RealClearInvestigations Podcast

Al Gore and the Politicization of Science | RealClearInvestigations Podcast #114

Episode Summary

On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Roger Pielke Jr., a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about his article detailing how Al Gore’s seminal 2006 book and film on climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth,” helped politicize science. In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss Paul Sperry’s article for RCI on newly declassified documents showing how a top government official fast-tracked a politically compromised whistleblower complaint in 2019 that ultimately triggered the first impeachment of President Trump. They also discuss the sexual accusation that forced Rep. Eric Swalwell to resign from Congress – and why this evidently widely-known questions about his conduct had not been reported until now. 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest 01:00 Impeachment Insights and Partisan Politics 07:05 The Eric Swalwell Controversy 16:05 Legacy of Al Gore's Climate Advocacy 17:01 The Evolution of Climate Change Discourse 22:08 Current Understanding of Climate Science 28:00 Global Perspectives on Climate Change 29:14 Decarbonization and Energy Sources 31:28 The Politicization of Science 38:35 Millenarianism in Climate Science 42:47 Finding Common Ground in Climate Policy 46:38 The Impact of COVID on Public Trust 50:39 The Future of Academia and Climate Policy

Episode Notes

On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Roger Pielke Jr., a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, about his article detailing how Al Gore’s seminal 2006 book and film on climate change, “An Inconvenient Truth,” helped politicize science.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss Paul Sperry’s article for RCI on newly declassified documents showing how a top government official fast-tracked a politically compromised whistleblower complaint in 2019 that ultimately triggered the first impeachment of President Trump. They also discuss the sexual accusation that forced Rep. Eric Swalwell to resign from Congress – and why this evidently widely-known questions about his conduct had not been reported until now

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
01:00 Impeachment Insights and Partisan Politics
07:05 The Eric Swalwell Controversy
16:05 Legacy of Al Gore's Climate Advocacy
17:01 The Evolution of Climate Change Discourse
22:08 Current Understanding of Climate Science
28:00 Global Perspectives on Climate Change
29:14 Decarbonization and Energy Sources
31:28 The Politicization of Science
38:35 Millenarianism in Climate Science
42:47 Finding Common Ground in Climate Policy
46:38 The Impact of COVID on Public Trust
50:39 The Future of Academia and Climate Policy

Articles Discussed in This Podcast: