Global Warming Denial

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"If you think those who have long challenged the mainstream scientific findings about global warming recognize that the game is over, think again. Yes, 19 million people watched the 'Live Earth' concerts last month, titans of corporate America are calling for laws mandating greenhouse cuts, 'green' magazines fill newsstands, and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar. But outside Hollywood, Manhattan and other habitats of the chattering classes, the denial machine is running at full throttle -- and continuing to shape both government policy and public opinion." -- from an 8.13 Newsweek piece by Sharon Begley about the global-warming denial crowd, and the ample funding behind them.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 6, 2007 at 10:09 AM

comment #1

Walter Sobchak says ...

The Bourne Ultimatum is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. Finally, a summer action movie that isn't based on comic books or toys.

I look forward to Superbad.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 6, 2007 10:28 AM

comment #2

The Winchester says ...

Way to stay on topic, Walter. You may as well have just written "FIRST" and turn HE into AICN.

Sometimes people wonder why the people on the coasts view the "flyover" states with such disdain, then you read something like this, how people will believe anything they're forcefed. Socialized medicine is bad? WMDs are in Iraq? Global Warming is a farce? Wild Hogs makes over $100 million? Ridonkulous.

Posted by The Winchester at August 6, 2007 10:34 AM

comment #3

starfunker says ...

I heard that Iraq had WMDs. And that Saddam Hussein was aiming one right at my head!

Global Warming is a conspiracy cooked up by Al Qaeda to knock us off guard as we police the world's unshaven masses to finally catch the 13 dead Iraqis that flew into the WTC on 9/11! They used jet fuel! Duh! They're such hypocrites.

I'm glad Brangelina are flying all over creation adopting babies and polluting the air. It's great!

Posted by starfunker at August 6, 2007 10:54 AM

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

Uh, Winchester - you think what's being forcefed is that man-made global warming doesn't exist?

Posted by Josh Massey at August 6, 2007 11:07 AM

comment #5

jesse says ...

Josh is right -- I hate the way these so-called "scientists" are always trying to force-feed us their "findings." Like that evolution stuff! Did you know it's just a theory?!? It's right there in the name -- "the THEORY of evolution." Many scientists don't believe in it. But the media keeps forcing it down our throats. Just shameful.

Posted by jesse at August 6, 2007 11:10 AM

comment #6

Walter Sobchak says ...

What? I wasn't on topic? Thanks for pointing that out. My fault. I forgot that this was a political affairs web site. I'll re-adjust.

Stop the "Global Warming Denial Machine"! There is NO debate! Stop looking into it! Stop questioning it! The discussion is over! And don't tell me that it is part of normal, cyclical, Earth weather paterns. If you do, then you must be Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh.

No, Global Warming is entirely the fault of humans... more specifically, humans living in the United States not driving battery-operated cars. And all because the greedy U.S. would not sign the Kyoto Protocal. And it's totally cool that Kyoto doesn't apply to China, India and Brazil... they don't pollute much anyway.

The only way to end this Crisis, (and stave off certain doom) is for America to start giving loads of money to third world countries! Redistribution for all!

And, (not to be smug), may I point out that unlike Bill Clinton, the CIA, the British, the Israelis, the Russians and just about everyone else on Earth I alone KNEW that there were no WMDs in Iraq. Told 'ya so!

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 6, 2007 11:14 AM

comment #7

jesse says ...

So, Walter, just to clarify:

-Questioning scientists' findings on global warming = good.

-Questioning the backing and motivations of scientists who argue against global warming = bad.

Do I have it right or am I oppressing you?

Posted by jesse at August 6, 2007 11:24 AM

comment #8

BurmaShave says ...

All rational people believe that we need to be better stewards of our environment. The issue is whether in our hysteria we are embracing quick fix solutions with long-term consequences, such as Ethanol, which is already effecting the food prices and supplies in poor nations.

The planet is warming. We need to consume and emit less. These are worthy goals. There are however more immediate and important ones, such as hunger, disease, and genocide. How much clean water could Al Gore provide to the third world with the money he has raised? He bellyaches about glaciers but doesn't seem to address or care about the human impact of problems we face today, but rather is trying to prevent some abstract deluge he is sure is just around the corner.

For that matter, both Mars and Neptune have been observed to be warming. If it is in fact driven by solar energy, then it's something that's here to stay, until it cycles back (and despite what Gore has claimed, there have been periods when the world has been warmer than it is now within the past 1000 years, and for that matter there was a mini-ice age in the 1700s. It will cycle.)How do we deal with it? What can we do to improve and preserve quality of life in the hottest areas, which happen to usually be the poorest?

