On Sunday, NewsBusters exposed the Los Angeles Times for admitting that it doesn't publish letters to the editor "that say there's no sign humans have caused climate change."
The Times responded Tuesday:
Before going into some detail about why these letters don't make it into our pages, I'll concede that, aside from my easily passing the Advanced Placement biology exam in high school, my science credentials are lacking. I'm no expert when it comes to our planet's complex climate processes or any scientific field. Consequently, when deciding which letters should run among hundreds on such weighty matters as climate change, I must rely on the experts -- in other words, those scientists with advanced degrees who undertake tedious research and rigorous peer review.
And those scientists have provided ample evidence that human activity is indeed linked to climate change. Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- a body made up of the world's top climate scientists -- said it was 95% certain that we fossil-fuel-burning humans are driving global warming. The debate right now isn't whether this evidence exists (clearly, it does) but what this evidence means for us.
Simply put, I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy.
Obviously, it depends on which "scientists with advanced degrees" you rely on for your information on this or any subject.
With that in mind, I hereby challenge Times' letters editor Paul Thornton to name "scientists with advanced degrees" that believe man is causing climate change. I'll then name ones that don't.
I guarantee I'll name more than he does.
Now in fairness, anthropogenic global warming skeptics don't all believe manmade carbon dioxide has no connection to the rise in temperatures since 1850. Many just believe it's negligible and that other factors are far more important.
However, there certainly are many credible "scientists with advanced degrees" that believe carbon dioxide is not at all connected to the recent rise in temperatures.
In fact, many believe that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels lag temperature rises, meaning that such levels increase subsequent to warmer temperatures.
I'm sure many of the over 31,000 scientists that signed a petition claiming "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate" feel this way.
Sadly, I'm also sure Thornton nor anyone else at the Times believes these "scientists with advanced degrees" are credible.
Funny how liberal media members only think scientists they agree with should be heard.
