Monday, November 09, 2009

Independently Inaccurate   [Chris Horner]

The Independent has a piece illustrating why readers have lost faith in it as a news source, called "Bureaucrats clash on shape of climate deal." It opens with the following.

Bureaucratic detail should be the last thing that prevents an agreement to save the planet from climate change. After all, the outline of the issue is simple: every government in the world now accepts that the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted from human sources will lead to a disastrous overheating of the atmosphere, if it is not checked (emphasis added).

While being frivolous on its face for cocktail-party substance — regurgitating received if unsupportable wisdom (e.g., Kyoto guarantees quantified emission cuts by Party nations, it is "binding," Bush "withdrew" the U.S. from the never-joined Kyoto when his administration changed U.S. policy) — the article also repeats the mantra that "the imperative is clear, and recognised by all," citing two 2007 political statements as substantiation. This reads an awful lot like an effort to convince oneself.

For post-2007 clarity, maybe this writer for the fading Indy — a lad who, incidentally, cobbled together a story ostensibly premised on discarded (and dog-offal-smeared) paper stolen from my trash by Greenpeace — should read Planet Gore more often.

11/09 10:00 AMShare