Guest commentary by Indur Goklany
Sometimes the true agenda is laid bare.
From http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2011/08/19/1, a piece on Bill McKibben, in which E&E News’ Paul Fialka discusses his agenda, are these passages.
[My comments are in brackets. I have highlighted some passages.]
Many of the climate theories in [McKibben’s] book [“The End of Nature.”]– and the future career path of McKibben — were shaped by James Hansen, who was then and is now the head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Starting in 1988, Hansen had begun to testify before Congress that greenhouse gas emissions had begun to change familiar weather patterns on the planet and, without action to limit them, the changes would become more obvious and dangerous in the 21st century.
As Hansen explained and as McKibben later found out, the people who were most vulnerable to the flooding, famine and drought and the spread of tropical diseases lived in developing countries. McKibben was interviewing people in the slums of Bangladesh in 2006 when he was hospitalized with dengue fever, which is still untreatable. As he watched others dying, he recalled in a later book: “Something in me snapped. Nothing concrete had come from my work, or anyone else’s.”…
Putting the U.S. economy into ‘graceful decline’
While some companies have been critical of the chamber’s lobbying, McKibben will have great difficulty convincing them about another premise of his, which is that to cope with the more expensive food, weather, health and energy challenges of a climate-changed world, the growth of America’s economy can’t continue.
350.org supporters line up in Baku, Azerbaijan. They were among those in 188 countries who demonstrated for climate change solutions on Oct. 10, 2010. Photo courtesy of Flickr. He talks about federal policies that put the economy in a “graceful decline,” one that stimulates small-scale, organic farming and has more of a focus on activities in neighborhoods, towns and states than on national and international affairs. “We need to scale back, to go to ground,” he says in “Eaarth.”
[COMMENT: (1) Apparently, it has never occurred to McKibben that the perhaps the major reason why people in developing countries were most vulnerable to flooding, famine and drought and the spread of tropical diseases and why Bangladeshis died from dengue is that they lacked economic development and had stuck to “organic farming” for much longer than farmers in the developed countries. (2) There is nothing “graceful” about lower economic development. Ask not only people in developing countries but also those trapped without jobs in developed countries.]
What McKibben says he wants from Washington ispoverty a “stiff price on carbon” emissions. He calls cap and trade, the Democrats’ most recent legislative attempt to impose a price on carbon emissions through an economywide emissions trading scheme, “an incredibly complicated legislative scheme that gives door prizes to every interested industry and turns the whole operation over to Goldman Sachs to run.”
…Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund…one of the leaders of a coalition of major environmental groups and corporations that pushed cap and trade through the House [when asked] about McKibben’s advocacy of civil disobedience, … said “that’s a matter of personal conscience and personal choice. It’s not among the tactics that EDF uses.”
Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a small, Washington-based environmental group, is among those lining up alongside McKibben…
Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton administration White House aide, has known McKibben for 15 years [and] now works with Washington’s Bipartisan Policy Center, said he isn’t surprised by McKibben’s move toward civil disobedience. “Because climate impacts will hurt and potentially devastate the poor disproportionately, the moral and social justice elements of climate are much greater than many other environmental problems,” Bledsoe said.
[COMMENT: So how would a decline in economic development – “graceful” or otherwise – reduce climate impacts?]
In the interview here, McKibben explained that his group, 350.org, gets about $1 million a year in donations, most of it coming from foundations. Most of its activists are volunteers, led by 20 to 30 staffers “who are paid very little.” Financially, it is outgunned by the U.S. Chamber and fossil fuel companies, which is why he has organized it as a “movement” to raise public awareness. “Our currency is bodies and spirit,” he said. “This [climate change] is the biggest thing that’s ever happened.”
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McKibben is obviously one of those people that believe wealth is a zero sum game. In other words, that there is only so much wealth in the world and that if one country uses too much, like the US, that there is less available for everybody else. This is, of course, utter nonsense. But it is appealing to people that either don’t know better or are looking to blame their failures on someone else. Only wealth creation and economic growth can solve the problem of poverty. And that requires free markets, private property rights, and hard work.
On second thought, I wish all the “benefits” of the gentle decline he wishes for to Mr McKibben first and in Spades.
