Is climate change a communist plot? Britain's new Joseph McCarthy
posted by: Dave R. 26 days ago
In a recent talk reminiscent of Joseph McCarthy's famous Lincoln Day speech of 1950, The British Viscount Christopher Monckton revealed that climate change and the upcoming UN talks in Copenhagen are all a part of a gigantic communist plot. According to Monckton:
"So at last the communists who piled out of the Berlin Wall and into the environmental movement and took over Greenpeace, so that my friends who founded it left within a year because they’d captured it, now the apotheosis is at hand. They are about to impose a communist world government on the world. You have a president who has very strong sympathies with that point of view....It is a privilege merely to stand on this soil of freedom while it is still free. But in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy, and your prosperity away forever.”
The video is available below.
It is eerily similar in language and tone to this McCarthyism:
"You are seeing today an all out attempt to marshal the forces of the opposition, using not merely the communists, or their fellow travelers-the deluded liberals, the eggheads, and some of my good friends in both the Democratic and Republican Parties who can become heros over night in the eyes of the left-wing press if they will just join with the jackal pack"
The Viscount has been a high profile climate skeptic, using a combination of what I would call psuedoscience and articulate rhetoric, and what others have called "hacked-out, far-right ideology, combined with an ego the size of the Antarctic ice sheet." After this speech in Minnesota, Glenn Beck had Monckton along with John Bolton on his Fox News show, and I rather enjoyed watching Bolton forced into the role of a moderate, backtracking from Monckton's hyper-extremist positions.
Monckton's statements are meant to fan fears that global cooperation is somehow global socialism. Perhaps the Viscount longs for the jolly old days when the sun never set on the British Empire, and 'global cooperation' meant that the world existed for the economic benefit of the Kingdom. How bizarre and ironic that he uses a form of "taxation without representation" as his line of reasoning here in the colonies.
There are many examples of necessary and successful international cooperation...from the Montreal Protocol dealing with ozone, to nuclear non-proliferation, to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. Some issues cross borders and require global commitment and multinational cooperation. Climate change is one of them. Even noted Ayn Rand disciple Alan Greenspan conceded - just last year - that his exuberant embrace of free market ideology was misplaced, and that in some cases pursuit of self interest can be bad for the collective good. Perhaps they should both read up on The Tragedy of The Commons and The Prisoner's Dilemma both of which demonstrate why this is the case.
Monckton has raised some important issues, such as the need for China and India to participate in a climate treaty, and the potential scope creep in the agreement. And we do need a vigorous debate on both US cap and trade and the UN treaty, to avoid disastrous agreements filled with loopholes and unintended consequences. But what a shame that he needs to resort to McCarthy era scare tactics to get attention. And what a shame that it still works.
Note: Follow me on twitter, and be alerted when I post! http://twitter.com/ClimateTweeter
"So at last the communists who piled out of the Berlin Wall and into the environmental movement and took over Greenpeace, so that my friends who founded it left within a year because they’d captured it, now the apotheosis is at hand. They are about to impose a communist world government on the world. You have a president who has very strong sympathies with that point of view....It is a privilege merely to stand on this soil of freedom while it is still free. But in the next few weeks, unless you stop it, your president will sign your freedom, your democracy, and your prosperity away forever.”
The video is available below.
It is eerily similar in language and tone to this McCarthyism:
"You are seeing today an all out attempt to marshal the forces of the opposition, using not merely the communists, or their fellow travelers-the deluded liberals, the eggheads, and some of my good friends in both the Democratic and Republican Parties who can become heros over night in the eyes of the left-wing press if they will just join with the jackal pack"
The Viscount has been a high profile climate skeptic, using a combination of what I would call psuedoscience and articulate rhetoric, and what others have called "hacked-out, far-right ideology, combined with an ego the size of the Antarctic ice sheet." After this speech in Minnesota, Glenn Beck had Monckton along with John Bolton on his Fox News show, and I rather enjoyed watching Bolton forced into the role of a moderate, backtracking from Monckton's hyper-extremist positions.
Monckton's statements are meant to fan fears that global cooperation is somehow global socialism. Perhaps the Viscount longs for the jolly old days when the sun never set on the British Empire, and 'global cooperation' meant that the world existed for the economic benefit of the Kingdom. How bizarre and ironic that he uses a form of "taxation without representation" as his line of reasoning here in the colonies.
There are many examples of necessary and successful international cooperation...from the Montreal Protocol dealing with ozone, to nuclear non-proliferation, to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. Some issues cross borders and require global commitment and multinational cooperation. Climate change is one of them. Even noted Ayn Rand disciple Alan Greenspan conceded - just last year - that his exuberant embrace of free market ideology was misplaced, and that in some cases pursuit of self interest can be bad for the collective good. Perhaps they should both read up on The Tragedy of The Commons and The Prisoner's Dilemma both of which demonstrate why this is the case.
Monckton has raised some important issues, such as the need for China and India to participate in a climate treaty, and the potential scope creep in the agreement. And we do need a vigorous debate on both US cap and trade and the UN treaty, to avoid disastrous agreements filled with loopholes and unintended consequences. But what a shame that he needs to resort to McCarthy era scare tactics to get attention. And what a shame that it still works.
Note: Follow me on twitter, and be alerted when I post! http://twitter.com/ClimateTweeter
Read more: copenhagen, global warming, monckton
comments
You just can't fix stupid! Our only hope is education!
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why is this inappropriate?
Monckton's statements indicate that he has been watching too much Fox news again.
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"Monckton's statements are meant to fan fears that global cooperation is somehow global socialism."
Yup - this is the conservative mindset. They only like globalization of business - but for people to take institutions global to protect labor and environmental rights - woah, stop right there, you communists!
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Why is it every subject that comes up lately is met with fear-mongering, name-calling, put-downs, and out-right ugly comments? It seems there's a lot of people fiddling while Rome is burning! LOL WE ALL are responsible for messing in our own nests (earth!) and it's time for a change - the only thing constant is change - and fighting against it doesn't stop it from happening, it just divides families, cities, countries. And what we all for get is it's one planet and we ALL live on it. Let's start talking TO each other, instead of AT each other.
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30 years ago they called it global cooling , then they called it global warming, now they call it climate change. They need to make up there minds.
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actually the global cooling trend is only a short-term one, overall there is still a global warming trend, the scientist that did the global cooling study still believes in global warming, his research was oversimplified and is actually quite complex: http://climateprogress.org/2009/10/01/interview-with-dr-mojib-latif-global-cooling-revkin-morano-george-will/
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Again I ask those who want this climate change bill to pass ... how do we pay for it when our country is BROKE?
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Take no notice of this fool. America was fooled by McCarthy, he ruined lives and careers, we must not let Lord Monckton do the same for the world. What he says is absolute rubbish. As communist countries, especially Russia (which may I remind everyone is no longer a true communist country, it may be virtually a dictatorship but it is not truly communist now, it is now quite capitolist) are the main suppliers of fossil fuels to Europe why on earth would they plot to stop us using their products? They would lose money if we cut our consumption
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Lord Monkton has done his research. Have you?
The earth has been cooling for the last 10 years.
By denying a climate change 'crisis' does not mean denying that we must still take care of planet earth. We must still look after those around us, the world around us and all that is in it.
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Another Joseph McCarthy? Didn't we learn the first time around?
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