George Will is supposedly one of the reality-based conservatives, who eschews the willful know-nothingism of some of his ideological co-travelers. Yet today, as he has many times before, he uses his perch on the Washington Post editorial page to lie to readers and reduce their knowledge of the facts.
It’s hard to believe, but he wheels out the "scientists said there would be global cooling" myth again. See it refuted here in our How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic guide. Or see Brad Plumer for yet another refutation.
But at this point it seems futile to refute it yet again. The question here is not about the facts, but about sociocultural norms. Why is Will permitted to lie to millions of readers every week? At what point do the editors of the Washington Post feel that it’s their job to step in and stop him from misleading people? Is there any such point? Is there anything Will could say that would cross the line?
Addendum: Meanwhile, segregated over in the “green” section of the paper: “Scientists: Pace of Climate Change Exceeds Estimates.” And so it goes.
