Why is it that AGW advocators always have to try and disregard the 'other side' by claiming they're connected to the energy industry and therefore must have some kind of agenda?
It is sensible to question the motives, and verify the credentials, of people claiming to be experts on any subject matter. What worries me is that so many people jump on the skeptical bandwagon at the meerest hint of any uncertainty, without any real appreciation for the scientific basis.
I know many people who don't believe the AGW bandwagon is all it's cracked up to be and none of them work for energy/petroleum companies and some, including myself, don't even own a car and have a very low carbon output.
But you have to question who has put that doubt in their minds, when the scientific consensus is the opposite?
Why can't the skeptics see that they are being manipulated, and why do they constantly choose to ignore the complete lack of reliability in their sources, even after their dubious nature is exposed? At some point I'd expect these people to wake up, and realise that they are backing the wrong horse. But they don't, and so I find this very indicative of an agenda.
I could argue without a shadow of a doubt that I produce less CO2 than 99% of those who say I must be belching it out because I don't believe AGW.
I wouldn't make that accusation, and I consider your lack of Co2 output, commendable.
We're not all getting money from BP to 'deny' AGW, we're just using our own minds to think for ourselves.
However, that often seems to be a crime these days...
I am not suggesting you are getting any money from BP, I just dont think you are using your mind to it's true potential
Let's face it, none of us are leading scientists, and none us can appreciate the science as well as the scientists studying GW themselves. Nevertheless, many of the more outrageous skeptical remarks made on this forum could be easily discredited by a quick bit of research on the science, using the internet, by anyone. And yet many people aren't even prepared to do that, in order to test the validity of their own arguments. Hence, these protestations about independent thought being repressed are simply utter nonsense. It's not "a crime these days" - at it's best, it's just ignorance, and at it's worst, it's an agenda. IMHO.