I had just finished reading a headline in the May 15 New York Times online, “Scientists Back Off Theory of a Colder Europe in a Warming World,” when I picked High Country News out of my mailbox and read the column about “climate-change denial” written by the director of environmental affairs for Aspen Ski Company (HCN, 5/14/07).

According to the scientists in the NYT article, the science of climate change is not settled. Yet Schendler claims that the science is so certain that only a person with a personality defect could question it. He uses an ad hominem attack on so-called skeptics of global warming by comparing them to ignorant medieval prelates and racists but did not write a word to refute any of their arguments.

Aspen Ski Company, for which Schendler works, earns its living as a company by attracting tens of thousands of customers who travel from around the world to stay in well-heated hotel rooms in the middle of a Rocky Mountain winter. This uses a lot of fossil fuels and produces a lot of CO2. These customers then pay Aspen Ski Company to carry them up mountains using electrically powered heavy machinery so they can ski down on snow that is groomed by diesel-consuming, CO2-spewing, heavy tractors. No matter how many so-called green actions the company takes, it will only ameliorate a small part of its huge carbon footprint. The ski company’s own Web site brags about having replaced 30 percent of 90 two-stroke snowmobiles since 2004. Thus this multimillion dollar corporation isn’t even environmentally committed enough to spend a few hundred thousand dollars to get rid of the remaining 63 or so machines that are still using some of the dirtiest internal combustion engines that exist.

Schendler’s column is a classic case of seeing the mote in someone’s else’s eye while ignoring the beam in his employer’s. If Schendler is right about global warming and its cause and if Aspen Ski Company is truly serious about fighting global warming, the most responsible, and least hypocritical, thing for it to do is close down.

Tim Whalen
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our articles are available for republishing, but images are only available on a case-by-case basis. You can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request illustrations and photography for specific stories. Republishing guidelines

• Credit the author and High Country News - We prefer Author Name, High Country News at the byline.  At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by High Country News.”
• Check the image requirements - Images that are clearly marked CC or from federal agencies are in the creative commons and are available for republishing. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request more information.
• Don’t change anything significant - Articles must be republished in their entirety. Revisions for house style or references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) are allowed. If larger revisions are necessary, including significant trims or an editor’s note, contact us at syndication@hcn.org to get approval for the change ahead of republishing.
• Share on social media - When sharing on social tag High Country News in your post and note the story is from @highcountrynews
  • Twitter: @highcountrynews 
  • Instagram: @highcountrynews
  • TikTok: @highcountrynews
  • Facebook: @highcountrynews
  • LinkedIn: High Country News
• Stay in touch - Let us know you republished the story. Send a link to syndication@hcn.org once you’ve republished the story and let us know how it’s resonating with your readers.

But where would Mariah Carey ski?

by Tim Whalen, High Country News
June 11, 2007

<h1>But where would Mariah Carey ski?</h1> <p class="byline">by Tim Whalen, High Country News <br />June 11, 2007</p> <p> I had just finished reading a headline in<br /> the May 15 <i>New York Times</i> online,<br /> “Scientists Back Off Theory of a Colder Europe in a Warming<br /> World,” when I picked High Country News out of my mailbox and<br /> read the column about “climate-change denial” written<br /> by the director of environmental affairs for Aspen Ski Company<br /> <i>(HCN, 5/14/07)</i>.</p> <p> According to the<br /> scientists in the NYT article, the science of climate change is not<br /> settled. Yet Schendler claims that the science is so certain that<br /> only a person with a personality defect could question it. He uses<br /> an ad hominem attack on so-called skeptics of global warming by<br /> comparing them to ignorant medieval prelates and racists but did<br /> not write a word to refute any of their arguments. </p> <p> Aspen<br /> Ski Company, for which Schendler works, earns its living as a<br /> company by attracting tens of thousands of customers who travel<br /> from around the world to stay in well-heated hotel rooms in the<br /> middle of a Rocky Mountain winter. This uses a lot of fossil fuels<br /> and produces a lot of CO2. These customers then pay Aspen Ski<br /> Company to carry them up mountains using electrically powered heavy<br /> machinery so they can ski down on snow that is groomed by<br /> diesel-consuming, CO2-spewing, heavy tractors. No matter how many<br /> so-called green actions the company takes, it will only ameliorate<br /> a small part of its huge carbon footprint. The ski company’s<br /> own Web site brags about having replaced 30 percent of 90<br /> two-stroke snowmobiles since 2004. Thus this multimillion dollar<br /> corporation isn’t even environmentally committed enough to<br /> spend a few hundred thousand dollars to get rid of the remaining 63<br /> or so machines that are still using some of the dirtiest internal<br /> combustion engines that exist.</p> <p> Schendler’s column is<br /> a classic case of seeing the mote in someone’s else’s<br /> eye while ignoring the beam in his employer’s. If Schendler<br /> is right about global warming and its cause and if Aspen Ski<br /> Company is truly serious about fighting global warming, the most<br /> responsible, and least hypocritical, thing for it to do is close<br /> down. </p> <p><i>Tim Whalen<br /> Colorado Springs,<br /> Colorado<br /></i></p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=189126">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">But where would Mariah Carey ski?</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-348/but-where-would-mariah-carey-ski/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=112963&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/issue-348/but-where-would-mariah-carey-ski/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

1