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Title: Critical article and my response to it


earthmother - July 11, 2006 02:28 PM (GMT)
Here's the offending article in question. I should note that there's a picture of Robert Novak and Ann Coulter right next to the article. Gee, do you think this site might be hostile to the likes of us? :lol: Anyway, the response I sent to the writer follows in the next post.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15962

Al Gore's Convenient Campaign Film
by Bill Steigerwald
Posted Jul 11, 2006

The intense media hype for “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s documentary about the coming global warming apocalypse and his tireless crusade to warn humanity about it, cooled down several weeks ago.

But Gore's movie -- a slide-show gone Hollywood, actually -- is still pulling in about 200,000 customers a week and has grossed $13.3 million since late May.

That’s no “Superman Returns.” But as of July 4, roughly 1.8 million Americans had voluntarily paid about $8 to subject themselves to Gore’s 100-minute multimedia sermon on the geophysical perils and moral failings of our reckless, carbon-spewing modern lifestyle.

At the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill, where the manager said “An Inconvenient Truth” has been one of the art theater’s most successful movies since 1994, 14 senior citizens and I attended Wednesday’s 5 p.m. show.

Technically and cinematically, it is a slick production.

Along with Professor Gore’s lecture and narration, there are action shots of calving glaciers, belching smokestacks, raging hurricanes and beautiful views from outer space of our fragile planet Earth. Also, there are lots of extreme close-ups of Gore’s worried, ever-earnest face and, suspiciously, a presidential-campaign film's worth of footage about his past political and personal life, including a retelling of how he was changed by his sister's early cancer death.

“An Inconvenient Truth” covers a lot of complicated scientific ground -- rising CO2 levels, soaring global temperatures, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, increasing species extinctions, more droughts, floods, tornadoes ... . And guess what? Human-forced climate change, not sweet and innocent Mother Nature, is always the cause.

Anyone in the audience not familiar with the ideologically polarized debate over global warming, which is most normal people, might think that Gore -- despite his occasional cracks about skeptics and their patrons in Big Oil -- is fairly and accurately presenting scientific facts about which no honest or intelligent person disagrees.

He’s not.

His barrage of charts, graphs and misleading things like before-and-after photos of about 10 retreating glaciers (out of Earth's 160,000) is not designed to educate or explain the complex science of climate change but to impress, gull and bury his trusting audience with information -- without providing time to absorb it, much less question whether it proves or disproves anything.

The more you know about global warming -- its science and its politics -- the more you realize Gore is a propagandist, not an honest seeker of scientific truth. Skeptics have blasted Gore for stretching, misusing or ignoring evidence and grossly exaggerating global warming's dangers.

But true believers will insist he is right that there is no longer any legitimate debate among climatologists about global warming’s causes (man), effects (many and dire and soon) or solutions (government-mandated). They warn that we better listen to Prophet Al and change our evil energy-wasting ways before global warming reaches a tipping point and turns our blue planet brown.

At the end of his movie, Gore's faithful followers are urged to develop more alternative energy resources, plant more trees and ride more bikes. And, oh yeah, they should work to elect more green politicians -- like Gore in 2008? -- who’ll pledge to sign the Kyoto Protocols.

earthmother - July 11, 2006 02:29 PM (GMT)
Here's my response . . .

QUOTE
The overwhelming consensus within the scientific community is that global warming is real and that it is being caused, at least in part, by human activity.  To say that Gore's movie is propaganda is to manufacture a lie of your own.  Of course there are some holdouts--Bill Gray, Richard Lindzen, to name a couple.  But when has there ever been 100% agreement on any scientific theory?  There are still scientists who question the validity of the theory of evolution, yet the consensus within the scientific community is that evolution is how we got to where we are today. 

Why is there so much hostility toward the idea that global warming is real and that it's being caused by human activity?  What if the scientific community is wrong about this?  What harm will it do to cut back on emissions, build cleaner-burning cars, and find more energy-efficient ways of heating and cooling our buildings?  What's so threatening about that notion?  I think it has at least something to do with the fact that the messenger is a liberal.  Far be it for a conservative to admit that a liberal might be right.  The liberal is branded as being a "liar" or an "alarmist."  That's a good way to divert attention away from the real matter at hand.

As Gore himself points out in An Inconvenient Truth, the climate crisis presents humankind with opportunities.  Industry will work hard to develop the technology we need to become more fuel-efficient.  Detroit will get a shot in the arm.  Our economy will benefit from the new R & R and demand for "greener" technology.  Where's the downside?  That we'll be breathing cleaner air?  That we'll be able to back off our dependence on Middle Eastern oil?  That we might save a few species from extinction in the process?  Or is it that Al Gore might actually be right?

Well, you wouldn't want to have to admit that now, would you.


RussBLib - July 11, 2006 06:35 PM (GMT)
QUOTE (earthmother @ Jul 11 2006, 08:29 AM)
Here's my response . . .

QUOTE
As Gore himself points out in An Inconvenient Truth, the climate crisis presents humankind with opportunities.  Industry will work hard to develop the technology we need to become more fuel-efficient.  Detroit will get a shot in the arm.  Our economy will benefit from the new R & R and demand for "greener" technology.  Where's the downside?  That we'll be breathing cleaner air?  That we'll be able to back off our dependence on Middle Eastern oil?  That we might save a few species from extinction in the process?  Or is it that Al Gore might actually be right?

