The National Science Foundation (NSF) gave a contract to the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) to do an analysis of Congressional websites; all 618 of them. Among the recipients of the Golden Mouse Award (warning: 115 page pdf), the highest available, the minority of the Senate Environmental & Public Works Committee. This is, to remind you, the site of Senator James Inhofe (R-Exxon) and his Global Warming denier / skeptic crowd who regularly peddle misleading and false material to the nation, using their taxpayer funded site.
So, why did these people fighting hard to endanger America’s future merit a “Golden Mouse”?
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Minority Web site illustrates how committee sites can successfully provide timely and targeted information to its various audiences. The site is designed for ease of use. Press contact names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses included in each press release make information readily available to one of the site’s key audiences: the press.
Yes, they are quite successful at moving information. They know how to time things and know how to get out to the media, ASAP, and into a right-wing skeptic echo chamber quickly.
Its design and layout facilitate the delivery of thorough and targeted information to citizens. A “Fact of the Day” section and blog posts give them updated content and help ensure repeat visits to the site. The content is also fully integrated and cross-referenced throughout the site. For instance, the issues section contains a brief statement by the Ranking Member, related press releases and speeches, as well as related facts of the day and blog posts. Providing a variety of content in a number of different ways ensures that users will find the information that interests them, regardless of where they look for it. The site’s legislative content has information specific to the committee’s work and jurisdiction, including information about its rules, history, hearing schedules, and nominations.
“Fact of the day”? Does it matter whether what Inhofe and his staff support provide is true and truthful or is truthiness perfectly appropriate for a site given an award? The site’s subtitle could appropriately be: “Facts aRen’t US!”.
In fact, truth, facts, quality of material have no relevance to CMF’s efforts. This is totally an examination, it seems, of form over substance. Does the site provide material that provokes traffic? And, is the site’s structure such that it provides stickiness (keeps people at the site) and repeat visitors? This, Inhofe certainly does success at: providing a rallying point for Global Warming deniers globally.
Two sides to a coin?
Now, perhaps CMF is seeking to foster the “there are two sides” (false) framing of Global Warming issues, another award recipient: The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. This is an exciting site, built on and disseminating facts. Guess its reliance on facts, rather than fantasy, might be the reason it merited only a Silver Mouse.
Hat tip to Rabett Run for catching / discussing the Inhofian award.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Dan Pangburn // Jan 21, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Climate obviously has changed and will continue to change. The observation that ice is melting, which can look dramatic on TV, does not show that human activity is the cause. The assertion that humans are or ever can have a significant influence on climate by limiting the use of fossil fuel (a.k.a. limiting human production of carbon dioxide) is not supported by any historical record. The only implication that carbon dioxide level has a significant effect on climate comes from huge but still incomplete computer programs that attempt to predict future climate.
Avoid the group-think and de facto censorship by Climate Scientists. Directly interrogate official government data that taxpayers have paid for from ORNL and NOAA as follows:
If the carbon dioxide level from Lawdome, Antarctica http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/co2/lawdome.combined.dat is graphed on the same time scale as fossil fuel usage from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre_glob.htm it is discovered that the current carbon dioxide level increase started about 1750, a century before any significant fossil fuel use.
If average earth temperature since 1880 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/anomalies/anomalies.html is graphed on the same time scale as fossil fuel use it is discovered that there is no correlation between rising fossil fuel use and average global temperature at least until 1976.
The asserted hypothesis that, since 1976, increasing carbon dioxide level has caused the temperature to rise is refuted by the carbon dioxide level from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/vostok.html and earth temperature from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/temp/vostok/vostok.1999.temp.dat determined from the Vostok, Antarctica ice cores. If these are graphed on a higher resolution time scale it is discovered that the change in atmospheric carbon dioxide level lags earth temperature change by hundreds of years.
If Lawdome and recent carbon dioxide data and Vostok and recent temperature are plotted on the same graph since 1000 AD (or before) it is observed that temperature oscillates up to plus or minus 1.5 degrees Celsius (half pitch about 100 yr) while carbon dioxide level remains essentially unchanged (between 9000BC and 1750AD). This will also show that the average global temperature 200 years ago was about the same as now, 400 years ago was significantly higher than now and current rate of temperature change is fairly typical. Recent measurements show that average earth temperatures in 2006 and 2007 were actually lower than in 1998.
For most of the history of earth carbon dioxide level has been several times higher than it is at the present as shown at http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Reference_Docs/Geocarb_III-Berner.pdf .
The conclusion from all this is that carbon dioxide change does not cause significant climate change. Actions based on the human-caused global warming mistake put freedom and prosperity at risk.
2 asiegel // Jan 21, 2008 at 7:35 pm
“From all of this …” cherry-picking of data, you have created a false flag and misleading statement.
Moving to a more efficient use of energy puts “freedom and prosperity at risk”? After all, as you are aware, moving toward that horrible thing of an energy efficient economy would reduce CO2 emissions.
So, figuring out ways to reduce oil use and reduce America’s foreign trade deficit would “put freedom and prosperity at risk” how?
3 Earl E // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Humanity is irrelevant. What a pitiful existance we grind out of the flesh of the third world.
What is coming will silence all. And it is terrorism from Mother Earth. Wait till she lets loose.
Then we will crawl back under the rock and try and survive.
If one volcano can cool the earth for 2 years, what do you think 6 billion mini-volcanoes can do?
Nothing?
How about 6 billion cows? Insignificant?
If mankind has no effect on the earth, why don’t you drink water out of your local stream unfiltered?
People who argue that humans have no effect on the earth just like to hear themselves talk.
4 Anna Haynes // Jan 23, 2008 at 4:50 am
Hello A. – I understand that EPW committee communications director Marc Morano was formerly a staff journalist for CNSNews.com, but when on Dot Earth (and subsequently via email) I asked him where and when he acquired his education in journalism, I didn’t receive a reply – and it seems he departed Dot Earth.
Do you have any info on this or know someone who might?
(& who be willing to share it)
Thanks –
Anna
5 April // May 5, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Global Deniers, all mushroom air heads that have no proof that global warming does not exist. See the physical effects of global warming and go to antartic and artic to really say that is all a myth!!! What if the scientist are wrong? What if what they say is wrong? It really doesn’t matter because if they “were wrong” we would bettter health, stable better. The risk aren’t big if we follow what the scientist say about global warming!!We won’t die if we do! But what happens if we follow these “flatearthers” who are clueless on where they standing!! If we follow you global warming deniers we will end up DEAD!!!