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October 21, 2005
– Go to the
EPA's webpage with information on Global Warming and you will
notice something. Mostly, the EPA says the impact of Global
Warming is a "big unknown."
Now we have heard - as with everything
we hear these days - two versions. And, as with everything
else, the two versions are from right of middle to far right.
And so, the Global Warming debate in the
public discourse states that there are one of two scenarios:
1) Global Warming is a threat, but not really in a major way any
time soon; or 2) Even this statement is an exaggeration, and Global
Warming is really not much of a threat at all any time soon.
These two disparate positions take into
account the reality that there is some uncertainty in knowing
exactly what the impact of Global Warming will be. But, since
the conversation is dominated by the right-wing and right-winger
skew of the non-Moderate Independent media, there is missing the
obvious third possibility: that rather than overestimating
what the impact of Global Warming will be and when it will occur,
scientists may actually be underestimating.
That possibility may not be entertained
in the non-M/I media, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a
real possibility.
Just as the Bush/Limbaughians claim that
some uncertainty in the modeling scientists use means Global Warming
may be less of a threat than they think, that same uncertainty means
that Global Warming may be more pressing and more serious of a
threat than they think.
For example, while some models put
Global Warming's impact just decades away, the Bushies say the
scientists could be wrong, and so the impact may be many decades or
even centuries away.
But this works both ways. If the
scientists may be off by decades, they may be off by decades in
either direction. And that means that while they believe we
may have decades left before we begin feeling the impact of Global
Warming, the reality is that Global Warming's impact may begin
setting in right now or within the next few years.
Similarly, as the Bushies - as seen on
the
EPA website - point out that things may not end up being as bad
as some scientists predict, it is just a possible that things will
be far worse than is being predicted.
With Global Warming, as with all issues
in America these days, the problem is that the conversations we are
having are among middle-right and far-right. The true middle
and the left are not included in the conversation.
And so whether it is with the deficits
or Global Warming or the nation's health care situation or the
education system or our nation's crumbling infrastructure, the
general tone that comes out is that either things will be kind of
bad, or maybe that's all nonsense and things won't be bad at all.
The reality that not only may things actually be real bad but
horribly bad is not given a place.
But as we've seen again and again, just
because you ignore something or deny it or lie about it doesn't make
it any less real. You can say tax cuts won't cause deficits,
that invading Iraq will just take week and pay for itself, that oil
prices will be low, or that "integrity" will be brought to the White
House, but it doesn't make any of it so. Not only may these
things not actually occur, but they may, as we have seen in each of
these cases, turn out in a far worse order than was even imagined.
When Al Gore talked about setting up a
"lock box" for the nation, he was laying out a simple reality:
that you had better prepare for unexpected rainy days.
Due to the complete domination of the
non-Moderate Independent media by the Bush/Limbaugh right, the only
forecasts allowed are those that argue whether we will get lightly
drizzled on or whether it may just turn out sunny after all.
But as we all know, allowing only such
predictions to be heard does not make an approaching hurricane any
less real - or less dangerous. And while the debate may be
should we take adequate precautions or not bother with even those,
the best course just may be to take extra precautions - that is the
way to best ensure safety.
So rather than slacking on dealing with
Global Warming or doing what has been prescribed to halt it, we
might just want to follow the advice of some of us moderates and
some of those on the left when they say why not take extra
precautions just in case. You know, a Global Warming lock box
of extra cut emissions.
It's only our survival we are dealing
with. And in our scenario, worst case is cleaner air.
But don't listen for such ideas in the
non-Moderate Independent media. The Bush/Limbaughians are in
control - at least of what is being said. As we see though,
they are not in control of the disastrous reality that results from
their destruction of the American conversation.
We now return you to FOX News, which
declared today:
Wilma Is Not Global Warming. But go ahead and read the
article. While the title makes an absolute, direct statement,
the proof cited is just as we showed above, the claim that because
scientists are uncertain, that equals proof that this is not Global
Warming. Obviously, that is not an accurate line of thinking,
but it is a great example of exactly what is being discussed above.
And it is also a clear cut example of people who don't mind twisting
things even if hundreds of thousands - or, in fact, millions and
millions - of lives could be lost as a result.
The reality, in fact, is that the
evidence cited in the FOX article just as easily makes the case that
although some scientists are saying Global Warming could not be
happening yet, it just might be. And now you can see how
central to America's issues - a security - dealing with the
right-wing's absolute domination of the media is.
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