Finally, an explanation for the mindsets of our favorite green doomsayers: Al Gore, Prince Charles, Jim Hansen, Bill McKibben, David Roberts, and Joe Romm

Delusion is a big problem with the green crowd

By Stephen Murgatroyd, Troy Media

The draft text for discussion at Rio +20 – the UN conference on sustainable development – makes clear that the summit itself is a waste of energy and time. Even the environmental non-government organizations attending it think so.

Jim Leape, international director-general of World Wildlife Fund, hoped that the document would be renegotiated: “It’s pathetic. It’s appalling. If this becomes the final text the last year has been a colossal waste of time.” Friends of the Earth are even stronger in their disapproval, calling the plans “an epic failure.”

None of this surprises anyone. A process by which representatives from 193 countries have to agree on every word, comma and full stop over several months of discussion is not likely to produce much of anything. Yet expectations are always high, especially when thousands of people are attending Rio +20 in the hope of transformative change coming from such a meeting.

Delusion takes many forms. But the core symptoms of delusion are clear for the green movement.

Here is a list

1) PERSISTENT BELIEF THAT SOME-THING SERIOUS IS HAPPENING.

This has occurred over the last five decades as we have moved through the threat of the ice age, global warming, climate change, climate disaster, man-made natural disaster (another delusion) and the threat of sea-level rise flooding coastal cities around the world.

Full story: http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Delusion+problem+with+green+crowd/6823927/story.html#ixzz1yYjOzVlX

==============================================================

Some recent examples:

(to be added – this post was published prematurely, accidentally hitting the publish button rather than the save button – readers are welcome to add examples to complete this story. Apologies – Anthony)

UPDATE: Here are recent examples provided by commenters, the one from Skiphill on David Roberts is one I had planned to use.

Skiphil says:

the author’s 1) to 6) are all much in evidence in the recent babblings of Dave Roberts of Grist.com to a TEDx event:

http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2012/6/19/dave-roberts-at-ted.html

The ravings about 6C or more increase in global temps as guaranteed by the “science” is one of the many delusional aspects of this guy’s outlook.

———

Smokey says:

Since we are invited to add examples pertaining to the mind-set of these folks, here’s an interesting one on Prince Charles:

http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=44686

 

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June 22, 2012 3:48 pm

2) UNSHAKEABLE BELIEF IN AN AMAZING SERIES OF COINCIDENCES
such as “It’s not possible to find the remaining $700M that would cancel malaria from the planet, yet it’s realistic to think in a few years hundreds of billions of dollars will exchange hands going from rich to poor countries to lower CO2 emissions and to protect the poor from AGW’s nastier side” and “Having been faithful recorders of temperature variations for hundreds of years, suddenly tree rings start showing the “divergence problem” during the past 50 years
Full story: http://omnologos.com/why-agw-is-logically-impossible/

pwl
June 22, 2012 3:50 pm

Excellent article. I love how the Vancouver Sun and The Province (another Vancouver mainstream rag) are leading the fight for sanity finally!!! It’s very refreshing to see journalists get it right on just about all the points finally. The tide has turned when the Main Stream Media finally get where the con job is.
Some of you might have seen this before but it’s such an awesome weather web site that I’m posting it yet again. Note that it provides forecasts from three or four different weather services. Nice. (Four in the USA, Three in Canada).
http://weatherspark.com/#!dashboard;a=Canada/BC/Vancouver

Skiphil
June 22, 2012 3:56 pm

I do think it’s odd to cite WWF and FoE for why the Rio+20 is a waste of time, though. The Greenie NGOs are frustrated because they want radical statements and concerted actions, whereas to “us” (presumably) it’s a waste of time and resources because they shouldn’t even be trying to do a lot of the stuff they are trying to push through with bad politicized “science”…..
So maybe this is just a quibble, but I don’t see the point in citing WWF and FoE to explain why Rio+20 is such a waste — their idea of a useful outcome would be the opposite of “our” idea of a useful outcome.

ferd berple
June 22, 2012 3:57 pm

pwl says:
June 22, 2012 at 3:50 pm
I love how the Vancouver Sun and The Province (another Vancouver mainstream rag) are leading the fight for sanity finally!!!
===========
Vancouver is celebrating Junuary – probably plays a role.

Curiousgeorge
June 22, 2012 4:02 pm

Hoorah! Maybe the light has dawned, and these weasels will return to their dens. The world has some real problems to deal with that have nothing to do with “sustainability”, etc.

scarletmacaw
June 22, 2012 4:02 pm

The conference is hardly a waste of time for those getting a vacation at taxpayer expense.

Ally E.
June 22, 2012 4:04 pm

It’s easy to hit the wrong button Anthony, who hasn’t? This is a great bit of news all the same and I look forward to reading more details. 🙂

Skiphil
June 22, 2012 4:08 pm

the author’s 1) to 6) are all much in evidence in the recent babblings of Dave Roberts of Grist.com to a TEDx event:
http://www.bishop-hill.net/blog/2012/6/19/dave-roberts-at-ted.html
The ravings about 6C or more increase in global temps as guaranteed by the “science” is one of the many delusional aspects of this guy’s outlook.

jones
June 22, 2012 4:14 pm

One has to be cautious with the term ‘delusion’…..for example, if you believe that you are a saviour or prophet and a million people agree with you then the term may well become redundant.
After all, wasn’t the earth flat once? Or at the centre of the Universe?.
Does anyone see what I’m driving at?

