Leaked: Secret global warming propaganda from coal industry

Recommended at My Left Wing and Booman Tribune

You gotta love thinkprogress.org.

In the latest of the pathetic but unfortunately too predictable lies by big industry against global warming, a secret memo by the coal industry has been leaked regarding the latest "propaganda-thon" against the harsh reality of global waming.

The nine page memo, from the International Rural Electric Association (but also supported by Koch Industries, the National Association of Manufacturers and others in the industry), talks of funding a movie to counteract An Inconvenient Truth, provides handy charts and misleading statistics as well as containing a call for scientists that will be ready to "stand up to the alarmists".

I shit you not.

In the typical "are you going to believe me, your friendly neighborhood polluter or your own lying eyes" attack, the memo all but comes out to say that any legislation with respect to a "carbon tax" or something along these lines would hurt profits. But wait, there is more. I'll give you a few choice quotes from the article:

We here at IREA believe that it is necessary to support the scientific community that is willing to stand up against the alarmists and bring a balance to the discussion.

---snip---

Although our preference would be for the issue to simply go away, that is not going to happen. There are too many special interests involved.

---snip---

[quoting Aaron Wildavsky, Political Science Professor at Berkeley] Global warming is the mother of all environmental scares. Warming (and warming alone) through its primary antidote of withdrawing carbon from production and consumption is capable of realizing the environmentalists' dream of an egalitarian society based on rejection of economic growth in favor of a smaller population, eating lower on the food chain, consuming a lot less and sharing a much lower level of resources much more equitably.

---snip---

An army of scientists and researchers are determined to make man-made global warming a threat in order to continue obtaining their funding.

---snip---

Realizing that this issue is not going to go away, the next best solution in our opinion is for any carbon reduction to be voluntary and let technological advances solve the issue, if it even exists.

Let's just stop there for a second and soak that in. The ultimate in special interests in the global warming "debate" is saying that this issue won't go away because of too many special interests. BWAHAHAAAAHAHAH!!!!

The only problem with finding anyone in the scientific community that is willing to "stand up to the alarmists"? Um, how about, there is no one. Well, except for one Patrick Michaels, whose impressive resume includes the following:

• Claimed that Kyoto is an EU conspiracy to hurt smaller countries (even though the US is one of only two developed countries to not be a part of it)



• Based a number of papers on the lack of a trend in global warming. However, he conveniently stopped his data at 1996.



• Has been called "one of a very small minority of nay-sayers who continue to dispute the facts and science about climate change in the face of compelling, overwhelming, and growing evidence.", "being noted rather for his shrill op-ed pieces and indiscriminate denunciations of virtually every finding of mainstream climate science." and "Many of the supposedly factual statements made in Michaels' testimony are either inaccurate or are seriously misleading." by leading climate scientists, a Harvard professor with expertise in climatology and the President of Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security.

We already know that there are way too many people that are otherwise intelligent (not to mention all those who are, shall we say, less than intelligent) who still think that "the jury is still out" on global warming. This latest bullshit shoveling will likely be forceful, large, and certainly stinky. With so much at stake, as people are starting to finally wake up from their 6 year coma, as An Inconvenient Truth continues to play in more and more theaters around the country, and more people start to make changes, even small changes, in their lives and daily routines, we are going to be bombarded with absolute nonsense.

There is more information and analysis over at desmogblog.com, which is a blog dedicated to "Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science". A nice quick smackdown of the "experts" touted in the leaked memo from desmogblog:

The "Vampire Memo" from the Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) draws on the work of such industry-funded skeptics as Pat Michaels, Fred Singer, Robert Balling and Craig Idso -- as well as such ideologues as Richard Lindzen and William Gray who have long been laughingstocks in the community of mainstream climate scientists.

The sad thing is that I just had two discussions on global warming with otherwise intelligent friends of mine who are still in the "it is still up for debate" column. And these people aren't typical believe-what-fox-tells-me people either. More than half of the articles and releases that are in the media still are full of lies. Hell, our own Congresscritters refuse to believe (or choose not to believe) the harsh truth. All of the major misinformation campaigns are backed by the oil, coal or other invested industries/lobbyists.

And it looks like we have to get ready for the next one.