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Decent Quality Since 1847

Getting Totally Bushed

5/22/2015

2 Comments

 
I really meant it the other day when I wrote that "I'm starting to get tired of writing about Jeb Bush."  But I find myself once again having to, not because he simply says things I don't agree with -- that's to be expected in politics and part of the process -- but because he's saying things so mind-numbingly egregious that I don't even begin to understand what he's thinking.

First there was his defense of the United States going to war in Iraq and four changing-explanations on what he actually meant.

Then, there was him stating contrary to existing law that any business could discriminate, as long as it was part of their religious belief.  Which basically is core of hate-filled anarchy.

And now, he's saying as a layman that climate scientists are "arrogant" for almost unanimously coming to the exact same conclusion on climate change as a result of independent, peer-reviewed research.

I'm beginning to think that contemplative, analytical thinking is not an inherited trait handed down to the Bush children.

Among the potential Republican candidates for president, Jeb Bush is one of the more reasonable, though that’s a low standard.  But I really don't begin to understand what he's been thinking the past couple weeks.  Yes, I know he wants to get the GOP nomination, so he likely feels he has to indulge the whimsies of the radical far-right base.  But not only am I not sure that the radical far-right base of the Republican Party believes all the things Jeb Bush has been spouting lately, the reality is that if he does actually got the party's nomination (something that seemed probable just two weeks ago, and more questionable today), he'll have to live on these statements in the general election.  And they're making him look sort of clownish.  And clueless.

Just look at this most recent pronouncement.  It's bizarre not just on the most eye-catching level that's made the news, but on so many levels.

Here's what I mean.  As a simple starting point, this is Mr. Bush's quote about climate change that's getting the most attention:  "And for the people to say the science is decided on, this is just really arrogant, to be honest with you."

Now, if Jeb Bush, former Republican governor of Florida eight years ago, doesn't want to believe in the man-made causes of climate change, so be it.  That's his right.  But if you do actually want to make that claim and be taken seriously (especially as an aspirant for President of the United States), it's sort of incumbent upon you to support it with actual scientific research and facts that contradict the opposing position.  Just saying something is wrong doesn't make it so.  (This is akin to the Third Grade Rule of Arguing.  "You're stupid."  "No, you are."  No, you are.")  Why is it wrong?  Show your work.  If you want to be president, lead the way.  It's part of the job description.

But then, it's not just that Mr. Bush the younger says it's wrong, he actually says it's "arrogant" of scientists to draw their researched scientific conclusions.  And once again, not only does he not provide a single scintilla of support for his assertion of "arrogance" -- not one, nothing, zero --  his non-scientific, layman claims against the near-entire peer reviewed scientific community is the definition of arrogance itself.

While we might like the image of the lone voice with arm raised railing against the powers of the world, it's worth remember that often when we see that person in real life, we carefully guide our children to the other side of the street and point as a warning why it's important to do homework and change your underwear at least once a week.

Let's be clear about something:  this supposed "arrogance" is 197 world science organization that support the idea of man-made involvement in climate change.  And I've yet to come across a single one (none) who say otherwise. Zippo, nada.

Even the last holdout, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (what a shock...) jumped ship in July, 2007.  They changed their position and finally acknowledged in the very first sentence of their public statement: "In the last century, growth in human population has increased energy use. This has contributed additional carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases to the atmosphere."  They weren't certain the degree to which the problem was man-made, but even they (the sole, remaining holdout) were at last recognizing that people were involved.

But now, with the Petroleum Geologists association even jumping ship, there are no world science organizations I can find who support what Jeb Bush is trying to contend.  And 197 on the other side.  Again, it's his right to believe whatever he does, or say the world is flat.  Or that his brother actually got more votes in Florida than Al Gore.  But to suggest that everyone else who are actual world science organizations, and 97% of "actively publishing climate scientists" -- which is how NASA describes it (NASA, for goodness sake!) -- are themselves "arrogant" belies all common sense.

Really, what on earth and in the ozone is Jeb Bush thinking??  Assuming that "thinking" is a term separate from "pandering."

But the thing is...it's not this "arrogance" claim that may even be the most strange thing in his comments about climate change.  That's got the most attention, but it's something else that leaps out when you read the full statement he made on the subject.  And that full statement was --

"Look, first of all, the climate is changing. I don't think the science is clear what percentage is man-made and what percentage is natural. It's convoluted. And for the people to say the science is decided on, this is just really arrogant, to be honest with you.  It's this intellectual arrogance that now you can't even have a conversation about it. The climate is changing, and we need to adapt to that reality."

