Posted on 03/22/2015 5:11:07 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
For nearly thirty years, climate scientists have been the targets of character assassination by the fossil-fuel industry’s hired guns. They’ve been mugged on the streets of public discourse, pounded by the fists of demagoguery and smear. Their lives have been upended in an effort to have their research suspended. They’ve been kicked, slapped, whipped, tripped, and called every ugly name in the book.
Now they’re fighting back, in a bold and innovative new campaign known as More Than Scientists. This campaign provides an inside look into the lives of the climate scientists whose extensive research led to the scientific verdict that greenhouse gas emissions were causing our planet’s temperature to increase to dangerous levels.
Eric Michaelman, a Seattle-based climate activist, is the creator of this effort. In an e-mail interview last week, Michaelman told me that this initiative “developed out of discussions and brainstorming between longtime climate activists in the Seattle area and scientists at the University of Washington who personally wanted to play a more constructive part in the public conversation about climate…[W]e felt that video would be the best medium with the goal of helping the public better get to know the scientists personally, since when you see and hear someone talking it’s easy to make your own impression of their sincerity and conviction.”
Rational-thinking people have long since been convinced of the sincerity and conviction of those who have labored tirelessly for decades to analyze the risk greenhouse gases pose to the planet. However, if you have any friends who still think Sean Hannity knows more about climate change than actual climate scientists, ask them to watch these videos and see if they change their minds…or just keep them closed.
[VIDEO embedded at source]
As Michaelman noted last week, “The goal of More Than Scientists is to help the public get to know the scientists and hear in their own words that climate change is real and they’re concerned about it. There’s so much misinformation spread about climate science that we felt it would be really helpful to hear more directly from the scientists themselves. What better way to communicate the actual scientific consensus than to hear from the scientists themselves? And if we can help the public to see and appreciate the scientists as their neighbors, fellow community members and parents, then it can only help acceptance of their message that it is real and we should be concerned for the world we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.”
Speaking of the world we’re leaving our children and grandchildren—and those who are, and who are not, terribly concerned about it—I wasn’t surprised in the least to learn that wingnut media entities have opened rhetorical fire on former Secretary of State George Shultz after he wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post suggesting that Republicans who dismiss the threat of climate change are ignoring the lesson Reagan taught when he addressed the threat of ozone-layer depletion in the 1980s. It’s obvious that Schulz’s words—in particular, his call for revenue-neutral carbon-pricing legislation —have fallen upon deaf right-wing ears. The savagely negative reaction to Shultz’s piece is a precursor to how the right wing will go after Pope Francis when he releases his encyclical on the environment and addresses Congress later on this year. To right-wing ideologues, Shultz is just a senile RINO and Francis is an impostor; in their deranged minds, David Koch is the real Pope.
I know that many climate scientists hope that the partisan divide on this issue can be brought to an end. I’m sure Shultz thinks this divide can be brought to an end. I assume climate-concerned Catholics believe Pope Francis can bring the partisan divide to an end. However, this divide can only end by bringing an end to the tyranny of right-wing ideology in this country. That’s a hard fight…but it can be won. It must be won.
UPDATE: More from Thom Hartmann.
If I may....
Haven't we heard farmers talking about all the EPA rules, regulations and paper work that was taking all their time, costing them money?
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March 7, 2015 - Farm Bureau, others question Scott Walker's proposed farm research cuts
"Researchers and supporters [read EPA and Big Education] of a program that helps farmers run cleaner and more efficient operations say they were “stunned” and “blindsided” by Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to cut a third of the project’s funding.
Discovery Farms, a UW-Extension program that dates to 2001, applies science from a “plows-on” level, evaluates and monitors efforts by state farmers to control runoff, calibrate fertilizer use and employ techniques to conserve land and water.
It has a $750,000 budget, of which $248,000 would be cut in the governor’s proposed state budget.
UW-Extension officials noted the loss affects longstanding projects and the ability of the small program to leverage crucial additional grants and funds.
“We would have a 1.2-employee reduction of staff and we would pull back some of our sampling efforts, water quality analysis and a project (set) for Rock County,” said Amber Radatz, project co-director.
