Author: Steve Milloy

NY Times reporter whitewashes Climategate story he is part of

Below is a text of the letter sent to clark Hoyt, the public editor (ombudsman) for the New York Times:

Mr. Hoyt,

Shouldn’t Andrew Revkin haved recused himself from his Nov. 21 front-page article, “Hacked E-mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute“?

First, as Revkin briefly acknowledges in the article, he is part of the story. Isn’t it a breach of journalistic ethics for a reporter to report on a story of which he is part?

Moreover, his story to a great extent defended his sources. It’s one thing to rely on sources; it is quite another to defend them at the expense of unbiased and accurate reporting about them.

This is not an innocent faux pas either.

Revkin tried to whitewash the significance of the story — including distracting readers away from the embarrassing/incriminating contents of the files and, instead, focusing them on the alleged hacking.

Finally, as we will report tomorrow, there seems to have been no “hack” at all.

The files appear to have been accumulated in preparation of a possible court-ordered FOIA release on a server to which the public had access. It is not “hacking” to access files that are publicly available. It may have been unwise/improper to store the file on a public server, but that is a different matter. There is no evidence that anything illegal occurred in the release of the files.

The hacking allegation, of course, was a terrific distraction device.

Perhaps a journalist more interested in unbiased reporting and less interested in defending his personal relationships with the subjects in the e-mails and his personal pro-climate alarmist agenda would have investigated and caught this. But then Andrew Revkin was the wrong man for the job.

Steve Milloy
Publisher, JunkScience.com

NY Times reporter whitewashes Climategate story he is part of

Below is a text of the letter sent to clark Hoyt, the public editor (ombudsman) for the New York Times:

Mr. Hoyt,

Shouldn’t Andrew Revkin haved recused himself from his Nov. 21 front-page article, “Hacked E-mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute“?

First, as Revkin briefly acknowledges in the article, he is part of the story. Isn’t it a breach of journalistic ethics for a reporter to report on a story of which he is part?

Moreover, his story to a great extent defended his sources. It’s one thing to rely on sources; it is quite another to defend them at the expense of unbiased and accurate reporting about them.

This is not an innocent faux pas either.

Revkin tried to whitewash the significance of the story — including distracting readers away from the embarrassing/incriminating contents of the files and, instead, focusing them on the alleged hacking.

Finally, as we will report tomorrow, there seems to have been no “hack” at all.

The files appear to have been accumulated in preparation of a possible court-ordered FOIA release on a server to which the public had access. It is not “hacking” to access files that are publicly available. It may have been unwise/improper to store the file on a public server, but that is a different matter. There is no evidence that anything illegal occurred in the release of the files.

The hacking allegation, of course, was a terrific distraction device.

Perhaps a journalist more interested in unbiased reporting and less interested in defending his personal relationships with the subjects in the e-mails and his personal pro-climate alarmist agenda would have investigated and caught this. But then Andrew Revkin was the wrong man for the job.

Steve Milloy
Publisher, JunkScience.com

Must-see video: Coal CEO routs green reporter

Unlike most fossil fuel company CEOs, Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship knows his global warming.

Nevertheless, in a new interview, E&E TV reporter Monica Trauzzi seems bent on making a fool of him

Blankenship, however, is more than up to the challenge.

Click here to watch the duel and/or read the transcript.

If more U.S. CEOs were as knowledgable and articulate as Blankenship, our nation wouldn’t be on the precipice of a swan dive into junk science-fueled totalitariansim.

Must-see video: Coal CEO routs green reporter

Unlike most fossil fuel company CEOs, Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship knows his global warming.

Nevertheless, in a new interview, E&E TV reporter Monica Trauzzi seems bent on making a fool of him

Blankenship, however, is more than up to the challenge.

Click here to watch the duel and/or read the transcript.

If more U.S. CEOs were as knowledgable and articulate as Blankenship, our nation wouldn’t be on the precipice of a swan dive into junk science-fueled totalitariansim.

Skeptics winning in UK

From the Times (UK):

“Less than half the population believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to an exclusive poll for The Times.”

How do the never-say-die alarmists respond?

Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice at the Met Office, said that growing awareness of the scale of the problem appeared to be resulting in people taking refuge in denial.

Pope’s explanation is why most people accept that

2 + 2 = 4.

They are aware of the “scale of the problem” of believing that

2 + 2 = 5.

I guess Guardian worry-wort George Monbiot is going have to write harder and to think of new names to call his “sceptics.”

Skeptics winning in UK

From the Times (UK):

“Less than half the population believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to an exclusive poll for The Times.”

How do the never-say-die alarmists respond?

Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice at the Met Office, said that growing awareness of the scale of the problem appeared to be resulting in people taking refuge in denial.

Pope’s explanation is why most people accept that

2 + 2 = 4.

They are aware of the “scale of the problem” of believing that

2 + 2 = 5.

I guess Guardian worry-wort George Monbiot is going have to write harder and to think of new names to call his “sceptics.”

