Henry Porter (London Observer): Fiddling as the planet burns

[Jack Rabbit]

EDITED to correct date on related thread

From the London Observer (Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited)
Dated Sunday June 19

Fiddling as the planet burns
There is nothing left to debate about climate change. It is happening and each of us must act
By Henry Porter

The great lie in the climate debate is that there is still a debate worth having. Opponents of change insist that the human factors in global warming are not proven and that we must wait until we have hard evidence before taking drastic action, which is as about as silly as saying there are two equally valid views on the issue of whether paedophilia damages children.

What is so destructive about this stance is that it claims equal weight and equal airtime. The 'balance' in newspaper reports, especially in the United States, is, in fact, a bias against the truth and weakens the case for immediate action against emissions of C0<->2. And while we hum and haw, trying to persuade reluctant sceptics, the permafrost of the Arctic melts, sea levels inch up and the pH levels of oceans gradually drop because of the carbon that is absorbed from the atmosphere.

The following quote comes from an article in the Daily Telegraph editorial pages last month. It captures perfectly the knuckle-headed entrenchment of the last century: 'Climate change is an important, perhaps vital, debate, but it remains just that. Warning of disaster has become a global industry, and the livelihoods of thousands of scientists depend on our being sufficiently spooked to keep funding their research. The worry is that many of these researchers have stopped being scientists and become campaigners instead.'

The author pretends to even-handedness, but his real message is that climate change is a scam to keep scientists in work. Yet it is not scientists who are distorting the evidence, but the US oil lobby and a co-operative White House. Last week, Philip Cooney, a White House staffer, was exposed by the New York Times for revising reports on global warming so that they cast doubt on the link between greenhouse gases and rising temperatures. Mr Cooney, who has no scientific training whatsoever, resigned and took a job with Exxon Mobil, which is, incidentally, the company that produces twice the CO<->2 emissions of Norway and is currently facing a consumer boycott in Europe.

Read more.

Related Thread in LBN:
London Observer (Sunday): New Bush move to spoil climate accord started by your humble servant Saturday 7:01 pm PDT

[tk2kewl]

1. Gasp!

"the 'balance' in newspaper reports, especially in the United States, is, in fact, a bias against the truth"

Say it an so.

[mom cat]

2. Elementary Machivellianism my dear Henry

Just note for example the map that the following link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalwarming/graphic/0,7367,397048,00.html

Most of Europe will be suffering considerably 45 years from now whereas the United States will be feeling much less of an impact from climate change. I now firmly believe that George Bush and his cronies see an actual advantage to global warming in that it will advance the relative economic advantage of the United States over its largest competitor - Europe.
Yes I do think they are relly that evil.

[Briar]

3. Bingo! n/t