Kyoto and Bad Science posted by Ben

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush resists pressure on Kyoto

How can you resist a story that begins with the line:

On his ranch in Texas, George W Bush is in many ways a model environmentalist.

The rest of the article is fluff about the Kyoto Agreement, which had a huge day today. Really. I was listening to a report from Great Britain on NPR (before they went into Republican spin mode and I got pissed off) about how that nation of avid gardeners has been particularly aware of seasonal climate changes. Compare that to the average American's priorities, like getting rid of those pesky homosexuals, or catching every minute of the Michael Jackson trial.

Generalization? You bet! But it's no more an actual portrayal of reality than our Nielson Ratings deliver, or those polls that listed 'moral values' as a policy choice following the November 2nd election. Turns out that 1) Nielson Ratings barely reflect viewership patterns in our digital society and 2) when given a chance to define 'moral values' the percentage of people who listed Christian Right priorities like stopping the homosexual agenda was ridiculously low. From this, mandates are built?

Well, in addition to bad statistics, we ought not forget our president's firm embrace of bad science. Global warming? Forget about it! Maybe if we ignore the Kyoto Protocols they'll just go away, right? That, or we can declare war on the atmosphere...