Some scientists . . . Stephen Schneider, a scientist at . . . The answer, according to Sanera and Shaw, is money. According to Sanera and Shaw, this alleged conspiracy to suppress dissident views extends all the way to the White House and to Vice President Al Gore in particular. Because of his prominence, scientists had to listen. . . .
Environmental crises can boost political careers. . . .
Before we get too carried away with this depiction of Gore as an eco-extremist, perhaps someone should check in with the people of East Liverpool, Ohio. Back in 1992 when Gore first campaigned for vice president, they heard him promise to block a planned toxic waste incinerator that was being built just 400 yards away from an elementary school, in a flood plain in a valley that experiences frequent pollution-trapping air inversions. Today the incinerator is chugging away, pumping tons of toxins into the air each year including dioxins, acid gases like hydrogen chloride, and heavy metals including mercury, lead and chromium. If you want an example of environmental rhetoric that harms school children, think of the East Liverpool incinerator. A few sentences of familiar rationalizations provide the counterweight to each carefully posed question.