Guest post by David Middleton
ENERGY NEWSGeologist Accuses Apple of Political Bias in Removing App Countering Climate Alarmism
Kevin Mooney / @KevinMooneyDC / March 11, 2019Political figures who support the so-called Green New Deal and other proposals to restrict carbon dioxide emissions are up against some “inconvenient facts” that Americans may access immediately through a smartphone application, a geologist and author says.
But there’s one big problem.
The app, called Inconvenient Facts, is available only to Android users through the Google Play Store. Since March 4, users of Apple’s iPhone no longer can access the app through the tech giant’s App Store.
Why is that?
Gregory Wrightstone, a geologist with more than three decades of experience, told The Daily Signal in an interview that he has his own opinion about what may have transpired inside Apple.
Wrightstone is the author of the book “Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to Know,” which served as the basis for the information available from the app.
He notes that former Vice President Al Gore, a leading proponent of the view that mankind’s activities propel dangerous climate change, is a board member of Apple.
“It’s very rare for an app to be approved and then taken down unless there is offensive material or some other extreme issue,” Wrightstone said of Apple’s action in a phone interview with The Daily Signal, adding:“We thought at first it may have been our fault. But I did a search on climate change and global warming in the Apple App Store and pulled up a whole bevy of pro-man-made global warming apps that are really bad. They are not formatted, they have incorrect spellings and no links.
But I suppose they have the political narrative right. Compared to these, our app is the gold standard. I made sure we had charts and links and references to the source for our data. This is all right in the palm of your hand.”A total of 60 facts in Wrightstone’s book are available through the Inconvenient Facts app to Android users. Complete with data, charts, and videos, they challenge the premise of alarmist theories about climate change that link man-made emissions to dangerous levels of global warming.
Gore’s ongoing campaign to convince the public that rising levels of carbon dioxide emissions could trigger catastrophic global warming was the subject of the 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and the 2017 follow-up, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.”
Before reversing itself March 4, Apple initially approved the Inconvenient Facts app for sale Feb. 3. Since that time, the app has been downloaded 13,000 times, according to figures Wrightstone provided.
[…]
The study of geology provides important insights into the study of climate change because it considers short-term trends within the larger context of Earth’s history, Wrightstone told The Daily Signal.
“Geologists are probably the most skeptical of all the sciences concerning a man-made link to temperature changes,” the geologist said, adding of carbon dioxide:“Just to be clear, I don’t, and my colleagues don’t, dispute that CO2 is increasing, and I agree that it has to have some slight warming effect on the atmosphere. But I argue that it’s modest and overwhelmed by the same natural forces that have been driving temperatures since the dawn of time…
Looking out across Earth’s history, CO2 levels are extremely low. I always argue we are actually CO2 impoverished.”
[…]
Gregory Wrightstone is a past president of the AAPG Eastern Section, who has recently been quite busy on a speaking engagement tour. His is currently affiliated with the Heartland Institute and has apparently become a pain in the @$$ to the Climatariat. A few months ago, the AAPG Explorer featured an interview with Greg about his best selling book, Inconvenient Facts: The science that Al Gore doesn’t want you to know. The interview drew a mixed bag of comments from supportive to outright hostile. My informal conclusion was that the vast majority of the hostile comments came from 1) European AAPG members, 2) academic AAPG members and 3) millennial and younger AAPG members. The AAPG is supposedly in the process of reviewing the society’s position statement on climate change.
Did Apple censor Greg’s app for political reasons? I can’t imagine any other reason.
Was Al Gore a part of this? I tend to think this sort of thing is below his pay grade. It was probably some snot-nosed low-level millennial techie.
I tried post the news about Patrick Moore stating that global warming is hoax and Facebook censored the post. I too am a geologist and actively use Facebook to educate my friends with the truth about global warming. My posts are well received by most of my friends.
Interesting this comes the day after President Trump mocks Global Warming in the wake of big Midwest cold snap.
Apple or Google. Which is worse? That is a tough decision to make. Apple censors. Google censors. Oh, I can choose Microsoft. Great! The company that replaced the logical easy-to-use Windows 7 with the unreliable, illogical and absolutely horrible Windows 10, and added extra tracking for good measure. Bing couldn’t find water standing neck deep in the ocean. What to do, what to do.
I, however, avoid Apple products. Mostly because the people who are really into Apple act like they can do no wrong. Their motto seems to be: If Apple does it, it is genius; if Apple doesn’t do it, it is stupid. Taking away a standard headphone jack and replacing it with an expensive alternative was genius and brave according to the Apple cultists. Putting a notch into a phone was genius. (P.S. the notch is one of the worst design designs in the history of humankind. That is not a hyperbole.) Name one other company who can have serious design flaws and yet people will keep going back to them? (I’m going to try to embed a video that explains just that.)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaJ8pDlxi8&w=560&h=315%5D
I truly and honestly believe that Apple could make a robot that only punched you in the head every day and the Apple faithful would buy it and swear it is the best robot ever.
I use an Google Android because I can install Blokada (https://blokada.org/ on your phone) to stop Google tracking; can’t do that on iPhone. I installed the Firefox browser on my Android; on the iPhone, all browsers are the insanely inferior Safari browser with a coat of paint. I can get a phone with a headphone jack with Android. I can get a phone with a SD card slot on Android. I have a fixed back button on an Android. I don’t use Chrome, I use FireFox with the NoScript add-on. (I don’t use NoScript on my phone and tablet FireFox.)
Apple is worse.
Cradle to Grave mindset. Apple is Mother. Apple is Father.
Google at least (for the most part) allows 3rd party hardware. For now…
Personally, if I am going to be a mindless slave to anyone it is going to be Samsung and Vault Tech… and even then I didn’t touch Fallout 76.
