Al Gore’s op-ed in Saturday’s New York Times laments the recent events that have led to renewed attacks on the global warming theory, even while acknowledging some “mistakes” made by proponents of climate change science:

It is true that the climate panel published a flawed overestimate of the melting rate of debris-covered glaciers in the Himalayas, and used information about the Netherlands provided to it by the government, which was later found to be partly inaccurate. In addition, e-mail messages stolen from the University of East Anglia in Britain showed that scientists besieged by an onslaught of hostile, make-work demands from climate skeptics may not have adequately followed the requirements of the British freedom of information law.

But the scientific enterprise will never be completely free of mistakes.

Mistakes? Mistakes?! It’s fraud, Al. Fraud. And it cheapens the climate change issue. Because, for all we know, global warming might be happening. But the efforts to rhetorically strong-arm the idea into acceptance at any cost, even by manipulating the data, drive folks away and prevent us from having an honest debate on the issue.