Germany's Greens get ugly with climate skeptics

When I first saw this I thought to myself “maybe posting this isn’t appropriate on Veterans Day”. Then, after additional reflection, I realized this is exactly what our American veterans and the allies fought for: freedom of speech and freedom from tyranny. The seeds of tyranny appear to be taking hold again in the German government at least when it comes to climate change issues. – Anthony

~~~~~~

From Pierre Gosselins “No Tricks Zone”, apparently they really don’t like Fred Singer in Germany.

Branding of Dissenters Has Begun – Clearing The Path To A Climate Science Pogrom

What is it with these intolerant zealots who refuse to learn anything from history?

Right smack on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, German Parliamentarians, in a frontal assault, are now openly calling out and branding scientists for the crime of scientific dissent. These out-of-control Parliamentarians are demanding that the German government take a position against dissenting views in climate science.

What follows makes McCarthyism look like a treasure hunt. What a number of zealous German Parliamentarians are calling for borders on a call to launch a science pogrom.

The climate dogmatists are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the growing scepticism and dissent now spreading in Germany and Europe, and want to stamp it out – and now.

Journalist Dirk Maxeiner here brings our attention to this latest development on the exploding intolerance that has gripped certain factions in Germany. The branding of climate science dissenters has begun. Fred Singer and EIKE (European Institute For Climate and Energy) are the first to feel the sting of the denier-branding-iron. Read background here.

Some may think that I’m being over-dramatic here. I am not. The situation that the few, yet very vocal, sceptics face here is precarious. Just read the following query written by a faction of Parliamentarians to the German Government, translated from the German text at Dirk Maxeiner’s site (emphasis added, and note the use of the term “denier” throughout the text)):

Read the full post here: Branding of Dissenters Has Begun – Clearing The Path To A Climate Science Pogrom

Luboš Motl has an opinion also, here

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Scooper
November 11, 2010 9:34 am

Welcome to the European Union. Those of us who monitor the machinations of the EU will be familiar with this sort of intimidation and oppression. Only yesterday, the EU’s Silent Assassin, otherwise known as Council President Herman Van Rompuy made the following comments in a speech in Berlin:
“We have together to fight the danger of a new Euro-scepticism.
This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries.
In every Member State, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world.
It is more than an illusion: it is a lie!
The time of the homogeneous nation-state is over.”
These people are hell bent on creating a federal, undemocratic Europe and will stoop to anything to make it happen. Calling people Liars or Deniers is now standard practice in the EU so this story comes as no surprise whatsoever. The EU throw vast amounts of money at Climate Change projects around the world and would surely back these extremists in branding free thinkers as dangerous.
Anthony, there could be no better day to post this in order to put things in perspective. Millions of brave people have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom only for power crazed, self interested politicians to try to take it away from us. They need to be held to account for their disgraceful actions.

DaveF
November 11, 2010 9:35 am

I clicked the “Branding of Dissenters has Begun” link, then, at the bottom of that piece clicked the “Read here” link that leads on to more of the story and includes Ms Dotts Parliamentary email address, so I sent a message of support. If others follow that and send their own messages, (espcially German-speakers, unlike me), I’m sure the lady would appreciate it.

Dave
November 11, 2010 9:37 am

Is this really what the AGW farce has come to? Are the warmists getting so desperate that they have to behave like militant students?
Come the day when common sense and real science wins the AGW war, I hope there’s an equivalent of the Nuremberg Trials to hold the senior warmists to account. I’ll leave the historical parallel of Gore and Pachauri to the readers’ opinion.

Jim
November 11, 2010 9:39 am

Germany is famous for not accepting dissent.

pablo an ex pat
November 11, 2010 9:42 am

Shades of Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer ?
If they actually get into looking into the “science” of AGW rather than the eating up the sound bites they’ll be in trouble.
There are none more intollerant than the Greens, and the German Greens appear to exhibit a higher level of intollerance than most.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/8115751/Nuclear-train-protest-violence.html

Allencic
November 11, 2010 9:42 am

What? The germans are doing stupid and dangerous things again. Where’s General Patton and the Third Army when we need them?

netdr2
November 11, 2010 9:51 am

I apologize to Professor S. Fred Singer
I was wrong.

Athlete
November 11, 2010 9:51 am

“Shtalker, this is KAOS. We don’t allow deniers here!”

John from CA
November 11, 2010 9:56 am

Maybe they’re afraid of the “Do-Over” ; )
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/09/23/23climatewire-rep-issa-would-lead-climategate-probe-if-hou-44766.html
“Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said a probe of the “Climategate” scandal will top his environmental agenda…”
“I do have a backburner investigation that I’m going to want to have completed, and that is, we paid a lot of money to have international evaluation, most of it done in Britain, that turns out to have been less than truthful in some of the figures,” he said. “We’re going to want to not investigate to get our money back, but we’re going to want to have a do-over of good numbers so that everyone can have confidence.”

