Dissent At the Washington Post – George Will’s Colleagues Criticism of Flagrant Errors on Warming

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Washington Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and Mary Beth Sheridan have an article on the alarming decline of Arctic sea ice. In a stunningly unusual move, the article includes this statement:

“The new evidence—including satellite data showing that the average multiyear wintertime sea ice cover in the Arctic in 2005 and 2006 was nine feet thick, a significant decline from the 1980s—contradicts data cited in widely circulated reports by Washington Post columnist George F. Will that sea ice in the Arctic has not significantly declined since 1979.”

We’ve written extensively on WaPo columnist George Will and the misinformed opinion pieces he has been putting out lately. Never did I expect to see a WaPo journalist to go after Will so blatantly. It’s refreshing to see.

Earlier today we reported that a Washington Post blogger chastised the Will for lying repeatedly in his columns.

Now it’s come to our attention that multiple columnists and other colleagues from Will’s own paper have come forward to slam Will for his outrageous use of global warming denier arguments in WaPo columns. See Chris Mooney’s blog “The Washington Post vs. George Will?” and David Robert’s coverage over at Grist.

It’s quite extraordinary for employees of the same news organization to openly chastise each other, by name, in their own paper.  And it’s just the treatment that George Will deserves.

Kudos to those reporters who had the backbone to stand up and say something about Will’s lies.  Let’s hope the WaPo editors are listening and that George Will finally gets reined in before he spreads around any more skeptic

Special kudos to Dave Roberts at Grist and his keen eye for finding the Eilperin quote. trash in his columns.

This month we’re giving away FREE copies of Thomas Friedman’s bestselling book Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America.

Go here to find out more details about DeSmogBlog’s monthly book give-away.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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