Tag: tobacco

Not-So-Smart ALEC: Is New CEO Lying Liar, or Merely Clueless Tool?

clueless

I’m in a generous mood, and giving her benefit of the doubt. Going with “clueless tool”.
More evidence that being a climate denier is rapidly becoming socially icky in the class of spousal abuse, kiddy porn, or being, well, say,  a holocaust denier.

Following a mass exodus of corporate contributors, and Google Executive Eric Schmidt’s declaration that they were “literally lying” about climate change – new CEO of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Koch funded science denial organization, goes on national radio and insists they know nothing, nothing, about climate denial. Or climate. Or anything. Why am I here again?

Crooks and Liars:

One week after updating its position on climate change, ALEC’s new CEO Lisa B. Nelson told (NPR radio hostess) Diane Rehm that ALEC doesn’t comment on climate change.

Lisa Nelson, the new CEO of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, doesn’t know her organization’s position on climate change.

In a segment on WAMU’s Diane Rehm Show, ALEC’s Lisa Nelson claimed to not understand the science of climate change, and said, “We as an organization, specifically do not comment on climate change.”

Funny enough, just a week before, ALEC posted its “Position Statement on Renewables and Climate Change,” in response to heightened attention to its role in denying climate change.

The surge of attention is due to recent and very public departures by Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo and even Occidental Petroleum, specifically citing ALEC’s backwards work on climate change.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said people working for ALEC are “literally lying” about global warming, announcing that Google’s staff didn’t wish to continue supporting such work (after Google’s failed attempts to get ALEC to support clean energy).

Diane Rehm Show:

REHM

10:32:49
And you’re listening to “The Diane Rehm Show.” For those listeners who did not tune in that day, I want to read for you the statement made by Eric Schmidt who was the CEO of Google. He says, I think the — when asked why Google was going to drop their affiliation with ALEC, he said that ALEC was twisting science in the pursuit of its political goals at the state level. And here’s his quote. He says, “I think the consensus within the company” Google that is “was that Google’s affiliation with ALEC was some sort of mistake. And so we’re trying not to do that in the future.”

 

He says “The facts of climate change are not in question anymore. Everyone understands climate change is occurring. The people who oppose it are really hurting our children and grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people. They’re just literally lying.” Now, I understand, Lisa, that ALEC has come out and said, we don’t have a position on climate change. At the same time I gather there has been a move by ALEC to move against the creation of solar energy.
—

yadda yadda
—

NELSON

10:35:35
What’s not reported in those stories is the fact that the Environmental Defense Fund was also in those conversations and participating in our conversations. So I go back to my original comments that what we really want to do is foster that dialogue between all sides with respect to climate change We, as an organization, specifically do not comment on climate change. What we have issue with is government mandates and subsidies that enable the government to kind of pick winners and losers as they look for energy solutions.
Be thankful for small things.
I sure wouldn’t want this loser picking winners.
FYI – ALEC Position Statement on Climate Change, with Translation, below:
Continue reading “Not-So-Smart ALEC: Is New CEO Lying Liar, or Merely Clueless Tool?”

Flogging the Scientists

As a nonscientist, it’s daunting for me to work thru the huge volume of information on global climate change. I’ve found that the most reliable scientific information comes from respected peer reviewed science journals .

But journals have lots of big words, and lots of small print, and very few illustrations to make it easy for me. You can see why climate deniers don’t like them. But that’s where the facts are.

How can you tell a good science journal?

Continue reading “Flogging the Scientists”

Climate Denial Crock of the Week/1998 Revisited

One of the enduring myths of climate denialism is that global warming stopped sometime in the last decade. I see it in the blaring headlines of pseudoscience websites, in comments on my videos, even some of our most “distinguished” journalists have been taken in.