Well, This Changes Everything!

BBC convinced by Bush adviser that climate change is real 1

Breaking news:

The US chief scientist has told the BBC that climate change is now a fact.

Yes, if President Bush's science advisor is 90 percent certain about it, then it must be true. It feels so good to finally know.

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  1. Pathos Posted 4:08 pm
    14 Sep 2007

    MisrepresentationOkay, I'm all for mocking the Bush administration for their failure to notice that the world was in danger until basically this year.  But you've got that sub-headline there that makes it sound like the BBC didn't acknowlege it until yesterday, either.  In fact, I'd wager anyone who doesn't read BBC News (so, most American readers, really) would read that blurb and start mentally equating them with Fox News.  The BBC has been treating climate change as fact for quite some time, and reported on its perceived causes, effects, and what's being done about it.  They've occasionally paid a two-sentence lip service to the "controversy," but now that it's widely acknowledged that the controversy is over, they aren't even doing that.
    One of the reasons I read the BBC is that they concern themselves with environmental issues more than any mainstream American news source I can find--and someone at Grist apparently agrees, as they're one of the sources for "Daily Grist"/"In the News" articles that I notice most often.
    The author (or perhaps the editor) of that article chose to maintain a politically neutral tone, but it's pretty obvious that their intention wasn't for the big news to be "Climate change is human-caused" but rather "Bush administration ADMITS that climate change is human-caused."
    So, yeah.  Mock the Bush adminstration all.  They deserve it.  And I wouldn't blame you for ragging on how hard the BBC article is straining to stay politically neutral there.  It's the best thing for them to do, but it's still funny.  But don't villify a news source that actually agrees with you; that's counterproductive.

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