Sue Al Gore Instead

Reason McLucus Blog hosted by London Telegraph ^ | 12/01/07 | ReasonMcLucus

[kathsua]

Central Florida's most famous Harris Rosen has threatened to sue hurricane forecaster Dr. William Gray claiming Gray's wrong hurricane forecast may have cost Florida billions in tourist money. Rosen says a survey of former guests indicated 70% of those who didn't plan to return cited hurricane fears as the reason.

John Smith, who runs Storm Stoppers, a plywood alternative company that has benefited from busy storm seasons, spends thousand of dollars when an active year is predicted.

"What we do is stock up," Smith said. "When there is a let down, we have all of our capital invested in materials and you know, we have to wait until the next big weather event."

Many Florida business owners wish forecasters would keep their forecasts to themselves instead of providing false alarms.

Rosen's protest is understandable. Forecasters need to understand that their forecasts can cause needless worry and cost people money.

The Atlantic hurricane region covers a very large area. Even when there are numerous storms many will miss land entirely.

If Rosen wants to sue someone he should consider sueing someone with more money than a college professor. Florida's real problem may not be the guesses of Dr. Gray, but the fear mongering of Al Gore and friends who keep claiming that hurricanes will keep getting worse because of global warming.

On the other hand, Rosen might consider a publicity campaign pointing out the failed hurricane forecasts of those who call themselves experts and suggesting that the forecasters should be ignored until they improve their forecasting averages.

[Berosus]

I’m afraid I agree. I lived in Orlando for forty years before moving to Kentucky in 2006. My auto and homeowners insurance went down dramatically, and I didn’t have to switch companies. So did my electric bill; thanks to coal, electricity only costs 1/3 as much per kilowatt-hour here.