Volcanoes? All Your Fault According To NPR

The slogan attached to NPR gabber Diane Rehm’s show is “one of her guests is always you.” Based on Rehm’s interview of Elise Labott, senior State Department producer for CNN, reality isn’t quite as welcome as you are. Consider this exchange between Rehm and Labott:

Rehm: “We do wonder whether there’s human involvement in all of these eruptions, earthquakes, storms -“

Labbot: “And how much global warming has a role in it. You know we’ve seen a lot of wacky weather but that’s just a microcosm for what’s happening around the world and how much climate change is contributing to earthquakes and volcanic ash – it’s a really good question.”

Actually, that’s the opposite of a good question. It’s an idiotic question. It’s a question that demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt that mainstream media personalities are about as qualified to opine on scientific topics as Roman Polanski is to weigh in on sex education programs.

It has been shown, beyond any reasonable doubt, that there is no connection between increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and extreme weather. The idea that greenhouse gases might somehow influence the movement of tectonic plates or magma pools is so ludicrous that even Al Gore hasn’t advanced such a ridiculous theory.

Rehm’s question and Labbot’s response are the public-policy equivalent of the sports fan who believes that if he or she wears the right jersey, or sits on the same spot on the couch while watching the game, or wears the same socks day after winning day, that their favored team cannot lose. In the case of sports, this sort of superstition is harmless. When it comes to public policy, superstition is hardly an effective or responsible way to make decisions.

Natural disasters happen. They are the natural consequence of living on a planet in which natural forces, far from being subject to the imperious whims of man, are ever-ready to kick our ass whenever and wherever Ma Nature decides to exert her powerful influence.

There are no mechanisms – absolutely none – that can even remotely be tied to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, or to the movement of tectonic plates (earthquakes), or the activity of magma pools (volcanoes). The suggestion that such mechanisms might in fact exist demonstrates both a disconnection with reality and a complete disregard of science. When two members of the mainstream media like Rehm and Labott discuss such nonsense in tones that suggest credibility, we can only wonder: what other distortions have they tried to foist upon us.