The project’s programs include monitoring 20 state farms and educating thousands of farmers on conservation strategies.
“This was a big surprise to our agency partners as well as our partners in farm groups and in UW-Extension,” she said. “We never had an inkling.”
The $248,000 comes from a surcharge on farm chemical sales that would be discontinued."..................
And they even invoked Reagan to "prove" their point. I haven't heard much about the ozone layer for a while - I think the faux-freon did the trick...even the UN made a determination some time ago that it was "recovering".
I think that when they discovered that the ozone layer was going to be OK, they needed something else to hang their "subjugate all the humans" hat on and decided that they needed something that could never be proved or disproved so propaganda would determine who wins the war....
I only watched the younger "PhD candidate" because she looked kinda cute. But you are right, all she could say is how "personal" it is. She really "believes" it is going to get worse (as if "hurricane" Sandy were not a natural dynamic event). This is the inevitable consequence of the dumbing down of education. Instead of curiosity we now promote knee-jerk fear mongering.
I go on a lib board to argue against the endless parade of dupes there, some quite sincere like that young woman on that video. But there are some that are the most vile beings imaginable (bad language, hatred against others, etc). One of the worst of them bragged that all his "13 year old students" laughed at Inhofe's snowball. Granted Inhofe ought to know that any truths that he expressed in his snowball statement would be buried by the media. But this excuse for an educator knows his Rules for Radicals. We are not likely to develop objective scientists with educators like that.
We are up against one of the larger anti-enlightenment movements in history. Global warming is the point on the spear. The real enemies are American power, rationality, science, democracy, etc. There are a lot of useful idiots like the young woman in the video, and I will keep providing them with facts for as long as I can.
bttt!
It works when your audience is ignorant and programed to "feel."
Nowadays it’s more like “appeal to authority.”
Yes. There is no need to give evidence other than "XXXX says it is so" (and have "educators" present this "fact" in class).
OK!! Everybody pay attention!
Lesson for today:
1. The sun is 1,300,000 times as big as the earth.
2. The sun is a ball of fire that controls the climates of all its planets.
3. The earth is one of the sun’s planets.
4. The earth is a speck in comparison to the size of the sun.
5. Inhabitants of the earth are less than specks.
Study Question: How do less-than-specks in congress plan to control the sun?
Back in the days when NASA was a real scientific organization, Wernher von Braun had this sign over his desk:
"In God we trust. All others bring data".
That manure heap is likely in violation of some EPA regulation. It should have a barf alert...
So the facts and real science do not really matter, just watch our video and become a believer??
Is that their official position? They belong in PRISON FOR FRAUD
Global Waming. Fake But Accurate. (IOW, Fake.)
Lysenkoism
The title “Sounds of Science” says that this is led by a bunch of old 60’s hippyish liberals. Apparently, Paul Simon is still one of his heroes.
Climate Movement Drops Mask, Admits Communist Agenda
People’s Climate Rally, Oakland, 9-21-14
http://www.zombietime.com/climate_movement_drops_mask_admits_communist_agenda/
Scientists always get in trouble when they appeal to pity.
"Lysenkoism is used metaphorically to describe the manipulation or distortion of the scientific process as a way to reach a predetermined conclusion as dictated by an ideological bias, often related to social or political objectives."
Bump!
I watched 90 seconds of the introductory video. Egads, what a bunch of drek. One of the “climate scientists” was droning on about coming shortages of water and crop failure, but the video showed a flooded city with the top of the street signs barely above the water!
Warming or cooling; drought or flood - doesn’t matter, it’s all caused by the evil, privileged white patriarchy. We simply want everybody else to die.
Once. Just once, show me a “climate scientist” who walks the talk.
They need to be shamed out of their profession and never permitted to utter the word "science" again.
Nary a voice going against the din has been heard by most people. What the writer objects to in his screed is that anyone dares to raise an objection to the warmists.
Most government hirelings labor without tiring, unless they're running a side business from their desk which many of them do.
This piece would be useful in a government propaganda writing class as an example of going too far and being too transparent of their motives.
An honest examination will reveal strikingly similar political views that demand lockstep adherence to the leftist agenda. Do they really want to go there?
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