Michael Crichton in the White House

Bush’s Chat With Novelist Alarms Environmentalists – New York Times
In his new book about Mr. Bush, “Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush,” Fred Barnes recalls a visit to the White House last year by Michael Crichton, whose 2004 best-selling novel, “State of Fear,” suggests that global warming is an unproven theory and an overstated threat.

Mr. Barnes, who describes Mr. Bush as “a dissenter on the theory of global warming,” writes that the president “avidly read” the novel and met the author after Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, arranged it. He says Mr. Bush and his guest “talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement.”

“The visit was not made public for fear of outraging environmentalists all the more,” he adds.

And so it has, fueling a common perception among environmental groups that Mr. Crichton’s dismissal of global warming, coupled with his popularity as a novelist and screenwriter, has undermined efforts to pass legislation intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that leading scientists say causes climate change.

I enjoyed STATE OF FEAR. Crichton’s major point is an important one: climate changes.

Related posts:

1. Arctic at 74F 55 million years ago = more worry about global warming
2. Greenhouse gas control moves ahead under U.S. leadership
3. Travels by Michael Crichton
4. Michael Crichton calls next book “extremely uncontroversial”
5. Michael Crichton is Oil Business Journalist of the Year