Posted on 08/11/2007 10:53:27 PM PDT by EPW Comm Team
August 12, 2007
Newsweek Editor Calls Mag's Global Warming 'Deniers' Article 'Highly Contrived'
Posted by Marc Morano - Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov 12:39 AM
[Note: For more background on Newsweek's controversial article see August 5, 2007 EPW Blog: "Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism" (LINK)]
Washington DC - Robert J. Samuelson, a contributing editor of Newsweek, slapped down his own Magazine for what he termed a "highly contrived story" about the global warming "denial machine. Samuelson, writing in the August 20, 2007 issue of Newsweek, explains that the Magazine used "discredited" allegations in last week's issue involving a supposed cash bounty to pay skeptics to dispute global warming science and he chided the Magazine for portraying global warming as a "morality tale." (LINK) Samuelsons article titled Greenhouse Simplicities," also characterized the "deniers" cover story as "fundamentally misleading."
Who would have thought that Newsweek would debunk its own embarrassing cover story a week later in the very next issue? This kind of reversal does not happen very often in journalism. [Note: It previously took Newsweek 31 years to admit its 1970's prediction of dire global cooling was completely wrong. See October 24, 2006 article: Senator Inhofe Credited For Prompting Newsweek Admission of Error on 70's Predictions of Coming Ice Age (LINK)]
In this week's issue, Samuelson's writes: "As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality taleas Newsweek didin which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society."
Samuelson also noted, Newsweeks denial machine [cover story] is a peripheral and highly contrived story."
"Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder," he added.
And despite the best efforts of Newsweeks propaganda team, Samuelson was not convinced that there was a powerful denial machine.
The alleged cabal's influence does not seem impressive, he wrote.
This is a very inconvenient turn of events for the ideologically driven and very sloppy team of writers led by Sharon Begley, Eve Conant and Eleanor Clift. Newsweek's management must have realized that their global warming 'denial' cover story (LINK) was so woeful that they were forced to run a complete rebuttal in the very next issue from one of their very own editors.
One can only imagine the internal discussions at Newsweek over this surprising turn of events. Below is a portion of Samuelson's column, recommended for anyone interested in understanding the mainstream media's utter failure to comprehend the basics of balance, objectivity or fairness in climate reporting.
[Also note: EPW's Blog critique of the 'denier' article titled "Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism, has been updated with additional information on the funding of skeptics vs. the man-made global warming mega infrastructure. Please see (LINK) for updated blog.]
Excerpts of Samuelson's article in this week's Newsweek
Greenhouse Simplicities (LINK to complete article) By Robert J. Samuelson Newsweek Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - We in the news business often enlist in moral crusades. Global warming is among the latest. Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's NEWSWEEK cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It's an object lesson of how viewing the world as "good guys vs. bad guys" can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story. Global warming has clearly occurred; the hard question is what to do about it.
If you missed NEWSWEEK's story, here's the gist. A "well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change." This "denial machine" has obstructed action against global warming and is still "running at full throttle." The story's thrust: discredit the "denial machine," and the country can start the serious business of fighting global warming. The story was a wonderful read, marred only by its being fundamentally misleading.
The global-warming debate's great un-mentionable is this: we lack the technology to get from here to there. Just because Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to cut emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 doesn't mean it can happen. At best, we might curb emissions growth.
Consider a 2006 study from the International Energy Agency. With present policies, it projected that carbon-dioxide emissions (a main greenhouse gas) would more than double by 2050; developing countries would account for almost 70 percent of the increase. The IEA then simulated an aggressive, global program to cut emissions based on the best available technologies: more solar, wind and biomass; more-efficient cars, appliances and buildings; more nuclear. Under this admitted fantasy, global emissions in 2050 would still slightly exceed 2003 levels.
Even the fantasy would be a stretch. In the United States, it would take massive regulations, higher energy taxes or both. Democracies don't easily adopt painful measures in the present to avert possible future problems. Examples abound. Since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, we've been on notice to limit dependence on insecure foreign oil. We've done little. In 1973, imports were 35 percent of U.S. oil use; in 2006, they were 60 percent. For decades we've known of the huge retirement costs of baby boomers. Little has been done.
