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EXAGGERATION TREND MAINTAINED
Global warming believer Ron Bailey can’t quite bring himself to believe Al Gore:
Gore has won the global warming debate—the world is warming as a consequence of human activity, chiefly the loading up of the atmosphere with carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Yet he feels that he must exaggerate the dangers by propounding implausible scenarios in which sea levels rise 20 feet by 2100. He pretends that the science is settled with regard to the effect of global warming on hurricanes. And he pushes a scientifically tenuous connection between the spread of diseases and global warming. These are little inconvenient truths that cut against his belief that global warming constitutes a climate emergency. On balance Gore gets it more right than wrong on the science (we’ll leave the policy stuff to another time), but he undercuts his message by becoming the opposite of a global warming denier. He’s a global warming exaggerator.
As for Gore winning the global warming debate ... he must be using a different makeup artist these days.
Short version: “He’s won the debate but every quoted fact is wrong and he’s deliberately exaggerating.”
Riiiiiiiiight….
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 06 17 at 11:05 AM • permalinkNo, richard, I think the short version should be:
“Al Gore has won the global warming debate by using bad science and worse hyperbole.”
That ought to cover it.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 06 17 at 11:35 AM • permalinkTexas Bob, how about both? Ain’t nothing like a good pita sandwich.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 06 17 at 01:01 PM • permalinkA 70 percent cut would mean lowering U.S. emissions to 1928 levels.
This is what the Al Gores of the environmentalist movement always propose: go backward, not forward. Focus on the problems that advancing technology has produced (pollution, greenhouse gases) and ignore the miracles, (longer life spans, unimagined increase in quality of that life, the ability of ordinary citizens to travel anywhere in the world in a few hours). By no means trust that same advancing technology to solve its problems. Simply caterwaul about impending doom, and use the resultant hysteria to make political points, and collect grant money.
“I do not think [Gore] can shrink between now and the next debate,” [Barney Frank] said. “His size will probably remain a constant. Crouching maybe would be about it.”
That’s actually pretty good, and he really did say it. On TV, too. He has his moments.
Posted by P. Froward on 2006 06 17 at 01:51 PM • permalinkIF you look at all the ranking dems they all seem to have one thing in common, a truly amazing lack of any kind of self awareness or sense of the ridiculous, everyone of them seems to regard themselves as some kind of superior being come to lead the rest of us poor deluded souls to salvation, it seems what they lack in self knowledge they make up for with self righteousness.
It’s not wrong to lie in the service of a greater truth, if you posess it.
I think it’s fortunate that the environmental elite are acting as the vanguard in this matter by spreading environmental consciousness. The common people don’t know what’s in their own best interest and must be led to it.
Posted by Brian O'Connell on 2006 06 17 at 02:06 PM • permalinkThis is what the Al Gores of the environmentalist movement always propose: go backward, not forward.
Funny, innit, how they trot out the same solution to every problem.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 06 17 at 02:35 PM • permalinkThe common people don’t know what’s in their own best interest and must be led to it.
That’s why the self-appointed “elites” are called “our betters”...
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 06 17 at 03:10 PM • permalinkOdd that Mother Gaia would evolve a species intent on destroying her. A bit shortsighted I’d say.
Bailey links to an interesting read: (pdf) The Revelle-Gore Story
On February 24, 1994, Ted Koppel revealed on his Nightline program that Vice President Gore had called him and suggested that Mr. Koppel investigate the political and economic forces behind the “antienvironmental”movement. In particular, Vice President Gore had urged Mr. Koppel to expose as fact that several
U.S. scientists who had voiced skeptical views about greenhouse warming were receiving financial support from the coal industry and/or groups such as the Lyndon Larouche organization or Reverend Moon’s Unification Church.Mr. Koppel didn’t do the vice president’s bidding and asked rhetorically, “Is this a case of industry supporting scientists who happen to hold sympathetic views, or scientists adapting their views to accommodate industry?”
He closed the show by chastising Gore for trying to use the media to discredit skeptical scientists: There is some irony in the fact that Vice President Gore——one of the most scientifically literate men to sit in the White House in this century——[is] resorting to political means to achieve what should ultimately be resolved on a purely cientific basis. The measure of good science is neither the politics of the scientist nor the people with whom the scientist associates. It is the immersion of hypotheses into the acid of truth. That’s the hard way to do it, but it’s the only way that works.
But Gorebore remains up to his old tricks. When he lectured aspiring journalists at Columbia, he said that it not necessary, nor was it responsible journalism, to present both sides of an issue when only one was demonstrably true. He used global warming as an example of something that had been “settled” and said that publishing statements and opinions to the contrary only disserves the public. Truthiness and justice the Gorebot way.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2006 06 17 at 04:16 PM • permalinkVice President Gore——one of the most scientifically literate men to sit in the White House in this century
That is one of the most terrifying statements I’ve read this year.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 06 17 at 06:05 PM • permalinkHe’s attacking scientists for their funding sources. Was his film funded by the National Science Foundation?
I don’t think so…Posted by daddy dave on 2006 06 17 at 09:00 PM • permalinkI wonder what affect global warming has on tornadoes?
I know tornadoes are bad but last night…while counting sheep and trying to sneak up on a some solid sleep state imaginings of pretty women in mutual loving ... close proximity…
I had this errant thought that lead to more randomized thinkyness which sparked off a bit of hot idea-ing.
Ok. here’s what occurred in all that. Islamofascism is spreading and so is soccer. In fact, where ever islamofascism is, there is also soccer. The two are obviously entwined. One may simply be the front for the other.But, where there is excessive tornado activity, we don’t find much islamofacism or soccer.
So, if through such wonders and global warming, we could learn to train tornadoes to wander just off both our coasts, could that be the final, best defense against the spread and eventual dominance of both the cultural killers of islamofascism and soccer?
The problem with this “the debate is over” stuff is that it undermines the credibility of the scientific community for other things, when the debate really is over.
e.g., does the sun go around the earth or the earth around the sun? (that one’s over: pick b)
is the universe deterministic? (over: it’s not)
is evolution true? (over: it is);
etc.
You don’t win a debate by declaring that it’s won. You win it by winning it.Posted by daddy dave on 2006 06 17 at 10:00 PM • permalink#17 Rob, terrifying but true.
I mean, if we limit it to presidents and vice presidents, only Hoover, Carter and Eisenhower had much in the way of scientific education.
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2006 06 17 at 11:14 PM • permalinkThe Quiggler isn’t a scientist, but the dog on his face is.
Posted by Daniel San on 2006 06 18 at 01:16 AM • permalinkIf it’s getting so warm why is it so cold? At night we’ve had to turn the fan down to 1 and put an extra sheet on top of the blanket on our bed. We haven’t needed the aircon on in a fortnight. In fact it’s been so cool that I’ve had to wear a cardigan until the early afternoon. All of these are firsts for us in the Dry.
You really don’t understand the biology and ecology of infectious diseases and insect vectors, do you?.
Malaria currently kills more than 1 million people per year. The range of malaria capable mosquitos will increase. This has already been observed. Other animal and plant disease vectors will also be effected. The consequences are unlikely to be benign.As 25 says, there are not many genuine scientists posting here.
26. The climate changes are characterised by widespread variations in normal as the world’s atmosphere adapts to the increased energy it now holds. Most of this energy is dissipated/manifest by increased strength in normal weather behaviour i.e Hurricanes etc.
That is what we are experiencing all over the world.
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I wonder what hurricanes ever did without people to watch them.