logo_brookings.gif The Brookings Institution has a new report out on the public's views about global warming, and most commentators are going for the predictable headline. It's this: Following the post-ClimateGate decline in belief that global warming is happening, we're now seeing a bit of a rebound. More people believe the
Continue readingTag: Political Spin
DeSmogBlog: A Call to Support Michael Mann
hockeybookmann.jpg I've been a great ally of my latest Point of Inquiry guest Michael Mann, and even called him a climate hero. I've blurbed his new book, saying the following: "Although not initially of his own choosing, Michael Mann has been the most important, resilient, and outspoken warrior in the climate battle—responding to
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: James Inhofe Takes the Climate Conspiracy Theory to New Heights—While His Home State Reels from Record Heat
hoaxbook.jpg James Inhofe, Republican Senator from Oklahoma, has a new book out. It is entitled The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future. I have not read it yet. So I cannot say much about its contents, but I can say this: The title suggests that Inhofe, like
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rick Santorum, Attacking Scientists, Claims He’s not Anti-Science
Rick-Santorum3-460×307.jpg Rick Santorum is becoming the anti-science gift that keeps on giving. Yesterday, while speaking in his home state, the former Pennsylvania senator once again tilted at the idea of human caused global warming, saying that it is based on “phony studies,” and really a case of “political science.” This is, you
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Republicans Aren’t the “Truth Party,” Mr. Santorum. They’re the “Certainty Party.”
225px-Rick_Santorum_official_photo.jpg Rick Santorum has been talking about the “politicization of science” a lot lately—although (a pet peeve of mine) he seems to have a problem with pronouncing the phrase. He says “polititization.” Check it out here. Not as bad as the people who say "political-ization," but don't get me started. Anyway,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Santorum Calls Global Warming a “Hoax,” Suggesting a Full-Fledged Climate Conspiracy Theory
501px-Rick_Santorum_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg Conservatism is a political philosophy that is, at its most fundamental, about resisting change. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that an outrageous and absurd line uttered about global warming in 2003—Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s assertion that it is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”—has not, nearly
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: A Conservative Ignores the Science on Why…Conservatives Ignore the Science
discoveryGlobeHeader.jpg David Klinghoffer, of the anti-evolutionist Discovery Institute, has a revealing article in the conservative American Spectator entitled: “Republicans and Science (as opposed to liberals and the science they’ve politicized).” Why “revealing”? Klinghoffer seeks to explain the real reason why conservatives like himself resist certain scientific findings. But in the process,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fox News Versus The Muppets: Do Conservatives Have Different Senses of Humor Than Liberals?
kermit.jpg You’ve probably already heard: In a video “press conference” that has already been seen by almost two million people, Kermit and Miss Piggy take on, and take down, Fox News. The provocation? A comment by a conservative media watcher, Dan Gainor of the Media Research Center, on the Fox Business
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: In Which Climate “Skeptics” Drop the Lysenko Bomb. No, I’m Not Kidding….
Lysenko_in_field_with_wheat.jpg There has been a much justified uproar over last week’s Wall Street Journal op-ed, in which a group of scientific “skeptics” reiterate the old line that we don’t have to worry about global warming, and that those who do so are engaging in climate “alarmism.” Ample refutations have been
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Uneasy Relationship Between Explaining Science to Conservatives…and Explaining Conservatives Scientifically
democrat_and_republican_symbols.jpg Over the past year or more, I’ve profited from a series of conversations and exchanges with Yale’s Dan Kahan, the NSF supported researcher who has made great waves studying how our cultural values predispose us to discount certain risks (like, say, climate change). Kahan’s schematic for approaching this question—dividing
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Another Industry Talking Point Laid To Rest: Oil Production Soars But Gas Prices Remain High
drill baby drill.jpg It is hard to believe that it's been almost four years since Americans were bombarded by the cry of “Drill baby, drill” that echoed throughout the halls of the Republican National Convention in 2008. That slogan became a rallying cry for conservatives who believed that increasing oil
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Newt Gingrich on Science: The "Say Anything" Candidate
newt_gingrich.jpg After smashing Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary, former House speaker Newt Gingrich has now emerged as tied with the onetime Republican presidential frontrunner. So it’s time to look closely at Gingrich's record on science—which is not, perhaps, as dismal as Rick Santorum’s, but still gives ample cause
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Friends with Benefits: The Harper Government, EthicalOil.org and Sun Media Connection
suntv_news.gif Just over a week before the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings began, EthicalOil.org and its allies launched a pre-emptive PR offensive on environmental and First Nations groups who oppose the pipeline. Their new website, OurDecision.ca, and ad campaign are an attempt to invalidate opposition to the pipeline by pointing to
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Who’s Afraid of Kerry Emanuel? Why Republicans Are Attacking a Republican Climate Scientist
kerry emanuel.jpg Last week, MIT climate scientist and hurricane specialist Kerry Emanuel received email threats for his view on climate change. These were quickly and appropriately condemned by the progressive and environmental blogosphere—as they are condemned by me—but I want to go a bit further and contemplate why Emanuel’s views
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Classroom Climate Battle: A New Heavy Hitter Joins the Fray
Teacher-writing-on-blackb-007.jpg For a year now, I’ve been covering the growing fight over the teaching of accurate climate science in American classrooms. The conflict is being driven by politics, of course, but also by the fact that school districts are, increasingly, bringing information about global warming into the educational curriculum—leading, inevitably,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Ethical Oil, the Sub-Prime Mortgage Scandal and The Next Great Generation
We are living in difficult times. The ongoing economic crisis started by the 2008 Sub-Prime Mortgage Scandal has all of us thinking about our future. We are vulnerable to unethical appeals to our anxiety in the form of quick fixes and easy profits. The promise of "Ethical Oil" is the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: US Chamber of Commerce Jobs Plan Rehashes Old, Debunked Talking Points
US_Chamber_of_Commerce_logo-740806.jpg The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its “The State of American Business 2012” plan this week, outlining their own vision of how to create jobs in America. There were no surprises in Chamber President Tom Donohue’s address to business leaders. He simply rehashed the same tired talking points that
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cozy Ties: Astroturf ‘Ethical Oil’ and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansion
hamish marshall and stephen harper.jpg As the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Joint Review Panel begins hearing over 4,000 comments submitted by community members, First Nations, governments, and environmental groups, the tar sands front group EthicalOil.org has launched its latest PR offensive in support of the pipeline. OurDecision.ca, the new astroturf ad
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Does PolitiFact Adequately Cover Scientific Misinformation? Well, Sort Of
pinocchio.jpg I’ve been harping a lot lately on the fact-checkers, like PolitiFact, and how they too often fall for a type of phony journalistic “balance” that those of us who practice science journalism as a trade have long abhorred. And then it occurred to me: Maybe the deep difference between science
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: How to Get a Liberal to Deny Climate Science (Yes, It Can Happen)
geoengineering_diagram1-660×439.jpg Regular readers of my posts will know that I’ve often focused on the work of Yale’s Dan Kahan and his colleagues, who have published fascinating research on how our political and cultural views about how society ought to be ordered skew our perceptions of scientific reality. In particular, Kahan
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