BBC: Gore Climate Film's Nine Errors

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7037671.stm

A High Court judge who ruled on whether climate change film, An Inconvenient Truth, could be shown in schools said it contains "nine scientific errors".

Mr Justice Burton said the government could still send the film to schools - if accompanied by guidance giving the other side of the argument.

He was ruling on an attempt by a Kent school governor to ban the film from secondary schools.

The Oscar-winning film was made by former US Vice-President Al Gore.

The judge said nine statements in the film were not supported by mainstream scientific consensus.

. . . on the basis that they should provide the other side to the argument that 2+2 equals 4.

I guarantee you that I can find people who will challenge that supposed "mainstream mathematical consensus" -- for a buck, of course.

and deception in order to downplay the issue of Human Indstrial activite effects upon the environment.

(Read the end of your article.)

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said the ruling would be "embarrassing for Mr Gore" but would not affect the government, which said it is happy that the judge did not dismiss the film's mainstream argument.

But, he added, this controversy could encourage the public to think there was scientific doubt about the facts of climate change.

Children's Minister Kevin Brennan had earlier said: "It is important to be clear that the central arguments put forward in An Inconvenient Truth, that climate change is mainly caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases and will have serious adverse consequences, are supported by the vast weight of scientific opinion.

"Nothing in the judge's comments today detract from that."

There is a post from some freeper below this one saying there are 11 inaccuracies, geeze. The freeps cant even get their story straight and for the last time Al Gore did not make the movie It was Davis Guggenhiem, damn, as much as I would have liked al to win an oscar he didnt. SHEESH!!!

This is strange...

The BBC story originally went out as "Judge Backs Gore Film in Schools" as good news for Gore stating "schools in England are free to show the climate change film by Al Gore under certain conditions, a judge confirms" - the court ruling a win for Gore as it deflected an attempt to have the film banned.

Then, oddly, some time in the last 12 hrs BBC rewrote the article with the "nine errors" headline.

You can still see cached versions of the original headline/excerpt on a number of secondary sources/RSS feeds, here, although the old headline now link to the new version of the story:

http://www.newsalerts.com/full/e36/judge-backs-gore-film-in-schools.html
http://www.whitehallpages.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=39538&topic=97&newlang=eng
http://news.ippimail.com/2007/10/10/judge-backs-gore-film-in-schools/

Just goes to show how easily a news desk can spin a story either way.

M