Stossel's guest in this half hour program is Research Fellow Linnea Lueken of The Heartland Institute. She is a Senior Fellow with the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy.
Global Warming and Climate Change Myths
Stossel opens by challenging popular alarmist claims, moving from "global warming" to "global boiling." He asserts that many scientists do not agree with the apocalyptic predictions made by activists and the media.
1. Melting Ice Caps
The arctic will be ice-free, oh no! Stossel disputes claims that Arctic ice is melting at a catastrophic rate and that the Arctic could be ice-free in summers by 2030 and sea levels will rise more than 20 feet.
Stossel points out that while some melting has occurred, the trend has stabilized over the past 20 years and that predictions made in past decades have not come to fruition. Sea level rise is acknowledged but is described as occurring too slowly to prevent adaptation, debunking predictions that it will imminently flood cities. For over thirty years the Greens have been warning that coast cities will be underwater in ten years. Millions will be displaced. Malaria will kill even more.
I'm reminded here of Michael Crichton's State of Fear, which argues that the threat of global warming is heavily exaggerated, driven by alarmist media, political agendas, and vested financial interests. The novel’s central message is a warning against "politicized science"—the dangerous intermixing of scientific data with politics, propaganda, and fear-mongering.
In 2009 Al Gore stated, "There is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap during some of the summer months could be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years." How do these people still have any credibility?
2. Polar Bears and Mass Extinction:
The next myth Stossel challenges is the polar bear crisis. Contrary to claims of polar bear extinction, Lueken points out the reality is that polar bear numbers have increased by more than 50%. I know it's old-fashioned and unfair to use facts in such a controversial issue, but what the hey. When environmental groups use misleading information to solicit donations, someone has to point out the truth.
3. Massive Global Food Shortage
He next refutes the idea that climate change has led to a global food shortage. Lueken smiles and says, "There is o claim less true." In point of fact, there has been an increase in agricultural outputs, attributed in part to higher CO2 levels aiding plant growth and technological advances.
4. Droughts
We have had a lot of wildfires this year, but claims that droughts and wildfires are increasing are easily disputed by pointing to historical data showing that drought conditions were worse in the 1930s, and that current wildfire incidences are more linked to land management and urban sprawl rather than climate change. The EPA has itself acknowledged that the last 50 years has been wetter than average.
5. Wildfires
Yes there has been a modest uptick in wildfires since the early 1980s, but that was the lowest period of wildfires in U.S. history Lueken points out. The data from 50 years earlier shows that more than twice as much land area burned. And we should know. Here in the Northland we should know. The 1918 fires wiped out 35 towns and communities. Was that the same year as the Hinckley fire?
6. Rising Seas
Oh please. Climate alarmists predicted in the 1990s that major European cities would be underwater by 202o. I'm rolling my eyes.
6. Coral Reefs
How many times have you heard that the Great Barrier Reef is dying and will become extinct? I have heard this assertion numerous times over the years. It's convenient that none of us live there. Repetition of this lament is endless. Stossel challengesn this nonsense with data indicating recent expansions of the Great Barrier Reef, countering the image of them as dying ecosystems.
7. Plastic and Recycling
This one may cause pushback by some. Stossel criticizes the recycling industry, particularly the inefficiency in recycling plastics. He points out that very little plastic is actually recycled and much ends up in landfills or is shipped to developing countries.
8. Honeybees
We've heard plenty about the ominous decline in the honeybee population. Lueken and Stossel say it just isn't so. There is no Bee Apocalypse.
9. GMOs
Hmmm. All we've ever heard is how bad GMOs are. There's another side of that story, too. Why do we never hear it?
Environmental groups are scrutinized for their fundraising strategies, which allegedly rely on perpetuating myths and fears about the planet's future. Stossel suggests these groups, despite their activist image, hold significant financial power and often obstruct development that could lead to greater prosperity.
This is my own personal beef with the environmentalists. There is a "no compromise" stance toward everything to a degree that it almost appears that their intentions are to deliberately damage the economy (which creates wealth that creates jobs and enriches all of us). Instead, Greenpeace and other groups spend bazillions on lawyers to thwart projects that are in the best interests of all of us.
11. The Role of Media
Stossel has special contempt for those in the media for amplifying alarmist climate narratives without adequately considering contrary scientific evidence, driven largely by the pursuit of sensational stories that attract attention and funding. When I used to have a radio in my car I regularly listened to NPR and thought it almost hilarious how many ways they could tie any event into a climate change reference. If one did a study, I'm willing to bet that there has never been a day in 20 years that did not mention climate change in a story. I'm not making this up. (Does anyone have access to the last 20 years of NPR transcripts? Maybe an AI could quickly answer that question for us?) "When was the last time NPR did not mention climate change?" As we know, NPR is not alone in tooting this horn.
12. Summing Up
Stossel concludes with these observations:
"I'm ashamed that I once fell for their scams. Years ago, my TV station ran ads promoting my alarmist environmental reporting. Now I realize that what today's big environmental groups mostly do is stop progress and make lawyers richer. We invited the groups to come here and explain to me why I'm wrong, defend your work. Not one would agree. I still want to ask them how they justify making it so hard for people to build anything. It's a shame because really, when I think about what America could be, what we could be building, we could be so prosperous, so much more prosperous than we are."
I find it lamentable how any and every issue gets twisted once it has become political. Perhaps the real underlying issue is the fact that so much money is at stake. It seems like the doomsayers missed the point on the story of Chicken Little. Always screeching that "the sky is falling" should have consequences. The moral the story is that eventually no one takes you seriously. Children "got it." Why don't more adults get it?
Related Links
Climate Change Myths https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3vsyB84TcI
He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People
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