‘THE GORE EFFECT’…. The Politico’s Erika Lovley has two published pieces today on politics and global warming, and they’re both surprisingly bad.
The first appears under the headline, “Scientists urge caution on global warming.” Lovley’s article reports, “Climate change skeptics on Capitol Hill are quietly watching a growing accumulation of global cooling science and other findings that could signal that the science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation.”
David Roberts explained, “The most notable feature of this ‘growing accumulation of global cooling science’ is that Lovely doesn’t cite a single piece of it. Seriously. Not one.”
Indeed, the piece focused heavily on the work of Weather Channel founder Joseph D’Aleo, a conservative meteorologist (not a climate scientist) and infamous global warming denier, and quotes a variety of conservatives who are on the same page, including Marc Morano, a notorious far-right Hill staffer for James Inhofe.
How many scientists are quoted defending the global warming consensus of the scientific community? Zero. Lovley’s article reads like something one might find on World Net Daily.
The second piece — same publication, same writer, same topic — is even more insulting.
For several years now, skeptics have amusedly eyed a phenomenon known as “The Gore Effect” to half-seriously argue their case against global warming.
The so-called Gore Effect happens when a global warming-related event, or appearance by the former vice president and climate change crusader, Al Gore, is marked by exceedingly cold weather or unseasonably winter weather.
For instance, in March, 2007, a Capitol Hill media briefing on the Senate’s new climate bill was cancelled due to a snowstorm.
On Oct. 22, Gore’s global warming speech at Harvard University coincided with near 125-year record-breaking low temperatures. And less than a week later, on Oct. 28, the British House of Commons held a marathon debate on global warming during London’s first October snowfall since 1922.
While there’s no scientific proof that The Gore Effect is anything more than a humorous coincidence, some climate skeptics say it may offer a snapshot of proof that the planet isn’t warming as quickly as some climate change advocates say.
For crying out loud. A few global warming deniers think cold weather undermines climate change, and the Politico feels comfortable telling readers that snowstorms “may offer a snapshot of proof”? Seriously?
The Politico did some solid campaign reporting this year. Here’s hoping Lovley’s articles are an aberration, and not the kind of “journalism” readers can expect as the political world transitions from campaign mode to governing.
