Bill Nye "The Science Guy" has gone as far as issuing a statement that those questioning the accuracy global warming claims shouldn't be referred to as "climate skeptics" but rather "climate deniers."
According to the National Journal, the popular science educator and 48 scientists, science writers and others connected with the field, issued a statement to the media under the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
The group took issue with
The New York Times calling U.S. Sen. James Inhofe a "prominent skeptic of climate change," in a Nov. 10 article about Republicans vowing to fight new Environmental Protection Agency regulations and pass the Keystone Pipeline. They charged that Inhofe is not a real skeptic because he has never provided proof for his skepticism to climate change.
"Proper skepticism promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims," the committee said in the
statement signed by Nye and the others. "It is foundational to the scientific method. Denial, on the other hand, is the a priori rejection of ideas without objective consideration.
"Inhofe's belief that global warming is 'the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people' is an extraordinary claim indeed. He has never been able to provide evidence for this vast alleged conspiracy. That alone should disqualify him from using the title 'skeptic,'" they said.
Others signing the statement include David Morrison, director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe; Harold Kroto, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry; Kenneth R. Miller, a biology professor at Brown University; Christopher C. French, of Goldsmiths University of London; and Scott O. Lilienfeld, psychology professor at Emory University.
Nye has taken a more controversial position since his children's science show, supporting the idea of man made climate change on his appearances on CNN's Crossfire in May.
In February, Nye participated in a much-talked about debate with Creationist Ken Ham about evolution,
according to The Daily Beast.