In honor of Earth day this past week, I wanted to put together a piece in defense of environmentalists and climatologists who say there is indeed a problem with global warming and we should be doing more about it.  I wanted to respond to an article sent to me by a conservative friend I know.  To little surprise the article is an assault on Al Gore, the anti–global warming crowd's favorite target.

   Now some of you probably already know that I am a skeptic and global warming is something that sounds perfect for being skeptical about.  The reason I am a skeptic is because I believe science is our best gauge to determine the facts of the case and many claims that I'm skeptical about have zero scientific proof.  With regards to global warming, a vast majority of scientists believe that GW is real and agree that it is something to be concerned with to one degree or another.  Therefore, I will believe the scientific consensus.

    The article is from Fox News’ latest sensation, Glenn Beck, but this article was written late last year when he was still with CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/03/beck.oilexecs/index.html . This was written when Americans were paying more than $4.00 a gallon for gas and oil companies were making record profits.  In this piece Glenn comes to the defense of “big oil” and “the denier”.  The deniers are those who state that global warming is overblown or flat out wrong, and we all know who big oil is.  Of course he slyly uses these terms to mock critics of each group for the dopey jargon of dopey people.

   Big oil is easy for him to defend from the standard conservative approach of the virtues and necessities of corporations.  It’s a fair mind set and argument and not one that I choose to take on here today.  But where he really falls flat is when he takes on the deniers by attempting to tie them all to Al Gore.

   Rather than presenting any facts, he does what many talk show hosts of the conservative persuasion do these days, he poisons the well by attacking and ridiculing Al Gore.  It is tantamount to using the logic that if we can make him look bad, the whole argument for man made global warming looks bad.

   Like so many, he goes after Gore for not practicing what he preaches by citing that the total usage of electricity and natural oil in the Gore Mansion is 20 times more than the average American (though the AP review of their bills claim it’s closer to 12 times). Again, it’s a fair argument if you don’t take into account that their house is much larger than the average American and it’s used as offices as well as their living space.  But I’ll cede the point because in general, it’s true, but I want to remind you that it has nothing to do with his message.

   He also attacks Gore and attempts to make it personal to the reader by stating that Gore ridicules “the denier” as a very small segment of the population, but polls show you are likely to be one of these deniers.

On "60 Minutes" last weekend, Al Gore said: "They're almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the Earth is flat. That demeans them a little bit, but it's not that far off."

Approximately 6 percent of Americans believe in the fake moon landing theory. […] I'm going to guess quite a bit less than 6 percent believe in a flat Earth. […] So, who are those people Gore was demeaning "a little bit" by these comparisons? There's a good chance it's you. That's because the vast majority of Americans believe something that categorizes them as a flat earther to environmentalists like Gore.

Despite the media's one-sided view (the Business and Media Institute says dissenting voices about global warming are outnumbered on CBS News broadcasts by a 38 to 1 ratio), only 21 percent of Americans say "the release of greenhouse gasses is the most important factor causing global warming" according to a 2007 New York Times/CBS News poll.

  First off, there’s the typical attack on big media and he cites Business and Media Institute which is a division of the conservative media watchdog group, Media Research Center.  While that doesn’t make the statement false, it does set off my skeptical radar.  I highly doubt that Beck would accept anything from Media Matters.org, the liberal media watch dog as fact.  So while I won’t outright deny it, I have some doubts.  But it could be true, after all, not constantly giving the minority dissent a view (especially when they’re wrong) for every story would not be unheard of.

   But let’s get to the meat of his argument.  He claims that the poll he references shows that only 21 percent of Americans say “the release of greenhouse gasses is the most important factor causing global warming.” Seriously?  Only 21%?  You mean it’s me in the minority?  Someone show me the way to the big party, I don’t want to hang out with these losers who believe in silly scientifically backed arguments. I want to be with the drill baby drill crowd! 

  The internet is great!  I found the actual poll he uses and seeing it for yourself actually exposes Beck for the fraud that he is.  Here is how the actual question was posed:

49. Greenhouse gases are released when coal, oil and gasoline are burned by cars, utilities and factories. Which comes closest to your opinion: 1. The release of greenhouse gases is the most important factor causing global warming, or 2. The release of greenhouse gases is one factor among many causes of global warming, OR 3. The release of greenhouse gases is NOT a factor causing global warming at all.

Most important / One among many / Not a factor / DK/NA

Most Important – 21

One Among Many – 63

Not a Factor – 9

DK/NA - 7

4/20-24/07

   Look closely.  Gore is talking about the “Not a Factor” crowd when talking about “the deniers” and we find that sitting at 9%, they are actually closer to the 6 percent of Americans that believe that the moon landings were faked, which is the crowd Al Gore was comparing to, not the 79% Beck would lead you to believe.  But the numbers go even deeper, actually 84% of Americans, according to this poll, believe that greenhouse gasses are indeed a factor.  Sounds like Gore got it right to me and Beck is painting the picture how he wants you to see it and not as it really is.  Whew, so glad I’m not with the flat Earthers and moon landing deniers!  But of course that means that Beck has some new friends.  http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

   But the well poisoning doesn’t end there.  Beck also ridicules Gore as follows:

Perhaps most comically, Gore is seen dragging an entire film crew on a jet to India to give a climate presentation to about 100 people. Gore claimed: "We just don't have any choice. I wish I knew a better way to do it. I constantly ask myself, 'How can I be more effective in getting this message across?' " The most effective thing you can think of is flying halfway across the world to speak with 100 people? Maybe you had other things to do while you were there, but I'd be surprised if there was anything essential that couldn't be accomplished with a telephone and a computer.

    Again, Beck only paints a portion of the picture.  Gore used that trip to speak at a three day conference on “Leadership for the 21st Century”, a conference with a limit of 300 attendees for India’s CEOs, top managers, strategists, and top public officials and politicians, and Bill Clinton was the key note speaker.  He also met with India’s Prime Minister and addressed parliament.  THEN he met with 100 men and women from all over India to campaign for climate awareness throughout the country.  Sounds like a worth while trip to me if you’re attempting to raise public awareness of global warming and I’m not so sure that a telephone and a computer is the correct way to address the Prime Minister and speak with parliament. 

   So Beck does an amazing job of discrediting himself, but that’s nothing new.  It’s hard to be in the minority of any issue, and Beck is in the minority, especially among those who know more about the subject ( http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf  ).  But you make it harder on yourself when you try to prove your side by presenting lies, half the story, pig headed ideology, and logical fallacies such as poisoning the well and moving the goal post (first, it ain't happening, then it's "well if it is happening, it's not man made but a normal cycle"). 

   To be fair, Beck has attempted to provide “facts” but as usual, his facts are wrong http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/10/26/glenn-beck-idiot/ .  Remember, no matter who it is presenting their beliefs, be critical and don’t take their word for it.  And in the case of Glen Beck, run away as fast as you can.