< >
Against these real-world pressures, NEWSWEEK's "denial machine" is a peripheral and highly contrived story. NEWSWEEK implied, for example, that ExxonMobil used a think tank to pay academics to criticize global-warming science. Actually, this accusation was long ago discredited, and NEWSWEEK shouldn't have lent it respectability. (The company says it knew nothing of the global-warming grant, which involved issues of climate modeling. And its 2006 contribution to the think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, was small: $240,000 out of a $28 million budget.)
The alleged cabal's influence does not seem impressive. The mainstream media have generally been unsympathetic; they've treated global warming ominously. The first NEWSWEEK cover story in 1988 warned the greenhouse effect. danger: more hot summers ahead. A Time cover in 2006 was more alarmist: be worried, be very worried. Nor does public opinion seem much swayed. Although polls can be found to illustrate almost anything, the longest-running survey questions show a remarkable consistency. In 1989, Gallup found 63 percent of Americans worried "a great deal" or a "fair amount" about global warming; in 2007, 65 percent did.
What to do about global warming is a quandary. Certainly, more research and development. Advances in underground storage of carbon dioxide, battery technology (for plug-in hybrid cars), biomass or nuclear power could alter energy economics. To cut oil imports, I support a higher gasoline tax$1 to $2 a gallon, introduced graduallyand higher fuel-economy standards for vehicles. These steps would also temper greenhouse-gas emissions. Drilling for more domestic natural gas (a low-emission fuel) would make sense. One test of greenhouse proposals: are they worth doing on other grounds?
But the overriding reality seems almost un-American: we simply don't have a solution for this problem. As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality taleas NEWSWEEK didin which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society.
For Samuelson's full article go to: (LINK)
# # #
EPW Inhofe Press Blog Note: A blockbuster U.S. Senate report is set to be released in the Fall 2007 that will feature hundreds of scientists (many current and former UN scientists) who have spoken out recently against Gore, the UN, and the media driven climate consensus. Please keep checking this blog for updates.
Related Links:
Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism
Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt
EPA to Probe E-mail Threatening to Destroy Career of Climate Skeptic
Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics
Senator Inhofe declares climate momentum shifting away from Gore (The Politico op ed)
Scientific Smackdown: Skeptics Voted The Clear Winners Against Global Warming Believers in Heated NYC Debate
Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus
Global Warming: The Momentum has Shifted to Climate Skeptics
Prominent French Scientist Reverses Belief in Global Warming - Now a Skeptic
Top Israeli Astrophysicist Recants His Belief in Manmade Global Warming - Now Says Sun Biggest Factor in Warming
Warming On Jupiter, Mars, Pluto, Neptune's Moon & Earth Linked to Increased Solar Activity, Scientists Say
Panel of Broadcast Meteorologists Reject Man-Made Global Warming Fears- Claim 95% of Weathermen Skeptical
MIT Climate Scientist Calls Fears of Global Warming 'Silly' - Equates Concerns to Little Kids Attempting to "Scare Each Other"
Weather Channel TV Host Goes 'Political'- Stars in Global Warming Film Accusing U.S. Government of Criminal Neglect
Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics
ABC-TV Meteorologist: I Don't Know A Single Weatherman Who Believes 'Man-Made Global Warming Hype'
The Weather Channel Climate Expert Refuses to Retract Call for Decertification for Global Warming Skeptics
Senator Inhofe Announces Public Release Of "Skeptics Guide To Debunking Global Warming"
# # #
I’m shocked to see this coming from a Newsweek editor. Where was he before the article went to print?
Looks like the liars caught their toe in a trap. I wonder what the trap was. It can’t have been their own “journalistic standards,” which is an oxymoron if I ever saw one, because Newsweak doesn’t have any.
Is Hell freezing?
he still accepts the idea of AGW
on the other hand I think we can all agree that ending dependence on oil from islamists and hugo is a good idea.
Whoa! It seems like every day there’s another nail in the coffin of the “global warming” hoax.
Lawrence Solomon's "The Deniers" (a series of articles on the view of scientists who have been labelled "Global Warming Deniers"):
Other References:
Liberals eating liberals... must be a cold snowy pass they are trying to get through.
