Climate of Doubt

In the wake of Al Gore's influential film An Inconvenient Truth and the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, the reality of global warming and climate change seemed to be a settled issue. However, since the 2008 financial meltdown and the rise of the Tea Party, "scientific contrarians" and political messengers have thrown doubt on the question, promoting gridlock and thwarting the political will to do anything. Correspondent John Hockenberry hosts this PBS-aired Frontline documentary, which illustrates how personal attacks and well-funded PAC ads encouraging the "courage to do nothing" helped build a message of doubt. Strategies have included producing a lot of authentic-looking documents, supporting free-market think tanks that argue for limited government, and—of course—spreading a lot of cash around at election time. In search of a "climate-gate" scandal, groups also tried to secure e-mails from scientists and researchers that would hopefully show them "cooking the books" in favor of climate change findings. Climate of Doubt does a good job of exploring both sides of the political (not the scientific) aspects of this issue, with testimony ranging from the conservative Americans for Prosperity to liberal former senator John Kerry. In today's charged political climate, free-market advocates constantly lobby for a "common sense" approach, while environmentalists are left to react to every new charge. In the end, unfortunately, valuable time is wasted while little congressional action is being taken on an issue where the stakes are extremely high. Offering a thought-provoking look at the politics of global warming, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)