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« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2017, 05:10:45 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 7-20-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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Bill McKibben, one of the leading advocates of the divestment movement, co-founded 350.org, a global climate change advocacy group that has held 20,000 rallies in every country in the world except North Korea (wonder why). In 2012, he wrote28 in Rolling Stone, “A rapid, transformative change would require building a movement, and movements require enemies. … And enemies are what climate change has lacked.”
That’s right — in order to transform the climate change debate into a movement, McKibben and his fellow ecofascists needed an enemy. So he started the divestment movement that casts the fossil fuel industry and those who invest in its companies as the morally sinister destroyers of the environment. McKibben’s admission of creating an enemy to bolster his campaign should delegitimize the moral claims of the movement. But it hasn’t.
GoFossilFree.org, one of the leading voices in fossil fuel divestment, speaks of the supposed moral motivations for its cause:
Fossil fuel divestment takes the fossil fuel industry to task for its culpability in the climate crisis. By naming this industry’s singularly destructive influence — and by highlighting the moral dimensions of climate change — we hope that the fossil fuel divestment movement can help break the hold that the fossil fuel industry has on our economy and our governments.
Go Fossil Free holds the fossil fuel industry responsible for destroying the planet and morally injuring its inhabitants. While McKibben created an enemy, Go Fossil Free has made the fight against that enemy a “moral” one, citing floods and natural disasters allegedly caused by climate change.
However, one study29 notes that deaths related to climate (flood, drought, storms, extreme heat or cold) have dropped 98% since 1920. The energy industry has facilitated this decline through building better homes, heating, air conditioning, proper irrigation and disaster warning systems. That sort of steals the, er, thunder of the ecofascists’ hyperbolic claims.
Another fallacy upon which the divestment movement relies is that fossil fuels have created extreme amounts of pollution. Yet according to Forbes30, air pollution in the U.S. has declined 72% since 1970 despite a 47% total increase in energy use. In addition, developed countries that use fossil fuels have cleaner environments than underdeveloped countries where dumping waste in rivers and streams prevents access to clean water. In fact, one of the key differences between third world and first world countries depends upon access to reliable energy.
Alex Epstein, founder of the Center for Industrial Progress31 and author of the New York Times bestseller “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels,” notes that there are seven billion people on the planet who need access to inexpensive, reliable energy in order to flourish. Yet three billion people have virtually no energy. For much of the world, lack of energy, not use of energy, has been the greatest barrier to growth and productivity.
While the divestment movement has succeeded in creating both an enemy and a moral cause based upon fear and guilt, the evidence points to the reality that energy has helped hedge against climate-related disasters and provided food and health care to aid human life. Divesters fail to grasp how energy powers every modern convenience from a warm shower (natural gas), to adequate hospital care (electricity), to food (diesel-powered farm equipment), and they offer few, if any, real solutions to our planet’s energy needs. Perhaps they should invest in our future instead of trying to undermine it.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
Defeating Progressive Ideology32 — Nothing facilitates forced subservience to the Left’s noxious way of thinking more than political correctness.
Afghan Who Fought With U.S. Forces Finds Home in America33 — After five years of pressing the government, U.S. soldiers were able to welcome their buddy to his new home.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Victor Davis Hanson: Putin’s Playthings34
Cal Thomas: Porking Out With Your Money35
George Will: Air Force Has Dug Into the Equivalent of Trench Warfare36
For more, visit Right Opinion37.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Victor Davis Hanson: “Putin’s Russia is in bad shape. It is economically weak and eager to do anything possible to hurt the U.S. — largely by using a fake-news disinformation campaign, spreading Kremlin cash, and playing a gullible and often unprofessional U.S. media eager to find a scandalous Russian under every American bed. So far the Russian disinformation program has worked brilliantly. What foreign government could possibly entangle in truth, lies, half-truths, rumors and scandals the Trump family, Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, James Comey, John McCain, John Podesta, Samantha Power, Susan Rice and a host of other Beltway grandees? Who could prompt enough investigations and inquiries to overwhelm and distract the entire U.S. government at a time when North Korea is aiming missiles at U.S. territory, Iran is pressing ahead to develop a nuclear weapon, Syria is a genocidal mess, and immigrants from the war-torn Middle East are sweeping across Europe? Putin is now America’s puppet master — and we are his empty-headed playthings dangling from his Kremlin strings.”
SHORT CUTS
For the record: “A recent Bloomberg poll asked Americans to rank the most important issues facing the country. … Only six percent of Americans said Russia was the most important issue facing the country today. Now let’s compare this to the results of a recent survey by our friends at the Media Research Center. … The left-wing media’s most important issue [Russia] ranked 6th among the public. The second most important issue to the media [climate change] tied for fourth place among the people. But the people’s number one issue — health care — ranked fourth in the media’s coverage. It’s no wonder Americans are increasingly losing faith in biased big media.” —Gary Bauer
Still hasn’t learned to stop digging: “There have been numerous times when Trump should have been convicted of a crime. If Robert Mueller does the investigation that I think he’s going to do, I think he will connect the dots. I think that they’re going to find not only conflict of interest but also obstruction of justice. I think he’s in for new possibilities of either being charged criminally or, as I think, impeached.” —Maxine Waters
Braying Jenny: “[The Republican budget] requires more military might. It takes us down the wrong path. We take an oath to protect and defend. … But that’s not the point of this. This is supposed to be a budget that prevents the spread of violence. Instead they have a budget that stirs it up.” —Nancy Pelosi
Alpha Jackass: “Climate change deniers, by way of example, are older. It’s generational. So we’re just going to have to wait for those people to ‘age out,’ as they say. ‘Age out’ is a euphemism for ‘die.’” —Bill Nye the “Old Guy”
Democrats leave no choice: “President Trump’s promise to let our health care system collapse is so, so wrong on three counts. It’s a failure morally, it’s a failure politically, and it’s a remarkable failure of presidential leadership.” —Chuck Schumer
And last… “Success has a thousand fathers, the saying goes, while failure is an orphan. If so, lots of people in Washington, DC, want to conduct paternity tests over the stunning failure of Republicans to pass a repeal of ObamaCare in some form.” —Ed Morrissey
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. |
