Thanks pale, I feel a similar way about you. Only instead of naive, I'd say you're closer to just plain stubborn.
I can see you're on the back foot, as you took that quote completely out of context.
First off, Conant was given the data by James Inhofe (R-Exxon), intending to show conclusive proof of a funding advantage held by proponents. However the rest of the quote says,
"Problem is, one of those numbers is unsubstantiated, and both are obviously manipulated for maximum effect.
First, Morano's $19 million statistic for for "skeptics" is not an analysis of all expenditures by "those skeptical of the man-made global warming theory." He cites just a single statistic in support of the claim: that $19 million is the amount ExxonMobil has given to conservative organizations over the past two decades.
That means Morano is obvioiusly lowballing the money spent by "skeptics." For instance, a single conservative "skeptic" organization, the Heartland Institute, recently declared that it has "run more than $500,000 of ads in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Times promoting a debate" over global warming featuring skeptics against Gore. That number -- spent by a single group on newspaper ads alone -- is more than 5 percent of Morano's claimed total for all "skeptic" funding. Imagine what the gamut of conservative groups are spending.
Morano's source for the $50 billion number, meanwhile, is Australian "skeptic" Robert Carter. The article that Morano cites in which Carter asserts that $50 billion has been spent "on research into global warming since 1990" offers no documentation to support the claim."
In other words, no documentation, outside of this guy from Australia, to support the 50 billion figure.. A March 2007 article in the Sydney Morning Herald noted that "Professor Carter, whose background is in marine geology, appears to have little, if any, standing in the Australian climate science community."
I'm sure you also noticed the claim that 19 million is low for the amount Exxon and friends have given the skeptic crowd.
Numbers can be manipulated, looks like the right wing has done just that.
