Here's a short video produced by documentary filmmaker Jon Cooksey and his team at How To Boil a Frog, featuring DeSmog Project co-founder Jim Hoggan. Enjoy!
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Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy.
There is a vast difference between putting forth a point of view, honestly held, and intentionally sowing the seeds of confusion. Free speech does not include the right to deceive. Deception is not a point of view. And the right to disagree does not include a right to intentionally subvert the public awareness.
Although all public relations professionals are bound by a duty to not knowingly mislead the public, some have executed comprehensive campaigns of misinformation on behalf of industry clients on issues ranging from tobacco and asbestos to seat belts.
Lately, these fringe players have turned their efforts to creating confusion about climate change. This PR campaign could not be accomplished without the compliance of media as well as the assent and participation of leaders in government and business.
Help us clear the PR pollution that clouds climate science. Thanks to our dedicated readers, the DeSmog project counters the seeds of climate confusion.
Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy. The Desmog project is our answer to industry PR spin.
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So Hoggan thinks any organisation which takes issue with the AGW hysteria agenda should be illegal.
Priceless.
"In modern psychology and psychiatry, hysteria is a feature of hysterical disorders in which a patient experiences physical symptoms that have a psychological, rather than an organic, cause; and histrionic personality disorder characterized by excessive emotions, dramatics, and attention-seeking behavior."
http://www.answers.com/Hysteria?nafid=3
Based on the grammar and vocabulary typically used in their blog messages, including yours, deniers display far more hysteria than any others.
Psychological projection is frequently displayed by denialists:
...In psychology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the ego recognize them...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
Interesting that the Smogblog braintrust has absolutely nothing to say about Hoggan's desire, that arguing with the Global Warming liturgy be criminalized.
Interesting, too, that virtually all of Hoggan's complaints and allegations against his ideological enemies, are things that he, himself, is flagarantly guilty in practise.
It's interesting that deniers can't spell.
Or in general read scientific literature perhaps no access to any? Rob likely still denies despite evidence provided many times over that rising CO2 is due to human burning of fossil fuels and other activities
Rob always goes strangely quiet whenever you call him out on a point of fact.
But for review, let's try this:
CO2 levels in the atmosphere are one-third higher today than at any time during which humans have walked the planet.
The increase has occurred since humans discovered and began burning fossil fuels - and most of the increase has occurred in the last half century.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas: its presence in the atmosphere traps heat.
(Those are facts, Rob, though you're welcome to weigh in with your "interpretation.")
Hoggan said that lying to people about those facts is immoral and should be illegal. In fact, it WAS illegal when the cigarette companies did it. It also might well be found to be illegal if it was being done directly by companies with demonstrable self-interest - a point that Jim also made.
So, we have third-party think tanks, conceived and created to mislead the public and to indemnify the corporate types who don't want to risk liability by saying this stuff themselves. And Rob thinks it is somehow outrageous to suggest that's a bad thing - maybe even a thing that should be against the law.
The problem is that none of this is "priceless." We're all gonna pay - no matter how long Rob and his ilk continue to argue about when and how much.
Are you there? Anything to say there, Rob? Any science to refute these basic facts? We're waiting . . .
Fern Mackenzie
Very good video.