Although it won't have the visceral impact of a video, Bjorn Lomborg's latest work might provide a more effect counterweight to Al Gore's presentation. He synopsizes his argument from "Cool It" (accepts the science--mostly--but refutes the economics) nicely in last week's Washington Post National Weekly (Oct. 15-21, pp. 26-7). I used the article this week in my introductory level political economy class and it generated some good discussion.
Best, Jonathan > I, too, would be interested in any formal analysis of the backstory. > I'm co-teaching a freshman seminar with one of my natural science > colleagues this semester, and we showed "Swindle" to them. Frankly, > it does a great job of undermining itself, especially when it depicts > all environmentalists as luddites out to destroy Africa. The > "science" part is very slick, lots of charts and graphs whizz by - > and even I could see they looked a little hinky. But, according to my > colleague, the main issue in presenting this material is that they > handily omit the last ten years or more from the data they show, > where we see the most evidence of change. And yes, several of the > participants have distanced themselves from the program; it looked > heavily edited. The rather clubby, very British tone served to > alienate a lot of the students anyway (too many old boys in leather > armchairs)! A few interesting points: it can lead to a discussion of > the IPCC and its role between science and policy. Anyhow - anyone who > wants to use it as a counterbalance to Gore might be sadly disappointed, > > all best, > > Kate > > On Oct 24, 2007, at 8:15 AM, Michael Maniates wrote: > >> Hello all, >> >> Does anyone have the backstory on The Great Global Warming Swindle, >> a "contrarian" climate change video aired in the UK recently and >> now available on DVD? My understanding is that many of the >> scientists in the video objected to how their on-camera comments >> were manipulated in the editing process. I've also gleaned from >> the web -- from totally unreliable sources I might add -- that both >> Channel 4, which aired the movie, and the producers distanced >> themselves from the production because of data falsification, and >> that the show has not been run in the U.S. (even by Fox News) >> because of this. >> >> But most of this comes to me through third-person contacts or >> random web sites. Do any of you have the larger story, or can you >> point me in the right directions? >> >> I ask because a colleague of mine at Allegheny, in response to a >> request from students who feel silenced by the energy Al Gore has >> generated, is thinking of screening this video as a formal, College- >> sanctioned event to "bring balance to the debate on campus." >> >> As an aside, I think The Great Global Warming Swindle can be a >> useful addition to teaching tool-box of those of us who teach the >> climate-change controversy. And I myself wouldn't object to the >> video if it's used to teach the debate. I'm more wary of Swindle >> as a definitive, credible "counter-balance" to Inconvenient Truth >> or the material that my colleagues and I present in the classroom, >> in large part because of its accusations of conspiracy and >> intentional distortion of data. >> >> Feel free to reply to me off-list. I'll summarize the helpful >> replies and repost them for all to see. >> >> Yours, >> Mike Maniates >> Allegheny College >> > > -- Dr. Jonathan Rosenberg Department of Political Science P.O. Box 756420 University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK 99775-6420 907-474-6502
