Republican Climate Change Denialism – Lies, Lies, and More Lies!
Via http://stupidpartymathvmyth.com/1/post/2016/01/republican-climate-change-denialism-lies-lies-and-more-lies.html
"The Right also has a very narrow lense in reference to the “science” it cites. From the Right’s perspective, a few contrarian scientists, at point A, create a middle ground argument (point B), when contrasted with the 97% consensus, at point C. However, there cannot be a numerical middle ground (point B) when the three values are placed side by side (A —–> B <—– C): point A is too low of a value for a middle ground argument to be cogent, therefore, B is nonexistent.
One such scientist, Wei-Hock Soon, is a proponent of the solar activity global warming theory, which centers on sunspots being the causal factor. And while the Earth’s temperature does partially fluctuate due to UV irradiance, solar activity has dwindled over the last 30 years. Therefore, another causal factor, other than the sun, is contributing to the increase in global temperature. Disappointingly, Wei-Hock Soon’s work—science that may have proven beneficial to the scientific community—was marred by funding from the fossil fuel industry. According to the New York Times, “At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work.” So what was seemingly a good intentioned attempt to provide contrarian science, should now be labeled as corrupt Right leaning propaganda.
No matter who you are, disclosing your donor, especially in a highly-regarded profession, is a moral expectation. Failure to do so implies a conflict of interest; one where the profit motive of major energy companies distort and cloud an attempt to create compelling, objective science. As a consequence of Soon’s research grants, his work should be viewed as unfairly biased—a determination that the majority of scientists have already given.
The argument of reasonable doubt should be applied when an actual middle ground exists—a few contrarian scientists, presumably propped up by big oil, fail to provide a reasonable numerical value. Once again, the Right naively relies on scientific falsities—and those good old logical fallacies—in order to propagate a fabricated agenda. "
