Sheldon claimed:
<< Ed on the
other hand has thrown in simplistic generalizations and numerous
factual errors that others have had to correct. If anyone doubts that
this is the case and wants me to prove it, I can list some of those
errors here. To give just one example, Ed falsely claimed (on the
global warming talk page) that the National Association of Science
predicted a looming ice age in 1975. I corrected him, and to his
credit he backed off of his error. One again, however, it illustrates
his pattern of factual sloppiness mixed with disdain for leading
scientific voices and organizations. (The NAS is the most prestigious
scientific body in the U.S. and arguably the world). >>
Sorry about my "false claim", Sheldon. Perhaps I was wrong to believe
Lowell Ponte, who attributed the "ice age" prediction to the NAS:
In "The Cooling: Has the next ice age already
begun? Can we
survive it?", published in 1975 by Prentice--Hall, its author
Lowell Ponte captures the then prevailing mood: "The NAS report
was shocking, for it represented a warning from some of the
world's most conservative scientists that an Ice Age beginning in
the near future . . . was not impossible." Contending that we may
be "on the brink of a [10,000 year] period of colder climate," the
NAS urged an immediate near- quadrupling of funds for research.
"We simply cannot afford to be unprepared for either a natural or
man-made climatic catastrophe [of global cooling]."
=> Quoted at
http://www.sepp.org/glwarm/sciaddheat.html
Or maybe I was wrong to believe that S. Fred Singer was quoting Ponte
correctly.
Or maybe I just misunderstood the quote. You're an expert on
disinformation, and you probably have Ponte's book on your shelf.
On the other hand, if Singer correctly quoted Ponte, and if he in turn
correctly characterized the views of the NAS, then maybe my mistake lay
in knuckling under to pressure from a biased, axe-grinding
environmentalist.
If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn't fit, stop beating me over the
head with it!
Ed Poor