The Ostrich and the Weasel Puppet Show

I just can't stand it anymore. You don't have to read the science. Just look at the pictures.

Global warming is as real as real as cancer, and all reputable climatologists say that the reason the last fifty years have shown world-wide temperature increases is the release of carbon into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

"The report's authors all agreed that their review of the data showed that the atmosphere was, in fact, warming in ways that generally meshed with computer simulations. The study said that the only factor that could explain the measured warming of Earth's average temperature over the last 50 years was the buildup heat-trapping gases, which are mainly emitted by burning coal and oil."

Yet we still have ostriches not only maintaining some kind of sick denial of that which science is telling us, but also trying to persuade others to ignore the reality of climate change and stick their heads in a hole, too.

One of these stubbornly ignorant voices shows up all too regularly in the local bird-cage liner.

Thus spake MacEachern:

"George Taylor is a climate scientist at Oregon State who is skeptical about the extent of mankind's contribution to global warming."

Ah, the seeds of doubt. Part of the ongoing Republican war against science.

Here's what Taylor really says:

"The issue is not “do humans affect climate?” Clearly there IS a human influence. The question is, “how much?” In my opinion, natural variations dominate the climate system, and will continue to do so. I have NEVER denied the human influence, but unlike Phil Mote I do not believe human impacts dominate the climate system."

Technically MacEachern can weasel his way out in thanks to his peculiar way of inserting terms referring to "skepticism" and "extent," but weaseling it is. I don't think Taylor is anybody's puppet. His own words seem to make that clear.

If anybody is trying to pull strings to manipulate an argument, it's guys like MacEachern that think they can spin concern about the extent of human activity on global warming into actual doubt that it's not all just some natural and harmless cycle that we don't need to be concerned about.

Why? Does MacEachern really have a dog in this fight, or is he just slouching towards extinction at the behest of his own Republican string-pullers?