We’re embarrassed that we weren’t familiar with that brilliant Upton Sinclair quote before we saw An Inconvenient Truth on Sunday. We’ll be adding it to the quotation rotation.

The PR folks who spread disinformation about global warming make us sick. So do journalists who confuse disinformation with legitimate scientific controversy in the name of “balance” — or laziness.

As New York magazine explains:

Perhaps the most amazing statistic in An Inconvenient Truth is that of 900-plus peer-reviewed studies in recognized journals, not one has challenged the idea of global warming, whereas more than 53 percent of articles in the mainstream media have presented it as a theory or been careful to include the demurrals of a tiny handful of bought-and-paid-for scientists or politicians.

The best news the movie offers is that the problem of global warming is fixable. Just as we strengthened the ozone layer by banning chlorofluorocarbons, we can dramatically decrease our carbon dioxide emissions by requiring improved fuel-efficiency standards from automakers and other simple steps. Our fuel-efficiency standards, in fact, are among the worst in the industrialized world.

Why? Because Americans currently aren’t demanding that our politicians make changes. Until we do, things will continue to get worse — and we’ll be to blame.

Update: Check out the movie’s blog.