When is green really green? Debunking the tricky "think tanks"

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know.

---

As 2007 winds down as the hottest year on record, it's time to rekindle why the conclusion that global warming is occurring and human activity clearly is playing a part in that well-documented phenomenon versus the unexpected (?) maelstrom of discontent that has been ignited ever since Democrat (gasp!) Al Gore was awarded both an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize for his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Dispassionate observers have concluded that Gore's breakdown of recent changes in weather patterns or, more cautiously, "climate change" (which somehow makes weather disasters associated with Global Warming more acceptable because they are not "our" (humans) fault) is a slam dunk, a no brainer, yesterday's news. But the scientific investigation into what we are seeing before our various eyes courtesy of television and widespread video documentation of current weather events, has been turned on its head as, fairly portrayed, reactionaries have been successfully turning scientific "fact" into a debate paralleling that of evolution "versus" intelligent design.

Why is this happening? Who stands "win" or somehow believe the status quo is a far better path to take than investing in new technologies that can begin to remove carbon from the air? Why did this "mom and apple pie" story of one year ago suddenly become a, well, a controversy?

Without a dissertation on what British Petroleum is or isn't doing in this arena, their logo is instructive. Rather than showing an oil rig, for example, instead the BP logo invokes images of a sun flower. This is a bit ironic considering that their business involves, in large part, polluting the air by providing the carbon-based fossil fuels that run our millions of motor vehicles, and more. Is this a reincarnation of George Orwell's 1984? Of course, inorganic farming might benefit from pesticides and herbicides derived by petroleum products refined by BP, but is growing sunflowers really that large a portion of BP's business?

Georgia Asks for National Disaster Declaration Due to Drought

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know.

---

In my own neck of the woods, Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue, has just asked President Bush to declare the area north of Georgia including Lake Lanier, a key source of water for the Atlanta metro area, a federal disaster area. We went from relatively normal soil moisture last winter to a 100-year-drought in a matter of months thanks both to the lack of rain and to the evaporating effects of 10 or so days of sunshine and temperatures over 100. In fact, what's lost in that statement is the weeks of upper 90s F we also experienced this summer. No one seemed to notice how quickly lake levels were dropping, and many probably thought it was a temporary thing. Needless to say, we were hoping for a tropical storm or two to find their way to North Georgia to help alleviate the situation as it has in the recent past. Such was not the case this hurricane season, which technically isn't over.

Global Warming Backlash: Here Are Our Experts

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know.

---

Well, I decided to make this a secondary post to the earlier one. One are there so many names on Wikipedia of Global Warming skeptics? I can see two obvious reasons: 1) to the novice, the sheer number of names at first glance is impressive; 2) this is an easy way for Fox News and the Drudge Report, among many other right-leaning "news" organizations to easily find a skeptic to debunk the latest scientific research on Global Warming; mainstream journalists in the U.S. are trained to offer both sides of an issue on the assumption that citizens are wise enough to see the truth (I ought to know, I'm in a journalism college and have been affiliated one way or another with journalism, since I was 18 years old). So, the mainstream media can go to Wikipedia for sources if they so choose, and if any of those listed are articulate and know how to give a complete yet terse 30-second "sound byte" are far more likely to get on the air than those who don't.

---

The Lengths Global Warming Skeptics Go to Villify Al Gore

---

In fairness to Wikipedia (no pun intended), it also has a comprehensive area about Global Warming, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_controversy. Of course, mainstream scientists might argue that there is no controversy, the issue has been settled. Yet those with a political agenda to "Do Not Disturb" the fossil fuel industry work every day to frame Global Warming as a controversy. The extreme weather all over the globe this year (and it's continuing with severe weather in mid-October in the Midwestern United States where October is usually one of the most beautiful times of the year). Ironically, those who don't want to get into the controversy of Global Warming may very unscientifically look at the weather this year and agree Global Warming is upon us and it's time to do something about it.

Global Warming Skeptics: They Are Taking Names!

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know.

---

Because I am interested in addressing Global Warming, it's good to know who refuses to believe it or actively try to muddy the waters. It's no secret that members of the fossil fuel family, rather than invest in profitable new technologies to reduce emissions and even clear the air, get "hired guns" as is done in higher profile legal proceedings to uses their expertise to cast doubt on, in this case, Global Warming.

Wow! What a surprise. When I did a Google search for

global warming skeptics

I found that Wikipedia is taking names! The address is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Global_warming_skeptics.

Needless to say, out of curiosity I will check on global warming enthusiasts, advocates, experts, I'm not quite sure what the best word to use would be. What is the antonym of skeptic? Well, it is interesting to note that it was not easy to find an antonym for skeptic, but the on I did find seems OK: "believer." We have beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, and belief does seem reasonable. Beliefs are we perceive to be true.

However, when I went to Wikipedia, I found believer is the subject of songs, films, literature. I expected to see things related to religion. Nevertheless, I will attempt to find a list of global warming believers. I could use some help on this one. I suppose the last U.N. summit on the subject would be a good place to look.

"The Heartland Institute" Cover for "What Global Warming?"

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know.

---

I've taken time today to look for resources about Global Warming. I personally accept the term "Climate Change" to be a political run around the term "Global Warming." Climate change sounds more like an act of God, while environmental scientists agree that the earth is warming and human activity is one of the elements feeding Global Warming. But there are those out there who cannot accept this whether it be to protect the oil and auto industries or because they have framed this as a "Global Warming = Liberal Agenda" political ploy that does not fit their politically conservative view of the world.

The mom and apple pie sounding "The Heartland Institute" has a video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRaeEIN5Sh8 that pans Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Here is a still image from that video (my comments are in white letters, italicized):



It's hard for me to make out what the people (person?) behind "The Heartland Institute" are trying to prove, that Al Gore has a slide showing steam instead of smoke? Hired guns in the video say that the earth heats first, and then that raises CO2 levels. Hmmm..... Maybe those jokers who said we never landed on the moon were right after all.

Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media

Thanks to checking out the Society of Environmental Journalists' link of the week, I became aware of the new Yale Forum on Climate Change and The Media:

The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media is an online publication and forum to foster dialogue on climate change among scientists, journalists, policymakers, and the public. The Yale Forum is an initiative of the Yale Project on Climate Change, directed by Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Edited by veteran environmental journalist and journalism educator Bud Ward, The Yale Forum seeks to provide print, broadcasting, and online reporters and editors timely and credible information on one of the most important and complicated issues of our time. The Yale Forum will include useful media resources on climate change causes, consequences, and solutions. It will also analyze and discuss the process by which climate change is communicated through traditional and new media.

I suppose this will be seen as a "liberal" site, but I suspect that any news that would seem contrary to the notion of Climate Change will appear here.

Society of Environmental Journalists

This journalism organization is worthy of note. Indeed, they are doing professionally what I'm doing as an evangelist for bringing information about how to resolve global warm (and that still seems to need to get people off the fence and into the field of play). "SEJ members envision an informed society through excellence in environmental journalism.

Mission

"The mission of the Society of Environmental Journalists is to advance public understanding of environmental issues by improving the quality, accuracy, and visibility of environmental reporting."

At this point, I don't know if Matt Drudge could become a member or not.