Simplified...Engage in full scale butt-covering mode before the real story comes out and we look like fools.
Incredibly, Samuelson missed the most important issue of all in the entire debate! It is this: “Is global warming caused in any way by human action?” He skipped right over that one, even in full-blown CYA mode.
Posted By Marc Morano Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov 9:33 PM ET
UPDATE: August 12, 2007 - Newsweek Editor Calls Mag's Global Warming 'Deniers' Article 'Highly Contrived' - Excerpt: A contributing editor of Newsweek, slapped down the Magazine for what he termed a "highly contrived story" about the global warming "denial machine.
See Updated Blog: LINK
Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism
Newsweek Magazines cover story of August 13, 2007 entitled, The Truth About Denial contains very little that could actually be considered balanced, objective or fair by journalistic standards. (LINK)
The one-sided editorial, masquerading as a news article, was written by Sharon Begley with Eve Conant, Sam Stein and Eleanor Clift and Matthew Philips and purports to examine the well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change.
The only problem is -- Newsweek knew better. Reporter Eve Conant, who interviewed Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee, was given all the latest data proving conclusively that it is the proponents of man-made global warming fears that enjoy a monumental funding advantage over the skeptics. (A whopping $50 BILLION to a paltry $19 MILLION and some change for skeptics Yes, that is BILLION to MILLION - see below )
This weeks news article in Newsweek follows the Magazines October 23, 2006 article which admitted the error of their ways in the 1970s when they predicted dire global cooling. (See: Senator Inhofe Credited For Prompting Newsweek Admission of Error on 70's Predictions of Coming Ice Age LINK )
Use of Word Denier
First, lets take a look at Newsweeks use of the word denier when describing a scientist who views with skepticism the unproven computer models predicting future climate doom. The use of this terminology has drawn the ire of Roger Pielke, Jr. of the University of Colorado's Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. The phrase climate change denier is meant to be evocative of the phrase holocaust denier, Pielke, Jr. wrote on October 9, 2006 (LINK)
Let's be blunt. This allusion is an affront to those who suffered and died in the Holocaust. This allusion has no place in the discourse on climate change. I say this as someone fully convinced of a significant human role in the behavior of the climate system, Pielke, Jr. explained.
Newsweek Fails Basic Arithmetic
Newsweek reporter Eve Conant was given the documentation showing that proponents of man-made global warming have been funded to the tune of $50 BILLION in the last decade or so, while skeptics have received a paltry $19 MILLION and some change by comparison.
Paleoclimate scientist Bob Carter, who has testified before the Senate EPW committee, explains how much money has been spent researching and promoting climate fears.
In one of the more expensive ironies of history, the expenditure of more than $US50 billion on research into global warming since 1990 has failed to demonstrate any human-caused climate trend, let alone a dangerous one. (LINK ) [Note: The U.S. alone has spent $30 billion on federal programs directly or indirectly related to global warming in just the last six years, according to one estimate. (LINK) ($5.79 billion in 2006 alone) Adding to this total is funding from the UN, foundations, universities, foreign governments, etc. Even if you factor in former Vice President Al Gore's assertion August 7, 2007 that $10 million dollars a year flows into skeptical organizations, any funding comparison between skeptics and proponents still utterly fails. (LINK) ] For a breakdown of how much money flows to promoters of climate fear, see a Janaury 17, 2007 EPW blog post: (LINK)
"The [climate] alarmists also enjoy a huge financial advantage over the skeptics with numerous foundations funding climate research, University research money and the United Nations endless promotion of the cause. Just how much money do the climate alarmists have at their disposal? There was a $3 billion donation to the global warming cause from Virgin Airs Richard Branson alone. The well-heeled environmental lobbying groups have massive operating budgets compared to groups that express global warming skepticism. The Sierra Club Foundation 2004 budget was $91 million and the Natural Resources Defense Council had a $57 million budget for the same year. Compare that to the often media derided Competitive Enterprise Institutes small $3.6 million annual budget. In addition, if a climate skeptic receives any money from industry, the media immediately labels them and attempts to discredit their work. The same media completely ignore the money flow from the environmental lobby to climate alarmists like James Hansen and Michael Oppenheimer. (ie. Hansen received $250,000 from the Heinz Foundation and Oppenheimer is a paid partisan of Environmental Defense Fund) The alarmists have all of these advantages, yet they still feel the need to resort to desperation tactics to silence the skeptics. (LINK) Could it be that the alarmists realize that the American public is increasingly rejecting their proposition that the family SUV is destroying the earth and rejecting their shrill calls for 'action' to combat their computer model predictions of a 'climate emergency?'" (See EPW Blog for full article LINK )
As Senator Inhofe further explained in a September 25, 2006 Senate floor speech: The fact remains that political campaign funding by environmental groups to promote climate and environmental alarmism dwarfs spending by the fossil fuel industry by a three-to-one ratio. Environmental special interests, through their 527s, spent over $19 million compared to the $7 million that Oil and Gas spent through PACs in the 2004 election cycle. (LINK)
Senator Inhofe further explained: "I am reminded of a question the media often asks me about how much I have received in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. My unapologetic answer is Not Enough, -- especially when you consider the millions partisan environmental groups pour into political campaigns." (LINK)
Now contrast all of the above with how much money the well funded skeptics allegedly receive.