Well, you wouldn't want to have to admit that now, would you.

Fantastic letter, EM. Well done. Just the right punch.

earthmother - July 11, 2006 06:53 PM (GMT)
Thanks, Russ. :blush:

greyfox - July 11, 2006 07:01 PM (GMT)
QUOTE (RussBLib @ Jul 11 2006, 12:35 PM)
QUOTE (earthmother @ Jul 11 2006, 08:29 AM)
Here's my response . . .

QUOTE
As Gore himself points out in An Inconvenient Truth, the climate crisis presents humankind with opportunities.  Industry will work hard to develop the technology we need to become more fuel-efficient.  Detroit will get a shot in the arm.  Our economy will benefit from the new R & R and demand for "greener" technology.  Where's the downside?  That we'll be breathing cleaner air?  That we'll be able to back off our dependence on Middle Eastern oil?  That we might save a few species from extinction in the process?  Or is it that Al Gore might actually be right?

Well, you wouldn't want to have to admit that now, would you.

Fantastic letter, EM. Well done. Just the right punch.

Yeah, that was an excellent letter. :clap:

I might just add though, that one of the main skeptics, Patrick Michaels, deliberately MISUSED one of Jim Hansen's global warming graphs.

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/gwdebate/

Nicholus Odem - July 11, 2006 07:44 PM (GMT)
QUOTE
Sir, the glacier examples used in the film were chosen obviously because they are the most dramatic examples and occur in areas of the world with the most probable devastating impact upon the globe, such as Antarctica and Greenland.

Obviously, you have a political agenda that is counter to the so-called "green" movement.  That is your choice and right.  However, I take great offense at your assertion that Al Gore is using this movie as an initial step into the 2008 campaign.  I will tell you that I and many Americans are working to bring such a candidacy into fruition, but it is folks such as yourself that make me understand why Mr. Gore is likely never to run again.  I would not wish him to subject himself and his family to the ad hominem attacks from so called experts or opinionistas like you.

Next time, I would do some research before make the assertions that you made with no supporting data.  It is a lazy piece of work.


This is what I wrote to Mr. Steigerwald yesterday.

greyfox - July 11, 2006 10:24 PM (GMT)
Another very nice letter, Nicholus! :good:

earthmother - July 11, 2006 10:38 PM (GMT)
Great letter, Nicholus. :clap:

Nicholus Odem - July 12, 2006 01:42 AM (GMT)
I must admit. I just saw the movie last Friday. I've been so busy, and I didn't get a chance to see it when we were collecting signatures.

I think it has made me more emotional about the environment and Al. I really want to fight these people who are clearly on the wrong side of the facts and our future.

The anxiety level within me is already surging ahead of November. I wax and wane between pride and frustration with the Democrats. Why can't we seem to "get traction"? "A head of steam"? "Ride the wave"? "Surge of momentum"? Why can't we even pick a cliche that fits? LOL!

Pardon me. Must be the "old man drugs" I'm taking these days! LOL!

greyfox - July 12, 2006 03:28 AM (GMT)
QUOTE (Nicholus Odem @ Jul 11 2006, 07:42 PM)
The anxiety level within me is already surging ahead of November.  I wax and wane between pride and frustration with the Democrats.  Why can't we seem to "get traction"? "A head of steam"? "Ride the wave"? "Surge of momentum"?

Because the overwhelming majority of Democrats are too scared to take a principled position because it might offend right wing voters who'd vote Republican 9/10 times anyway.

Here we have a President who has lied about WMDs. Where are the Dems on TV calling the President out as a liar the way the Repubs did when Clinton got his freak on with Monica?

When Feingold tried to censure Bush, why didn't the Democrats get behind him demanding the rule of law be followed?

Uggh! I wish the party would hold these guys accountable. We all know the Republicans don't play nice in the political sandbox.

Nicholus Odem - July 12, 2006 04:27 AM (GMT)
The party is adrift. There is no longer a coalition of labor, civil rights groups, liberal christians, and intellectuals that comprised the "big-tent" Democratic Party. The Party has to be made anew which is evident in the current battles between the DLC and netroot Dems.

I like to think of myself in both camps, though with this "WAR" I more closely identify with the netroots folks these days. I would be the first to eviscerate true enemies of the United States, but I think many in our country for many reasons are creating and imagining enemies that are not there due to fear following 9/11 or using the event as an excuse for a crusade (see Progress for a New American Century). This nation needs now more than ever to reflect a countenance of cooperation and mutual respect to all nations. This fact more than any other irritates and enrages me as an American. I did not serve in the military of a nation that I thought would be intransigent during a time such as this one.

Where have all the Doughboys gone?

greyfox - July 12, 2006 04:52 PM (GMT)
I think we can win back labor, but Democrats need to first support labor! This is what makes me possibly a Feingold supporter over Gore. When asked on Larry King recently if Gore still supports NAFTA, I don't remember him giving a definitive answer. Maybe the tides are changing.




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