[Rhodes22-list] TGGW II

[Bob Keller]

Convenient Fiction? Documentary Plans to Challenge Gore
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
December 15, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - A critic of "global warming alarmism" began filming a 
documentary Thursday that seeks to rebut some of the claims former Vice 
President Al Gore made in his popular movie, "An Inconvenient Truth."

Steven Hayward, editor of the "Index of Leading Environmental Indicators," 
began filming "An Inconvenient Truth ... Or Convenient Fiction?" with 
presentations at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the conservative 
Heritage Foundation.

Hayward, who is a fellow at the Pacific Research Institute and the American 
Enterprise Institute, said he hopes to counter some of the "alarmist" claims 
that supporters of global warming catastrophe theories make.

He began his 40-minute presentation by extending an olive branch to Gore, 
saying that "much of what Vice President Gore says about climate change is 
correct. The planet is warming; human beings are playing a substantial role 
in that warming."

But, Hayward quickly added, "The vice president and a lot of other people 
make some extreme claims about what is likely to happen in the future that 
are not backed up by science."

He said Gore's predictions that global warming will lead to more intense 
hurricanes, flooded coastlines and demolished cities are based on extreme 
and improbable models.

Hayward also criticized global warming "alarmists" for trying to close 
debate on the issue.

The centerpiece of his documentary, like Gore's, will be the presentation of 
a slide show on climate change science. But where Gore's presentation gives 
evidence that shows a consensus on the severity of global warming, Hayward's 
theme is that there is no consensus.

There is no consensus on the effect human beings have on global warming, 
versus the effects of other factors such as the sun, Hayward says in his 
presentation.

There is also no consensus on the status of ice caps and glaciers, he 
argues, noting that some scientists point to receding or melting ice in 
western Antarctica while others point to thickening ice in eastern 
Antarctica.

"[Gore and others are] saying also that the debate should now be closed, 
that the science is set, that there are no important questions left open," 
Hayward said. "People like me are sometimes now called 'climate change 
deniers,' with the non-too-subtle suggestion that we are the moral 
equivalent of Holocaust deniers."

But Hayward pointed out that "nearly every scientific article you will read 
mentions uncertainty in what we know about the subject."

'Extreme claims'

Hayward also criticized Gore and others for presenting what he called 
"extreme claims about what's happening." He cited an image published in 
Vanity Fair which shows New York City flooded after an 80-foot rise in seas 
levels caused by the complete melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and the 
Antarctic.

According to predictions released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change in 2001, however, the worst-case scenario shows sea levels rising by 
fewer than three feet in the next 100 years. And, he said, the IPCC's 
upcoming report, scheduled for release next year, will likely cut that 
prediction in half.

Hayward criticized the use of images of glaciers from decades ago 
accompanied by images of the same glaciers today as lakes, and presenting 
video of huge chunks of ice sheets breaking off and crashing into the sea as 
solely a result of global warming, calling them "overly simplistic."

He also criticized Gore and other environmentalists for ignoring sources of 
clean energy that could reduce the world's dependence on pollutants - 
specifically nuclear fission.

Hayward acknowledged that his documentary will likely be less popular than 
Gore's, but he told Cybercast News Service he hopes it will contribute to 
the debate. "Our thought was let's just do the same kind of thing he did and 
see what happens," he said.

Hayward said plans have yet to be finalized for his movie's release but that 
it would likely be out to coincide with the publication of the next Pacific 
Research Institute and American Enterprise Institute "Index of Leading 
Environmental Indicators," slated for April 2007

_________________________________________________________________
>From photos to predictions, The MSN Entertainment Guide to Golden Globes has 
it all. http://tv.msn.com/tv/globes2007/