Mr. Phillips, reporting from Paris, highlighted some of the climate report’s alarming conclusions. He noted that the polar ice caps are melting and weather patterns are changing, and the whole process of global warming is "speeding up." Yet there was no mention of opposing scientists. This week The Drudge Report highlighted two new books that demonstrate the global warming is a natural phenomenon and not man made. But did Mr. Phillips see fit to mention this? No, because apparently it does not fit into CBS’s pattern of silencing dissenting science on this subject. (Click here, here, and here for examples.)
Yet while Phillips ignored the skeptics, he aired sound clips form Achim Steiner. Steiner was labeled as being head of the UN Environment Program, but a look at his background reveals him to be an environmental activist. Before joining the UN, Steiner was Director General of the World Conservation Union. Here’s what that organization says about climate change:
"Global climate change is one of the most pressing concerns of the 21st century. Warming temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, increased extreme events and sea level rise are already being observed and will have serious implications for economies, society and the environment. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit future climate change and improving the capacity of the world’s biodiversity and poorest communities to adapt to its inevitable impacts are the two central challenges."
Compare this to the alarming conclusions presented by Mark Phillips:
"It means the ice in the polar ice caps in Greenland and in the mountain glaciers is melting and sea levels are rising. Not only will this continue, but the whole process is speeding up. Weather patterns are changing. More heat waves, more extreme weather from droughts to hurricanes, more intense rain."
Did Mr. Phillips read the released report or did he visit the website of the World Conservation Union. Perhaps, considering Mr. Steiner was a involved with both the report and the World Conservation Union, the entities reflect his personal views. These are matters that Phillips could have explored. Nonetheless, Phillips should have at least presented differing opinions on the subject of global warming rather than continuing CBS’s crusade to indoctrinate viewers on the subject.
The transcript of Mark Phillips’ piece follows:
Russ Mitchell: "In other weather news, the world's leading climate experts issued an alarming report this morning-- global warming is for real and we are to blame. CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips is live in Paris with details. Mark, good morning."
Mark Phillips: "Good morning Russ. Well, when you get this many scientists from this many places together in one place trying to produce a complex document, it's never going to be easy. But the essentials of this report are clear -- the planet is warming up, and it's our fault."
Voiceover: "There has been a lot of last minute give-and-take over wording, but the science of global warming has become clear and its conclusions unavoidable. The best climate scientists on the planet now say it is quote 'uneqivocal' that the earth is getting warmer that and greenhouse gases produced in increasing quantities since the beginning of the industrial revolution are very much to blame."
Achim Steiner, UN Environment Program: "I think ir is critical that we look at this report not only as a milestone but truly as a moment where the focus of attention will shift from whether climate change is linked to human activity, whether the science is sufficient, to what, on earth, are we going to do about it."
Mark Phillips: "So what does it mean? It means the ice in the polar ice caps in Greenland and in the mountain glaciers is melting and sea levels are rising. Not only will this continue, but the whole process is speeding up. Weather patterns are changing. More heat waves, more extreme weather from droughts to hurricanes, more intense rain. In the words of the report, these changes are all virtually certain or very likely or likely. This is the highest octane language that has ever been used."
Achim Steiner: "It shifts from doubting to having to act even if the last element of certainty is not yet there. I think anyone who would continue to risk inaction on the basis of the evidence presented here will one day in the history books be considered irresponsible."
Mark Phillips: "Although the U.S. has lagged politically behind much of the world in accepting global warming, a lot of the science for this report is American, the numbers are crunched using computer models at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And here's the final kicker, whether we continue to spew out greenhouse gases at current rates or whether that rate increases, the process of global warming is speeding up. This isn't so much a report, it's a call to action. Russ."
