Palin vs. Gore Climate Showdown

FactCheck.org pointed out that “The former vice president and former vice presidential candidate both offer distortions on global warming.”

Summary

“On Dec. 9, an op-ed by Sarah Palin on climate change ran in the Washington Post. Al Gore responded to Palin’s piece and made some fresh claims of his own later that day in an interview with MSNBC. We find that both engaged in some distortions and have been rightly called out by experts in the field.

• Gore said that 40 percent of the polar ice cap is already gone. That’s an outdated figure — it has recovered in the last two years, and is now about 24 percent smaller than the 1979-2000 average.
• Gore’s claim that all Arctic ice would “go completely” over the next decade is greatly exaggerated. The scientist he is citing was actually talking about nearly ice-free conditions, and only in the summer months.
• Gore and Palin both left out information when discussing the economic impact of climate legislation. Gore dodged a question about job losses, and Palin ignored the potentially severe effects of doing nothing.
• Palin misrepresented the contents of the leaked e-mails from the Climate Research Unit, saying that they show “fraudulent scientific practices.” That’s not the case.

Read the analysis of FactCheck.org’s findings at their site