In a recent piece for PJ Media, Tom Harris and Dr. Jay Lehr wrote about the “untold scandal” of professional scientific societies accepting climate science. Harris and Lehr are with the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), the misleadingly named denier group that describes itself as a “highly credible alternative to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” and that has received funding from Heartland.
The main argument of the piece is that radical environmentalists have infiltrated and taken over scientific societies. The authors claim that in the last few years, several professional societies, including the American Physical Society and the Geological Society of America, have put out statements that affirm the reality of human-caused climate change.
The reason for this? The authors charge that these groups are more interested in making money than promoting science, and are simply “going along with popular concerns.”
On that final point, they’re not wrong: recent polling data shows that people are more worried than ever before about climate change. But these societies are probably instead “going along with” the overwhelming scientific consensus…something we would hope to see from a scientific body.
So a whole heap of professional societies, the American public, and of course the scientific community dedicated to studying the subject all think climate change is a problem… but sure, it's these guys who are right.
One specific example the authors use is Patrick Moore’s claim that Greenpeace was taken over by “radical greens,” and that is why he left the organization. This is a tried and true talking point from Moore, who recently went even further with this characterization of climate activists as extremists. (Unfortunately, it seems William Happer isn't the only Trump favorite to make inappropriate comparisons between climate change and Nazi Germany.)
Last week in an interview with Australian radio host Alan Jones, Moore likened Greta Thunberg and other school strike activists to the Hitler Youth. He claimed the kids are being “used mercilessly” by their parents, seemingly unwilling to believe that maybe young people are actually driven by the belief that adults aren’t doing enough and just want a livable planet considering the devastating impacts of climate change they will see in their lifetime.
Moore, if you remember, is the guy who just a few weeks ago Republicans invited to testify before Congress. And Marc Morano, the other guy who they invited to that hearing? He’s pushing a similar message. Last week, Morano tweeted a 30 second video of Charles Manson talking about climate change in what we assume in an attempt to disparage belief in climate change by connecting it to Manson.
We’ll have to see how this strategy works out for these guys: when Heartland tried something similar a few years ago, it backfired spectacularly. After Heartland put up a billboard with a picture of Ted Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber”, and the caption “I still believe in global warming. Do you?”, several companies withdrew their support for the organization. In fact, the response was so negative, the billboard was taken down within 24 hours and plans were canceled to put up similar billboards with Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson and Fidel Castro.
Kind of sad that deniers have been reduced to recycling old tactics that didn’t even work. And when your only argument is well-known logical fallacy, it’s probably time to get some new material.
[Editorial note: please forgive the 3 posts today, we’re catching up for Thursday and Friday. Regular scheduling resumes tomorrow!]