Monday 21 December 2009

"Aux armes, citoyens...!"

...cries pudgy global warming huckster Johann Hari in the 'Indy', exhorting us all to act because the politicians won't:
Buried deep in our subconscious, there still lays the belief that our political leaders are collective Daddies and Mummies who will – in the last instance – guarantee our safety.
Eh? What adult thinks that? Speak for yourself, Johann.

Oh, I guess you are...
Last week in Copenhagen, the conviction was disproved. Every leader there had been told by their scientists – plainly, bluntly, and for years – that there is a bare minimum we must all do now if we are going to prevent a catastrophe. And they all refused to do it.
And why..?

Because it was based on poor science and the people are beginning to see through it. And because it would have been political suicide. And because the people pushing it are the ones who stand the most to gain from the actions they are pushing on everyone.

But he's not finished with the poor science:
To understand the gravity of what just happened, you need to know a few facts about global warming that, at first, sound odd. The world's climate scientists have shown that man-made global warming must not exceed 2C. When you hear this, a natural reaction is – that's not much; how bad can it be if we overshoot? If I go out for a picnic and the temperature rises or falls by 2C, I don't much notice. But this is the wrong analogy. If your body temperature rises by 2C, you become feverish and feeble. If it doesn't go back down again, you die. The climate isn't like a picnic; it's more like your body.
Umm, it isn't any of those things; it's a vast, incalculable, unfathomable chaotic system.

But Hari isn't finished reading out plot points from the rejected script from '2012':
Two degrees is bad: 2C means we lose much of the world's low-lying land, from the island-states of the South Pacific to much of Bangladesh to swathes of Florida. But at every step up to and including 2C, if we reduce our emissions, we can stabilise the climate at this new higher level. If we go beyond 2C, though, the situation changes. The earth's natural processes begin to break down – and cause more warming. There are massive amounts of warming gases stored in the Siberian permafrost; at 2C, they melt and are released into the atmosphere. The world's humid rainforests store huge amounts of warming gases in their trees. Beyond C, they lose their humidity and begin to burn down – releasing them too into the atmosphere.

These are called "tipping points". Because of them, the world gets warmer and warmer beyond 2C.
I want some of what he's smoking...

And his heroes having let him down, Hari wants You! Yes, You! to pick up the slack:
At least we know now: scientific evidence and rationality are not going to be enough to persuade our leaders. The Good Daddy isn't in charge. Nobody is going to sort this out – unless we, the populations of the warming-gas countries, make them. Politicians respond to the pressure put on them, and every single politician at Copenhagen knew they would get more flak at home – from their corporate paymasters and their petrol-hungry populations – for signing a deal than for walking away.

There is only one way to change that dynamic: a mass movement of ordinary democratic citizens. They have made the impossible happen before.
Well, that's true.

But I don't think propelling Rage Against The Machine to the Christmas number one in opposition to poor Joe really means that we will offer to cut our own throats so that Al Gore can keep the lights running in his mansion 24/7/365, Johann...
The time for changing your light-bulbs and hoping for the best is over. It is time to take collective action. For some people, that will mean joining Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth or the Campaign Against Climate Change and helping them pile on the pressure. But those who can go further – by taking non-violent direct action – should do so. Every coal train should be ringed with people refusing to let it pass. Every new runway should be blockaded. The cost of trashing the climate needs to be raised.
Well, good luck with that, Johann.

But you should have looked at some other stories in the news while you were frantically flogging your ferret to the Copenhagen broadcasts. You should have paid attention to the fury over the proposed BA strike, the mounting anger at the unpreparedness of the councils for a bit of (well forecast) snow, and the bitterness being directed at the bungling Eurostar debacle.

You want to marshall your troops to further inconvenience the public in their travel plans?

Oh, boy. *gets popcorn* This'll be amusing to watch...

10 comments:

Leg-iron said...

The telegraph was hilarious recently. They had an article cliaming that a monkey species was going to die because of global warming, followed closely by reports of record snowfall all across the US, including 20 inches in Washington.

I'm guessing those Washington residents will take a lot of convincing on this global warming thing.

Anonymous said...

You undermine any point you might want to make by calling Hari "pudgy". So what? Fat people don't have good political arguments?

DJ said...

Bu8t did he manage to work a gay rape angle in? That's what I want to know!

Angry Exile said...

But those who can go further – by taking non-violent direct action – should do so. Every coal train should be ringed with people refusing to let it pass. Every new runway should be blockaded.

I'd call having my freedom to go about my business by being physically prevented from by rings of protesters a form of violence. Hari, you're a violent bastard - you just don't know it.

JuliaM said...

"I'm guessing those Washington residents will take a lot of convincing on this global warming thing."

I'm guessing there's lots of Brits thinking the same thing now, too...

"You undermine any point you might want to make by calling Hari "pudgy". "

Really? That's how it works?

You mean, if I point out that Ed Miliband is a power-hungry cretin whose ambition is matched only by his low intelligence, it'll be totally invalidated if I also point out that he has a face like a man caught half-way between a sneeze and orgasm?

Strange...

"Fat people don't have good political arguments?"

Sure they do. Just not this one.

Actually, thinking about it, David Bellamy is a little on the portly side; what do you think of his opinion of 'global warming'..?

"Bu8t did he manage to work a gay rape angle in? That's what I want to know!"

He seems to have left that out of his last couple of columns. Perhaps its the wrong season for it?

Gibby Haynes said...

Knowing that reeking, tiny-minded Ecofags are being squished under the wheels of freight trains carrying coal will cheer me up immensely this Yuletide.
Up and at 'em, hippies. For Gaia!

TDK said...

It is time to take collective action. For some people, that will mean joining Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth or the Campaign Against Climate Change and helping them pile on the pressure. But those who can go further – by taking non-violent direct action – should do so. Every coal train should be ringed with people refusing to let it pass. Every new runway should be blockaded. The cost of trashing the climate needs to be raised.

Well ignoring the problem that most people who are committed enough are probably already in FotE or Greenpeace, I actually hope he gets his Christmas wish.

Let's image that Drax power station is invaded by the Greens who manage to shut it down. People will die through cold and when resultant hoards of ordinary people come to eject them, they will need the state to protect them. Then the voice of the people will be heard.

The fact is Green politics is only a fringe interest. Most people will pay it lip service and are happy to change the light bulbs or sort the trash, but they are emphatically not willing to seeing the 50% plus cuts in output that Johann wants.

Anonymous said...

Looks like my coining of the term "Climate Scientologists" is becoming ever increasingly accurate.

Weekend Yachtsman said...

That first sentence quoted just says it all, doesn't it:

He assumes that the State can guarantee his safety, and he doesn't know the difference between "lays" and "lies".

Modern Britain in a nutshell.

banned said...

Well I'm jolly relieved that our caring leaders have decided to ban the world from heating up, let's hope they ban volcanos next and then onto victory by banning Tsunamis, Yaaay!