Thread by @ShellenbergerMD

This @washingtonpost attack on a young German woman as a "climate skeptic" is inaccurate, unfair, and should be immediately corrected.

Authors @eilperin & @desmondbutler admit she is she not a climate skeptic & yet lead readers to believe she is

THREAD

washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro…

@washingtonpost @eilperin @desmondbutler They bury the fact that the young woman is not a climate skeptic in the 14th paragraph at which point they have already framed her as:

- "allied with Trump"
- praised by Heartland, a skeptical think tank
- 2 quotes from a "misinfo" expert who knows nothing of climate change

@washingtonpost @eilperin @desmondbutler "Naomi said she does not dispute that greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet, but she argues that many scientists and activists have overstated their impact" write @eilperin

I had never heard of @NaomiSeibtt until this article, but if that's her view, I agree with it.

I've been a climate activist for 20 years

I've written on it for 15 yrs

I am an invited Expert Reviewer of next IPCC report

I also think it's obvious that "many scientists & activists have overstated" climate impacts

It's inaccurate to call such a view "climate skepticism"

Climate skepticism refers to doubting the science connecting human emissions to climate change, not doubting climate apocalypse

In framing @NaomiSeibtt as skeptic, while quietly admitting she's not one @eilperin @desmondbutler are urging readers to dismiss her concerns

@NaomiSeibtt @eilperin @desmondbutler I don't know what I agree with @NaomiSeibtt and what I disagree with her on. Like I said, I hadn't heard of her until reading this

But she's right that apocalyptic climate rhetoric is irresponsible

@NaomiSeibtt @eilperin @desmondbutler The authors quote Naomi saying, “I get chills when I see those young people, especially at Fridays for Future. They are screaming and shouting and they’re generally terrified"

And the terror being spread by apocalyptic campaigners is scientifically inaccurate and ethically wrong

There is strong evidence that eco-anxiety is increasing, and @washingtonpost itself recently published a long article on the topic:

washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/…

I wrote about a 17 year-old (non-skeptic!) adolescent British girl who said alarmism was increasing anxiety and depression in her school:

forbes.com/sites/michaels…

Notably, @eilperin puts climate alarmism in scare quotes — 'climate alarmism' — as though it's not a real thing

And that's odd given how much climate alarmism there is, and that one of the roles of journalists is to separate science from alarmism

https://twitter.com/eilperin/status/1231747714611863552