Robin Cox – 4/19/07

This page was last updated on April 22, 2007.

Hollywood as science source?; Robin Cox; Beaver County Times; April 19, 2007.

I don’t usually have a problem with how the Times publishes my letters because I expect minor edits, but in this case the Times omitted an important paragraph.

I view this as an important omission because I wanted people to understand I provided my comments to the teacher and, though he had ample opportunity, he did not contest my findings. Surely the person who edited my letter for publication had to understand the significance of this fact.

There was one piece of info I didn’t have room to note in my letter. According to the teacher, CASD did not pay for any portion of his “training.” The teacher asserted The Climate Project (sponsored by Participant Productions) paid for the classes and he paid for his travel expenses out of his own pocket.

For my detailed critique of the presentation mentioned in the letter, please go here. For the reasons behind my skepticism of the manmade global warming religion, please go here.

Below is a copy of the letter as I submitted it. I highlighted the portion omitted in the version published in the Times.

Title: Hollywood a science source?

The winter 2007 edition of the Center Area School District newsletter “On Center” included a piece about a high school teacher receiving manmade global warming training led by Al Gore and indicated the teacher would incorporate what he learned into the Environmental Science curriculum. I also learned the group ultimately supporting the training, Participant Productions, describes itself as “a growing community of film lovers and activists” among other things. Mr. Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, is a Participant film.

A teacher receiving alleged science training from a career politician supported by Hollywood stirred my interest so I requested and received a copy of the presentation the teacher planned to use.

The teacher said the presentation also contained “information collected from several science sources,” though few of the slides cited their data sources.

I found the presentation consistent with what I would expect when the primary sources are a career politician and Hollywood. In my opinion, the presentation was full of emotional pleas, erroneous factoids, misrepresentations, one-sided politics, and closely tracked An Inconvenient Truth.

Among the data sources I used to uncover what I believe to be errors and misrepresentations were the National Climate Data Center, the National Hurricane Center, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and the United Nations.

In the politics category, one slide in this “science” presentation contained a link to a Will Ferrell parody of President Bush.

I provided my slide-by-slide comments – including data sources – to the teacher nearly two months ago and he did not contest my findings. The teacher did respond, “As the term continues, the students will be exposed to multiple scientific sources and public & political opinion.”

In any case, don’t accept my assessment. I suggest interested citizens of the CASD obtain a copy of the presentation and do their own research.