The trick on April 1 is to distinguish the spoofs from the real stories.
Last week, global warming denier The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley testified at a House hearing on climate change adaptation (see Rep. Barton: Climate change is ‘natural,’ humans should just ‘get shade’ — invites ‘expert’ TVMOB to testify).
Turns out Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) had a wish-it-were-April-Fool’s exchange with TVMOB:
TVMOB says we are “carbon starved” because back in the Cambrian era the planet had 7000 ppm of CO2.
Of course, “There were no land plants or animals,” back then and “most of the continents resembled deserts spanning from horizon to horizon” with “nothing more than a microbial ‘crud’ gracing the soils.” And sea levels were 30 to 90 meters higher. But hey, no biggie!
Why do conservatives and deniers want to re-create conditions on the planet from millions of years ago (see “Don Young wants a Tropical Alaska back — and 260-foot Sea-Level Rise“)?
Best response was from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow:
The saber-toothed tiger never, ever flossed. Stop worrying, people!
H/t NWF.
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Why are global warming/climate change deniers/obfuscators such ignorant dick-heads?
Postcards from the future
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ commentisfree/ video/ 2009/ mar/ 13/ climate-change
That’s just so…incredible!
If I had only read a transcript of those statements published today and not seen an actual video of it I would’ve said “Har-har-har…April’s fool…nice try!”
My favorite quote, from who I don’t remember (maybe Dyson), was that if CO2 levels go up, they’ll match the values from a time when the number of new species exploded. Um, yeah, that’s not really a good thing. That would be a good indicator that humans would suffer…a lot!
I’m reminded of Marty Feldman but Monckton isn’t nearly as funny.
There are 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can’t.
But if I were to divide types of thinking that people want to think works well for them into 3 types, they would be common sense, good thinking and uncommon thinking.
Common sense is a phrase that is most times used by people and everybody thinks they have in abundance. An appeal to common sense can also be called an appeal to common thinking. There’s a different common sense at a National Rifle Association convention to a ban the guns rally. A different type of common sense at a Christian church, a Moslem mosque, a Jewish temple or a Hindu temple. There is a different type of thinking in New York, Japan, Asia, Europe and Texas.
When I hear someone make an appeal to common sense, I many times I cringe. What I say and I think people really want to make an appeal to instead of common sense is good sense. A whole bunch of people might be doing stupid things and I may want to do a smart thing. The only way I can do that is make the distinction between common thinking and good thinking.
Such as buying houses into a real estate bubble. (Actually that as an example is to maybe to easy and certainly for some, painful. sorry.)
What’s uncommon thinking? That’s science. That is Philosophy. That’s where there is an organization that builds on multigenerational thinking, uses peer review processes to find and fix mistakes and errors.
This Politician is speaking to his audience, the common sense thinkers that might vote for him.
That’s the age we live in, where many people don’t and many can’t tell the difference between types of thinking.
Lets make good sense and good thinking arguments. And when we have really big problems, lets appeal to uncommon sense, uncommon thinking that is Science and Philosophy. It might not always be what sells, but it’s what should win out in the end.
(there is a book by that name, ‘Uncommon Sense,’ that does explain Science, Philosophy and History of Science.)
Joe,
Worth sending people again to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss
Thanks
invisible rabbit
When Reagan was President I thought the Republicans wanted to turn the clock back to the 1950’s. When George HW Bush was in office I thought the Republicans wanted to turn back the clock to the antebellum era before the 1860’s. When dubya was in office I thought they wanted to go back to the 13th century before Magna Carta after the breathtaking passage of the Military Commissions act in 2006. When Bush started his fire sale on federal lands to coal mining and oil companies and blocked all initiatives to rein in green house gasses I knew the Republicans wished to set back the planet to 3 billion years when life was beginning to form.
So I guess that makes the current Republican Party conservatives not in the Edmund Burke sense but true conservatives in their effort to restore the planet to the way when life began. Of course there will be no people, mammals or more complex forms of life on earth and 7000 ppm CO2 ought to do it.
TVMOB is more than just an April Fool’s joke.
He’s a joke that gives year round.
The problem is…it’s not funny.
When statements like that are made its clear (if it wasn’t already) that these people have no concept of the biota of this planet. Even during other period of earth’s history when CO2 was at 2000, the organisms that thrived evolved under similar conditions. Raising CO2 in our current period of earth’s history would be a detriment to most organisms as none evolved under such high CO2 conditions. Can’t get how such a simple fundamental concept is ignored.
This makes my head hurt, because they likely also argue that the Earth began 6000 years ago and the Cambrian Period is just a myth hyped up by some scientists with an agenda. Here’s your cake, enjoy.
Science deniers are everywhere. Please keep exposing them.
What I like about bad arguments like Monckton’s is that, contrary to Monckton’s intent, it actually helps reveal further evidence, based on history, that higher atmospheric CO2 levels aren’t good for humans.
Jim Eager,
I think this Monckton fellow knows he’s full of it. Like many contrarians, he just hopes others don’t realize that. How many among the general public or unsuspecting Congresspersons know anything about the Cambrian era? The argument is CO2 is good for plants, which is perhaps naively compelling in its simplicity.
On the contrary, I think Monckton is bat-shit enough to believe his own twaddle.
OH MY GOD. I’ve been transported to a remedial middle school science class. These idiots should be banned from Congress.
FOOLS
Shimkus has me confused. He proudly proclaims the Bible to be inerrant and people of that persuasion usually claim the earth to be 6000 years old.
How could he then give any credibility to his Lordship’s claim of carbon dioxide levels of 7000 ppm in the cambrian era? The cambrian era was 500 Mio years ago and according to the inerrant wisdom of The Book, there is no such thing as 500 Mio years ago.
What gives? There were no 7000 ppm 500 Mio years ago or the Bible is not inerrant?
SRW1…
I suspect Shimkus has something that is all too common…..
Solid bone between the ears.
Remember the good old days, when Liberals used to scream about McCarthyism and censorship? “Free Speech for everyone and everything!! The First Amendment!! You damned conservatives have no right to judge others’ opinions…or scientific facts!!” This was their battle cry…until they got into power.
Now, their credo is more like…”Free Speech…unless we say you’re ideas are ‘extreme.’ Or ‘divisive.’ Or, better yet, ‘Right Winger.’” And with that justification, they can plan to silence much criticism against them on the radio. And concerning the global warming hoax, which only threatens to give government control over every aspect of our lives — we mustn’t allow any debate about it, therefore Lord Monckton is censored from speaking in Congress to all the free-speech liberals. It’s a very effective strategy used by every smart dictator — silence your critics; use propaganda to paint them as kooks. If the people hear it enough, they’ll react like those on this blog — they’ll say “They’re kooks. We are free-thinking liberals, therefore, only need to believe what we’re told. We mustn’t listen to anyone the Prophet Al Gore brands as a witch. Let’s BURN ‘im!!”
Wake up, Liberals. You’re turning into fascists.