Comments on: What Bill Nye Should Have Said

By: Juliosus

Juliosus — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:19:39 +0000

I seem to be on a one-man fight on this, but perhaps you can use your platform to help.

I was surprised at Carol Costello’s comment, and decided to do a little research before the flurry of articles decrying her comments appeared. There’s an article on the Conservative-leaning (it seems, at least) site Wizbang entitled “Conservatives Beating Bill Nye the Global Warming Guy, But Obama to the Rescue.” The article indicates that both Costello and Nye were in agreement about the politicization and their concern that skeptics were winning. Her comment calling him “Kooky” and asking him to defend himself is her playing devil’s advocate. The clip on YouTube and on CNN is incredibly misleading, and I get the feeling there was more to this exchange before the edit.

CNN’s transcript (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1207/02/cnr.02.html) doesn’t even list the transcript of the conversation before midway through the video. Are they TRYING to create a stink and get Costello fired?

I agree with many of your opinions, but I’m not convinced Costello should be the villain here.

By: Taylor Cole Miller

Taylor Cole Miller — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 06:24:07 +0000

What a great article; I particularly enjoyed this line, “I suppose one could also blame forest fires on the unfortunate fact that forests are made out of firewood.”

I was happy that a course in environmental conservation was the only science class I could take to fulfill my last credit on my bachelor’s degree years ago … on the first day we learned exactly what this article suggests: We’re arguing about the wrong thing!

As our professor explained, no legitimate scientist is saying that climate change isn’t happening – the world’s weather is completely changing. The true argument is how it’s happening. Our media cycles have become so good at confusing the hell out of people, though they don’t know that they’re arguing the wrong thing! To this day my family will swear to me that global warming and climate change are myths, likely produced by my liberal professors. I’m lookin’ at you, Dr. Gray!

By: Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 02:48:41 +0000

I would love to have heard that too, Jenell. I think so much of the problem lies in a feckless, ignorant press corps. Because I’d sure Costello wouldn’t be able to have that discussion you suggest he should call for. She’s a pro at digging for dirt and controversy, but wouldn’t know how to ask a smart question about science that she probably hasn’t studied since Grade 6. Indeed, that’s the irony of her talking to Bill Nye about this — Bill Nye may know how to talk to Grade 6’s about science, but he knows his science, whereas Costello — like all too many of her colleagues — thinks she needs to talk at a Grade 6 level, but doesn’t know what the heck she’s talking about.