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.
It has become a state sponsored religion.
It is settled science (doctrine) - debate is closed, deniers are shunned and decent is punished.
The scientific method has been shoved out the door - "modeling" has replaced science.
Look at how sincere they are - do not relay on facts.
New step added to scientific method “How do you feel about your hypothesis?”
Joseph Goebbels was a family man, too.
Yes, they are more than scientists, they are democrat operatives.
It’s not science at all — it’s political persuasion. Or what they used to call Propaganda.
I don’t know...If their new video has girls in bikinis playing volleyball, I might watch it...
When I took debate class in High School we called it “emotional appeal.”
The Left loves their victims. It's the meta-narrative: victim, victimizer, hero/champion.
Two + generations have been fed global climate change fear - Michael Crichton's book "State of Fear" was titled correctly. It is important for these global movement socialists to keep the world in a constant state of fear.
Take away government money (direct and indirect) and see how fast these “scientists” lose their enthusiasm.
Yes.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals:
1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
2. “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
3. “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
6. “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
7. “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
8. “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
10. “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
11. “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
12. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions
” it’s easy to make your own impression of their sincerity and conviction.”
I only care about the data.
“The scientific method has been shoved out the door - “modeling” has replaced science.”
I agree entirely. Should we trust the development of new medications without ever doing a clinical trial? Should we just test the effects of new drugs in computerized models - then have the FDA approve them? There’s no way we would do this, because the complexity of human biology is such that we aren’t even close to being able to ‘model’ it accurately. The same criticisms should apply to climate modeling.
Pathetic.
Galileo would be kissing the Pope’s feet about now.
More “Appeal to Sympathy” propaganda.
Nowadays it’s more like “appeal to authority.”
Assassination! Mugged!
They are even over the top alarmists when describing themselves.
They need treatment
Since Global Warming predicts that hurricanes will hit with greater frequency and greater force, this record breaking calm spell is yet another proof of Global Warming.
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