Hurricane Sandy Reminds Us We’re All Paying The Price For Politically-Created Climate Of Doubt
Image credit: Earth – The Operator’s Manual
The PBS Frontline program “Climate of Doubt” masterfully exposed the strategies and tactics that climate denialists have used to delay, if not undermine meaningful action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change in the US. Perhaps the #1 strategy they have pursued involves denying the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming.
The number one strategy this shadowy, well-financed group has pursued involves denying the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. As Myron Ebell of the right-wing think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) put it,
“We felt that if you concede the science is settled and that there’s a consensus…the moral high ground has been ceded to the alarmists.”
Republican Congressman from Wisconsin and climate denialist James Sensenbrenner explained the importance of the public awareness of the scientific consensus:
JOHN HOCKENBERRY:Do you think this will ever be settled scientifically, if 97 percent consensus doesn’t settle it for you?
Rep. JAMES SENSENBRENNER:Well, I — you know, I think that it’s up to the scientists and their supporters to convince the public that this is the right thing to do. And the supporters of that side of the argument in the Congress have been a huge flop.
source: 350.org
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“We felt that if you concede the science is settled and that there’s a consensus…the moral high ground has been ceded to the alarmists.”
I find that statement incredibly… umm… nuts! What about the fact that you are taking the moral low ground by putting doubt in science? And basically, you are calling scientists “alarmists”.
Oh, and Inhoe would be hilarious if he wasn’t an elected official in the country with the second highest carbon emissions in the world. During an interview with Rachel Maddow, he said (and I’m paraphrasing) that he used to believe in global warming until he found out how much it would cost to deal with it. That’s like saying “I believed I had lung cancer… that is until I found out what the treatment was”.
Some day, these people should be tried criminally.
By the way, great post!