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25 May 2006
A business group has launched ads in 14 markets equating CO2 with "life" not pollution. The group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), argues in the ads that "some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant." But it's not a pollutant, they say, because CO2 "isnÕt smog or smoke, itÕs what we breathe out and plants breathe in."
At the same time that CEI is trying to downplay CO2 as a pollutant (many of its members are
power plants, major emissions source for CO2), some scientists are playing Paul Revere.
Fifteen scientists have filed a brief with the Supreme Court, claiming that a federal appeals court "misinterpreted science and the law when it ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does not have to regulate greenhouse gases produced by cars," such as CO2 emissions.
This article is a rebuttal of one of the two ads -- the only one that purports
to provide evidence for its claims by flashing headlines from Science
on the screen. The transcript (left column) is a product of my
keyboard.
| Commercial Claims |
Rebuttal |
Greenlands glaciers are growing, not melting.
Voice over Science article headline: Recent Ice-Sheet Growth in the Interior
of Greenland
11 November 2005
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The Science article presents a method for estimating
glacier depth. It suggests that some glaciers at higher elevations
seem to be thickening, which is new but which is consistent with global warming models. In fact, the study authors write:
[Perhaps] a quarter of the growth may be caused by
global warming in Greenland.
This study also confirms
other research that lower elevation glaciers are thinning. It is the
lower elevation glaciers melt that is influencing rising sea
levels.
[There is] considerable evidence of melting and
thinning in the coastal marginal areas in recent
years... [There is also evidence] that large
Greenland outlet glaciers [can surge rapidly],
possibly in response to climate.
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The Antarctic Ice sheet is getting thicker, not thinner.
Voice over Science article:
Snowfall-Driven Growth in East
Antarctic Ice Sheet Mitigates
Recent Sea-Level Rise
24 June 2005
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The Science article reference is technically
true, but it is irrelevant because the thickening may slow - but not reverse - rising sea levels associated with climate change.
Moreover, the
thickening is due to global warming which has led to rising sea levels (the Greenland glacier melt is specifically mentioned)
which in turn increases precipitation.
[This observation] is consistent with the latest IPCC
prediction for Antarctica's likely response to a warming
global climate.
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Did you see any big headlines about that?
Question mark over over Washington Post masthead
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I'll assume that CEI did their homework and that the Washington Post did not report on these two Science
articles. Had it done so, perhaps CEI wouldn't be using
them in a disinformation campaign.
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Why are they trying to scare us? Global warming alarmists claim glaciers are melting because of carbon dioxide from the fuels we use.
Voice over logos:
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, NRDC, Sierra Club
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Scientists, media and (gasp) insurance companies around
the world have grasped that climate change is happening.
Within the scientific community, the main question is
"when" not "if."
Sea levels are rising. This is undisputed.
Glaciers are melting. This is undisputed.
How much of the change is due to man is a point
where scientists do disagree, a nuance that these
ads ignore.
Only in the US could you find irresponsible
ads like this, funded by business with (apparently)
zero risk of negative brand (or stock price) impact.
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Cut back, they say. But we depend on those fuels to grow our food, move our children, light up our lives.
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Other countries have signed
international agreements
to lower CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
Other countries
use nuclear power, something that scares the beejeezus
out of Americans, perhaps because we are so
scientifically illiterate.
Other countries have effective and widespread mass
transit, reducing the need for single occupant cars (a primary
source of CO2).
Other countries have cars with high MPG,
unlike the US,
where fleet MPG peaked in the 80s.
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And as for carbon dioxide, it isn't smog or smoke. It's what we breath out ... and plants breath in.
Carbon dioxide.
They call it pollution.
We call it life.
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As any good scientist will tell you, it's the dose
that makes the poison.
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