The Paltry Funding of Skeptics (by comparision)
The most repeated accusation is that organizations skeptical of man-made climate fears have received $19 Million from an oil corporation over the past two decades. This was the subject of a letter by two U.S. Senators in 2006 (See Senators letter of October 30, 2006 noting the $19 Million from Exxon-Mobil to groups skeptical of man-made global warming LINK )
To put this $19 Million over two decades into perspective, consider:
One 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant of $20 million to study how farm odors contribute to global warming exceeded all of the money that skeptics reportedly received from an oil giant in the past two decades. To repeat: One USDA grant to study the role of farm odors in global warming exceeded ALL the money skeptics have been accused of receiving from an oil giant over the past two decades. (Excerpt from article: The United States Department of Agriculture has released reports stating that when you smell cow manure, you're also smelling greenhouse gas emissions. (LINK or LINK )
As erroneous and embarrassingly one-sided as Newsweeks article is, the magazine sunk deeper into journalistic irrelevance when it noted that skeptical Climatologist Patrick Michaels had reportedly received industry funding without revealing to readers the full funding picture. The magazine article mentions NASAs James Hansen as some sort of example of a scientist untainted by funding issues. But what Newsweek was derelict in reporting is that Hansen had received a $250,000 award from the Heinz Foundation run by Senator John Kerrys wife Teresa in 2001 and then subsequently endorsed Kerry for President in 2004. (LINK )
Science Vindicating Skeptics
Finally, Newsweeks editorial rant attempts to make it appear as though the science is getting stronger in somehow proving mankind is driving a climate catastrophe. There are, however, major problems with that assertion.
Scientists are speaking up around the globe to denounce Gore, the UN and the media driven consensus on global warming. Just recently, an EPW report detailed a sampling of scientists who were once believers in man-made global warming and who now are skeptical. [See May 15, 2007 report: Climate Momentum Shifting: Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics: Growing Number of Scientists Convert to Skeptics After Reviewing New Research LINK ]
Mathematician & engineer Dr. David Evans, who did carbon accounting for the Australian government, detailed how he left the global warming funding "gravy train" and became a skeptic. By the late 1990's, lots of jobs depended on the idea that carbon emissions caused global warming. Many of them were bureaucratic, but there were a lot of science jobs created too. I was on that gravy train, making a high wage in a science job that would not have existed if we didn't believe carbon emissions caused global warming," Evans explained. "But starting in about 2000, the last three of the four pieces of evidence outlined above fell away or reversed, Evans wrote. The pre-2000 ice core data was the central evidence for believing that atmospheric carbon caused temperature increases. The new ice core data shows that past warmings were *not* initially caused by rises in atmospheric carbon, and says nothing about the strength of any amplification. This piece of evidence casts reasonable doubt that atmospheric carbon had any role in past warmings, while still allowing the possibility that it had a supporting role, he added. (LINK)
In addition, just last week, three new scientific studies further strengthened the skeptics views on climate change. (LINK) Further, a recent analysis of peer-reviewed literature thoroughly debunks any fears of Greenland melting and a frightening sea level rise. [See July 30, 2007 - Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt - LINK ]
Newsweek: A Media Dinosaur
The question remains: Is Newsweek even a news outlet worth taking the time to respond to in posts like this? Does Newsweek, a quirky alternative news outlet, even have an impact on public policy anymore?
