Environmental Group Trys To Stifle Scientific Debate On College Campuses

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Environmental Group Strives To Stifle Debate On Global Warming At Colleges

Here is a prime example of the ongoing effort to stifle the scientific inquiry into the real causes of global warming. This time an "environmental advocacy group" called Focus the Nation is taking their totally unscientific, biased message to college campuses across the country. They say, again, that the "debate is over". They insist now is the time to act, to limit "greenhouse gas" emissions.

Well, what nonsense! This is all based on the UN's flawed IPCC report and the political machinations of Al Gore's true believers. "Focus The Nation" is basing their efforts on what some experts call the biggest scam, or swindle, in history.......promoting the MYTH of man-caused global warming. Now they're trying to brainwash our eager, but naive youth.

We will try to reveal the truth. The articles, comments, essays, and science reproduced here on this blog reveal some of the truth. Spread the word.
Peter

Global Warming Teach-In Coming to Campuses Nationwide

By Evan Moore CNSNews.com Correspondent January 23, 2008(CNSNews.com)-

On Jan. 31, the environmental advocacy group Focus the Nation will hold a teach-in on more than 1,000 college campuses nationwide to discuss solutions for global warming. The event is based on the premise that scientific debate about the existence of global warming is "over."

Many critics, however, say the teach-in is an attempt to end debate and advance "draconian" public policies. In an interview with Cybercast News Service, Alex Tinker, public relations director for Focus the Nation, said the idea behind the teach-in model is inclusion: It "engages students across all disciplines on a campus, not just the usual suspects who would come to a special environmentally oriented event, so that you can actually reach an audience big enough to reach that critical mass to get real legislation passed in Washington."The teach-in, as defined by Focus the Nation's Web site, "is a day when an entire school turns its attention to a single issue -- when faculty, students, and staff put aside business as usual, and focus the full weight of campus engagement on one topic."

Tinker noted that the majority of hosting universities are not planning on halting classes altogether, but many are planning on incorporating the message of the teach-in into the content of regularly scheduled classes."The premise behind Focus the Nation is that 'The science is in. Global warming is real," said Tinker. "There's no longer a meaningful scientific debate about whether or not global warming is caused by human kind - the debate should be about what policy solutions we need to enact to address it."

Tinker said Focus the Nation is encouraging students to adopt policy solutions they deem prescriptive and to lobby their congressmen on global warming. Some of the solutions that Focus the Nation offers include a tax on emissions, increased support for biofuels, and the creation of 1 million new "green jobs" - workers who would service America's infrastructure to be more ecologically friendly.

Critics blast George C. Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom, a conservative think tank, criticized Tinker and Focus the Nation. "I've talked to way too many scientists - many of whom are on the IPCC [the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] - who look at the data and don't see a human footprint," Landrith told Cybercast News Service. "They don't see this as something that we're causing, and they don't see this as catastrophic. They see it as natural and largely benign. We definitely and absolutely disagree with the idea that 'science is certain, the debate is over, blah blah blah.'"

"If the debate were over, there wouldn't be literally hundreds of scientists stepping up and saying 'No, this is wrong,' and people like Al Gore and his ilk wouldn't be working so hard to make sure that they cut off discussion," said Landrith. "The truth is that they're engaging in polemics, not science."Fluctuations in climate have always occurred throughout history, he said. In the latter part of the 20th century there was a "modest, one degree warming," said Landrith, which is "well within the natural norms."

Before Congress adopts "draconian regulatory regimes" to supposedly fight global warming - killing thousands of jobs in the process - we need to ensure "we have our science right," he said.

Some reaction
George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., will host another Focus the Nation teach-in on Jan. 29. In an interview with Cybercast News Service, the university's press secretary, Dan Walsch, said, "This is an issue that a number of faculty members are heavily interested in, on a professional and personal level," and after a series of meetings, the school decided to hold the teach-in.Walsch added that the school does not have a policy position on global warming.

Dane Styler, managing director of Connect2Mason, a Web site focusing on the GMU community, told Cybercast News Service that students had just returned to school on Tuesday and there was not much campus buzz on the teach-in. He noted, however, that GMU has devoted itself to eco-friendly measures for the past few years. These include developing a sustainability office to highlight measures on campus to improve the college's environmental impact. Styler said he thinks global warming is real, manmade, and poses a threat to civilization. "The data's there," he said."We're producing enough gasses and chemicals that there's actually been a change in the [atmospheric] temperature."

Celia Taylor, a GMU alumna, disagreed with Styler but told Cybercast News Service that she was nonetheless pleased with her alma mater. "Even if I disagree on the stance on the issue, I have always applauded Mason for being involved," she said. "Doing so not only makes the institution a national name but also involves, engages, and encourages its students to think critically, even to disagree," Taylor said."I will continue to vocalize my support of the school and its involvement in current issues at the same time that I vocalize my disagreement on this particular issue," she added.

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