To the Editor,
The festival of misinformation continues apace as the COMACTA mouthpiece this week “solved” the climate change dilemma by denying its existence, using two scientists with ties to the fossil fuel industry as sources for his disingenuous assertion. Gregory Wrightstone is affiliated with the Heartland Institute, an organization with zero credibility. He is a geologist, not a climatologist, who posits global warming as a positive development. Mr. Wrightstone’s book confirms his status as a shill for the natural gas industry.
Steven Koonin, formerly employed by oil industry giant BP, an individual with no experience in climate science, is also falsely presented as a reputable source. As Oxford University physics professor Raymond Pierrehumbert notes, Koonin uses “… nuggets of truth .., buried beneath a rubble of false or misleading claims.” These are the types of sources routinely utilized by the right wing ideologue to bolster his faulty arguments.
The columnist would have readers ignore the recent climate disasters caused by global warming, such as the December tornadoes that ripped through Kentucky and neighboring states, despite the fact that tornado season is typically spring and summer. The record smashing heat in the Pacific Northwest during June, when Portland temperatures reached 116 degrees, is another event that can be attributed to climate change. Wildfires fueled by extended droughts caused by climate change have devastated the Southwest and California. The February cold spell in Texas was unprecedented, another weather pattern disrupted by climate change.
Further afield, Henan province China endured a year’s worth of rain in three days this July, while Chile is suffering from a megadrought. But all is well, there is nothing to worry about. Take Uncle Frank’s word for it; he knows better than 98% of the world’s scientists.
Pasqual Pelosi
