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The extremists committed to the man-made global warming theory - that humans are causing the world to get hotter and that we have to drastically raise taxes and/or ration energy in response - are on the run. How else does one explain the sensational Newsweek cover story with the provocative headline, "Global Warming is a Hoax,*" over a photo of a boiling sun?

Newsweek, a Washington Post property, claims to be telling us "The Truth About Denial," and to make sure everyone gets the point, it uses some form of the word "denial" 20 times, including "denial machine" 14 times.

The article, which is the worst kind of advocacy journalism, is a shoddy attempt to suggest that those skeptical of the theory are like holocaust deniers.

The asterisk in the Newsweek headline leads to a smaller note connecting the "hoax" charge to "well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change." Newsweek tells its readers that its cover story is about "the denial machine" - those against the theory.

Smear Tactics

The term "denial" is, of course, usually associated with "holocaust denial"- the view that the Nazi destruction of millions of Jews in Europe was exaggerated or did not even occur. As such, the Newsweek story was a deliberate effort to smear opponents of the global warming theory. It is the absolute worst kind of journalism. Perhaps the word "news" should be taken out of Newsweek. The magazine has become a shameless propagandist for one side in this debate.

What is at stake is our standard of living.

In fact, while most observers and experts agree that the climate is changing and may even be warming over the long term, the real debate is over whether human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are responsible, and whether we can do anything about it. The critics of the theory cast doubt on that connection, noting the lack of definitive evidence of a cause and effect. There are other explanations for possible warming, such as solar activity.

Newsweek knows that, if the theory is accepted, this leads to demands for domestic and even international policies to reduce our standard of living by drastically cutting our access to energy. Those policies, in turn, lead to tax increases or energy rationing, even on a global basis. The United Nations, for example, has suggested a 35 cents-a-gallon gas tax, using the proceeds for increased foreign aid and other global purposes.

The Newsweek story is misleading, even false, in another key aspect. Senate staffer Marc Morano, a long-time conservative journalist and activist, points out that while those skeptical of the man-made global warming theory have received some $19 million, the forces favored by Newsweek have taken in closer to $50 billion, much of it from American taxpayers and channeled through federal and global agencies. (web site) This figure, of course, doesn't include the dollar value of all of the media coverage in support of the theory.

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