Tim Lambert at Deltoid tracked down the facts in the really odd story about a court in Britain ruling that the film Inconvenient Truth contains errors — a case I noted in a post about Al Gore’s winning a Nobel Prize for his work on climate change. Deltoid said:
A UK High Court judge has rejected a lawsuit by political activist Stuart Dimmock to ban the showing of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in British schools. Justice Burton agreed that
“Al Gore’s presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change in the film was broadly accurate.”
There were nine points where Burton decided that AIT differed from the IPCC and that this should be addressed in the Guidance Notes for teachers to be sent out with the movie.
Unfortunately a gaggle of useless journalists have misreported this decision as one that AIT contained nine scientific errors.
Got that? The British Court said Gore is right.
I’ll bet I’ve seen that case cited a half dozen times today, with claims that Gore’s film is generally wrong.
Tim’s detail on the case, and the nine allegations of “error” (scare quotes from the judge in the original opinion) should be read by anyone following the climate change debates. I doubt that any Gore critics will read, nor, just to be nasty, that many of them can.
This is another political hoax in the making. Bad reporting, caused largely because the news of the case hit as the announcement of Gore’s Nobel Prize win crossed the news wires, makes Gore a target for the denialist and right-wing spin machines. Though their charges are inaccurate, they will make the charges, and repeat them endlessly. Buckle up — it’s going to be a bumpy night.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
[…] Errors page one, corrections page 2: Gore film okay for classroom […]
LikeLike
REVEALED;Fuel & Mining Man Behind Gore Film Attack In UK
Sun Oct 14, 2007 at 08:12:42 AM PDT
British Government released the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, to be shown in schools.
One man, Mr. Dimmock, a school Governor, challenged that in court, making of course, outrageous claims of the movie.
A Judge heard the case claiming the movie was politically biased, but it still could be shown in schools with guidlenes. And no surprise that the Republicants, FOX, Newsbusters and everyone else were trying to make so much out of-ITSELF being politically motivated. The story was reportedin mostly British papers, but the right wing papers, PACS and blogs did their best to distort the already political charge.
This outraged many, particularly in Britain, where it affects them. Teachers were asking why this was even being ruled by a Judge.
Teaching union slams Gore film ruling
Oct 12 2007 by Abbie Wightwick, Western Mail
WALES’ biggest teaching union yesterday accused a High Court Judge of acting like Big Brother by ruling a film about climate change can only be shown in schools if accompanied by new guidance notes to balance its views.
All schools and colleges in Wales were sent free copies of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth in a programme backed by the Welsh Assembly Government earlier this year.
A High Court challenge mounted by a parent in England, which also sent out copies of the film, resulted in a ruling yesterday that the film, much acclaimed by environmentalists, could be shown in schools as part of a climate change resource pack, but only if it was accompanied by new guidance notes to balance Mr Gore’s “one-sided” views.
Last night the WAG said it was considering the ruling’s implications, although no similar complaints from parents have been made here.
“This response from the High Court in London is outrageous. It is scary. It’s like the thought police. It’s 1984 arriving in 2007,” he said. “It’s a slap in the face to teachers to suggest they are incapable of chairing a mature discussion to go with showing this film.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a judge to say what should be taught in schools and how. The only body that could do that would be the General Teaching Council for Wales.”
Now being reported thatFuel and mining magnate backed UK challenge to An Inconvenient Truth.
The school governor who challenged the screening of Al Gore’s climate change documentary in secondary schools was funded by a Scottish quarrying magnate who established a controversial lobbying group to attack environmentalists’ claims about global warming.
It seems they have started a political organization to attack and distort the Climate Crisis realities, making Mr. Gore’s their first challenge. Much like the organizations here fueled (pun intented) by the GOP (Gas Oil Petroleum) or King CONG (Coal Oil Nukes Gas), like American Enterprise Institute, TCPR, News Busters et al.
The Observer has established that Dimmock’s case was supported by a powerful network of business interests with close links to the fuel and mining lobbies. He was also supported by a Conservative councillor in Hampshire, Derek Tipp.
Dimmock credited the little-known New Party with supporting him in the test case but did not elaborate on its involvement. The obscure Scotland-based party calls itself ‘centre right’ and campaigns for lower taxes and expanding nuclear power.
Records filed at the Electoral Commission show the New Party has received nearly all of its money – almost £1m between 2004 and 2006 – from Cloburn Quarry Limited, based in Lanarkshire.
The company’s owner and chairman of the New Party, Robert Durward, is a long-time critic of environmentalists. With Mark Adams, a former private secretary to Tony Blair, he set up the Scientific Alliance, a not-for-profit body comprising scientists and non-scientists, which aims to challenge many of the claims about global warming.
It appears that Republicants and Conservanots around the world are making this issue, Global Warming and our Climate Crisis, political all by themselves. Along with other things like providing health care to chidlren-acting like a Brick Wall, just trying to stop progress and moving forward for the people and our planet.
It seems Mr. Gore will have no choice but to run for President. As Republicants and Conservanots have shown, making everything related to humanity poltical, and if these issues are to be solved, we need someone who cares about them to solve them.
LikeLike
[…] I sense another Al Gore smear coming. Evidently the claim that Al Gore’s film has 9 scientific errors in it is making the rounds […]
LikeLike