Barnes' Source For Global Warming Denialism?

Zachary Roth | February 10, 2009, 1:31PM

Yesterday, we told you about how Fred Barnes has learned that global warming isn't man made -- but won't tell us where he got this startling information.

But luckily, it looks like Dave Roberts of the environmental news site Grist knows the answer. Roberts writes:

Barnes gets his information on climate change the same place everyone in the right-wing media world gets it: from Marc Morano, the in-house blogger/agitator for Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.).

Apparently, Morano is the point man for the fringe movement of global warming deniers.

Morano's entire job is to aggregate every misleading factoid, every attack on climate science or scientists, every crank skeptical statement from anyone in the world and send it all out periodically in email blasts that get echoed throughout the right-wing blog world and eventually find their way into places like Fox News and the Weekly Standard. From there they go, via columnists like George Will and Charles Krauthammer, into mainstream outlets like Newsweek and the Washington Post.

That's where Barnes gets it. That's where Glenn Beck gets it, and Lou Dobbs, and Will, and Krauthammer, and all the rest of them.

We've written about Morano -- a former producer for the Rush Limbaugh show -- before. In November 2006, he attended a UN conference on global warming on Inhofe's behalf, prompting the senator to label the confab a "brain-washing session."

Thank God we've found Barnes' source! With any luck, Morano will be able to pass his findings on to policy-makers in time to make sure they don't do anything to address global warming, since it turns out to be all a big mistake. That was close though!

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Topics: Fred Barnes, Global Warming, James Inhofe

Fred Barnes

Barnes: Global Warming Isn't Man Made -- But I Won't Tell You How I Know That

Zachary Roth | February 9, 2009, 4:33PM

Paging Obama's new environmental team: Fred Barnes has some crucial new information about global warming -- it's not man-made, apparently!

Problem is, Barnes won't tell us how he knows that -- but maybe he'll tell you.

Check out this passage from Barnes' latest column for the Weekly Standard:

Democrats couldn't hide their self-consciousness about the excesses of their own bill. Supporters made few TV appearances to defend it and rarely talked about specific spending items. Obama sounded like Al Gore on global warming. The more the case for man-made warming falls apart, the more hysterical Gore gets about an imminent catastrophe. The more public support his bill loses, the more Obama embraces fear-mongering. (our itals.)

We hadn't heard anything lately about the case for man-made global warming falling apart. In fact, just the opposite. So we called Barnes and asked him what he was referring to.

At first, he cited the fact that it's been cold lately.

Perhaps sensing this was less than convincing, Barnes then asserted that there had been a "cooling spell" in recent years. "Haven't you noticed?" he asked.

Asked for firmer evidence of such cooling, Barnes demurred, telling TPMmuckraker he was too busy to track it down.

We pressed Barnes again: surely he could tell us where he had found this vital new information, which could upend the current debate over how to address global warming.

In response, Barnes said only that he knew where he had found it, but would not tell us, apparently as a matter of principle. "I'm not going to do your research for you," he eventually said, before hurriedly ending the call.

So we came up empty. Let's hope the Obama policy-makers have more luck getting this out of Barnes -- after all, our future could depend on it.

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Topics: Fred Barnes, Global Warming