Ahead of tomorrow's publication of the Science and Technology Committee's report into the communication of climate science, certain sections of the chatterati are, shall we say, preparing the ground.
The Guardian notes SciTech chairman Andrew Miller bemoaning the appearance of dissenting voices in certain media outlets:
Andrew Miller MP, the committee's chair said: “All of the serious news outlets we spoke to were unanimous in accepting the scientific evidence that human activity is causing climate change. This came as a surprise to us because some papers regularly give a platform to lobby groups or indeed conspiracy theorists – many not even qualified scientists – who pooh-pooh the evidence and attack UK climate scientists."
It's astonishing that the chairman of the committee still hasn't managed to grasp what the climate change debate is about, despite all the years he has occupied the role and despite all the support and advice he gets.
Meanwhile, Fiona Fox is having a go at the BBC for...wait for it...false balance. As one would expect, she is much exercised by the witterings of an integrity-free snail geneticist on the subject and with that pedigree it is hardly a surprise to see her go on to a meaningless rant about sceptic appearances on the airwaves, referring to "the now notorious Nigel Lawson and Bob Carter interviews". Readers may like to refer to the transcript of the Lawson/Hoskins discussion and see if they can work out what could possibly be construed as "notorious" about it. There are things that upholders of the climate consensus might dispute, but nothing that could be construed as outlandish. And if you look for meaningful criticisms of the Lawson appearance there is little of substance. The notoriety, such as it is, simply reflects the outrage superannuated Marxist revolutionaries like Ms Fox feel that someone they disagree with should appear on the BBC.