August 11th, 2008 Posted in Green Earth News | 4 Comments »
There is virtual iron clad agreement among experts that global warming is already happening and is caused by humans. The IPCC report is signed by the world’s most respected scientists and reflects a bonafide consensus. However, people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are on the TV and radio daily, lying through their teeth, saying there is disagreement among scientists, even citing reports that refute the IPCC documents.
Even though their arguments are not based on fact, they succeed in creating just enough doubt in the collective consciousness of our country. They mock people who have devoted their lives to doing the research that could save our planet.
In 2007, a Newsweek Magazine reporter named Sharon Begley decided to delve into the Denial machine, to find out who is behind it and how it works. The results of her investigation are downright scary. There is a concerted, well funded, and well organized effort to insert disinformation and doubt into the media and public’s collective mind.
This article first appeared on the cover of Newsweek, exactly a year ago today. It’s one of those reports that needs to be revisited again and again, as the lies continue today. Only by exposing the machine that produces the untruths, and revealing their methods and motives, can we hope to wipe out their plan to put off the changes we desparately need to literally keep our planet inhabitable.
Excerpt and link to the full article follow
Since the late 1980s, this well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change. Through advertisements, op-eds, lobbying and media attention, greenhouse doubters (they hate being called deniers) argued first that the world is not warming; measurements indicating otherwise are flawed, they said. Then they claimed that any warming is natural, not caused by human activities. Now they contend that the looming warming will be minuscule and harmless. “They patterned what they did after the tobacco industry,” says former senator Tim Wirth, who spearheaded environmental issues as an under secretary of State in the Clinton administration. “Both figured, sow enough doubt, call the science uncertain and in dispute. That’s had a huge impact on both the public and Congress.”
Just last year, polls found that 64 percent of Americans thought there was “a lot” of scientific disagreement on climate change; only one third thought planetary warming was “mainly caused by things people do.” In contrast, majorities in Europe and Japan recognize a broad consensus among climate experts that greenhouse gases—mostly from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas to power the world’s economies—are altering climate. A new NEWSWEEK Poll finds that the influence of the denial machine remains strong. Although the figure is less than in earlier polls, 39 percent of those asked say there is “a lot of disagreement among climate scientists” on the basic question of whether the planet is warming; 42 percent say there is a lot of disagreement that human activities are a major cause of global warming. Only 46 percent say the greenhouse effect is being felt today.
Link to full article at Newsweek.com
In her interview with ABC News last week, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin asserted that Alaska “produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.” After FactCheck.org pointed out that Alaska is actually responsible for only 3.5 percent of the country’s domestic energy production, Palin began re-phrasing her claim. But in an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday McCain continued to repeat the debunked claim. Read more….
After watching the Richmond (VT) parade from the sidelines for the last couple years, I decided it was time for the Solar Bus to participate. Certainly it would be fun, and I was sure I could find a busload of kids interested in riding along and throwing candy out the windows. But even moreso, how about the exposure — the streets are lined Richmond residents. Think how many might see a lightbulb go off in their heads, thinking, “hey if that big bus can move without petroleum, maybe I can do something too.”
