Summary #1: On October 11th, Mr. Justice Burton, a U.K. High Court judge, ruled ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ can be shown in U.K. schools but the counter-argument must be presented as well. Specifically, the judge said the film contains “nine scientific errors” or nine statements not supported by mainstream scientific consensus. Nonetheless, the U.K. government has distributed the film to every secondary school. Wales and Scotland have done the same. Of the “nine scientific errors”, these were highlighted:
· Mr. Gore's assertion that a sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of ice in either West Antarctica or Greenland "in the near future". The judge said this was "distinctly alarmist" and it was common ground that if Greenland's ice melted it would release this amount of water - "but only after, and over, millennia".
· Mr. Gore's assertion that the disappearance of snow on Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa was expressly attributable to global warming - the court heard the scientific consensus was that it cannot be established the snow recession is mainly attributable to human-induced climate change.
· Mr. Gore's reference to a new scientific study showing that, for the first time, polar bears had actually drowned "swimming long distances - up to 60 miles - to find the ice". The judge said: "The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm."
The case was brought by a school governor from Dover who is also a member of the New Party. His lawyers described the ruling as a "landmark victory".
Summary #2: On the next day, October 12th, former Vice-President Al Gore announced a climate-change advertising campaign that will cost $100 to $200 million annually. The campaign will include TV commercials, newspaper spreads, and Internet ads. It will be funded by donations and proceeds from ‘In Inconvenient Truth’. The ads will not focus solely on energy-use and will also not endorse any specific legislation in Washington. It will focus on the message “global warming is not an unstoppable phenomenon… We have the technology and the ability to avoid global warming and the disasters that scientist say it will create.” Advertising experts concede ad campaigns can lead to a change – think anti-tobacco and anti-drunk driving – but it takes time to do so.
My Take: These are both a few days old but too pertinent to ignore. Also, I am covering both in one post so this adds a new twist on things. Who knows how much they are related (ad campaign reaction to ruling?) but it all certainly makes for busy week for Gore (didn’t he win some award too?). I will say the ad campaign seems like a great idea isolated from everything else. I especially like the message aimed at empowering people. If you just read the headlines (or this blog, haha), it probably seems as if we are all doomed and have dug our own grave. That is clearly not the case though. As for the errors in ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, a friend of mine cleared this up for me many months ago – he told me, “Regardless of the errors or over-exaggerations, the movie increased awareness and brought to the forefront a topic that was more or less ignored by this country.” Bottom line, it has done more good than harm but I’m glad they are showing both sides of the argument – a principle this blog was founded on.
Read about the errors here.
Read about the ads here.
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