This is exactly what I have been saying-that the biggest fear of the greens is
healthy, happy dark skinned people. I will add: and middle class First worlders…
Green Shirt Brown Underwear…
The AGW movement is a “perfect storm” that combines the economic mismanagement and political tyranny of Soviet style Marxism, with the hatred of humanity associated with the Malthusians.
These people are pure enemies of human freedom.
He drank the kool-aide a long time ago:
“The computer models, however, project an increase in global average temperature as high as a degree Fahrenheit per decade.” …. “sometime around 2020”….”The trees outside my house will still be there; it’s just that they’ll be dead or dying.”
“The End of Nature” By Bill McKibben
http://books.google.com/books
Interesting thought Mike, if one considers Satan’s fate a parable really speaking of man’s fate (i.e.: arrogance leads to our destruction) and that Satan = the Accuser; then there’s certainly a “robust” fit to the arrogant (man ends nature) accusers (man producer of all bad CO2) of the current “Environmental” movement.
John David Galt says:
August 20, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Are there any warmists at all who don’t have economic decline on their agenda?
Warmism is one of a whole series of cover ideologies for the UN’s “Agenda 21″, sometimes known as “Smart Growth”. If you read the actual Agenda 21 resolution (www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/ ), it makes clear that the authors are out to make the rich countries poor and keep the poor ones poor too, because in their view, comfortable human life simply isn’t “sustainable” by or on Earth.
To which I say, what the bleep else is the Earth for?
——————-
Agreed
But people like McGibben swoon when they think of their Kennedyesque noble cause. “Ask not what the earth should give to you; ask what you can give to the Earth.”
Fortunately, between man’s ingenuity and Mother Gaia’s immense capacity, we aren’t anywhere close to capacity. And I will not participate in denying the developing world their place at the table graceful or otherwise.
Time to once again post the link to The Green Agenda website, wherein one finds a list of statements by the leaders of the extreme environmental and political left. They are not at all coy or evasive as to the general philosophy and ultimate goals of the AGW side.
http://www.green-agenda.com/
I realize this is a science blog, but AGW is not about science. The left has captured the academic and media forces in most of the English speaking world, and apparently controls the political realm in the UK…for now. In the US, the regulatory capture (a conventional term in social science, see the wikipedia article) will continue until the next election. And the developing Dalton or Maunder Minimum could be required to shut them up. The Rossi LENR device would also be a big event in several realms, if it works as claimed.
So, AGW is indeed the dead theory walking, but the final collapse will take a few years. I suggest that some sort of index or metric be devised to chart the decline and fall.
A ‘graceful decline’ for an economy is composed of a series of disasters at the individual level.
More evidence that Leftists love humanity, but they hate people.
Indur Goklany…….. I’ve had too many beers to further the conversation. But, I read the article and I’m compelled to state …. Well done! It is poverty that kills!……. everything! Without fiscal abilities, we can’t maintain! Thanks again!
James
All of modern environmentalism, including the whole global warming scam can be neatly summed up in two words: HUMANS SUCK! Of course as the likes of Gore, Hansen, and others at the top of the scheme prove, that doesn’t include them. What worthless schmucks.
Modern Socialism and its eco fascism….. There is not one original idea in the minds of these despotic tyrants. Same old tyranny. Same old lies. Different era.
If we took away the social safety net of welfare we wouldn’t have slacktivists using our own money against us. Nothing like having to work for a living to bring you back to cold hard reality
That the earth is warming up–whether by man’s CO2 contribution or naturally, is something to be celebrated. There’s enough metal on the face of the earth to make all the implements we’d ever need. There’s enough energy from the atoms we split or fuse to make all the energy we’d ever need. And unless your worldview is from some Manhattan apartment or some dive in Hong Kong or New Delhi, there plenty of space for the human race. Are new discoveries being made? Absolutely–at a faster and faster pace. Are we faced with the same ol’ problems? Seems we (speaking of humans in general) never learn. But this I will say–the likes of Hansen and McKibben are to be avoided; their negativism is to be exposed, and their destructive agenda fought against.
Destruction of human civilization has been the goal of the environmental movement since its inception. The carbon jihad is just the most effective tool they have found to date.
The White Man’s Burden,,,,
It is simple with the muslim self flagellating believers. Maybe we should advertise their existence to these people. If they convert, the planet will be saved from their madness.
