Additionally, for those interested in at least a partial answer to my
initial question about "back story," see the newly discovered (for
me) website: www.climateofdenial.net
Yours,
Michael Maniates
Allegheny College
At 12:33 PM 10/26/2007, you wrote:
For those interested in prominent climate change scientists'
comments on the Al Gore "mistakes" or errors, real climate has done
a predictably excellent job in addressing each one of those so called errors.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/10/convenient-untruths/
David Hastings
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kate O'Neill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Oct 25, 2007 5:13 AM
Subject: Re: The Great Global Warming Swindle
To: Michael Maniates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu
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
----- End forwarded message -----
