Saturday, February 03, 2007

Why liberals fear global warming

A bunch of climate-change bills in Congress is gaining support. For some perspective, here's a fine article on the burgeoning "global warming" movement.

Highlights of the article:

"The Left is prone to hysteria. The belief that global warming will destroy the world is but one of many hysterical notions held on the Left. As noted in a previous column devoted to the Left and hysteria, many on the Left have been hysterical about the dangers of the PATRIOT Act and the NSA surveillance of phone numbers (incipient fascism); secondhand smoke (killing vast numbers of people); drilling in the remotest area of Alaska (major environmental despoliation); and opposition to same-sex marriage (imminent Christian theocracy).

"The Left believes that if The New York Times and other liberal news sources report something, it is true. If the cover of Time magazine says, 'Global Warming: Be Worried, Very Worried,' liberals get worried, very worried, about global warming...

"Leftists tend to fear dying more. That is one reason they are more exercised about our waging war against evil than about the evils committed by those we fight. The number of Iraqis and others Saddam Hussein murdered troubles the Left considerably less than even the remote possibility than they may one day die of global warming (or secondhand smoke).

"One day, our grandchildren may ask us what we did when Islamic fascism threatened the free world. Some of us will say we were preoccupied with fighting that threat wherever possible; others will be able to say they fought carbon dioxide emissions. One of us will look bad."