When a panel of scientists from 13 federal agencies published a report last week warning that global warming could cost the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars and disrupt life as we know it, the White House attempted to blunt its impact by releasing it late on Black Friday. Nevertheless, the report has made big waves and prompted some interesting responses.
The National Weather Service, which has historically focused only on communicating about weather hazards, broke with tradition by highlighting the report Monday morning in a series of tweets and a Facebook post calling attention to the report's findings. The NWS is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which contributed to the report, Jason Samenow reports for The Washington Post. NOAA is part of the Commerce Department; Commerce Secretary WIlbur Ross said in his confirmation testimony that he would keep hands off NOAA's climate work.
The NWS tweets came an hour after President Trump told reporters he didn't believe parts of the report that predicted negative effects on the economy. "The White House said in a statement the report is 'largely based on the most extreme scenario' and doesn't account for reduced greenhouse gas emissions and new technologies that reduce pollution," Stephanie Ebbs reports for ABC News.
Cable news networks, in an attempt to play fair, gave airtime to conservative pundits who dismissed the entire report as a conspiracy. "The entire worldwide establishment, these pundits argue, is involved in a massive conspiracy, funded by shadowy but apparently infinitely wealthy figures, to perpetuate the climate hoax on the world, for unclear reasons," Amanda Marcotte writes for left-leaning publication Salon. Former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum argued in a CNN segment that the scientists made outrageous claims to make money and remain relevant.
"It's irresponsible of CNN to invite these climate change denialists on to spread conspiracy theories, but that error is compounded by the failure of supposed journalists to follow up on these preposterous claims," Marcotte writes. "Right-wingers are not asked why not a single person has blown the whistle on this conspiracy that, at this point, would require the cooperation of hundreds of thousands of people. Nor are they asked about the alleged motivations of these supposed funders, or who they are."
The National Weather Service, which has historically focused only on communicating about weather hazards, broke with tradition by highlighting the report Monday morning in a series of tweets and a Facebook post calling attention to the report's findings. The NWS is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which contributed to the report, Jason Samenow reports for The Washington Post. NOAA is part of the Commerce Department; Commerce Secretary WIlbur Ross said in his confirmation testimony that he would keep hands off NOAA's climate work.
The NWS tweets came an hour after President Trump told reporters he didn't believe parts of the report that predicted negative effects on the economy. "The White House said in a statement the report is 'largely based on the most extreme scenario' and doesn't account for reduced greenhouse gas emissions and new technologies that reduce pollution," Stephanie Ebbs reports for ABC News.
Cable news networks, in an attempt to play fair, gave airtime to conservative pundits who dismissed the entire report as a conspiracy. "The entire worldwide establishment, these pundits argue, is involved in a massive conspiracy, funded by shadowy but apparently infinitely wealthy figures, to perpetuate the climate hoax on the world, for unclear reasons," Amanda Marcotte writes for left-leaning publication Salon. Former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum argued in a CNN segment that the scientists made outrageous claims to make money and remain relevant.
"It's irresponsible of CNN to invite these climate change denialists on to spread conspiracy theories, but that error is compounded by the failure of supposed journalists to follow up on these preposterous claims," Marcotte writes. "Right-wingers are not asked why not a single person has blown the whistle on this conspiracy that, at this point, would require the cooperation of hundreds of thousands of people. Nor are they asked about the alleged motivations of these supposed funders, or who they are."
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