Journalism students across the world can read this weeks cover story to learn how reporting should not be done. Hopefully, that will be Newsweeks legacy -- serving as a shining example of the failure of modern journalism to adhere to balance, objectivity and fairness. Anyone who fails to see this inconvenient truth is truly (to borrow Newsweek's vernacular) a denier.
Background of recent climate science developments:
Even the alarmist UN has cut sea level rise estimates dramatically since 2001 and has reduced mans estimated impact on the climate by 25%. Meanwhile a separate 2006 UN report found that cow emissions are more damaging to the planet than all of the CO2 emissions from cars and trucks. (LINK)
The New York Times is now debunking aspects of climate alarmism. An April 23, 2006 article in the New York Times by Andrew Revkin stated: few scientists agree with the idea that the recent spate of potent hurricanes, European heat waves, African drought and other weather extremes are, in essence, our fault (a result of manmade emissions.) There is more than enough natural variability in nature to mask a direct connection, [scientists] say.
The New York Times is essentially conceding that no recent weather events are outside of natural climate variability. So all the climate doomsayers have to back up their claims of climate fears are unproven computer models of the future. Of course, you cant prove a prediction of the climate in 2100 wrong today. Its simply not possible.
Climate Computer Models Not So Reliable
Recently, a top UN scientist publicly conceded that climate computer model predictions are not so reliable after all. Dr. Jim Renwick, a lead author of the IPCC 4th Assessment Report, admitted to the New Zealand Herald in June 2007, Half of the variability in the climate system is not predictable, so we don't expect to do terrifically well." (LINK)
A leading scientific skeptic of global warming fears, Dr. Hendrik Tennekes, former CEO of the Netherlands' Royal National Meteorological Institute, took the critique of climate models that predict future doom a step further. Tennekes wrote on February 28, 2007, "I am of the opinion that most scientists engaged in the design, development, and tuning of climate models are in fact software engineers. They are unlicensed, hence unqualified to sell their products to society." (LINK)
Ivy League geologist Dr. Robert Giegengack of the University of Pennsylvania noted for most of Earths history, the globe has been warmer than it has been for the last 200 years. It has rarely been cooler, Giegengack said according to a February 2007 article in Philadelphia Magazine. (LINK) The article continued, [Giegengack] says carbon dioxide doesnt control global temperature, and certainly not in a direct linear way.
Climatologist Dr. Timothy Ball explained that one of the reasons climate models fail is because they overestimate the warming effect of CO2 in the atmosphere. Ball described how CO2 stabilizes in the atmosphere and its warming impact diminishes. Even if CO2 concentration doubles or triples, the effect on temperature would be minimal. The relationship between temperature and CO2 is like painting a window black to block sunlight. The first coat blocks most of the light. Second and third coats reduce very little more. Current CO2 levels are like the first coat of black paint, Ball explained in a June 6, 2007 article in Canada Free Press. (LINK)
New data is revealing what may perhaps be the ultimate inconvenient truth for climate doomsayers:
Global warming stopped in 1998.
Dr. Nigel Calder, co-author with physicist Henrik Svensmark of the 2007 book The Chilling Stars: A New Theory on Climate Change, explained in July 2007: (LINK)
In reality, global temperatures have stopped rising. Data for both the surface and the lower air show no warming since 1999. That makes no sense by the hypothesis of global warming driven mainly by CO2, because the amount of CO2 in the air has gone on increasing. But the fact that the Sun is beginning to neglect its climatic duty of battling away the cosmic rays that come from the chilling stars fits beautifully with this apparent end of global warming.