There is a quagmire of blind contradictions here so deep and tortuously tangled that it makes America's getting out of Vietnam an easy task by comparison.

To begin with, after slamming climate scientists as "arrogant" for stating the results of their research as fact, Mr. Bush the younger then goes and himself states as fact that "the climate is changing."  Now, much as I myself agree with him, he has to know that much of his own party's base doesn't.  It's not at all decided among the radical far-right that the climate is changing.  So, imagine the arrogance of Jeb Bush to say it is so -- and then repeat it, and then state that it is "reality."

But further, as he must know -- he just has to know, unless he's been holed up with Dick Cheney in seclusion meditating for the past eight years he's been out of office -- that much of this far-right base of his GOP is so adamant that the science isn't remotely decided on climate change (or "global warming" as they like to inaccurately call it) that their minds are lock-closed on accepting the research from the 97% of peer-reviewed climate scientists.

Here's the problem with that --

To be honest with you (as Mr. Bush likes to say a lot the past week, which is a shame because I think it would be much better for him if we thought maybe he was just joking) when I first read him stating, "It's this intellectual arrogance that you can't even have a conversation about it" -- I thought that he was talking about the Republican far-right base, and taking a swing at them!  I mean, after all, that's the whole reason there's even a faux-debate on the subject of climate change.  Then I came to my senses and understood he was just being disingenuous and contradictory -- and blithely unaware of the bizarre irony that he was doing it.

I just don't understand what Jeb Bush is doing this past couple weeks.  If he wants to make any of these pronouncements, fair enough, it's his right.  And his far-right.  But that doesn't mean they don't make him look clueless and floundering, most especially when unsupported by anything to back them up.

But in the end, to be fair, here is the list of world scientific organizations that I've been able to find who support Jeb Bush's position that it's "arrogant" to claim there's man-made involvement in climate change --

1.

