The Apocalypse Is Not Upon Us (The climate change movement gets nowhere..)

Slate ^ | December 14, 2009 | Anne Applebaum

[Mrs. Don-o]

There is no nihilism like the .... anti-human prejudices of the climate change movement, some of which do indeed filter down to children as young as 9.

There have been many radical statements of this latter creed. In the infamous words of a National Park Service ecologist, "We have become a plague upon ourselves and upon the Earth. … Until such time as Homo sapiens should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along." One of the founders of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also allegedly declared that "Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth." But it is a mistake to think that this is only the language of a crazy fringe.

Look, for example, at the Optimum Population Trust, a mainstream organization whose patrons include the naturalist Sir David Attenborough, the scientist Dr. Jane Goodall, and professors at Cambridge and Stanford and which campaigns against, well, human beings. Calling for "fewer emitters, lower emissions," the organization offers its members the chance to offset the pollution that they generate, merely by existing, through the purchase of family planning devices in poor countries. Click on their PopOffsets Calculator to see what I mean: They reckon every $7 spent on family planning generates one ton fewer carbon emissions. Since the average American generates 20.60 tons of carbon annually, it will cost you $144.20—$576.80 for a family of four—to buy enough condoms to prevent the births of, say, 0.4 Kenyans.

The assumption behind this calculation is profoundly negative:

[snip]

[Mrs. Don-o]

If – if ---carbon dioxide is a deadly pollutant, the production of CO2 is evil. And since all our biological processes, and even our burning of fossil fuels--- releasing the CO2 absorbed millennia ago by the now-fossilized plants--- are part of the long-term carbon cycle, we conclude that of all carbon-based life forms, human beings are most evil.

If so, the Optimum Population Trust guys are correct: all our industrial, agricultural, and even our respiratory processes are bad. As Jean Calvin thought: the total depravity of the human race.

We ought to kill ourselves.

Or at least, stop reproducing: we should contracept, abort, and bugger away what remains of our lives, until we die.

I mentioned Calvinism. The better analogue would be Albigensianism: the doctrine that the material (carbon-based) is evil; meat is evil; marriage is evil, baby-making is evil.

Just 800 years ago, Innocent III declared that the Albigensians were a greater threat to Europe than were the Saracens: a threat to the Church, the state, the family, human society, the very survival of the human race.

Choosing sides? I think I’ll go with the Pope. Material, meat, marriage. Whew. There. I’m breathing again.

[numberonepal]

What about Wormwood?

[LZ_Bayonet]

IMHO - April 1, 2010 should be termed: "Climate Fools Day".
On that day all talk shows [ Rush - Hannity - Levin - local shows etc.] should focus on the bad science, tactics, blacklisting and outright lies that have been put forth regarding the earth's future.

[Tax-chick]

Breathe lots! Trees need the carbon dioxide.

[Mrs. Don-o]

You talking about Screwtape’s busy little nephew?

[paulycy]

[JPG]

The do-gooders, the warming fanatics are conspiring to cut the human part of CO2 (about 3%). If I were them I'd be concerned. Poison oak, ivy and sumac are only the beginning. Hemlock and deathcaps are already in talks with other plants and fungi. Their conclusion is that humans are trying to choke off their CO2 and they must be stopped, no matter what it takes.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Respiratory Justice. I am absolutely with the program.

[paulycy]

IMHO - April 1, 2010 should be termed: "Climate Fools Day".

What a great idea!

[Mrs. Don-o]

I’m gonna throw another log on the fire :o)

[BipolarBob]

I mentioned Calvinism.

Yes, I am sure Calvin and Hobbes would have a more reasonable outlook than the sky-is-falling group.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Love that!

[La Lydia]

The writer is one of the smug, horse-faced, reliably Left-wing Wash Post columnists who thinks Algore is the smartest guy on the planet in her heart of heart. Her caveat, in which she proves that she is blind to any possible irony:

I should stop here and point out that I enthusiastically support renewable energy, believe strongly in the imposition of a carbon tax, and am furthermore convinced that a worldwide shift away from fossil fuels would have hugely positive geopolitical consequences, even aside from the environmental benefits. It's true that I'm not crazy about the Kyoto climate-negotiation process, of which the Copenhagen meeting is the latest stage. But I'm even more disturbed by the apocalyptic as well as the anti-human prejudices of the climate change movement, some of which do indeed filter down to children as young as 9.

[paulycy]

:0)

[karnage]

Venus flytraps are frantically attempting to cross-pollinate with sequoias - although their spokesmen claim it is for peaceful purposes...

[Sunshine Sister]

Me too! It’s 11:45 and it’s 24 degrees outside. That good old fireplace is my auxiliary heat!

[Mrs. Don-o]

Yeah, that's where she's coming from. But she's not a snapshot: she's a moving picture. And the fact that she's leaning our way ever so slightly means that she's leaning against a strong prevailing wind. I love it that she's in motion away from the gaia-misanthropes. Let's watch and see how far she goes.

[numberonepal]

You talking about Screwtape’s busy little nephew?

Nope. Wormwood is another name for Planet-X. I'm talking about the Revelations made to St. John.

[steelyourfaith]

Google website asks: Is google censoring ClimateGate?

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !