Filmmaker James Cameron Backs Out of Global Warming Debate HE Organized

Multi-millionaire filmmaker James Cameron on Sunday backed out of a global warming debate that he asked for and organized.

For those that haven't been following the recent goings on concerning Nobel Laureate Al Gore's favorite money-making myth, an environmental summit was held this weekend in Aspen, Colorado, called AREDAY, which is short for American Renewable Energy Day.

Ahead of this conference, Cameron challenged three noted global warming skeptics to a public debate where he was going to personally "call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads."

One of the invited skeptics, Ann McElhinney of NotEvilJustWrong.com, wrote about Cameron's surprise cancellation Sunday:

His representatives contacted myself and two other well known skeptics, Marc Morano of the Climate Depot website and Andrew Breitbart, the new media entrepreneur.

Mr. Cameron was attending the AREDAY environmental conference in Aspen Colorado 19-22 August. He wanted the conference to end with a debate on climate change. Cameron would be flanked with two scientists. It would be 90 minutes long. It would be streamed live on the internet.

They hoped the debate would attract a lot of media coverage.

"We are delighted to have Fox News, Newsmax, The Washington Times and anyone else you'd like. The more the better," one of James Cameron's organizers said in an email.

The AREDAY program listed the debate as taking place 5:30 PM Sunday (page 8):

McElhinney continued:

But then as the debate approached James Cameron's side started changing the rules.

They wanted to change their team. We agreed.

They wanted to change the format to less of a debate-to "a roundtable". We agreed.

Then they wanted to ban our cameras from the debate. We could have access to their footage. We agreed.

Bizarrely, for a brief while, the worlds [sic] most successful film maker suggested that no cameras should be allowed-that sound only should be recorded. We agreed [sic]

Then finally James Cameron, who so publicly announced that he "wanted to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out," decided to ban the media from the shoot out.

He even wanted to ban the public. The debate/roundtable would only be open to those who attended the conference.

No media would be allowed and there would be no streaming on the internet.  No one would be allowed to record it in any way.

We all agreed to that.

And then, yesterday, just one day before the debate, his representatives sent an email that Mr. "shoot it out " Cameron no longer wanted to take part. The debate was cancelled. 

Morano wrote Monday:

Cameron backed out of the debate at the last minute after environmentalists "came out of the woodwork" to warn him not to engage in a debate with skeptics because it was not in his best interest. [...]

According to AREDAY organizers, activist Joseph Romm of Climate Progress urged Cameron not to go ahead with the debate as well.

Romm making this suggestion is certainly no surprise, for last April he got trounced in a debate with Morano. Dismayed by his defeat, Romm barred any articles by Morano to be linked to at Climate Progress and attacked me for writing about the encounter. 

Bad sportsmanship must be a common trait amongst climate alarmists, for after cancelling his AREDAY debate, Cameron still had harsh words for skeptics he refused to face:

"I think they're swine," the renowned filmmaker told an audience member Sunday on the final day of the American Renewable Energy Day summit in Aspen. [...]

It was during a series of talks Sunday about the strong effect the right-wing punditry - Cameron named the regulars: Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who are known for their sharp attacks on environmentalists - has on Americans. [...]

With campaigns like the production of his blockbuster hit "Avatar," Cameron said people are starting to realize the gravity of the problem.

"I think we did move the needle a little bit," he said.

Moved the needle, Mr. Cameron? By organizing a debate and then chickening out?

It's a good thing the characters in his films have more guts than he does or they certainly wouldn't be worth the price of admission. 

All together now: If he only had the nerve!

*****Update: Daily Caller's Jim Treacher has marvelously weighed in.