Climate Change: Feelings v. Facts

I’m tackling Biology 111 during this Summer semester, and it is proving to be quite challenging, in more ways than one. For instance, last week the professor showed us Al Gore’s very entertaining documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which declares man-made climate change as “settled science” based on “consensus.” She had us watch the movie in preparation for a two-page essay she wanted us to write to share our personal views on the film. Of course, after we had watched about 90% of the movie, before the class was over, I asked the professor — very respectfully in front of everyone — why we were not going to watch a documentary or debate that would show the other side of the coin; I explained that it seemed rather bias and therefore unscientific to present one side of the debate as a basis for us to write about our opinion on a topic that has been and is being debated all over the world. Immediately, she admitted that she was not aware of any such counter-documentaries or debates, but said she would be willing to show whatever I provide.

Well, today, the professor showed the first 20 minutes of a one hour YouTube video I shared with her wherein the issue was debated in 2011 in a Press Club forum. Truly, it’s sad that she gave so much time to Gore’s documentary last week, showing 90% of the 118 minute film to the class, and gave so little time to “the other side”; but, truthfully, I wasn’t surprised — Liberal bias saturates our education system through and through. Also, what’s equally unsurprising is that this professor had us turn our essays in today, before the class ever had a chance to see the YouTube video so they would have some chance of gaining a balanced purview. Of course, what interested me the most was that even after watching the first 20 minutes of my YouTube video — in which the person arguing against the man-induced climate change position slaughtered the opposition with solid, empirical data — most of the class stated that their opinions were unchanged. This reminds me of old saying, “None are so blind as those who will not see.”

Anyway, here is a PDF copy of my essay; she wanted us to limit it to two pages, but, with her permission (minus the extra credit), I took it to seven pages with two works cited pages. I hope you enjoy it -to read it CLICK HERE.