Montreal Gazette Prints Denialist Spin
On Thursday, the Montreal Gazette printed an op-ed piece by Barry Cooper, called “Is Recycling Really Worth It?” (I put screenshots of the article above, ’cause I think you have to be a subscriber to view the Gazette online).
Although I definitely have a beef with guys like Barry Cooper, my bigger concern is with the Gazette perpetuating the spin cycle.
Barry Cooper has written before on why he thinks recycling is bullshit using, for the most part, economic models that don’t put a dollar value on animal habitat, air quality, or greenhouse gas emissions. That’s fine. You want to stick your head in the (oil) sand, go right ahead. But if you think everybody else should be facedown with you, you’d better present some damn good science to demonstrate how your ideas are good for humanity and the planet in the long run.
Unfortunately, Barry Cooper’s policy ideas don’t pass the smell test. And that’s probably because they’re downwind of the refineries…
Here’s the letter that I sent to the Gazette:
I’m not surprised that Barry Cooper thinks recycling is a waste of time (”Is Recycling Really Worth It?” Montreal Gazette, March 15, 2007). After all, as stated on Dr. Cooper’s University of Calgary homepage, he’s affiliated with the “Friends of Science”.
“Friends of Science” is made up a group of people who, according to their website, “believe the science behind the Kyoto Protocol is questionable.” The group should more properly be called the “Friends of Spin” because their activities are heavy on PR and light on actual peer-reviewed science. Little wonder that the group’s coming-out-party in Ottawa was sponsored by Imperial Oil, as detailed in Fifth Estate’s recent program “The Denial Machine” (viewable online).
So, like I said, I’m not surprised when Barry Cooper’s thoroughly unscientific opinion piece says things like “future generations can never exhaust natural resources” or that Cooper refers to “so-called greenhouse-gas emissions” after 2000 scientists in over 100 countries recently linked global warming to human activity. When you run up against the Barry Coopers of the world you sometimes have to throw up your hands in despair — you can’t reason someone out of a position that they weren’t reasoned into.
What surprises me is that the Gazette would choose to publish such laughable garbage.
And while we’re on the topic of the Gazette, why are they so behind the times in enabling their readers to leave comments on their articles online? They cynical part of me thinks that they prefer the old media system of picking and editing one sentence reader responses. That way it looks like you’re giving your readers a voice without all the messy complications of, you know, long well-reasoned arguments and, uh, facts.
(I did find this good short letter though at the Calgary Herald…)
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