Perhaps the conversion of many former scientists from believers in man-made global warming to skeptics (LINK) and the new peer-reviewed research is why so many proponents of a climatic doom have resorted to threats and intimidation in attempting to silence skeptics. (See: EPA to Probe E-mail Threatening to Destroy Career of Climate Skeptic - LINK )
# # #
EPW Inhofe Press Blog Note: A blockbuster U.S. Senate report is set to be released in the Fall 2007 that will feature hundreds of scientists (many current and former UN scientists) who have spoken out recently against Gore, the UN, and the media driven climate consensus. Please keep checking this blog for updates.
Related Links:
Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt
EPA to Probe E-mail Threatening to Destroy Career of Climate Skeptic
Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics
Senator Inhofe declares climate momentum shifting away from Gore (The Politico op ed)
Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus
Global Warming: The Momentum has Shifted to Climate Skeptics
Prominent French Scientist Reverses Belief in Global Warming - Now a Skeptic
Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics
ABC-TV Meteorologist: I Don't Know A Single Weatherman Who Believes 'Man-Made Global Warming Hype'
Senator Inhofe Announces Public Release Of "Skeptics Guide To Debunking Global Warming"
# # #
ping
Perhaps the following words, from the above U.S.Senate blog posting, relate to why the New York Times and now Newsweek, are back peddling on global warming.
EPW Inhofe Press Blog Note: A blockbuster U.S. Senate report is set to be released in the Fall 2007 that will feature hundreds of scientists (many current and former UN scientists) who have spoken out recently against Gore, the UN, and the media driven climate consensus.Something moved behind the scenes. Someone, or some interest, with serious money or power on the line, has decided to move against the global warming forces.
Perhaps Hillary needed to put Gore back in his lock box.
Or perhaps some major political or economic power was finding the global warming movement to be getting in their way.
I can only speculate that some force other than Hillary is behind the recent counter action to global warming.
Well, not a big problem, actually. That week old article had more background information, so is worth recording here.
Here's the article of today August 12, that started this thread, reposted with live links.
Newsweek Editor Calls Mag's Global Warming 'Deniers' Article 'Highly Contrived'
Posted by Marc Morano - Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov 12:39 AM
[Note: For more background on Newsweek's controversial article see August 5, 2007 EPW Blog: "Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism" (LINK)]
Washington DC - Robert J. Samuelson, a contributing editor of Newsweek, slapped down his own Magazine for what he termed a "highly contrived story" about the global warming "denial machine. Samuelson, writing in the August 20, 2007 issue of Newsweek, explains that the Magazine used "discredited" allegations in last week's issue involving a supposed cash bounty to pay skeptics to dispute global warming science and he chided the Magazine for portraying global warming as a "morality tale." (LINK) Samuelsons article titled Greenhouse Simplicities," also characterized the "deniers" cover story as "fundamentally misleading."
Who would have thought that Newsweek would debunk its own embarrassing cover story a week later in the very next issue? This kind of reversal does not happen very often in journalism. [Note: It previously took Newsweek 31 years to admit its 1970's prediction of dire global cooling was completely wrong. See October 24, 2006 article: Senator Inhofe Credited For Prompting Newsweek Admission of Error on 70's Predictions of Coming Ice Age (LINK)]
In this week's issue, Samuelson's writes: "As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality taleas Newsweek didin which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society."
Samuelson also noted, Newsweeks denial machine [cover story] is a peripheral and highly contrived story."
"Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder," he added.
And despite the best efforts of Newsweeks propaganda team, Samuelson was not convinced that there was a powerful denial machine.
The alleged cabal's influence does not seem impressive, he wrote.
This is a very inconvenient turn of events for the ideologically driven and very sloppy team of writers led by Sharon Begley, Eve Conant and Eleanor Clift. Newsweek's management must have realized that their global warming 'denial' cover story (LINK) was so woeful that they were forced to run a complete rebuttal in the very next issue from one of their very own editors.
One can only imagine the internal discussions at Newsweek over this surprising turn of events. Below is a portion of Samuelson's column, recommended for anyone interested in understanding the mainstream media's utter failure to comprehend the basics of balance, objectivity or fairness in climate reporting.
[Also note: EPW's Blog critique of the 'denier' article titled "Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism, has been updated with additional information on the funding of skeptics vs. the man-made global warming mega infrastructure. Please see (LINK) for updated blog.]
