Anteros, I’ve read the paragraph multiple times, and I’m confident about what I said. However, I do understand the interpretation you advance. We could simplify the relevant sentence to:
the latter implies certain principles are in doubt
If we do, it definitely supports your interpretation. However, there’s a simple alternative. When one refers to “the controversy,” especially in the phrase, “teach the controversy,” it almost always refers to a bogus “controversy” generated by bad science (often said to be dishonest).
Given that, the sentence you quote would simply mean Fred Moolten is saying there is no single, large, fake controversy when it comes to global warming. In other words, he’s saying it’s not a situation where one side is completely wrong and basing everything upon obviously invalid work while the other side is doing science as normal. Instead, it’s a complicated situation where many different positions are held on many different issues.
I find that far more likely than the interpretation you advance. The interpretation you advance requires Fred Moolten be doing a number of ridiculous things. First, he must be intentionally comparing people who disagree with him to Creationists (capitalization is important here). Second, he must be saying there is no doubt “anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have significant climate impact” even though “significant” is a vague word. Third, he must be saying there is no question that impact “must be evaluated for its potential consequences” even though “must” requires a morale judgment.
I have a negative view of Moolten, but I don’t think he is willing to smear people via guilt by association. I don’t think he’s incoherent enough to use “significant” without understanding what it means. I don’t think he’s self-centered enough to think his morale beliefs are such that they can be stated as absolute truths.
I obviously cannot prove my interpretation is correct (and perhaps I was overly strident in my earlier comment), but as long as their is a valid, alternative interpretation, I will not assume Fred Moolten is being a complete and total nincompoop.