“I truly and honestly believe that Apple could make a robot that only punched you in the head every day and the Apple faithful would buy it and swear it is the best robot ever.” AWESOME! Reminds me of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0NgUhEs1R4
Mods, My long post with links got lost in the ether. Sigh. WordPress censorship at work.
I spoke with Apple customer service and asked why Apple removed the app. The CS agent claimed that the app was removed by app provider, not Apple. I told them that was not the case, but CS stuck with their story.
The app agent probably couldn’t find her own app-hole with both hands and a flashlight.
Every effect of CO2 on the environment is beneficial… and it’s effect on Global climate is barely detectable, if at all.
I used to be such an apple fan. My Mac SE was my boyfriend! But now I can hardly remember what day it is and apple is just as complicated as windows. I want my black landline phone back and NO computers or calculators anywhere in my home.
Tim (Timmy) Apple !
Ah Ha. Ha ha! 😀
While I do not expect a reply from Apple, I just sent the following to Apple’s feedback address. If enough WUWT devotées send similar messages it will bubble up. While we are not a large enough community for our complaints to become a DDNS, it is worth the few minutes that it will take to dip your poison pen and draft something.
“I write to complain that Apple has taken down the “Inconvenient Facts” app. The author, Gregory Wrightstone, is an experienced geologist. The claim that the climate change science is settled is based on one paper that has been thoroughly falsified. There are numerous apps available that push the catastrophic man-made global warming story. Science is based on open debate. Suppressing one side of this debate is censorship and is inappropriate for a company of Apple’ standing.”
“Did Apple censor Greg’s app for political reasons? I can’t imagine any other reason.”
brand management.
Like it or not Apple decides what products they have in the store.
As brand manager I wouldnt want to have flat earth crankery in the app store.
Apple is a global brand and climate science contraians are a local market, local shrinking
market, with a very narrow demographic.
As a brand manager I would look at the old mostly white guys in the USA, AUS, and UK, who object
to climate science and I would note this.
1. They probably dont buy my product.
2. if they DO by my product, they wont switch if I boot this app.
3. The app has more potential harm than good. 13K downloads FFS.
4. Dont worry about offending a shrinking toothless demographic.
Awww, you want some cheese to go with your whine? Notice people can still get the app through the Apple Store app, so you fail yet again. Trying to silence people who see your religious ranting as false is all you got and it ain’t working. Humans are not causing climate to change and can not stop climate from changing. Reality continues to crash down upon you and it is hi-larious to watch you squirm.
Standard Steve. If it contradicts his religion, it’s the “flat earth crankery”.
Steve, thank you for admitting that the post was taken down for purely political reasons.
Additionally, thank you for admitting that you approve censoring opinions you disagree with. How totalitarian of you.
I am using an Apple iPhone 7 only because it was free. I would not buy one because, as someone else said, you can’t turn it, or even some features, off. When I set a feature, say battery saver on, it re-sets it to off when on charge and when batter charge is 80%+. Apple, when I set something off, it means *I* want it *OFF*.
My wife, who is an avid Apple “fanboi” has the iPhone 7S (I got the 7 because of it) and a MacBook Pro (Which is nice I admit). I have just given her a laptop, with touch screen, running Windows 10. She says it’s the best computer she has used. It’s nice, compact 13″, light, bright, the screen is better than the Apple and the battery lasts seems like days. The other advantage, she can use her University O365 account and apps where previously she had to use the Apple equivalent.
Apple Inc will be in dire straits when it starts to censor knowledgeable people.
Look at market commentary re Apple. Already happening
Full Disclosure: I do not now own any kind of cell phone, or do any of the the popular UTwitFace things; I have a landline, and I am an AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) Certified Petroleum Geophysicist (#009). I am licensed by the State of Wyoming to practice geology before the public.
I use Mozilla exclusively, since Google willingly and regularly sends information to the US Government, without being asked to.
I am a mann-made climate change den1er. I use (and love) fossil fuels, on just about a constant basis.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to lose your cell (or smart) phone (smart phones make stupid people), dump all that (anti-)social media crap, and actually LIVE in the real world, not some artificial construct which is designed to addict you to its presence.
Anthony has put Bill Illis’ chart of 750 m.a. on his “Reference” pages, and if you can find a relationship between temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration, I’d like to see it. If you cannot, then admit that there is NO relationship between temperature and CO2 concentration, unless it is that temperature drives CO2, as shown by Vostok and EPICA (European Project for Ice-Coring in Antarctica).
Do have a good (smart-phone-less) day,
Land-line-locked Vlad
I appreciate your position, until 1999 I actively resisted the “computer age”. My initial experience with computers was in US Army in early ’80s, and they sucked. Let me put that in caps, SUCKED.
Once PCs achieved the level that they were practically usable by non-electronics engineers I jumped in. Don’t do the social media thang, not a twatter or smackedchatterer or insanigramer. Use FB for a very limited range of things and keep the amount of personal info to the absolute minimum. Mozilla Firefox is what I run and just got into the “real” cellphone racket by getting Motorola phone and non-contract usage plan. Actually use computer and phone in a lot of my work(remodeling/landscaping/deck&patio), I still hand draw plans and layouts. Type and print job contracts, looks much better. If I need multiple copies I just print, don’t scan in to computer unless I have to send to a customer who is not close to hand at the moment. And the 2 farms I do work for are slowly integrating computers into their operations, younger generation and whatnot, though they still don’t have any equipment that operates on GPS or any type automation(this is rural western Pennsyltucky, after all). Slowly but surely “progress” stumbles forward.
Thanks WUWT for making me aware of this app! Immediately installed!
The Streisand Effect lives! 😀
I did the same.