Global Warming E-Mailers Are Cleared!

Oh, is this news story ever under-reported! Remember the big hullabaloo last winter over the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, and the e-mails that a hacker was able to find and publish to the world? At the time, this seemed to indicate that the climate change researchers were trying to cover up or fudge their data in a way which showed global warming was happening, when in fact it wasn't. Not long afterward, "Snowpocalypse" hit the East Coast, and conservative pundits were calling global warming a hoax more loudly than ever before.

Well, guess what? The third and final independent investigation into that matter by Muir Russell found that the conduct of the CRU scientists were solid in their conclusions. Although the scientists were sometimes lax in being open with their documents (they argue, quite rightly, that this was due to the excessively large number of frivolous requests for information), the investigation found that the conclusions drawn were still fundamentally sound. Global warming is real.

Now, with massive heat wave after massive heat wave covering the nation, it seems clear that all those claiming global warming was a hoax only a few months ago clearly had a premature brain ejaculation.

Here's where we get to see just how truly "fair and balanced" Fox News is. Let's see how frequently this news item gets covered. True fairness and balance dictates that this news item should be broadcast with the same intensity as the former one, along with an abject apology for making it appear that this news story was anything other than a big misunderstanding. So far, I not only don't see Fox News retracting or apologizing, I don't even see MSNBC taking the opportunity to rub this one in their face -- a sure sign that Fox isn't talking about it, since they tend to dictate the talking points Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann discuss on their shows.

There's a great cartoon that illustrates global warming best. A scientist is talking about the need for green energy and an end to fossil fuels, and a detractor stands up and says, "Yeah, but what if global warming ends up being a big hoax, and we make a better society, free ourselves of foreign oil, and stabilize our economy for nothing?"

That just says it all, doesn't it? If it's a win-win, we ought to do it regardless.

Ah, well. Let's hope more bloggers like me refuse to let this story die. The climate scientists' e-mails are exonerated! Spread the word!

Eric