Posted under Environmentalism & Science
Al Gore recently went on an expletive laden tirade against anthropogenic global warming (AGW) skeptics. The guy, like much of the AGW industry, is losing it because they know they are losing the public debate and they can no longer count on the uncritical acceptance of their theory.
I have generally avoided saying much about this debate because I hate politicized science. A scientific theory isn’t correct because you like its political implications or incorrect because you don’t like its political implications. AGW is either a good theory or a bad theory or some combination of both based on the science, not politics.
What I have always objected to about the debate is the foot-stomping by AGW believers, notably Al Gore himself, that the scientific debate is settled. No it isn’t and no amount of foot stomping will make it so.
Check out the comments below the article which are almost unanimously against Al Gore and his pet theory. I’m sure not all the posters really understand the science, but what this means is that the anti-AGW science is making its way into the public consciousness, and that is something Al Gore clearly can’t tolerate. He is supposed to have the bully pulpit all to himself you see, not have to compete against a bunch of yahoos.
Update: Apparently word of Gore’s rant is getting around. “Al Gore rant” was #1 on the Yahoo “Trending Now” section.
Brock Townsend on 09 Aug 2011 at 5:08 am #
Check out the comments below the article which are almost unanimously against Al Gore and his pet theory.
Makes me feel all warm inside…..
Dr. Robinson (Dixie’s Homeschooler) Myth Of Global Warming
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=2219
More than 31,000 American scientists have signed the following petition which Dr. Art Robinson initiated. His Power Point Presentation below compares their findings against the opposition, and lists the names of the scientists who signed.
Woden on 09 Aug 2011 at 4:14 pm #
I’m not sure where I stand on Global Warming myself.
I do find Al Gore’s use of vulgarity amusing however considering it was he and Tipper who were behind the effort in the early 80′s to censor rock music and video games.
Twisted Sister has been vindicated.
RedPhillips on 09 Aug 2011 at 4:46 pm #
Woden, I think most people agree that temperatures are rising but the degree and significance in the context of historic trends is debated. That human activity in the way of CO2 might have something to do with it seems to me plausable on its face, but insisting that we KNOW it is THE cause is an agenda driven overreach by my take on the science. In my opinion, we will never be able to know for sure what is the cause because there are too many variables (sun spots, etc.) and too many unknowns.
There is no reason to rule out human activity beforehand as some global warming skeptics do, but there is also no reason to rule out natural causes beforehand as many AGW proponents do. We simply do not know the cause currently, and insisting that the debate is settled is just obnoxious.
Woden on 09 Aug 2011 at 5:52 pm #
Exactly. We don’t really know for sure one way or the other. It could be human caused, nature caused, or some combination of both. Thus I have no strong opinion.
I am generally supportive however of efforts to increase fuel efficiency and renewable energy, not only because I believe it is good for the environment and that fossil fuels are a finite resource, but mostly because I strongly believe in energy independence.
It is absurd that we continue to send so many petrol dollars to countries like Chavez’s Venezuela or Saudi Arabia who funds mosques and radical Imams across Europe.
Patroon on 10 Aug 2011 at 7:07 pm #
I don’t think there’s a question whether’s warming or not warming, there may very well be. The question is whether climate change happens naturally or whether man can effect climate. I think science shows it does happen in the course of nature and while conserving resources is a good thing, to believe man is that powerful betrays an arrogance one associates with the builders and engineers who think they’ve got this levee thing all figured out until next flood takes place.
Ron McCarley on 10 Aug 2011 at 8:36 pm #
As a Tennessean, I am ashamed that Mr. Gore is a citizen of my state. He lives a lavish lifestyle, professes belief in civil disobedience to achieve his aims, buys property on the waterfront in California, flies all over the world in carbon-sucking jets (often private aircraft), preaching austerity for everyone but himself.
As to the science itself, I am retired and took it on myself to study the global warming issue myself for 3 years. I spent 4 hours per day studying the issue, including such subjects as Argo buoys, the Tao/Triton display for Pacific water temps, causes of Arctic melt, the UN IPCC studies, subsidence, solar insolation, solar activity, earthshine, Antarctic cooling, vulcanism, ice ages, lapse rates -you name it. As brief as I can say it, the science just isn’t there, as Mr. Gore claims. Several things must be happening for looming disaster to be on the horizon, namely polar amplification, accelerated tropospheric warming with associated stratospheric cooling just above, etc. Mr. Gore drowns out the voices of respectable scientists who have illustrated that the facts don’t demonstrate his claims. If the issue is so important to him and the world, why has he steadfastly refused to debate anyone on the subject? I can tell you why. If you look at debates between others, such as the Intelligence Squared debate several years ago in Washington with Dr. Richard Lindzen and the late Michael Crichton, the alarmists got shellacked in an audience vote.
P.Z. Myers – Another Foot-stomping Global Warming Believer | Conservative Heritage Times on 02 Sep 2011 at 8:58 pm #
[...] As I have said before, I don’t deny anthropogenic global warming (AGW) out of hand. It’s a plausible theory on its face. What bothers me is the global warming believers like Al Gore who think foot-stomping that the scientific debate is settled is a substitute for actual debate. Apparently the fundamentalist evolutionist P.Z. Myers is a fundamentalist AGW believer as well. … the author is trying to set himself up as a defender of good science, but he does it by … being a denialist about climate change. Scientists are certain (to a reasonable degree) about predicting the future in this case because all the data points in this direction — you have to willfully reject the evidence in order to disagree. [...]