http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/03/22/why-global-warming-skeptics-are-wrong/
is a bit dated, and it doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, but it is worth reading today because it shows us how similar the climate denialists’ arguments are to the NRA’s anti-gun control logic today, and the position of the tobacco industry on carcinogens in cigarettes a half century ago. The source of the article criticized here (WSJ) is also worth noting. You know before you start who’s side they’ll be on.
The basic message of the article is that the globe is not warming, that dissident voices are being suppressed, and that delaying policies to slow climate change for fifty years will have no serious economic or environment consequences. My response is primarily designed to correct their misleading description of my own research; but it also is directed more broadly at their attempt to discredit scientists and scientific research on climate change. [emphasis my own--hank] I have identified six key issues that are raised in the article, and I provide commentary about their substance and accuracy. They are:
• Is the planet in fact warming?
• Are human influences an important contributor to warming?
• Is carbon dioxide a pollutant?
• Are we seeing a regime of fear for skeptical climate scientists?
• Are the views of mainstream climate scientists driven primarily by the desire for financial gain?
• Is it true that more carbon dioxide and additional warming will be beneficial?
As I will indicate below, on each of these questions, the sixteen scientists provide incorrect or misleading answers. At a time when we need to clarify public confusions about the science and economics of climate change, they have muddied the waters. I will describe their mistakes and explain the findings of current climate science and economics.
A careful reading of the article should demonstrate that the rhetorical tactics and data distortions adopted by denialists are not the result of honest debate, or even a legitimate misinterpretation of facts. They are deliberately designed to confuse and obscure reality, derail honest discussion and manipulate the lay public, all to promote a purely self-serving political and economic agenda. These people know exactly what they’re doing, and they are doing it for reasons they’re not telling us, but which we can easily infer for ourselves. Please read the article, its not that long, and allow yourself to really savor the deja vu.
We’ve been watching this same movie for years, now. This is not an honest disagreement, or even a legitimate difference arising from opposing or contrasting ideologies. Its a deliberately planned and meticulously crafted misinformation campaign designed to delay policies inconvenient to capitalism for as long as possible.
I guess TB was right. The whole global warming debate is political, not scientific. But ER was right too; there is no politics, its all really about economic$.