THE LEFT'S WAR ON FACTS


In a multi-page article in the Sydney Morning Herald Chris Mooney (Scienceblogs.com blogger and author of The Republican War on Science and the soon-to-be-released Storm World) discusses the public's failure to grasp global warming facts and the pressing need for scientists to remedy this situation. In the course of making his point about the need for increased science activism he notes the media's role in sewing confusion:

On this subject, media attention in the US has not followed the increasing certainty of scientists about the role of human activities in causing the current warming trend. Instead, dramatic political events (such as George Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001) have driven coverage.

Two points: George Bush did not withdraw from Kyoto anymore than did Bill Clinton -- it is impossible for the US to withdraw from something it never joined: and surely there are more recent "dramatic political events" that have "driven coverage"; or maybe not.

It seems odd that such a distortion of the facts appears in an article on the facts of global warming. Oh well, the article had to be suspect: it's highly recommended by Scienceblogs.coms perennial misinformer, Tim Lambert.

Science writer Mooney has no science credentials, by the way. He holds a bachelor's degree in English.