People come first.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 6, 2007 11:29 AM

comment #9

christian says ...

walter, take a peek at the increasing hole over the ozone layer:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17436

NASA hippie leftist scientists have already determined this was caused by man-made means. it doesn't make us evil, but to deny the reality does make us less than our sum. and if you had no problem with a pre-emptive strike based on forged evidence, how about a strike based on undeniable evidence? are you willing to sacrifice your flesh for ideology?

i heard right wing tool and phony moralist dennis prager say that he would hate to tell his grandchildren that he fought a war on global warming and not a war on terror -- as if that's our only choice.

but he'll have to tell his grandkids that he ignored the science that he trusts completely when it comes to weapons of death and destruction.

Posted by christian at August 6, 2007 11:42 AM

comment #10

Walter Sobchak says ...

And to be honest... I was oddly and slightly turned on by the underwear-clad Carol Channing. An early cougar showing, if you will. Does that make me some kind of freak?
And try to tell me that her Sgt. Pepper-inspired ensemble at the end didn't get its hooks in you, too, Mister Christian.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 6, 2007 12:08 PM

comment #11

christian says ...

yes, you're a freak for getting hot to channing.

but her pepper-ware at the end is my favorite part of the whole film. you think you've seen it all until you see carol belting out SKIDOO like a broadway love-in...

Posted by christian at August 6, 2007 12:16 PM

comment #12

hatchetface says ...

We're doomed.

Posted by hatchetface at August 6, 2007 12:27 PM

comment #13

arch451 says ...

Of course global warming is happening. That's not the debate. The debate is whether or not carbon dioxide is causing global warming.

To say carbon dioxide is causing global warming and labeling all dissenting opinions as "in denial" is as foolish as saying global warming doesn't exist.

Posted by arch451 at August 6, 2007 12:30 PM

comment #14

Jesse Perry says ...

"Yes, 19 million people watched the 'Live Earth' concerts last month,"

Too bad, I thought for sure that rock concert would change the minds and positions of hundreds of millions of people.

Posted by Jesse Perry at August 6, 2007 12:30 PM

comment #15

bents75 says ...

Let me be the first to point out that, once again, this is Bush's fault. He, "The Decider", and "Commander Guy" said for years that the jury is still out on it and Ma and Pa Kansas listen to no one but The Decider. F*** the science! Who needs it when we have faith in the almighty and our allegedly democratically elected President residing over a government allegedly separated from the Church.
It's still debatable, so why should Bush lift a finger or spend a cent now when he can just leave the problem for generations to come and let history (the subject he allegedly majored in) judge him instead? Unless of course it serves his capitalistic greed and he can trump the arrival of Ethanol - a f***ing PR stunt and corporate lobbyist agenda if there was ever one.

It's the same, lets wait and see pussy approach he takes to everything.

Why should he lift a finger to end a war we already won when he can just leave the problem for generations to come and let history (the subject he allegedly 'reads' about) judge him best?

Posted by bents75 at August 6, 2007 12:57 PM

comment #16

Walter Sobchak says ...

"Let me be the first to point out that, once again, this is Bush's fault. He, "The Decider", and "Commander Guy" said for years that the jury is still out on it and Ma and Pa Kansas listen to no one but The Decider. F*** the science! Who needs it when we have faith in the almighty and our allegedly democratically elected President residing over a government allegedly separated from the Church.
It's still debatable, so why should Bush lift a finger or spend a cent now when he can just leave the problem for generations to come and let history (the subject he allegedly majored in) judge him instead? Unless of course it serves his capitalistic greed and he can trump the arrival of Ethanol - a f***ing PR stunt and corporate lobbyist agenda if there was ever one.

It's the same, lets wait and see pussy approach he takes to everything.

Why should he lift a finger to end a war we already won when he can just leave the problem for generations to come and let history (the subject he allegedly 'reads' about) judge him best?"

my goodness

Posted by Walter Sobchak at August 6, 2007 1:26 PM

comment #17

BurmaShave says ...

He doesn't always read history. He recently read two Shakespeares and a 'Clifford the Big Red Dog'.

Posted by BurmaShave at August 6, 2007 1:29 PM

comment #18

J. Huff says ...

What I'm amused at is that driving a car a mile and a half exerts less of a carbon footprint than walking to a store -- because the food necessary for an individual to burn the calories expended uses up more CO2. Thus says the London Times, who says the best solution is not to buy anything from the supermarket:

http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2195538.ece

Posted by J. Huff at August 6, 2007 2:32 PM

comment #19

T. Holly says ...

Sharon Begley, not the wife of Ed, Jr., who I adore.

Posted by T. Holly at August 6, 2007 4:04 PM

comment #20

Hash says ...

Probably because the argument supporting it is spotty, at best.

Posted by Hash at August 6, 2007 7:19 PM

comment #21

frankbooth says ...

Aren't the people who say "it's happening, but we don't know if humans are causing it" the same ones who were insisting a year or two ago that it definitely was NOT happening?

Posted by frankbooth at August 6, 2007 8:17 PM

comment #22