Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very educational read. It was also maddening to see what a few bad apples with power & high government/political connections can do in misleading & obfuscating facts/science for the greater public. The authors lay out fact after fact regarding the nefarious ways these "merchants of doubt" have **intentionally** set back efforts to curb the damages from the tobacco industry, from DDT/pesticides, from CFL emissions which have caused holes in the ozone layer, and these & other toxic emissions which have caused global warming. The state of California has been a great example in recent years of how these toxic emissions can be noticeably reduced--without damaging jobs and/or the economy. These naysaying merchants of doubt need to be corrected & shut down. They need to be exposed for what they are & what they try to do--they are frauds, bought-and-paid for mercenaries of wanton & selfish capitalism run rampant.

Don't let the merchants of doubt continue to cause obfuscation & confusion & undocumented fact-muddling for the purposes of causing inaction. They want us to continue "feasting" without paying the bill; by ignoring the bill & impact. We have been given a stewardship by God to take care of this world & its environment--which is a beautiful, but ultimately fragile, world--and should take that responsibility seriously. Shame, shame, shame on the main characters & industries that were highlighted in this book--and to those politicians, local & federal, who have bent their ears to their nonsense (money, money, money).

Borrowed from the library; read on my iPad. A book every American should read.


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