Posted by
Steve on Thursday, December 15, 2011 8:46:57 AM
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been talking to my friends at my college about the second set of emails from East Anglia University in England. Prior to those emails coming out almost every single one was a believer in man caused global warming. Now, because of these emails, their certainty is starting to crack. The ones that are trying to be honest scientists are starting to see the light and are questioning the man caused part of global warming. Those who are just political people acting as if they were scientists still hold fast to the myth that is man caused global warming.
This is a start. Now, my college is probably as liberal as any other in a Red State. But, because we are in a Red State, we have more influences on us that cause us to question the liberal orthodoxy. That makes breaking down the certainty at my college easier than at another like, UC Berkeley.
While they are starting to question the man caused global warming orthodoxy, their old habits arise when they talk to the true believers who disregard the evidence. That was evident at a meeting yesterday where our one true believer convinced all the rest to follow along and offer a class that is based on the idea that man is causing global warming. The class may never fly, but just agreeing to offer it is a black mark on our ability to evaluate science.
For those who do not remember, the first group of emails pointed to wide-spread fraud in the global warming community. It also showed that the people who were wavering were being taught how to falsify their data to conform to what was expected. The second set of emails confirmed what the first set had said. It also indicated that the two leaders of the global warming community, Phil Jones of East Anglia University and Michael Mann of Penn State University, did not believe in global warming. They were pushing the global warming agenda for political reasons, not scientific ones. The second set of emails also highlighted the fact that some scientists had a problem with falsifying data, but went along because they did not want to offend their friends.
I had an article that summarized the emails and made editorialized comments about the fraud that was being committed by the global warming community. I gave that to one of my closest friends who is sitting on the fence. He said he tends to believe that man is causing global warming because of all the scientific evidence he has seen. I said if I could show that it was false would that change your mind? He agreed and I gave him my copy of the article. The problem is I do not remember the author or when it was even printed. That makes it difficult for me to find the article again and get another copy of it.
But it is good news that there is now some skepticism about global warming among the faculty on my campus. There was little questioning of global warming prior to the emails coming out. That these liberal faculty members are now questioning global warming shows that there is hope in changing people’s minds. They are still all liberals. They will still vote to re-elect Barack Obama. I have not made that much progress, but any chink in the armor gives you a chance to make further breaches. Those further breaches can mean wholesale changes in the long run. That will take time, but at least we have a first step, no matter how small.