Mr. Holt,
You got us. Climate change is a hoax. For the past two decades, we have been following the lead of the Dark Lord Al Gore, who we affectionately refer to as “Gorelemort.” Indeed, his paternalistic schemes are dastardly. In fact, they are so horrific that they should only be mentioned in the form that you do—as unsubstantiated fear mongering.
You are correct in ignoring 50 years of science studies work. Thomas Kuhn was surely under the influence of Gorelemort when he wrote in his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that science works by consensus, excluding fringe opinions to produce scientific knowledge. This process of paradigm formation is political, but it is also pragmatic to the extent that it directs scientific research towards real goals. However, when Kuhn wrote about paradigm formation, he was referring to real scientific controversies, with real arguments being made for competing paradigms. The “debate” on global warming hardly qualifies. A study by Naomi Oreskes published in 2004 looked at 928 papers published in the preceding decade, and found that 75% “either explicitly or implicitly accepted the consensus view,” and 25% do not address the subject, and “none of the papers disagreed with the consensus view.” Your buddy Justice Burton seems to have echoed this when he wrote of Gore’s film that “it is based substantially on scientific research and opinion.” Clearly, the Dark Lord has been very efficient in his schemes to rule the world through cap and trade. His influence seems to have permeated even those who you have referenced as his detractors.
However, Gore’s influence was resisted by one, the courageous Alan Carlin. That Carlin is an economist by training, a profession actually which exists outside of the scientific community, is of no consequence to you, myth-buster, and rightfully so. Authority is found in the extremity of a claim, instead of the existence of any substantiating knowledge. Climateprogress.org reports that Carlin’s commentary features several excerpts, on the order of paragraphs, plagiarized straight from the works of global warming denialist Pat Michaels. The chain of prestige continues, as it has been well documented that Michaels has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from energy corporations with a vested interest opposing climate change legislation.
Considering your heretofore enlightened position, we are confused that you would align yourself with the likes of Senator Joe Lieberman, who, along with Senator John McCain, coauthored three climate change bills in the last decade. They were probably just kidding, though.
Also, we killed Kennedy. And Reagan.
Love,
Evil climate scientists
AKA Sam Bernhardt
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