And just to be completely above board, so that you know the full disclosure, here from the California Office of Planning & Research is the list of arrogant Worldwide Scientific Organizations that "hold the position that climate change has been caused by human action"
  1. Academia Chilena de Ciencias, Chile
  2. Academia das Ciencias de Lisboa, Portugal
  3. Academia de Ciencias de la República Dominicana
  4. Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela
  5. Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala
  6. Academia Mexicana de Ciencias,Mexico
  7. Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Bolivia
  8. Academia Nacional de Ciencias del Peru
  9. Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
  10. Académie des Sciences, France
  11. Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada
  12. Academy of Athens
  13. Academy of Science of Mozambique
  14. Academy of Science of South Africa
  15. Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)
  16. Academy of Sciences Malaysia
  17. Academy of Sciences of Moldova
  18. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  19. Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran
  20. Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt
  21. Academy of the Royal Society of New Zealand
  22. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy
  23. Africa Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science
  24. African Academy of Sciences
  25. Albanian Academy of Sciences
  26. Amazon Environmental Research Institute
  27. American Academy of Pediatrics
  28. American Anthropological Association
  29. American Association for the Advancement of Science
  30. American Association of State Climatologists (AASC)
  31. American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
  32. American Astronomical Society
  33. American Chemical Society
  34. American College of Preventive Medicine
  35. American Fisheries Society
  36. American Geophysical Union
  37. American Institute of Biological Sciences
  38. American Institute of Physics
  39. American Meteorological Society
  40. American Physical Society
  41. American Public Health Association
  42. American Quaternary Association
  43. American Society for Microbiology
  44. American Society of Agronomy
  45. American Society of Civil Engineers
  46. American Society of Plant Biologists
  47. American Statistical Association
  48. Association of Ecosystem Research Centers
  49. Australian Academy of Science
  50. Australian Bureau of Meteorology
  51. Australian Coral Reef Society
  52. Australian Institute of Marine Science
  53. Australian Institute of Physics
  54. Australian Marine Sciences Association
  55. Australian Medical Association
  56. Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society  
  57. Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
  58. Botanical Society of America
  59. Brazilian Academy of Sciences
  60. British Antarctic Survey
  61. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
  62. California Academy of Sciences
  63. Cameroon Academy of Sciences
  64. Canadian Association of Physicists
  65. Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
  66. Canadian Geophysical Union
  67. Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
  68. Canadian Society of Soil Science
  69. Canadian Society of Zoologists
  70. Caribbean Academy of Sciences views
  71. Center for International Forestry Research
  72. Chinese Academy of Sciences
  73. Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences
  74. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) (Australia)
  75. Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
  76. Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences
  77. Crop Science Society of America
  78. Cuban Academy of Sciences
  79. Delegation of the Finnish Academies of Science and Letters
  80. Ecological Society of America
  81. Ecological Society of Australia
  82. Environmental Protection Agency
  83. European Academy of Sciences and Arts
  84. European Federation of Geologists
  85. European Geosciences Union
  86. European Physical Society
  87. European Science Foundation
  88. Federation of American Scientists
  89. French Academy of Sciences
  90. Geological Society of America
  91. Geological Society of Australia
  92. Geological Society of London
  93. Georgian Academy of Sciences  
  94. German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina  
  95. Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences
  96. Indian National Science Academy
  97. Indonesian Academy of Sciences  
  98. Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management
  99. Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
  100. Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand
  101. Institution of Mechanical Engineers, UK
  102. InterAcademy Council
  103. International Alliance of Research Universities
  104. International Arctic Science Committee
  105. International Association for Great Lakes Research
  106. International Council for Science
  107. International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences
  108. International Research Institute for Climate and Society
  109. International Union for Quaternary Research
  110. International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
  111. International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
  112. Islamic World Academy of Sciences
  113. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
  114. Kenya National Academy of Sciences
  115. Korean Academy of Science and Technology
  116. Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts
  117. l'Académie des Sciences et Techniques du Sénégal
  118. Latin American Academy of Sciences
  119. Latvian Academy of Sciences
  120. Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
  121. Madagascar National Academy of Arts, Letters, and Sciences
  122. Mauritius Academy of Science and Technology
  123. Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts
  124. National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina
  125. National Academy of Sciences of Armenia
  126. National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic
  127. National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka
  128. National Academy of Sciences, United States of America
  129. National Aeronautics and Space Administration  
  130. National Association of Geoscience Teachers
  131. National Association of State Foresters
  132. National Center for Atmospheric Research  
  133. National Council of Engineers Australia
  134. National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, New Zealand
  135. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  136. National Research Council
  137. National Science Foundation
  138. Natural England
  139. Natural Environment Research Council, UK
  140. Natural Science Collections Alliance
  141. Network of African Science Academies
  142. New York Academy of Sciences
  143. Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences
  144. Nigerian Academy of Sciences
  145. Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters
  146. Oklahoma Climatological Survey
  147. Organization of Biological Field Stations
  148. Pakistan Academy of Sciences
  149. Palestine Academy for Science and Technology
  150. Pew Center on Global Climate Change
  151. Polish Academy of Sciences
  152. Romanian Academy
  153. Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
  154. Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain
  155. Royal Astronomical Society, UK
  156. Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  157. Royal Irish Academy
  158. Royal Meteorological Society (UK)
  159. Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  160. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
  161. Royal Scientific Society of Jordan
  162. Royal Society of Canada
  163. Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
  164. Royal Society of the United Kingdom
  165. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  166. Russian Academy of Sciences
  167. Science and Technology, Australia  
  168. Science Council of Japan
  169. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
  170. Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics
  171. Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  172. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
  173. Slovak Academy of Sciences
  174. Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
  175. Society for Ecological Restoration International
  176. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
  177. Society of American Foresters   
  178. Society of Biology (UK)   
  179. Society of Systematic Biologists
  180. Soil Science Society of America  
  181. Sudan Academy of Sciences
  182. Sudanese National Academy of Science
  183. Tanzania Academy of Sciences
  184. The Wildlife Society (international)
  185. Turkish Academy of Sciences
  186. Uganda National Academy of Sciences
  187. Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
  188. United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  189. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
  190. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  191. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
  192. World Federation of Public Health Associations
  193. World Forestry Congress
  194. World Health Organization
  195. World Meteorological Organization
  196. Zambia Academy of Sciences
  197. Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences
2 Comments
Max Kerpelman link
5/22/2015 09:17:40 pm

Republican science:
There is no climate change
There has always been climate change. It is a natural process, so we can't do anything about it.
If the climate is warming, we'll grow roses in the Arctic. Why do anything about it?
There is only 97% agreement that human activity is causing dangerous climate change, so we should wait until we have unanimity before we do anything about it.
If human activity is causing dangerous climate change, it's too expensive to do anything about it.
Jeb Bush - This climate change is dangerous, but we don't know EXACTLY how much of it is caused by human activity, and, until we do know, I won't do anything about it.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
5/23/2015 02:05:12 am

Max -- I believe you've stated the case quite well...

What I've never quite figured out is that, for the sake of argument, even if conservatives are right, that this science is all uncertain...what is the downside to limiting toxic carbon emissions and developing new industries of energy (since at some point, however long away, fossil fuels WILL run out), which can only benefit the economy and create jobs??

Reply



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    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



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