Over the weekend, CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir engaged in historical revisionism on his climate special, The Road to Change: America's Climate Crisis, as he pushed the narrative that Climategate was a "malevolent hoax" against global warming alarmist Michael Mann and other scientists. Weir also lamented that the scandal helped derail the 2009 climate conference, and cited NewsBusters among conservative groups that helped break the story.
The special spent 90 minutes promoting the alarmist view on global warming without including any scientists or experts on the subject who are global warming skeptics. Nearing the end of the show, after speaking to two brothers who disagree on the climate issue, Weir went to environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman, who cued him up to try to discredit the motivations of conservatives arguing against alarmism:
RENEE LERTZMANN, ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST: When people have a hard time coming to terms with the reality that climate change is actually human-created, then actually there is usually something going on that we're trying to protect. And it could be our deeply-held loyalties to family, to industry.
As clips of conservatives like Senators James Inhofe and Ted Cruz appeared on screen with Rush Limbaugh and other global warming skeptics, Weir finished her sentence by intoning: "Or for some folks, loyalty to a certain brand of politics. These days, it's hard to imagine the words 'conservative' and 'conservation' together even though they're just two letters apart."
A bit later, as clips of news anchors were shown reporting the Climategate story from 2009, Weir recalled: "And then, in 2009, just as the world was poised to take real action at summit in Copenhagen, someone hacked into a server at a university in England and stole over 1,000 emails between private scientists."
He then added:
BILL WEIR: Among the scientists whose emails were hacked, Penn State's Michael Mann, co-author of the famous "Hockey Stick" graph, showing how Earth's temperature had jumped in the 20th century, findings that have since been confirmed by the National Academy of Sciences.
Then came a clip of Mann claiming that the emails were taken out of context: "They went through these stolen emails and cherry-picked individual phrases."
Referring to the climate conference at Copenhagen, Weir showed clips of articles from several conservative websites, including NewsBusters, as the CNN correspondent bemoaned: "By suggesting that scientists were making it all up, so-called Climatgate hijacked the conversation at the worst possible time."
After a clip of Mann recalling that he had received death threats, Weir exonerated him without including a dissenting opinion from the other side: "Multiple investigations from the EPA to the UK's House of Commons cleared them and declared Climategate was a malevolent hoax."
Then came another clip of Mann denying wrongdoing: "The only wrongdoing was the theft of the emails in the first place."
Weir added: "But it only added more fossil fuel to the machinery of denial."
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Saturday, April 25, CNN special, The Road to Change: America's Climate Crisis:
RENEE LERTZMANN, ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST: When people have a hard time coming to terms with the reality that climate change is actually human-created, then actually there is usually something going on that we're trying to protect. And it could be our deeply-held loyalties to family, to industry.
BILL WEIR: Or for some folks --
SENATOR JAMES INHOFE (R-OK) (holding a snowball): We keep hearing that 2014 has been the warming year on record.
WEIR: -- loyalty to a certain brand of politics.
SENATOR INHOFE: You know what this is? It's a snowball.
ANDREW WHEELER: I would not call it the greatest crisis -- no, sir.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Whether it gets hotter or colder, the climate's always changing.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO HOST: There is no manmade climate change.
JOHN STOSSEL, FORMER FBN ANCHOR: Is anything we do now going to make any significant difference? No, I am a denier.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Something's changing, and it will change back again. I don't think it's a hoax. I think it's probably a difference, but I don't know that it's manmade.
WEIR: These days, it's hard to imagine the words "conservative" and "conservation" together even though they're just two letters apart.
(…)
WEIR: And then, in 2009, just as the world was poised to take real action at summit in Copenhagen --
RICK SANCHEZ, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: -- the hacked email controversy involving British scientists --
JACK CAFFERTY, FORMER CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's been dubbed "Climategate."
JOHN ROBERTS, FORMER CBS NEWS FILL-IN ANCHOR: -- emails that many say cast doubt on the entire science behind global warming claims.
WEIR: Someone hacked into a server at a university in England and stole over 1,000 emails between private scientists.
MICHAEL MANN, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: I remember when I first learned of this, it was just before Thanksgiving 2009.
WEIR: Among the scientists whose emails were hacked, Penn State's Michael Mann, co-author of the famous "Hockey Stick" graph, showing how Earth's temperature had jumped in the 20th century, findings that have since been confirmed by the National Academy of Sciences.
MANN: They went through these stolen emails and cherry-picked individual phrases.
WEIR: By suggesting that scientists were making it all up, so-called Climatgate hijacked the conversation at the worst possible time.
MANN: There were actionable death threats made to me and to my family.
WEIR: Multiple investigations from the EPA to the UK's House of Commons cleared them and declared Climategate was a malevolent hoax.
MANN: The only wrongdoing was the theft of the emails in the first place.
WEIR: But it only added more fossil fuel to the machinery of denial.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): -In the last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming.
SENATOR JAMES INHOFE (R-OK): So, Mr. President, catch this. (throws a snowball)