June 22, 2012 4:16 pm

Unfortunately, the academics, activists, politicians and bureaucrats leading the push for carbon dioxide taxation and use of renewable energy are non-producers who are woefully ignorant of both the economic reality of productive activity and the practical limits of technology. They are techno-economic-illiterates with a cargo cult understanding of production. Their prescriptions amount to a ritualistic belief that admitting sin (GW) and making an appropriate sacrifice (carbon dioxide taxes) will in some undefined (magical) way bring forth all the right changes, discoveries and implementations that are needed to effect a bright new world of clean endlessly renewable energy with minimal inconvenience to anyone… ~Walter Starck

June 22, 2012 4:17 pm

Heaven’s to Murgatroyd. That was a good article The Author is a shrink. Nails Warmists well.

June 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Since we are invited to add examples pertaining to the mind-set of these folks, here’s an interesting one on Prince Charles:
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=44686

jorgekafkazar
June 22, 2012 4:32 pm

“(to be added – this post was published prematurely, accidentally hitting the publish button rather than the save button – readers are welcome to add examples to complete this story. Apologies – Anthony)”
I’m sure glad I

eyesonu
June 22, 2012 4:33 pm

Anthony, I love your adaptation to the resolution of a misstep. This will likely be a lively thread.

jorgekafkazar
June 22, 2012 4:33 pm

never do that.

WTF
June 22, 2012 4:36 pm

Forgot David Suzuki from the list.

timg56
June 22, 2012 4:38 pm

Smokey,
The last one was classic.

Curiousgeorge
June 22, 2012 4:40 pm

A pertinent example:
Obama and progressives/socialists/democrats, etc. believe that: “Tax and spend is the right way to run a economy/country”.
Anyone else actually believe this? Anyone?

TerryS
June 22, 2012 4:42 pm

2) A belief that all ecosystems are fragile and will collapse with the slightest change
This is despite living on planet that suffers from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fire, flood, tsunamis, drought, extremes of temperature, acidity and alkalinity and much much more. Yet everywhere they look they find thriving ecosystems.
I have yet to see an ecosystem described as robust.

Athelstan.
June 22, 2012 4:54 pm

It is true, delusion and coupled with groupthink, have caused some godawful unnecessary and very man made disasters.
In this delusion, mankind has a perculiar propensity for self loathing and fear of their fellow human beings. Greens, eco-fascists and watermelons manifest this morbidity via, a near pathological mania. In an attempt, to rewrite a ‘new way’ and thus realign, or mostly call a halt to: the great technological advances, that, collectively: we have made as homo sapiens.
Indeed we have come a long way. From crude hunter gatherers, then farmers, through to the industrial revolution and hence the miracles of modern science, that have done so much to transform and extend the lives of human beings across the planet.
In their pathological antiscience ‘crusade’, the greens have been responsible for thousands, if not millions of deaths by stymying and preventing men and women, in some of the poorest nations on this planet from benefiting from the great technological strides we have made.
JD, knows it and so too, do I.

June 22, 2012 4:55 pm

Skiphil says:
June 22, 2012 at 3:56 pm
I do think it’s odd to cite WWF and FoE for why the Rio+20 is a waste of time, though. The Greenie NGOs are frustrated because they want radical statements and concerted actions, whereas to “us” (presumably) it’s a waste of time and resources because they shouldn’t even be trying to do a lot of the stuff they are trying to push through with bad politicized “science”…..
So maybe this is just a quibble, but I don’t see the point in citing WWF and FoE to explain why Rio+20 is such a waste — their idea of a useful outcome would be the opposite of “our” idea of a useful outcome.
==================================================================
Since the IPCC is now officially accepting greenish-grey information maybe they’ll scrap their whole agenda?

Athelstan.
June 22, 2012 5:06 pm

Why are we arguing about non existent figments, imagined by evil men with the lust of money in their eyes?
There are plenty of real disasters just ‘aching’ to happen.
We should be worried about – a small corner in Wyomong is one and under the ice on the mid Atlantic ridge Myrdalsjokull and a ‘mountain’ overlooking Naples bay.
Prediction of Terrestrial disasters: that’s what we should be spending money on.

Latitude
June 22, 2012 5:38 pm

Who would have ever thought you could make so much money….
…on 1/2 a degree

Marian
June 22, 2012 5:48 pm

Why is it that some of those Doomsayers. Have very privileged and self-indulgent backgrounds compared to the average Joe and Jane. And yet they want us to sacrifice our living standards to save Gaia. How about some of those guys downsize their mansions and cut back on their luxurious lifestyles first. Since they’re really the bigger consumers of energy and socalled ‘unsustainable’ resources.
It might help too if they didn’t jetset around the World too often aswell.
Mind you sipping champagne on a beach in Rio attending the Rio+20 talkfest must have been a nice sojourn for some of them. 🙂

Marlow Metcalf
June 22, 2012 5:51 pm

Next article needs to be from a neurological scientist specializing in psychological neural-chemical addiction and how dependence on the natural occurring reward neurotransmitters makes personnel change difficult.
The article might go something like this.
We have free will but not as much as we think.
If we are involved with something that makes us feel superior, powerful, gives us purpose, validates our existence, belong to a passionate support group, this causes several of the feel good reward chemicals to flood our brain. Add some adrenaline to supercharge the mix and you may as well be shooting heroin and you don’t want a cure. The mere mention of a cure would be extremely threatening and must be resisted with extreme prejudiced.

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