Excerpts of Samuelson's article in this week's Newsweek
Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - We in the news business often enlist in moral crusades. Global warming is among the latest. Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's NEWSWEEK cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It's an object lesson of how viewing the world as "good guys vs. bad guys" can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story. Global warming has clearly occurred; the hard question is what to do about it.
If you missed NEWSWEEK's story, here's the gist. A "well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change." This "denial machine" has obstructed action against global warming and is still "running at full throttle." The story's thrust: discredit the "denial machine," and the country can start the serious business of fighting global warming. The story was a wonderful read, marred only by its being fundamentally misleading.
The global-warming debate's great un-mentionable is this: we lack the technology to get from here to there. Just because Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to cut emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 doesn't mean it can happen. At best, we might curb emissions growth.
Consider a 2006 study from the International Energy Agency. With present policies, it projected that carbon-dioxide emissions (a main greenhouse gas) would more than double by 2050; developing countries would account for almost 70 percent of the increase. The IEA then simulated an aggressive, global program to cut emissions based on the best available technologies: more solar, wind and biomass; more-efficient cars, appliances and buildings; more nuclear. Under this admitted fantasy, global emissions in 2050 would still slightly exceed 2003 levels.
Even the fantasy would be a stretch. In the United States, it would take massive regulations, higher energy taxes or both. Democracies don't easily adopt painful measures in the present to avert possible future problems. Examples abound. Since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, we've been on notice to limit dependence on insecure foreign oil. We've done little. In 1973, imports were 35 percent of U.S. oil use; in 2006, they were 60 percent. For decades we've known of the huge retirement costs of baby boomers. Little has been done.
< >
Against these real-world pressures, NEWSWEEK's "denial machine" is a peripheral and highly contrived story. NEWSWEEK implied, for example, that ExxonMobil used a think tank to pay academics to criticize global-warming science. Actually, this accusation was long ago discredited, and NEWSWEEK shouldn't have lent it respectability. (The company says it knew nothing of the global-warming grant, which involved issues of climate modeling. And its 2006 contribution to the think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, was small: $240,000 out of a $28 million budget.)
The alleged cabal's influence does not seem impressive. The mainstream media have generally been unsympathetic; they've treated global warming ominously. The first NEWSWEEK cover story in 1988 warned the greenhouse effect. danger: more hot summers ahead. A Time cover in 2006 was more alarmist: be worried, be very worried. Nor does public opinion seem much swayed. Although polls can be found to illustrate almost anything, the longest-running survey questions show a remarkable consistency. In 1989, Gallup found 63 percent of Americans worried "a great deal" or a "fair amount" about global warming; in 2007, 65 percent did.
What to do about global warming is a quandary. Certainly, more research and development. Advances in underground storage of carbon dioxide, battery technology (for plug-in hybrid cars), biomass or nuclear power could alter energy economics. To cut oil imports, I support a higher gasoline tax$1 to $2 a gallon, introduced graduallyand higher fuel-economy standards for vehicles. These steps would also temper greenhouse-gas emissions. Drilling for more domestic natural gas (a low-emission fuel) would make sense. One test of greenhouse proposals: are they worth doing on other grounds?
But the overriding reality seems almost un-American: we simply don't have a solution for this problem. As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality taleas NEWSWEEK didin which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society.
For Samuelson's full article go to: (LINK)
# # # EPW Inhofe Press Blog Note: A blockbuster U.S. Senate report is set to be released in the Fall 2007 that will feature hundreds of scientists (many current and former UN scientists) who have spoken out recently against Gore, the UN, and the media driven climate consensus. Please keep checking this blog for updates. Related Links: Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt EPA to Probe E-mail Threatening to Destroy Career of Climate Skeptic Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics Senator Inhofe declares climate momentum shifting away from Gore (The Politico op ed) Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus Global Warming: The Momentum has Shifted to Climate Skeptics Prominent French Scientist Reverses Belief in Global Warming - Now a Skeptic Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics ABC-TV Meteorologist: I Don't Know A Single Weatherman Who Believes 'Man-Made Global Warming Hype' Senator Inhofe Announces Public Release Of "Skeptics Guide To Debunking Global Warming" # # #
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