1/24/2007

The right-wing, anti-global warming spin...

"Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views on global warming will change accordingly. Therefore, you need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate...The scientific debate is closing (against us) but not yet closed. There is still a small window of opportunity to challenge the science...unnecessary environmental regulation hurts moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas."

Frank Luntz
Republican pollster
(I think he forgot about the kids?)

Read Lutz's talking points memo.



Luntz flip-flops in 2006:

Luntz: "It's now 2006. I think most people would conclude that there is global warming taking place and that the behavior of humans are (sic) affecting the climate."

BBC: "But the administration has continued taking your advice. They're still questioning the science."

Luntz: "That's up to the administration. I'm not the administration. What they want to do is their business. It has nothing to do with what I write. It has nothing to do with what I believe."


There are 4 stages of global warming denial:

1. Global Warming doesn't exist. It's not happening.

2. Okay, it's happening, but humans are not causing it.

3. Okay, humans are causing it, but there's nothing we can do about it, we can't go back to the stone age, it would ruin our economy, it's worse to act than not to act, etc.

4. Okay, it is possible with technology, efficiency/conservation and smart planning to do something about it, but it's going to hurt the bottom line of "dirty" corporations.

Now checkout the scientific facts.
---

It's interesting to see how the right-wing sping machine is cranking up the heat on the global warming issue. I noticed a post of the local blog uncommon insights that uses the phrase "man-made global warming." I did a little Googling on that phrase and came up with some interesting results.

I actually found that the full phrase was:

"I do not know of a single TV meteorologist who buys into the man-made global warming hype."

Check of this Google blog search link to the results of that phrase. You will find a whole array of right wing blog sites all doing posts on this phrase over the past couple of days. Ultra-conservative websites like the John Birch Society. Check out some of these sites and see where the links go...FOX News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, etc.

Another interesting phrase that I encountered was:

“Billions of dollars of grant money are flowing into the pockets of [scientists] on the man-made global warming bandwagon.”

Here's a Google blog search link. This phrase will also bring up some of the same sites as the above link and even a link to David Duke of KKK frame. It's a site with an interesting name: White Civil Rights.

Below is an interesting graph with the temperature patterns for the last 1,000 years. It looks like the temperature is spiking upward. You can believe what you want, but done tell me there's no global warming.



Here's a good, historic overview of temperature trends from the American Institute of Physics.

The pendulum of common sense might be starting to swing in the favor of starting to take the challenges of global warming seriously. Executives of major corporations are starting to beat the drum to put stricter standards in place to combat global warming. Here's a sample of the recent headlines:

CEOs plead for mandatory emissions caps
Xcel CEO calls for greenhouse gas limits

Editorial: Bush joins the green parade

If you don't think our world is changing and changing fast, read about what's happening to the glaciers:

Experts: Alps glaciers will melt by 2050
Himalayan glaciers will vanish between 2030 and 2050.

Here are a few more reasons why you need to act now.

Do it for the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee! From looking at that temperature graph for the past 1,000 years, even Steve Milloy the junk scientist could figure out that the temperature is bounding out of the norms.

Anonymous said...

I must be in "Global Warming Denial".

Is there a support group for people like me? GWDA Global Warming Denial Anonymous?
Please I really need help!


There are 4 stages of global warming denial:

1. Global Warming doesn't exist. It's not happening.

2. Okay, it's happening, but humans are not causing it.

3. Okay, humans are causing it, but there's nothing we can do about it, we can't go back to the stone age, it would ruin our economy, it's worse to act than not to act, etc.

4. Okay, it is possible with technology, efficiency/conservation and smart planning to do something about it, but it's going to hurt the bottom line of "dirty" corporations.