The Ugly European

In contrast to Der Spiegel (below), the Financial Times editorializes today that the U.S. (read “Obama”) should not be blamed for the failure of Copenhagen. Instead, the FT opines:

… The US has a right to take its time. Admittedly, its political process has been frustrating: the simple fact that Americans must live less carbon-intensive lives and pay more for their gasoline has yet to be explained to voters, and the current bill has serious flaws. But, still, the country must be given time to agree a position…

Why must we live less carbon-intensive lives/ Why must we pay more for gasoline? Because that’s what Europeans want?

Our political process is “frustrating”? That’s rich from a continent whose political processes killed one hundred million people during the 20th century and required THREE major U.S. interventions to save it from carnage and oppression.

The Ugly European

In contrast to Der Spiegel (below), the Financial Times editorializes today that the U.S. (read “Obama”) should not be blamed for the failure of Copenhagen. Instead, the FT opines:

… The US has a right to take its time. Admittedly, its political process has been frustrating: the simple fact that Americans must live less carbon-intensive lives and pay more for their gasoline has yet to be explained to voters, and the current bill has serious flaws. But, still, the country must be given time to agree a position…

Why must we live less carbon-intensive lives/ Why must we pay more for gasoline? Because that’s what Europeans want?

Our political process is “frustrating”? That’s rich from a continent whose political processes killed one hundred million people during the 20th century and required THREE major U.S. interventions to save it from carnage and oppression.

Der Spiegel lambastes Obama

Europe is unhappy with President Empty-Suit on climate. But why would they have expected anything from someone who has no history of accomplishing anything except self-advancement and self-aggrandizement? Did they miss both of Obama’s auto-vapor-ographies?

Check out what Christian Schwägerl’s has to say in his Der Spiegel column, “Obama Has Failed the World on Climate Change“:

US President Barack Obama came to office promising hope and change. But on climate change, he has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush. Now, should the climate summit in Copenhagen fail, the blame will lie squarely with Obama…

Obama Lied to the Europeans

Barack Obama cast himself as a “citizen of the world” when he delivered his well-received campaign speech in Berlin in the summer of 2008. But the US president has now betrayed this claim. In his Berlin speech, he was dishonest with Europe. Since then, Obama has neglected the single most important issue for an American president who likes to imagine himself as a world citizen, namely his country’s addiction to fossil fuels and the risks of unchecked climate change. Health care reform and other domestic issues were more important to him than global environmental threats. He was either unwilling or unable to convince skeptics in his own ranks and potential defectors from the ranks of the Republicans to support him, for example by promising alternative investments as a compensation for states with large coal reserves…

Dreamt Up by Hollywood

For most Americans, the world beyond the US’s borders is nothing more than an irritating nuisance. Hence arguments based on appeals about drowning Bangladeshis, starving Africans and flooded islands in Indonesia have little effect. In Hollywood, the United States has an industry that continually pushes the materialistic ideal of Western prosperity to billions of people around the world, while at the same time bombarding them with apocalyptic visions in the form of disaster movies.

Many Americans clearly also believe that real climate change is just something dreamt up by the entertainment industry…

The Nobel Committee should postpone the award of the Nobel Peace Prize from Dec. 10 to Dec. 20. Only if Obama has achieved a convincing deal at the Copenhagen conference will there be a real reason to honor him.

Der Spiegel lambastes Obama

Europe is unhappy with President Empty-Suit on climate. But why would they have expected anything from someone who has no history of accomplishing anything except self-advancement and self-aggrandizement? Did they miss both of Obama’s auto-vapor-ographies?

Check out what Christian Schwägerl’s has to say in his Der Spiegel column, “Obama Has Failed the World on Climate Change“:

US President Barack Obama came to office promising hope and change. But on climate change, he has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush. Now, should the climate summit in Copenhagen fail, the blame will lie squarely with Obama…

Obama Lied to the Europeans

Barack Obama cast himself as a “citizen of the world” when he delivered his well-received campaign speech in Berlin in the summer of 2008. But the US president has now betrayed this claim. In his Berlin speech, he was dishonest with Europe. Since then, Obama has neglected the single most important issue for an American president who likes to imagine himself as a world citizen, namely his country’s addiction to fossil fuels and the risks of unchecked climate change. Health care reform and other domestic issues were more important to him than global environmental threats. He was either unwilling or unable to convince skeptics in his own ranks and potential defectors from the ranks of the Republicans to support him, for example by promising alternative investments as a compensation for states with large coal reserves…

Dreamt Up by Hollywood

For most Americans, the world beyond the US’s borders is nothing more than an irritating nuisance. Hence arguments based on appeals about drowning Bangladeshis, starving Africans and flooded islands in Indonesia have little effect. In Hollywood, the United States has an industry that continually pushes the materialistic ideal of Western prosperity to billions of people around the world, while at the same time bombarding them with apocalyptic visions in the form of disaster movies.

Many Americans clearly also believe that real climate change is just something dreamt up by the entertainment industry…

The Nobel Committee should postpone the award of the Nobel Peace Prize from Dec. 10 to Dec. 20. Only if Obama has achieved a convincing deal at the Copenhagen conference will there be a real reason to honor him.