Darren Parker says:
August 20, 2011 at 8:01 pm
“Slacktivists?” Excellent! I hadn’t heard that one.
McKibben bugs me, of all the envirofascists out there he seems about the most deluded. I am actually tempted to read “Eaarth” just for giggles. I recall Sci Am’s review (it must have been like my last issue – I canceled it after ClimateGate) of Eaarth – it was smoochy love love Bill stuff. I almost retched reading it. Dreck.
Bill, here’s how it goes: We dig up some taconite in the upper midwest. It’s just some rocks and rubble. We grind it up and get iron ore. The iron ore is worth more than the rubble. We make some steel sheet from the iron ore. The steel sheet is worth more than the iron ore. Somebody (who has devoted their life to training and passionately studying product design – somebody like an engineer) designs something of value from the steel sheet – maybe a car part or maybe a component to a therapeutic device and the part is made by highly skilled craftsmen (also who have devoted their lives to mastering their craft) and that part is worth more than the steel sheet. On and on – blah, blah and so forth. In a nutshell that’s how wealth is created. Nothing is taken away from the folks in Bangladesh or Haiti, or any of the oh too numerous undeveloped places on our fine planet. They need to dig more stuff up, make more stuff, and grow more stuff. Oh, and they are.
Bill, in short, to create value, one has to dig it up, make it, or grow it. You want to help humanity? Get a job as a car salesman. In Bangladesh.
Don’t worry, Australia will start the decline with our ‘Carbon Tax’. The we will all be in decline. The Green Party here seems intent on returning human life to something similar to the Dark Ages. If it continues to cool there may be food shortages that are related to growing time and range as well as the factors of population impact on environments.
Aiming for some self sufficiency by growing vegetables is fine, but we all seem to grow the same things, leading to gluts, and home grown stuff spreads garden diseases if the usual sprays etc are not used.
McKibben is out of his nut. And element. How does someone of his ilk gain traction and voice? Who sanctions his scathing, accusatory rhetoric? He has the right to his opinions, it provides sensible people with the data to “know thine enemy”…but where does his influence lie, and should we really be concerned? Following his recent opinion piece in the WP, the overwhelming majority of comments were unfavorable. What would the WP gain credibility-wise from this, save ‘outing’ this madness? Somehow this all ‘began’, and like mould on the surface of a cheese, the rhizomes are tenaciously infecting the entire block. Publishing the unbecoming image of McKibben above artificially reinforces the image of a whackjob already firmly established by his writings. Can we safely say that the jig is up, or do we need to nudge a bit harder?
Sorry for all the questions, but the man frightens the hell out of me. The modern-day Jekyll and Hyde in the guise of Hansen and McKibben is as stark an image as can be presented; the vanguard of agenda-driven thought and blistering ad hominem.
Yikes.
How sad that a bunch of self flagellating nincompoops are in these kinds of leadership positions.
Logan in AZ says: August 20, 2011 at 7:19 pm
So, AGW is indeed the dead theory walking, but the final collapse will take a few years. I suggest that some sort of index or metric be devised to chart the decline and fall.
and
Rick Bradford says: August 20, 2011 at 7:37 pm
A ‘graceful decline’ for an economy is composed of a series of disasters at the individual level.
More evidence that Leftists love humanity, but they hate people.
Probably need to provide a definition of their view of and what constitutes humanity and which [culture of] people they hate.
Here’s a ‘sort of index or metric’ already devised……
Bob Weidemer’s After Shock Survival video may be of interest in this news report ‘Aftershock’ Book Predicts Economic Disaster Amid Controversy
25 July 2011 (second to last link in report works) – 30 minutes
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Aftershock-book-predicts-economic/2011/07/25/id/404782?utm_source=outbrain&utm_title=%3FAftershock%3F-Book-Predicts-Economic-Disa
source: http://www.newsmax.com/
If you’re forced to spend more time working hand to mouth, and have little or no disposable income, they reason you’ll be happier, less of a risk, and much more compliant. Whats not to like?
All I can say send around 2 men In white coats and clip boards
Nothing concrete had come from my work, or anyone else’s.”…
Correction: Nothing concrete had come from my work, so I’m going to make damn sure nothing comes from anyone else’s.
It’s clearly a religion based on utopian thinking, chemophobia, anti-science, anti-industry and anti-humanity