George Will is a Dangerous Idiot

LAST WEEK on The Climate Debate:

George Will publishes a column in the Washington Post. It is full of stupidity and lies.

Bloggers react!

Washington Post refuses to correct errors!

Bloggers react more!

The Antarctic is pregnant, and it's Al Gore's baby!

And now: the thrilling Conclusion!


...


Seriously, it is pretty horribly disgusting. Now, I'm not trying to say that we should be rounding up climate change deniers and shooting them out back by the chemical shed or anything, but there is something to be said for responsible media. (There's actually a lot to be said for responsible media, but I'll take what I can get.)

I'm all for varying perspectives and debates with a lot of different viewpoints. And it's true that even with the absolute consensus that we're seeing a global warming trend, there's room to argue about the details.

But George Will is a liar, and the things he's saying are harmful to this nation and the world. They're just not true - which is where the responsibility thing should come in.

And, point of fact, I don't even think that the Washington Post should necessarily apologize or correct his column. They should say that Will is responsible for all of his content, and then Will should apologize. Because he's a liar, and not to put too fine a liberal-naive-cutesy spin on things, but my parents always taught me that liars shouldn't, you know, blatantly lie about things and not apologize when they're caught.

But my dislike and - dare I say it? - hatred of George Will is nothing compared to my disgust that he has such an outlet. It just reinforces my belief that if there's one thing environmentalists and climate changers need to do, it's outreach. The science is there, y'all - but the media and most people in the world haven't caught up with either the facts or what's going to get us out.

If you're reading this, write a letter to your newspaper or local news affiliate asking them to run more stories on climate change - and get the facts right. (Being polite might help - my one-sentence version is a little rude.)

The more the truth is spoken the more people start to understand it. And we need to understand it to act.


(Post-script: Yes, I do love the Center for American Progress. Deal with it.)