Steve Doocy Challenges Al Gore to Debate on Global Warming
Reported by Guest Blogger - October 25, 2009 -
Guest blogged by notveryhow
Steve Doocy was thrilled to announce Friday (10/23/09) that he is one of the Huffington Post’s “Most Dangerous Global Warming Deniers.” He may be saddened to learn that he is only one of many, and according to voting, is no longer #3. That may change, however.
Also included in that august body of thinkers which Doocy so proudly joined, are Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who, when discussing global warming, says “God’s still up there” frequently.
Doocy earned this dubious distinction for his statement in March of 2008 that “Despite it being bitterly cold outside in the northern plains, we hear a lot about global warming. Is there another side to this story? Many scientists would say yes, but most media outlets -- the mainstream media -- only cover Al Gore's 'Earth has a fever' perspective. This is the worst winter in some parts of America and around the world and perhaps we should be worried now about global cooling."
It was grist for those who can’t tell weather from climate. Following Doocy’s logic, if it hasn’t rained in 2 weeks we should worry about drought and if it rains for a week, it’s Noah’s flood. It must be frightening to live in a world where every change of season is cause for existential panic.
But Doocy and the couch had other cause to celebrate Friday. A new Pew survey showed that “There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem -- 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.” Odd and troubling numbers, to be sure.
Doocy, not surprisingly, stood by his remarks from 2008, saying “All that I said is absolutely factual." He did acknowledge that the earth's temperature has "gone up a little bit... But what is causing it... (Is it) caused by nature or is it caused by man?" According to Doocy, "There is great debate” about that point. “Debate,” yes. “Great,” not so much. Then Brian Kilmeade offered his 2 cents, “You have some very reputable scientists who say ‘this is not happening.’” Oh, really?
Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change, Naomi Oreskes
"Oreskes analyzed 928 abstracts published in refereed scientific journals between 1993 and 2003 and listed in the ISI database with the keywords 'climate change.'... Of all the papers, 75 percent either explicitly or implicitly accepted the consensus view that global warming is happening and humans are contributing to it; 25 percent dealt with methods or ancient climates, taking no position on current anthropogenic [human-caused] climate change. Remarkably, none of the papers disagreed with the consensus position."
American Meteorological Society: Climate Change: An Information Statement of the American Meteorological Society
"Indeed, strong observational evidence and results from modeling studies indicate that, at least over the last 50 years, human activities are a major contributor to climate change."
American Physical Society: Statement on Climate Change
"The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now."
American Geophysical Union: Human Impacts on Climate
"The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system—including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons—are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century."
American Association for the Advancement of Science: AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change
"The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society."
Link to all of above: http://www.ucsusa.org/ssi/climate-change/scientific-consensus-on.html
Carlson had her part to play, tossing in this little absurdity. “The Cap and Trade bill, or ‘some say’ Cap and Tax...they passed that in the middle of the night after Michael Jackson died.” Huh?
But Doocy wanted to debate Al Gore. It’s not going to happen, of course. Serious people have nothing to gain by debating buffoons. Besides Doocy’s home court advantage, he and the whole ‘denier’ crowd, don’t have to prove anything. Like the O. J. Simpson defense, all they need to do is create doubt. Note that in a 4 minute discussion of global warming, Carbon dioxide was not mentioned once. But Al Gore was mentioned 6 times, as if he did any of the research behind climate change. To the deniers, it is not a scientific debate, it is a political and emotional one.
Thus, “Sean Hannity Exposes Al Gore’s Inconvenient Global Warming Hypocrisy." Al Gore gets on a plane and there is doubt about global warming.
And based on Gore’s electric bill. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.” said Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.
Al Gore serves as the straw man. Unable to attack the science, they attack Gore as the representation of the science. And if anyone defends Gore, the topic of discussion is no longer the science, which they can’t defeat. It’s a cheap and tawdry tactic. And one that is used repeatedly on Fox News.
