Battle of The Climate Titans
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 05.18.06
Think Progress reports that “The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will unveil two 60-second TV ads focusing on what it calls “global warming alarmism and the call by some environmental groups and politicians to reduce fossil fuel and carbon dioxide emissions.” …The ad is being released just a week before the May 24th opening (in LA and NYC) of Al Gore’s new movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth”. The CEI news release regarding the ad concludes: "The campaign to limit carbon dioxide emissions … is nothing short of an attempt to suppress energy use, which in turn would be economically devastating-all to avert an alleged catastrophe whose scientific basis is dubious."
Al Gore has been barnstorming the nation lately, promoting An Inconvenient Truth, repeating his lines from the movie to promote it. Or was that the other way around? Anyhow, with all that good Think Tank attention cropping up again, Mr Gore must be feeling like Robert Johnson did when he wrote the lyrics to the classic blues song: Hellhound On My Trail.
“I got to keep moving, I got to keep moving
Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
Mmm, blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail”
Far more important than Titans battling is real life, when it comes to appreciating the import of Climate Crisis. An Inconvenient Truth opens just a week before the hurricane season of 2006 officially begins. Within a matter of months we’ll know whose trail the hellhound is on.
So at what point does it become acceptable to charge people like this with a crime? I mean, there are now "hate crimes" which can encompass simple speech rather than actions. These people are making a concerted effort to mis-inform the public about global warming, an issue which may cause millions of deaths and billions in damage. If that's not a crime, I'm not sure what is.
=== author's response follows ====
Political speech is protected 1'st Amendment right. The corrolary question is at what point do people realize that editors who give equal time to both views, as if both were equal, are manipulating them?
I wonder who this "Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)" is a front for? Who formed it? Big Auto?
Sure smells like it...
==== author's response follows ===
Follow the link under CEI name.
Of course it is, my comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But it would be interesting to test my theory in civil court. Maybe sue them for "actions which intentionally endanger the survival of the human race"?
CEI's "major donor" is Exxon Mobil. Many other oil industries are VERY involved with CEI.
You can generally find "who pays for what" here : http://www.sourcewatch.org
If this advert had come out in the UK I'd report it to the ASA - www.asa.org.uk/ who will fine people if they produce adverts are misleading.
It's only the US where this fake debate is being kept alive - the rest of the world has seen with their own eyes what is happening and is (slooooowly) moving towards talking about getting around to doing something about it.
Still, at least the conversation is more or less the right conversation.
Is there an equiv of the ASA in the US? It might be worth giving it a try.
"is nothing short of an attempt to suppress energy use"
That is downright comic.
What gets me about this whole fiasco is--if global warming doesn't happen, we are all okay. If it does happen, we have a big problem. Republicans like Inhofe are only concerned for their BIG BUSINESS PARTNERS. Where would Inhofe get his reelection money? If we do have a problem than maybe Mr. Inhofe children and grandchildren will ask him why didn't he do anything about the problem.