence of attention to climate change is new in the recent history in the USA since 1988, when James Hansen, Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) of NASA sounded the huge alarms in Congress and thus drew prestige, attention and state funding.

The air is gone from the issue because of the never-ending signals of the coming end of the world […] are no longer of any interest for voters.

Alarmism internationally, at least for now, appears to have been braked. Also here the German Academy of Technical Sciences (Acatech) recently presented a position paper on the topic. Its tenor: Climate change would not pose a problem that could not be handled by us. Just a few years ago that would have been an unthinkable statement.”

In summary in Kulke’s view, climate change has become a tiresome broken record among the public and people are far more concerned about jobs, the economy and the financial crisis.

Arne Jungjohann blames the silence on coal-state Ohio

Just 4 years ago, Obama was presenting himself as a huge proponent of renewable energies and promised to wean the USA off coal. Jungjohann poses and answers the question:

So why is there suddenly all this dead silence on the issue of climate change this election campaign?

Climate change as an issue is silent because it is not on the agenda in swing states. The election is not decided in New York or California, rather it is decided in states like Colorado and Ohio. Because of the particularities of the election system, Ohio has a high chance of tipping the scales. And Ohio gets 78% of its electric power from coal – That’s why Obama is now trying to appear as the better coal politician.”

We all know the Obama will say anything to get elected. So now is a good time to remind voters once more where Obama really stands on the issue:

“Under my plan, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Hardly what Ohio voters want to hear.

This year Obama can’t afford to be honest about it.