It's shameful that news reporters keep falling for the hysteria, but then again most reporters are liberals, so why should it surprise anyone that they would promote their political and social beliefs on the rest of us?
It's hard to keep up with all the damage global warming is doing to our lives.
Just when you think you've heard it all, some new study or report comes out blaming everything under the sun on global warming.
I haven't fallen under Al Gore's spell. Haven't seen his movie. Haven't read his book. Have no interest in either. The guy has an ax to grind. His "mock-umentary" is a duller version of the kind of left-wing propaganda that Michael Moore puts out. But enough of Al Gore.
When the lead article on the front page of my hometown paper today proclaims that "Poison ivy is caused by global warming," it's time to start running naked through the streets yelling, "Global warming is coming!!! Global warming is coming!!!"
According to the militant environmentalists, global warming, which has raised the temperature of our planet by one-tenth of one degree over the last 100 years is causing the polar ice caps to melt, holes in the ozone layer, beach erosion, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, flooding in Texas, droughts in the desert, wildfires in California, the death of U.S. bee colonies, increases in allergies, etc.
But the poison ivy story really gets me.
When I was a kid, long before anyone heard of global warming, long before anyone heard of Al Gore, my brothers and I used to get poison ivy a lot because we were kids and loved to play in fields and woods.
I haven't had a case of poison ivy in 35 years, but I'm to believe that increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are causing a rash of poison ivy cases.
That's what the story in an area newspaper says.
Using anecdotal evidence by a park ranger who says he sees a lot more poison ivy in the woods and an emergency room doctor, not to mention a government study, the reporter proclaims that global warning is causing the sudden an unexplained increase in poison ivy cases.
The article is punctuated with such phrases as "exact figures weren't available" and the ER doctor "doesn't know why the number of cases has increased," but the reporter still draws the conclusion that it's global warming run amuck
The only "proof" the reporterneeds to back his thesis in an interview with a U.S. Department of Agriculture plant physiologist who conducted a study that grew the poison ivy plant under two different conditions.
"One set of plants was exposed to air that contained 300 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which is roughly the equivalent of the amount in the atmosphere 50 years ago," the reporter states. "Another set of plants was exposed to air that contained 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which is the level found in the atmosphere today."
The conclusion: The plants grown at today's carbon dioxide levels were as much as 75 percent larger and had about the same increase in the amount of rash-causing oil they produced, according to the article.
There you have it folks. Conclusive proof. One study by one scientist under one set of conditions. Let's ban automobiles from the U.S. and shut down our factories. Otherwise, we run the risk getting poison ivy.
Maybe the plant guy could try growing poison ivy in soil loaded with manure to see if it grows faster. Maybe he could water one set of plants more than the other to see if water has anything to do with plants growing. But that wouldn't prove global warming, would it?
This is the kind of bogus science and biased reporting by the left-wing media that gives the media a bad name.
The far left is behind the global warming hysteria. It's another way for liberals to force the government to spend more money and to control how the government spends tax dollars. It's a scare tactic used by political has-beens like Al Gore to stage a comeback.
It's shameful that news reporters keep falling for the hysteria, but then again most reporters are liberals, so why should it surprise anyone that they would promote their political and social beliefs on the rest of us?
And march down to your local library or bookstore and read "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)" by Christopher C. Horner. It's available in paperback from Regnery Publishing. The book exposes the radical environmentalists and blows holes in the various myths about global warming that the media perpetuates.
Tony Phyrillas is a leading conservative political columnist and blogger based in Pennsylvania. He is a veteran journalist with 25 years experience as a reporter, editor and columnist for several newspapers. Phyrillas received recognition for column writing in 2010 from the Associated Press Managing Editors, in 2007 from Suburban Newspapers of America and in 2006 from the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter. A graduate of Penn State University, Phyrillas is the city editor and political columnist for The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa. In addition to The Mercury website (www.pottsmerc.com), his columns are featured on more than a dozen political websites and blogs. Phyrillas is a frequent guest (and occasional host) on talk radio and has been a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" public affairs TV program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). Phyrillas was named one of the '10 Leading Greek-American Bloggers in the World' in 2007 by Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine. BlogNetNews.com ranked Phyrillas the Most Influential Political Blogger in Pennsylvania for three consecutive years (2007-2010). You can follow Phyrillas on Twitter @TonyPhyrillas
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