The Diddly Awards

News: The May-The-Ostriches-Drown-First award for global warming denial.

By Tim Dickinson

April 26, 2007

TOOLS E-mail article Print article BACKTALK E-mail the editor RELATED ARTICLES The Mother Jones Diddly Awards

From the May/June 2007 issue.

NOMINEE 1
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who displayed his scientific knowledge about prehistoric warm eras at a congressional hearing: "We don't know what those other cycles were caused by... Could be dinosaur flatulence. ...Who knows?"

NOMINEE 2
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who had been denounced by a Republican colleague for seeking to "intimidate scientists" by grilling top climatologists about their funding, declared during a debate in December that "for us to try to step in and say we have got to do all these global things to prevent the earth from getting any warmer in my opinion is absolute nonsense. It's not going to happen."

NOMINEE 3
Reverend Jerry Falwell, who declared in a fiery February sermon that global warming "does not exist" and that "naive evangelicals" are being "duped by these 'earthism' worshippers" who are actually agents of "Satan's attempt to redirect the church's primary focus" away from evangelism.

NOMINEE 4
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who, when he chaired the Senate Environment Committee famously branded global warming the "greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people," told us this winter that whatever planetary heating we've experienced is "due to the sun—isn't that remarkable?" In an interview with the Tulsa World, the senator added that the scientific community was taking propaganda cues from the Nazis: "It kind of reminds...I could use the Third Reich—the Big Lie. You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it."

NOMINEE 5
Rush Limbaugh, whose constant exhalations of hot air can't be helping matters, opined that the now-iconic photos of polar bears stranded atop melting icebergs were nothing to become alarmed about: "They're just playing around…just like your cat goes to its litter box. When's the last time your cat got stranded in its litter box?" (Rush then ad-libbed nonsensically, "Just like your pit bull attacks and kills the neighbor's baby horse, whatever, I mean these things happen. It's called nature.")

WINNER!
James Inhofe. In a January appearance on Fox News, Inhofe bravely unmasked the dark master behind this global conspiracy: "Stop and think about it: It's all about money. What would happen to the Weather Channel's ratings if people weren't scared anymore?"

Illustration by: Tom Bachtell

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Comments:

Global Warming requires serious study. But then, who said that the "boys" on the Limbaugh right were all there. Remember they work with one-half of their brain tied behind their back.

Posted by:Vince LaceyMay 25, 2007 4:02:51 PMRespond ^

...to continue with Vince Lacey's comment...and the other half of their brain hanging between their legs.

Posted by:John LewisMay 25, 2007 7:24:45 PMRespond ^

They are all idiots. And what does that say about the people who elected some of them into office?

Posted by:Randy ThompsonMay 26, 2007 10:28:56 PMRespond ^

These BFEE relio-fascists will never go against the corporate polluters who fund the GOP tyranical reign of terror and corruption to admit there is some such thing as global warming. At least, not before a hand full of them literally catch on fire. Then, they'd go to hell twice before admitting global warming exists, preferring to incredulously explain the events of spontaneaous combustion away as the wrath of God on behalf of prayerful Democrats. Armaggedon, I tell you! ARMAGEDDON!!!

Posted by:rageMay 29, 2007 10:03:46 AMRespond ^

First there was a report last year from Europe proving that the Bush Administrations claims that our economy could not afford to invest in Green Technology was totally wrong. Now there is a report saying that due to temperatures rising in Alaska...all of the infrastructure built on the permafrost is goin to take 10 Billion dollars to repair/maintain due to the permafrost foundation melting. Just another issue that these people have been absolutely wrong about. We will probably see video of them being briefed on this long before they started denying its importance.

Posted by:Jim KochMay 30, 2007 8:59:07 AMRespond ^

Well, the sun does cause global warming but more specifically, solar storms are the culprit. Neptune's temp has gone up since 1980 due to solar storms. Are we to blame for that too? I guess if your a Kool-Aid drinking liberal, that's our fault too.

Posted by:al-DonalJune 4, 2007 9:35:07 AMRespond ^

We criticize Venezuela for not reissuing a license for a television station in spite of the fact they materially participated in a military coup to overthrow an elected government by showing falsified picutres, while we attempt to censor PBS. In the meatime our own propogandists are allowed to say anything and everything. They are playing with the future of the human race.

Posted by:Alan EdmonsonJune 4, 2007 5:14:42 PMRespond ^

Money does play a huge factor in the Global Warming scare. The example Inhofe gave was kind of lame. He should have said that thousands of people work for emerging "green" companies. Lobbyists who lobby for environmental causes compete for the same tax dollars that AIDS activists and Cancer activists are fighting for. They don't get that money by saying "global warming is important but maybe a cure for Cancer is more important." They get that money by scaring the rest of us into thinking Global Warming will be the end of us. Meanwhile, one environmentalists says we need to bring the world's population down to 2 billion. We need practical solutions. I'd rather see that money go towards cleaning up water supplies and oceans. There's no doubt we need to cut emmissions but not for environmental reasons, more for political reasons. We don't need to rely on countries like Saudi Arabia who we would otherwise treat as a third world nation if it weren't for their oil.

Posted by:al-DonalJune 4, 2007 7:44:22 PMRespond ^

Whew! The absence of Jerry Falwell's hot air may cut down on half of the problem.

Posted by:Terminal DegreeJune 5, 2007 2:33:08 PMRespond ^

The people from Oklahoma must be incredibly humiliated. Who votes for that idiot?

Posted by:Meg SellersJune 5, 2007 8:08:36 PMRespond ^

I don't quite understand people who disregard climate change. Even if by some chance that climate change isn't what scientists have claimed it to be, why wouldn't anyone want to lower the amount of Carbon in the air. There's at least two ways to look at this, stop/ slow climate change or clean up the environment. If you're against climate change why would you at least want to clean up the environment. The pollution that is in the air is killing wild plants and animals, it's polluting our water, and it is causing respiratory diseases in people. I'm convinced that if politicians don't want to alter the output of carbon, then they are holding hands with oil companies and other large companies that pollute.

Posted by:Kevin RoodJune 16, 2007 11:22:02 AMRespond ^


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