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Old 06-19-2006, 03:18 PM   #2 (permalink)
Rodney
Observant Ruminant
 
Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town
Well, you do have to keep an open mind, but that's difficult to do. For example, even the article you just posted was written by a PR/lobbying agency, the High Park Group.

I went over to their website -- they're for for hire to anybody who wants their services, and no particular ideology or point of view is specified. Tom Harris, the author, is a media relations guy who has (according to the website) "worked with private companies and trade associations to successfully position these entities and their interests with media and before government committees and regulatory bodies." The article lists him as a mechanical engineer first, but his full-time job is to help private corporations get what they want.

It doesn't mean he's wrong. It does mean he'd be saying that whether he was right _or_ wrong, 'cause that's what he's being paid to do. By somebody. And that's not made clear. Intentionally.

So you've got a choice between academics who may or may not be hysterical, and a whole lot of others urging calm, who may or may not believe what they're saying, or at any rate are possibly being paid to the have the point of view that they do.

Weigh everything yourself, _and_ check the sources of all the information you get, and who they're related to. Also check the quality of the information: even if it comes from somebody with "Professor" in front of his name, it's questionable goods if it hasn't been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. And some -- not all, but some -- of the biggest global warming debunkers have just never gotten around to that.

Last edited by Rodney; 06-19-2006 at 03:27 PM..
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