Dyson

The cover story of Sunday's New York Times Magazine is devoted to an affectionate portrait of the scientist Freeman Dyson. The news hook is that he's an Obama-loving liberal and a climate skeptic — both at the same time! But here's the real kicker: He's a critic of NASA climate scientist James Hansen. Dyson says:

The person who is really responsible for this overestimate of global warming is Jim Hansen. He consistently exaggerates all the dangers. 

This is as good as the Thrilla in Manila!

The magazine plays up this attack on its cover. Pictured is Dyson in close-up, looking like the wise wizard — wrinkles, pointy protruding ears — and in the background, out-of-focus mathematical equations looming on the blackboard. The headline reads: The Global Warming Heretic. The subhead: How did Freeman Dyson — REVERED SCIENTIST, LIBERAL INTELLECTUAL, PROBLEM-SOLVER — wind up infuriating the environmentalists? (The capitalization is in the original.)

Actually, it is The New York Times that has infuriated the climate community even more, using Dyson as a proxy for a climate science war of its own invention.