Pacific Views

Ignoring the evidence.

We were reading an ABC (Australia) report on the spread of avian flu to Indonesia and Pakistan, and were struck by these paragraphs:

Now it appears the Indonesian government itself was told as far back as November that Indonesia had an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu and that that outbreak had first been detected in early September, well before other Asian countries detected their bird flu epidemics.

That advice came from senior government veterinarians.

But Agriculture Minister Bungaran Saragih says no action was taken because other scientists disagreed with the reports.

Let's rewrite those paragraphs a bit to show what they reminded us of:

Now it appears the US government itself was told as far back as the early 1990s that the US was a major contributor to global warming and that that effects of global warning had first been detected by the late 1990s.

That advice came from senior climatologists and atmospheric scientists.

But Vice President Dick Cheney says no action was taken because other scientists disagreed with the reports.

Interesting, yes?

Of course, we realize that the comparisons between the kind of scientific work needed to prove global warming and a disease epidemic are different. But we'd still suggest that the kind of official denials we've been hearing (prompted by economic and political concerns) are identical.