Junk science and propaganda

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize today. He joins such great historical figures as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Lech Walesa and Martin Luther King.

I, for one, am incensed.

Gore was awarded the prize largely for his work on An Inconvenient Truth, a visually appealing movie filled with distortions and lies. It is a piece of irresponsible, fear-mongering propaganda masquerading as science.

Is this what science has been reduced to? For that matter, is the Nobel Peace Prize now so cheap and easily given on political merits?

It’s called “junk science,” or “pseudoscience.” The idea is to present outlandish and sometimes deceptive ideas dressed as hard science. The UFO cults and Bigfoot fans have been using it for decades. Dress any bizarre and unlikely claim in the trappings of “science,” and it’s easy to pass off on a public that isn’t likely to show much skepticism.

That’s exactly what Gore’s assertions about climate change are. He claims the backing of the scientific community, but in truth, the community has largely refuted his “findings.” He pushed for the disastrously expensive Kyoto Treaty, and although many countries have ratified it, the United States Senate rejected it 95-0 in the Byrd-Hagel Resolution.

Of course, the majority of the blame for this shibboleth was aimed at us, and we’d have paid the largest amount of money under the provisions of the resolution.

Even the scientific community, whom Gore claims to be his friends, soundly dumped it. The proof for Global Warming or catastrophe through climate change simply does not exist. The idea that we’ll all be choking on greenhouse gases in a few years holds just as little water.

No, An Inconvenient Truth has none of the scientific credibility it claims. Don’t forget: the big scare in the 1970’s was global cooling. The receding glaciers Gore cites on Mt. Kilimanjaro as evidence? Bunk. The drying of Lake Chad? Due to irrigation demands, not global warming.

Maybe he can dig out some old stock footage of polar bears “drowning” due to the melting ice caps. Oh wait, he’s already done that. An Inconvenient Truth has a sequence which shows a photograph of two polar bears, seemingly stranded on isolated pieces of melted glacier. Gore’s sympathetic monotone says, “their habitat is melting (…) beautiful animals, being literally forced off the planet. They’ve got nowhere else to go.”

Of course, the picture was sent to most major news affiliates, and the public let out a collective wistful sigh for the poor critters. Only problem is, they were never in any danger. Polar bears can, in fact, swim. As much as 20 miles at a stretch. The photo was taken by a tourist named Amanda Byrd in August, when it’s quite common for icebergs in the North Pacific to melt. She initially described the bears’ behavior as being playful, not distressed. In fact, the icecaps in that area were reported to be thicker than usual at the time the photo was taken.

In fact, the only real “evidence” pertaining to a pattern of rising global temperatures over the last four decades has been gathered from what police investigators call a “compromised source.” Gore claims that data from NASA climate stations prove a pattern of rising ambient temperature, but they can’t be counted on (especially as the sole source) to act as an accurate gauge of temperature changes. Why? Because most are placed in concrete slabs in high-traffic areas or mounted to outdoor air-conditioning units.

Try again, Mr. Gore. Perhaps we can bring the Ozone Layer scam back into the public arena.

So, if we’ve established that the science is so appallingly sloppy and misleading, why did he get the Nobel Prize for it? The first reason is politics. The current administration has pissed off a great deal of the world (read: rich, white, Western Europe) community, and they see people like Gore as emissaries for a “kinder” America. One that will accept UN interference in sovereign domestic affairs and gladly convert to a Western European nanny state (which has worked so well in France and Germany).

The second reason is fear. Make the populace afraid, and they’re more than willing to accept “help” and protection from their government in exchange for a few minor civil-rights infringements. The Republicans have the War on Terror as an excuse, and the Left has Climate Change. Both are agendas to inspire fear and dependence on those in power. It worked beautifully during the Cold War.

Third, Gore’s part of the loathsome Baby Boomer generation: the most spoiled, privileged, self-absorbed demographic to ever inflict themselves on the planet. It’s important for people like him to feel like they’re making a difference. Just like they claimed to have done in the 1960’s by dropping out, smoking pot, all while living off their “square” parents’ money. They find themselves reaching retirement age, and they feel the need to carve the world out in their image before they fade from history. Tell them that the money to pay for things like the Kyoto Treaty will come from their Social Security and watch them change their tune.

This whole fiasco proves is that people, even intellectuals, are willing to swallow just about anything draped in “science.” It also casts the credibility of the Nobel Peace Prize into serious question. Academic dishonesty is nothing new, especially on the Left, but this raises the bar.

There’s talk of Gore’s fans drafting him to be the Democratic Presidential candidate in the next election. I think that’s a great idea. Let him and Hillary divide the party while they duke it out in the court of public opinion. That’s a sure way to kill the chances of either winning control of the Executive Branch.