Shilling for global warming in the dark

A long time ago, Toronto school board Trustee David Moll lamented, “The NDP will do everything for the working man—except be one!” For readers outside Canada, the NDP is the New Democrat Party, of which former Toronto Councillor, the anti-war Jack Layton is the leader. The NDP, of course, cares no more about the working stiff than anyone else, but it sounds good come election time.

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The organizers of the “Earth Hour” initiative remind me of Canada’s hypocritical NDP. “Earth Hour” has arranged for 24 cities around the world to fall into shadow next month as homes and businesses turn off the lights to raise awareness about global warming. Even without the latest data showing global warming may save thousands of lives, global warming is a hard sell in one of the worst winters in decades. A winter, in which many homes and offices are plunged into darkness thanks to power outages. Yet while so many so-called scientists try to make the unsuspecting public think that global warming is real and a threat to human life, some new data is coming out to the contrary. [url=http://www.freerepublic.com]http://www.freerepublic.com[/url] reports British scientists as saying global warming could end up saving thousands of lives. Although global warming could end up causing about 6,000 deaths, that is a dramatic decrease from the average of 20,000 deaths that the cold winters in Great Britain cause. The British government has reported that the warmer weather has already resulted in a 3 percent decline in the mortality rate. Discovery Magazine has a similar article called “Global Warming, The Great Life Saver”. ( www.dailylobo.com, Jan. 18, 2008). According to Breitbart.com, “The Earth Hour initiative started in Australia’s biggest city Sydney last year when an estimated 2.2 million people flicked the switch—leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbour Bridge blacked out.” No reports of petty crimes that may have been enabled via the well advertised hour of darkness, but environmentalists have a monopoly on good behaviour. Organizer Andy Ridley said Sydney’s 60-minutes of darkness generated huge interest around the world and 23 other cities from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East had now signed up to be part of the 2008 event. The eight latest cities to join “Earth Hour” are Atlanta, San Francisco and Phoenix in the U.S.; Thailand’s capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They join Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide; Denmark’s Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense; the Philippine capital Manila, Fiji’s biggest city Suva, Christchurch in New Zealand; Chicago; Tel Aviv and Toronto. Ridley said he expected the “Earth Hour” concept, which is managed by the conservation group WWF, to extend beyond the borders of these countries on the scheduled start time of 8:00 p.m., local time on Saturday, March 29. “The idea was that anyone could do it, whether they were in a small village in France or a city like Sydney.” At least Ridley didn’t say a small village in Africa. Many small villages in Africa do not have the luxury of electric lights, or running water. Environmentalists in distant cities like New York and Boston have decided that they shouldn’t have these luxuries on the basis it would only jeopardize their natural environment. Indeed it was only after a struggle with the environmentalists that the African villages were allowed the use of DEET-type sprays to protect their children from the giant killer known as Malaria. Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy. For the sake of conservation, what about environmentalists using some of their generous funds in educating the public to turn off the lights when leave the room? Guess it’s easier pushing publicity for global warming by turning the lights off in multiple cities for one hour on March 29. Ridley says organizers are trying to provide a “very big visual message” to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly. It’s the same kind of “big visual message” that Hollywood will be providing when the largest fleet of energy efficient cars ever assembled at a Hollywood ceremony will be bringing celebrity attendees to the long-awaited Academy awards. Presenters such as George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman and John Travolta among others will arrive in one of the special green vehicles. “Over 75 GM vehicles with smaller carbon footprints are on standby to chauffeur celebrities to the event,” writes NewsMax’s James Hirsen in The Left Coast Report. The stars will zoom in on jumbo jets, but drive down to the ceremony in “green vehicles”. Meanwhile at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 29 Al Gore will likely be sipping wine in romantic candlelight as he does his part to save the world from global warming. Some environmentalists will do everything for the environment except be one.