[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. --L.]
- Another scary aspect of the mainstreaming of global warming denialism
- …at its base, global warming denialism is a conspiracy theory. Yep, just like birtherism, 9/11 truther crap, and the belief that NASA didn’t really put a man on the moon. And just in case this wasn’t already obvious, some of the wingnuts that were bugging me on Twitter last night made it clear that they think the scientists publishing the evidence for all this are fudging their data. Yep, they even went as far to claim that all 928 studies collected on global warming—of which not one went against the consensus that warming is real and likely man-made—are wrong.
See, from where I sit, there’s no way to believe that global warming isn’t real unless you think a) it’s a hoax and b) one that’s perpetrated on an epic scale. If you look at 928 studies on global warming, all of which run against your predetermined conclusion, then you either have to change your mind and accept reality, or you have to believe that everyone involved is colluding with a giant hoax.
That’s a lot of co-conspirators. [...]
I’m also perplexed by the idea that reining in fossil fuel usage itself would be the end of capitalism. You’d think, if the millions of supposed conspirators in this whole thing were out to destroy capitalism, we’d take a less circuitous route than environmentalism. For one thing, there’s capitalists who make money off environmentalism, often with the help of the supposed conspirators, who encourage R&D and sales of green technology. You’d think we’d use our magnificent skills at organizing and maintaining secrecy to arrange a revolution, which would be easier to pull off with our numbers than fighting global warming is turning out to be.
- Global warming denialism, part 3: The difference between skeptics and denialists
- Global warming denialists are using exactly the same technique as creationists: zeroing in on relatively minor, technical, inside baseball disagreements about exact data to create confusion with the public that doesn’t understand science. But that this scientist disagrees with that one about how a specific species evolved doesn’t mean the theory of evolution isn’t substantive. That one scientist disagrees with another about how a specific neuron in the brain works doesn’t disprove the theory that our brains are the center of our nervous system. The same is true of climate science.
[...] Skeptics also ask questions, but a big difference between skeptics and denialists is that skeptics listen to answers and regard evidence as paramount. Denialists tend to see the piles of evidence against their claim, and see a conspiracy theory to perpetuate a hoax. But skeptics accept good evidence. Skeptics have a lot of respect for science, and denialists are usually out to undermine scientists working in the field where they have an agenda. Denialists will wear the costume of scientific thinking, but they usually show a piss-poor understanding how how the accumulation of studies and data work.
[...] Skepticism is becoming more and more important as the political troops to defend science. So when people who are part of the anti-science backlash call themselves “skeptics”, this confuses the issue.
[...] And while libertarians have ridiculous political ideas, that’s seemed not to be a big deal when they were out working to expose the lies of psychics and homeopaths.
But now the skeptical movement is paying in a big way for their willingness to overlook some of the kooky beliefs of libertarians, because it’s become internally a political nightmare to organize in support of climate science.
- Where the Female Bloggers Are
- Not at the meeting Speaker Pelosi organized for bloggers about the health care reform proposal [...]
Why does any of this matter? Because of what has been offered up as THE compromise in the whole debacle: Further reductions in women's reproductive choice.
The Link(s): Tue, Mar 16th, 1pm by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.