Weird. Ross Gelbspan founded the global warming anti-skeptic web site Desmogblog, he said so directly just eight seconds into this audio interview. James Hoggan credits Gelbspan as “a big part of the inspiration for starting the DeSmogBlog” (4th paragraph here). Gelbspan was a frequent blogger there, 50 pages’ worth of 10 pieces per page, from January 2006 to November 2010. So, from that level of familiarity, why would Hoggan go flying off a cliff over a central detail about Gelbspan? Continue reading
Author Archives: Russell Cook
Greenpeace Loves Ross Gelbspan… sort of.
Since I have a small run of “Greenpeace USA née Ozone Action” blog pieces going here, and since I had some fun at Ross Gelbspan’s expense a few years ago using a line out of the old “Columbo” TV series, here’s one more “sorry to bother you, there’s just one more thing…” examination of who claims ownership over the ‘leaked industry memos’ that supposedly prove the corruption of skeptic climate scientists. Continue reading
When is a “Climate Change Expert” not an Expert? (a question Al Gore can use to salvage his legacy)
Embellishing credentials is an exceptionally bad idea, whether it’s done in self-promotion, or or done deliberately to hoodwink the public, or done mistakenly because someone didn’t do elemental fact-checking. Yet in the global warming issue, we see instances where a major organization promoted the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a Nobel laureate when he is not, and another organization similarly promoting a prominent IPCC scientist as a Nobel laureate when he is not, and the long-term promotion of book author Ross Gelbspan as a Pulitzer winner when he is not, a problem first revealed long ago by Steve Milloy and expanded upon at this blog. But now, let’s examine Gelbspan’s other small problem, the “Climate Change Expert” label. Continue reading
The Company You Keep: Kalee Kreider, Ozone Action’s “Creator” / Al Gore’s Long-Time Spokesperson
Credit Ross Gelbspan for apparently consolidating the brilliant 3-point set of talking points that have arguably kept the global warming issue alive all this time, (1) the science is settled; (2) skeptic scientists are paid by fossil fuel industries to ‘reposition global warming as theory rather than fact’; (3) journalists are not obligated to give equal time to those skeptics because of points 1 and 2. But that mantra would have been worthless without a network of associates spreading it wherever and whenever they could. First up on that list, Kalee Kreider. Continue reading
If Greenpeace USA (née Ozone Action) is Proud of its old ███████████ Work, Why do they Feel a Sudden Need to Hide It?
Nearly all of Greenpeace USA’s old “Ozone Action” web site was viewable by the public via the “Internet Archive Wayback Machine” from the time the site lapsed out of its ‘live online’ status around March 2001 until just a month or so ago. If all their work on ozone depletion / global warming was above reproach, as were the people associated with it, then why was there a sudden need to hide it all from public view? Continue reading
Three Degrees of Separation or Less, Part III: The Moral Imperative to Stop Global Warming
A good Christian would no doubt feel a moral imperative to be a good steward of the planet and fight global warming, particularly when told immoral people with evil self interests are causing the harm and impeding the cure……. unless that Christian was to start questioning whether the bit about ‘immoral people with evil self interests’ has a leg to stand on. Now, suddenly, there is a moral dilemma. Continue reading
‘Public Paralyzed by, Denies, Global Warming Peril’. Today; 2007; 2000.
The idea that a large swath of public reacts with an automatic denial defense mechanism against the ‘too-large-to-comprehend’ global warming crisis is not a brand-new analysis today. It dates to a speech Ross Gelbspan gave over a decade ago. Continue reading
Why Would a Widespread Persuasive Skeptic Climate Scientist Message Need to be Faked?
If Ross Gelbspan was swayed by concerned letter-writing readers of his 1995 article to look into the work of skeptics, but those weren’t real writers, how does it follow that skeptic scientists were influencing the masses anyway? Continue reading
Three Degrees of Separation or Less, Part II
At the end of my August 7th blog piece, I mentioned how any prominent person insinuating that industry money corrupts skeptic climate scientists seems to be separated from Ross Gelbspan by three degrees or less. If we see that small separation between him and someone involved in the event that supposedly confirmed his suspicions about ‘corrupt scientists’, what might turn that into a problem? Continue reading
WashPo Letter Writers Briefly Turned Gelbspan into a Global Warming Skeptic… but the story has A Big Glitch.
Ross Gelbspan’s tale about circumstances which caused him to look deeper into the ‘industry funding’ of skeptic climate scientists seems praiseworthy, since it could plausibly happen to any objective reporter. But read one of the lesser-known versions of it, and you might react with “Uhhh, hold on there…….” Continue reading