Decius wrote:

Mike the Usurper wrote:
Saying people on the other side of the issue don't get money though is baloney. Distracting the topic, with something clearly disprovable (and disproven) is grand theft oxygen, and we want it back so we can get on with a discussion of how to actually fix the problem.

How can an example of funding that is presented specifically as part of an agenda driven lie be used as evidence that serious scientists who don't share this consensus view can get funding for their research from serious funding sources? My point is that pointing at exxon is the exception that proves the rule. If people who don't share this consensus view have to turn to dishonest politically motivated organizations in order to fund their research, then obviously he is correct that they have been ostracized from the mainstream scientific community and they are unable to get normal grants for their work.

The reason the money dried up from "real" sources is because it's garbage and everyone knows it's garbage. You don't see "real" universities funding research into "creation science" either. Does that mean we should turn around and start giving money to those people to research their pablum? No.

When someone puts forth an off the wall idea (Alvarez and the dinosaur killing asteroid for example) it may spend some time getting scant notice, but as more evidence comes to light which can support the idea (and eliminate others, like the iridium layer) you see more funding gravitate towards the idea, not because it's topic du jour but because it fits the data, and other options do not.

Global warming is real. That isn't being questioned seriously anymore, the evidence for it is overwhelming. What is now at question is how much of it is human caused, and what can be done to arrest it, human caused or not. Wasting time and money rehashing the dead debate about its existence takes away from trying to do something about it, and that can be genuinely harmful.

RE: Gore Gets A Cold Shoulder