Although from the headline I read, you'd think it was the opposite, UPROAR AS BBC MUZZLES CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICS.
Of course, no one is attempting to "muzzle" skeptics, what the BBC is going to do is actually what news organizations should be doing, putting the skepticism in its proper places, as it is a minority opinion and not the exact equivalent of mainstream science.
We see this all the time in much of American Corporate Media, the false equivalency of two different issues, or opposing views which do not have the same weight.
In a report by its governing body, the BBC Trust, the corporation was urged to focus less on opponents of the “majority consensus” in its programmes.
It said coverage should not be tailored to represent a “false balance” of opinion if one side came from a minority group.
...
Although he found no evidence of bias in BBC output, he suggested where there is a “scientific consensus” it should not hunt out opponents purely to balance the story.
He highlighted climate change as an example along with the controversy over the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine potentially leading to autism.
I think Climate Change is a perfect example though because it has given a legitimacy to skeptics to the point where there has been a consensus shift among the general public.
The report says: “In its early days, two decades ago, there was a genuine scientific debate about the reality of climate change. Now, there is general agreement that warming is a fact even if there remain uncertainties about how fast, and how much, the temperature might rise.”
Does this mean that skeptics not be given a chance to voice their point of view? Of course not. There is a great quote at the site I think is important...
A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics
Dr David Whitehouse
But we are talking about two different things, deniers and skeptics. And we are talking about a concerted effort to undermine a community of scientists and to slow progress in attempting to change how we do things for decades by big industries like Oil.
Greenpeace did a great job of uncovering the money behind the denial machine being funded by the Koch Brothers and continue to cover their funding of denial.
Billionaire oilman David Koch used to joke that Koch Industries was "the biggest company you've never heard of." Now the shroud of secrecy has thankfully been lifted, revealing the $55 million that he and his brother Charles have quietly funneled to climate-denial front groups that are working to delay policies and regulations aimed at stopping global warming.
A lot can happen in a year. Today, the Kochs are being watched as a prime example of the corporate takeover of government. Their funding and co-opting of the Tea Party movement is now well documented.
Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch have a vested interest in delaying climate action: they've made billions from their ownership and control of Koch Industries, an oil corporation that is the second largest privately-held company in America (which also happens to have an especially poor environmental record). It's timely that more people are now aware of Charles and David Koch and just what they're up to. A growing awareness of these oil billionaires' destructive agenda has led to increased scrutiny and resistance from people and organizations all over the United States.
And many here have continued to keep the heat on the Koch brothers. I wrote this diary on April 4th, 2010 from the first release of Greenpeace's researchh, Koch Industries and the Funding of Climate Change Denial.
There is a reason we have so many "skeptics" on the air, here and abroad, they are well funded "skeptics" and they are paid to cloud the issues. It is no accident.
Lets hope the BBC goes through with this, we can't afford anymore denialism cloaked as skepticism.
Longest Polar Bear Swim Recorded—426 Miles Straight
A female polar bear swam for a record-breaking nine days straight, traversing 426 miles (687 kilometers) of water—equivalent to the distance between Washington, D.C., and Boston, a new study says.
The predator made her epic journey in the Beaufort Sea (see map), where sea ice is shrinking due to global warming, forcing mother bears to swim greater and greater distances to reach land—to the peril of their cubs.
The cub of the record-setting bear, for instance, died at some point between starting the swim and when the researchers next observed the mother on land. She also lost 22 percent of her body weight.