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
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DeSmogBlog: 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: 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: 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: 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: Santorum Misrepresents Climate Science. Again.
501px-Rick_Santorum_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg Rick Santorum was asked about climate change recently, while campaigning in New Hampshire. The video of his response, as well as the transcript, can be found here. Suffice it to say that while Santorum sounds thoughtful and rational in his response, in fact he gravely misrepresents scientific knowledge and understanding. Let's turn to the tape.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rick Santorum and Science: Bad Combination!
rick_santorum_official_photo.jpg As Republican primary season schizophrenia continues, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum is now in the spotlight, having very nearly beaten Mitt Romney in Iowa. So what do we people who care about science, and global warming in particular, know about Santorum? Whoa boy. None of the Republican candidates, with the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: New Proof: Republicans Really Are Anti-Science
republican war.jpg As readers know, I’m a regular monitor of polls capturing various aspects of the public’s views on science. These polls consistently show that for the most part, even if people don’t know a ton about it, they basically think science rocks. Americans know very well that science has
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Conservative MP seeks to open emotive abortion debate
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear his government will not reopen the abortion debate. But Stephen Woodworth, the Conservative MP for Kitchener Centre wants to reverse course. And force Parliament to enact a …Read More
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: “End Medicare?” How Phony Bipartisanship Created a Fact Checking Disaster
pinocchio.jpg Just last week, I wrote about the core problem facing the new breed of political fact-checkers: The political right is more factually wrong, meaning that taking a strictly “bipartisan” approach will inevitably leave the fact-checkers themselves guilty of phony “balance.” And it will also lead to them occasionally having
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Can Fact Checking be Politically “Neutral,” When Facts Are Not Equally Distributed Across the Political Spectrum?
pinocchio.jpg Recently, I sat in on an off-the-record meeting about political fact-checking. I can’t report or quote from the event, but it spurred along some general thoughts that had already arisen in the context of writing The Republican Brain, which focuses a great deal on fact-checking—and thus, helped propel this post.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Do Developing Nation Journalists Cover Climate Science Better (or at Least Better Than U.S. and U.K. Papers)?
ronaldo-brazil-world-cup-top-scorer.jpg As the European debt crisis scrapes along, there has been talk about the possible need for developing nations, like China and Brazil, to ultimately help bail out some spendthrift “developed” nations. A new study suggests that maybe they should also help bail out some of our media. The study comes from
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Fox News Viewers are the Most Misinformed: A Seventh Study Arrives to Prove It (and to Vindicate Jon Stewart!)
cavuto-20070117-global-2.jpg Two of my most popular posts here at DeSmogBlog were a pair of items documenting 1) just how many surveys have found Fox News viewers to be more misinformed about factual reality and 2) taking PolitiFact to task for giving Jon Stewart a “false” rating when he pointed this out.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Conservatives Attack and Misunderstand A Book They Haven’t Read…A Book About Flawed Conservative Reasoning
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This would be sad, if it weren’t also so telling.
On Monday I announced my new book The Republican Brain, which will be due out next spring. And I provided a brie…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rush Limbaugh: Meat Eater, Science Denier
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Recently, Rush Limbaugh went on another of his anti-science rants. This one was particularly fascinating, though, because of the things he actually got right—even as he &n…
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Don’t Believe in Science (or Many Other Inconvenient Truths)
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Over the last year here at DeSmogBlog, my writings have converged around a set of common themes. On the one hand, I’ve shown just how factually incorrect today’s political …
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