Complaint to Ofcom Regarding “The Great Global Warming Swindle”

In addition, a memo dated May 14, 2007 was recently leaked, in which the US Administration strongly criticised the German Government for pressing for emissions targets at the G8 summit; and rejected the German proposals outright (see: http://tinyurl.com/23acsb and the memo itself at: http://tinyurl.com/yuo6mf, PDF).

In another leaked memo dated March 02, 2007, the US Administration sought to ban US Government scientists from discussing climate change (or polar bears!) when travelling abroad, unless they first signed “a statement of assurance that these individuals understand the Administration’s position on these issues” (see http://tinyurl.com/2xdws8 and the memo itself at http://tinyurl.com/2bdf27, PDF).

This attitude of the US Government towards emissions cuts is in stark contrast to the attitude of the Mayors of most US cities (see the press release at http://tinyurl.com/2xblop); and to the attitude of many major US corporations (see the International Herald Tribune http://tinyurl.com/ywejga).

In addition, in his State of the Union speech, the President announced a mandatory renewable/alternative fuels target of 35 billion gallons by 2017. Notably absent were any measures to improve vehicle efficiency (see http://tinyurl.com/2hcqv4); or any tax or investment measure to encourage reduced car use and better public transport. Most of the 35 billion gallons alternative fuels target is likely to take the form of biofuels, and the jury is still out as to whether these can be produced in a sustainable manner. In the short term, there is much evidence that their use may actually be harmful and counter-productive: see for instance http://tinyurl.com/2kpjqx, http://tinyurl.com/yqu4ns and http://tinyurl.com/2tjfgb.

Thus while President Bush has identified climate change as a problem, and put policies in place that reduce American dependence on oil, he has not “succumbed” and it was deeply misleading for the narrator to claim that he is now an “ally” of the climate researchers whose peer reviewed studies have shown that the US and the other industrialised countries must quickly begin to reduce their total emissions if they are to avoid dangerous levels of warming.

This statement by the narrator was therefore a serious misrepresentation of the facts, and was an apparent attempt to mislead the public about the US Government’s true position on climate change.]

(In breach of the 2003 Communications Act Section 265, Ofcom 5.4, 5.5, 5.7, 5.11, 5.12)

[Comment 122: There are no international agreements, either in place, or being considered, to restrain industrial production, either in the developing or the developed world.

Continued …