The year of quoting dangerously
In his most most recent commentary (December 31, 2004) Steven Milloy claims that "Environmental activists are shamelessly trying to exploit last week's earthquake-tsunami catastrophe in hopes of advancing their global warming and anti-development agendas." But after checking one of his sources it appears that this is not the case. Milloy writes that:
Two days after the tragedy, the executive director of Greenpeace UK (search) told the British newspaper The Independent, "No one can ignore the relentless increase in extreme weather events and so-called natural disasters, which in reality are no more natural than a plastic Christmas tree."
Friends of the Earth (search) Director Tony Juniper told the same British newspaper, "Here again are yet more events in the real world that are consistent with climate change predictions."
But checking the Independent article (2004: The year of living dangerously, December 27, 2004 (Note: the article is no longer avalable for free at The Independant, it is still avalable at the Pretoria News)), which Milloy does not link to, shows that it was actually dated the day after the disaster. Which means that it was almost certainly written on the day of the disaster, if not earlier, and comments about the tsunamis added at the last minute. With the disaster occurring on a Sunday that was also the day after Christmas, it is unlikely that anyone would be in their offices answering their phones. The quotes were almost certainly given before the disaster occurred. Indeed, neither of the environmentalists mention the tsunamis, and it is clear from the context that they are talking about weather related events:
Losses caused by natural disasters, most of them climate-related and headed by hurricanes in America and typhoons in Japan, leapt for the first time to more than $100bn (£52bn), according to preliminary estimates from the Zurich-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re. The remarkable sum will intensify the global warming debate, as more extreme weather events, including tropical storms of greater intensity, are among the predicted consequences of climate change. The astonishing storms of the past year are consistent with this, although scientists say it is not yet possible to link them to global warming directly.
However, leading environmentalists said they should be very much taken as a warning. "Here again are yet more events in the real world that are consistent with climate change predictions based on the most up-to-date scientific models," said Tony Juniper, the director of Friends of the Earth. "Only last year, the members of the United Nations Environment Programme's finance initiative were estimating that insured losses due to natural disasters would soon approach $150bn per decade.
"These figures say we are well on the way to reaching that in just one year. The insurance industry must now add its voice to those calling for urgent action to limit the danger posed by rapid climate change."
Stephen Tindale, the executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "No one can ignore the relentless increase in extreme weather events and so-called natural disasters, which in reality are no more natural than a plastic Christmas tree.
Milloy quotes from another environmentalist, but I was not able to find the original article. UPDATE: PRWATCH has more on this story, including Milloy's other quote.
FURTHER UPDATE
Two items relevant to this story have appeared on Milloy's website. The first is an item under the January 7 news:
Enviros maintain tsunami-global warming linked: The British newspaper The Independent apparently erred in linking global warming-related quotes from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth spokesmen with the recent tsunamis. Enviros, nevertheless, keep trying to make such a linkage.
Milloy goes on to give several new quotes, which I have not looked up yet. The statement by itself is very strange, if you had not read last weeks commentary or this weeks commentary you would not know what Milloy was refering to. But trying to blame The Independent is beyond belief. The article was a year end look at the disasters of 2004 and how they affected the insurance industry. It was not specifically about the tsunamis, and there is no reason to think that the environmentalists quoted were refering to them.
The second item is in this weeks commentary (January 7, 2005). After the usual nonsense claiming there wouldn't be any malaria if they lifted the ban on DDT (Which is bogus. After three decades of unrestricted use of the pesticide there were still over half a million deaths from malaria per year.) is an item titled Environmentalists Dispute Quotes. Milloy writes:
Last week's column cited quotes from the British branches of two environmental groups, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, blaming the Indian Ocean tsunami on global warming. I pulled these quotes from interviews group spokesmen gave to the British newspaper, The Independent.
But the quotes did not even mention the tsunamis, and as I wrote on December 31 they were almost certainly made before the disaster. Milloy goes on:
Both groups have disputed the quotes. In a letter to the Independent, a version that was also sent to FOXNews.com, Stephen Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK, and Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth in London, wrote:
"Sir: On 23 December — before the earthquake and tsunami — we were asked by The Independent to comment on the dramatic increase in insurance claims resulting from hurricanes, droughts, floods and other early impacts of climate change. Our quotes appeared in an article on 27 December, as part of your coverage of the tsunami. For the record, we would like to make absolutely clear that earthquakes are not a result of climate change and we have never sought to make any link."
But they have not disputed the quotes. They disputed the spin that Milloy put on the quotes. I note that Milloy's first commentary is still on his web site, without any disclaimer about the quotes. Shame, shame, shame.
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Related links
WSJ Uses Tsunami to Bash Environmentalists
You're a Shadowboxer, Baby: Right-wingers exploit tsunami by accusing enviros of exploiting tsunami by Amanda Griscom Little
In Fox news gets it wrong Realclimate points out more of Milloy's misuse of quotes
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Written by Jim Norton
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