Michael Crichton Loses Flat
Earth Award Race
Prize
scooped by veteran climate change naysayer Fred Singer
from
www.greenhousenet.org April 21, 2005
For Immediate Release
Portland, OR-- In spite of an early strong showing, novelist Michael Crichton failed to capture this year's Flat Earth Award (http://www.flatearthaward.org) , instead losing out to long-time chief advocate for the "global warming is a hoax" camp, Fred Singer.
The "Jurassic Park" author was thought to be the runaway favorite for this year's award, created by students at Middlebury and Lewis & Clark Colleges to highlight the denial of global warming by prominent public figures. Based on the strength of his best-selling novel "State of Fear", Crichton took an early lead in the voting. Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh then surged ahead. But Singer, was not to be shut out. Apparently operating under the theory that any publicity is good publicity, last month, Singer began actively campaigning for the title of Flat Earther of the year.
Two weeks ago, Singer felt confident enough in his lead to post an acceptance speech on his web site (reprinted in today's Christian Science Monitor). There he declared defiantly: "as long as weather satellites show that the atmosphere is not warming" he couldn't put any faith in global warming.
However, NASA satellite data shows clearly that the atmosphere is warming: http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2004/2004050516955.html.
According to Eban Goodstein of the Green House Network (the official award sponsor), "Singer has, as usual, staked out an extremist position-even among the climate naysayers-by making claims that can't be supported by the scientific evidence . So we have to say the award went to the right person".
In a surprise development, the sponsors of the honor have announced that they will not be offering the Flat Earth Award in the future. "Our goal has been to highlight the overwhelming scientific consensus that human-induced carbon dioxide emissions are altering the global
climate," said Goodstein. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body of scientists charged with studying global warming predicts that the globe will heat up between 2 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next hundred years as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, largely from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
Most of the so-called skeptics have in fact, grudgingly come around to acknowledge that global warming is real, and now accept the low-end warming estimates of the IPCC. "There simply aren't enough real Flat Earther's left to provide a decent slate of candidates for next year", said Goodstein.
The final vote tally had Singer with 42% of the vote, Limbaugh with 32% and Crichton with 26%.
Additional info on satellite data:
NASA:
1. http://eob.gsfc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2004/2004050516955.html
Reason Magazine-- skeptic admits satellite data shows warming
2. http://www.reason.com/rb/rb111903.shtml
Science Daily review of the issue
For additional information:
Eban Goodstein
Volunteer Executive Director, Green House Network www.greenhousenet.org info@greenhousenet.org
503-342-6863