kwik
November 11, 2010 10:03 am

Hmmmm….okay, so germany needs
– A Secret Police for keeping track of Deniers….let me see …hmm…
Geheime Clima Polizei ? ( GeCliPo )
Geheime Grun Polizei ? ( GeGruPo )
-A way to reckognise the Denier….hmmmm….. A Tatoo on the arm which tell you
what number you have on the Black List? Like… D 111222 (Denier number 111222)
And maybe a yellow patch on the chest with a black Coal piece on it ? Easy to spot.
-There might be neccessary to have some Camps for re-programming of the Deniers.
Some doctors will be needed for injections of certain drugs. Maybe the deniers can
work while in camp? Uranium mines?
-May I suggest a new Jugend organisation ? Die Grune Jugend. You can easily recruit guards for the camps when they are indoctrinaded as young ones.

JB
November 11, 2010 10:04 am

Yet everyone here is ok with the persecution attempts of Mann et al?

DesertYote
November 11, 2010 10:06 am

WOW, just WOW. Reading this right after saying what I did in a post on the Armistice Day thread is chilling.
The evil of WWI is not dead, its just in hiding … or was 🙁

November 11, 2010 10:07 am

netdr2 says:
November 11, 2010 at 9:19 am
Poptech says:
November 11, 2010 at 9:09 am
Dr. Singer’s scientific credentials are impeccable
*************
So what ? Does that make him right ?
He is an ideologue
========================================================
That’s a beautiful assertion, and what is it that makes you call him an ideologue?

pat
November 11, 2010 10:11 am

The Green Party is very strong in Germany (as well as other EU countries, Brazil, Colombia, Australia and New Zealand). They are hard core collectivists, anti-industrial, anti-capitalism, pro-environmental fascism. This is very typical of them. With the Greens, you not only do not get a toy with the Happy Meal, you do not get the Happy or the Meal.

Jeremy
November 11, 2010 10:18 am

JB says:
November 11, 2010 at 10:04 am
Yet everyone here is ok with the persecution attempts of Mann et al?
You use the term persecution when what is really happening is that his own assertions and methods are having light shone on them. If it is persecuting someone to hold them to their word, then god help us all.

November 11, 2010 10:18 am

It is sickening that German politicians use their parliamentary powers to brandmark publicly those whose opinion is not in lockstep with theirs.
I applaud Anthony and P.Gosselin and Lubos Motl to blog about this on this day where we remember those who died for freedom – fighting those Germans twice in the last century.
Will they never learn?

Peter Miller
November 11, 2010 10:21 am

Undoubtedly, there are many in Germany who favour the concept of a Fourth Reich.
History has shown that stifling dissent appears to be ingrained into their culture.

ZT
November 11, 2010 10:22 am

No doubt Angela Merkel is a politician. I am just noting that her scientific background and training make it unlikely that she’ll be fooled into reading too much into sloppy-PCA derived ‘Hockey Sticks’.
I hope that an enterprising journalist, or opposition politician, will take the time to ask her if she has personally reviewed the statistical ‘analysis’ underlying the Hockey Stick. This would be illuminating for the German electorate.

November 11, 2010 10:22 am

uhhhh, not nice stuff. And I seem to remember Fred Singer is of Jewish parentage too.
netdr2 says: November 11, 2010 at 9:19 am

…[Singer] is an ideologue
There are five attributes of ideologues:
1. Absence of doubt
2. Intolerance of debate
3. Appeal to authority
4. A desire to convince others of the ideological “truth”
5. A willingness to punish those that don’t concur
Note that each of these characteristics is anathema to science.
Expecting good science from ideologues is a futile.

Whose info are you trusting without checking as per Scientific Method, netdr2? Clearly you haven’t read Singer’s damn good book of science that has nothing to do with a single one of your points.

Robinson
November 11, 2010 10:22 am

Obviously as they’re losing the debate, the more extreme elements will come out with more and more outlandish and ridiculous statements. I find it all rather entertaining.

TomRude
November 11, 2010 10:25 am

Green parties are simply eco totalitarism in disguise when they are 8%, without disguise when they rise to 20%…
Check desmogblog and replace “denier” by any other racial name, this is no different than in the 1930s.

Shevva
November 11, 2010 10:26 am

I think a letter sent to the Germany goverment in the same lines as Matt Ridley’s reply to David MacKay signed by as many of the people affected would be best.
Nothing helps more when people are screaming and yelling than resonably explaining why you think they are incorrect in a level voice.
This is one where you just have to wait for the German goverments response.

Tom_R
November 11, 2010 10:30 am

>> JB says:
November 11, 2010 at 10:04 am
Yet everyone here is ok with the persecution attempts of Mann et al? <<
How exactly is Mann being 'persecuted'? By asking him to release his data and code? By asking for E-mails relevant to taxpayer-funded activities? No one here is asking for him to be locked up for his beliefs.

Doug Jones
November 11, 2010 10:33 am

JB, exactly what persecution are you referring to? Investigation of scientific error is not necessarily persecution (although I’m sure Mann feels it is). McIntyre and McKittrick have been polite and courteous, while being thorough and unrelenting in exposing the inaccuracies of Mann’s work.
Investigation of Michael Mann has been directly specifically at particular pieces of his work; the German government is attempting to suppress debate and research in a broad area by a substantial number of people. Do not conflate the two in your attempted tu quoque.