(This post originally published on OneWhiteDuck.com)
It is no secret that Fox News’ programming loves to vilify climate change as being controversial or misleading – even though it is not.
They offer little more than opinions of supposed climate “experts” who just so happen to willfully agree with the Fox/Right wing narrative that climate change is simply “just one of those gigantic climactic, you know, phases that we’re going – for a while we’re cold and then we get warmer and then we get colder and warmer.” (Steve Doocy, Fox and Friends host, March 2011). Yet they ignore actual factual data that proves otherwise.
Factual data like, oh, the American Meteorological Society’s fact-based analysis that deduced in 2007 how climate change is, in fact, due significantly to human activities. While “further climate change will continue to have important impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems, and on wildlife through the 21st century and beyond.”
Similarly, the National Research Council reported in May of this year that “scientific evidence points to human activities – especially the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere – as the most likely cause for most of the global warming that has occurred over the last several decades.”
Did you catch that first part? Scientific evidence. No mention of God, religion, faith, Jesus, Noah, dominion over earth, land and sea, or Adam and Eve. Just science – with its cold, hard, soul-less spreadsheets and databases filled with pesky little things called facts.
Strengthening the case are scores of similar, scientific-fact-proven studies that say the same from names like the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society Of America. As well as the informed opinion of likely the entire population of the United States beyond a high school level of education.
Oh those colleges, textbooks and scientific societies with their godless, liberal agenda. Does the “hoax” have no limits?
Apparently not, as it seems that, according to Fox News as well as similarly Right-leaning news media (here and here for example). Kids are now being “indoctrinated” as well to join the ranks of climate change “agree-ers”.
In an August 3, 2011 broadcast of the widely popular Right-wing daytime program, Fox and Friends, hosts Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson took issue with Nickelodeon’s “push” for climate change via its lovable children’s character, SpongeBob.
That’s right. SpongeBob. The screaming, obnoxious, arguably stupid, square-pants’d cartoon that lives in a make-believe pineapple under the sea. Apparently HE is real-America’s new public enemy #1, now that some Kenyan in the White House had that Bin Laden guy killed.
DOOCY: “The Department of Education invited a bunch of DC kids in and they had this festivity and they handed out these particular Nickelodeon books where clearly Nickelodeon is pushing a global warming agenda.”
CARLSON: “The Department of Education is now using SpongeBob SquarePants to teach kids about global warming. The government agency showed kids this cartoon and handed out books that blamed man for global warming. But they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact. Oops!”
Yes, “oops!” Nickelodeon banded together with the D.O.E and decided to maybe – oh, I don’t know – playfully present children with an easy-to-understand, age-appropriate rendition of the truth to perhaps instill a sense of responsibility, community and environmental stewardship in kids; rather than placate hordes of backward rhetoric encouraged by Right wing, pro-oil propaganda.
“Ya see, Earth has these gases called greenhouse gases,” explained character Sandy Cheeks to Mr. SquarePants. “They’re in the atmosphere to keep the temperature of the planet just right. Carbon Dioxide is one of those gases. But when we make more greenhouse gases than the planet needs naturally, like you’ve been burnin’ tires and fuel, it locks the heat in the atmosphere. That makes the planet hotter than it should be. That’s global warming. And that’s not good.”
Oh the shame.
CARLSON: “We all know that SpongeBob is popular with the kids and for the life of me I still keep trying to figure out why it is. My kids watch limited TV but every time they chose that show, I’m like, ‘Why?’ Anyway – it’s hard to even follow sometimes. Anyway now maybe that will be a good thing because SpongeBob is talking a lot about global warming, and he’s only looking at it from one point of view.”
“One point of view” that apparently Gretchen Carlson – former Stanford Universty “cum laude” graduate and Oxford attendee as well as former Miss America Scholarship Pageant winner AND childhood client of then-nanny uber-fringe-Republican Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann – is pretending she is apparently too stupid to follow.
“Pretending,” you say? Yes, pretending. It is far more beneficial for anyone on Fox’s payroll to downplay their intelligence in order to reel in their key demographic. Mrs. Carlson is not a stupid woman; she is just playing one on TV.
She, along with an exorbitant amount of Fox News personalities, leverage their intellect to falsely validate the rank-and-file members of modern day, anti-science denialism. Whether regarding climate change, vaccines, health care, food, farming or even the infamously villainous idea of “big government”, Fox depends on the anti-intellect of so called libertarian ideals that are so far unrecognizable and flung from actual libertarianism that the debate is easily muddled. Their adoring public easily fooled.
In other news: the Fox News ratings juggernaut is apparently losing its audience. Gee, I wonder why.
- Joe Ascanio | Follow on Twitter @onewhiteduck as well as his personal feed @joeascanio.
Edited By: Alexis Atherton
Fox News are a bunch of homophobic idiots who believe in ridiculous ideology. Hell, they even protested against Obama telling the kids to stay in school and get an education. I believe Fox News and republicans are anti-american and do not care about anyone but themselves and how to secure their future when the future of America is in question..what a joke these people are.
Typical Global Warming alarmists response to criticism: Plug ears and shout “La La La global warming is a scientific fact! La la la there’s a scientific consensus! La la la the debate is over! La la la the evidence is sound! La la la can’t hear you, what did you say, you’re a denier, you’re stupid!”
In all seriousness, this is the major problem with “man-made global warming.” No one is willing to be proven wrong. Even when the scant evidence they provide is clearly debunked, they don’t acknowledge it. And the fact scientists who disagree with the theory are stripped of funding or even fired really shows how much integrity there is behind it.
You can call me an anti-intellectual, anti-science denialist until your face is blue: if you truly believe that man is responsible for global warming, the burden of proof is on you. If you claim there’s scientific evidence, then provide it. But don’t hassle people like me who criticize with skepticism.
http://blamethe1st.blogspot.com/2011/04/theres-probably-no-global-warming.html
Regardless of whether you believe it or not, teaching responsibility in order to keep it from worsening is probably a good idea.
You want evidence?
Here you go – two forms.
The first is a list of 171 “skeptic” arguments and the answers with FULL citations.
http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php
The second is an interactive, comprehensive list (with full citations AND links) of EVERY climate science paper published through peer review since 1824.
Until you’ve actually looked at the evidence, you are in no position to make accusations of plugging ears and shouting.
“But they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact.”
Wretchen Carlson just said that climate change is a fact. It’s just dipshits like all Fox News watchers dispute it (I think the word she was really looking for is “repudiate”). Just wanted to clear that up.
That’s OK, Sponge Bob’s time is limited, what with the oceans warming and getting saltier and coral reefs bleaching, with algae blooms and oil slicks and Texas-size styrofoam islands…say Bye Bye, Bob.
Fox saying they are “skeptical” of global warming is like a Holocaust denier is “skeptical” of the Holocaust having taken place.
They aren’t skeptical in the slightest. They firmly believe it to be wrong. Evidence will persuade a skeptical person. Evidence cannot persuade global warming deniers.
HAH!!! Great minds think alike!
“Mrs. Carlson is not a stupid woman; she is just playing one on TV.”
I said the exact same thing in my own little SpongeBob piece.
“No. She’s not a bimbo, she just plays one on TV.”
I guess stating the obvious tends to overlap.
I thought the same thing when I read your piece – great job. Love the lead-in: “Do. Not. Argue. With. Fictional. Characters.”
Do you think maybe that’s why they tend not to question the Bible, too?
There is a special place in Hell for that lying beeyotch Gretchen Carlson.