Wall Street Panjandrums vs. People of Faith
The high priests in the Wall Street Church of Corporatism have issued forth another op-ed fatwa against the majority of Americans who connect their faith to our environment.
In today's Wall Street Journal piece, "Global Warming as Mass Neurosis," editorial board member Bret Stephens rips into the faithful:
A second explanation is theological. Surely it is no accident that the principal catastrophe predicted by global warming alarmists is diluvian in nature. Surely it is not a coincidence that modern-day environmentalists are awfully biblical in their critique of the depredations of modern society: "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." That's Genesis, but it sounds like Jim Hansen.So radical, that idea to consume less and walk more. I guess that would baffle the car service elite.And surely it is in keeping with this essentially religious outlook that the "solutions" chiefly offered to global warming involve radical changes to personal behavior, all of them with an ascetic, virtue-centric bent: drive less, buy less, walk lightly upon the earth and so on.
If he wants to attack folks who care for creation as being "awfully biblical in their critique of the depredations of modern society," I can think of tens of million Americans who would accept that critique.
Furthermore, this op-ed shows that the men who wield the most control on the market are more than happy to pay lip service to our religious values, except when, as during the fights over abolition or now over climate change, the results would mean a few less million in their pockets.
The heads of the Wall Street Journal call Americans "Biblical" and "radical" if they drive less, buy less, and walk more. Talk about sophistry. The deniers are not only content to dismiss science, now they attack Americans for their religious values and private decisions over consumption. That's not even good faith in markets, that's panjandrum presumption.
With gas prices only going up and American bodies suffering for lack of exercise, once again it's clear whose health and wealth the Wall Street hoodoos are willing to prey over to make a buck. As market-driven foreclosures escalate, oil speculators spin, and global temperatures rise, look out gas conserving, frugal shopping, radical walkers. To the Wall Street Journal Global Affairs editorial expert: we're the real problem
Comments
This article is filled with distortions and misinformation. This guy works for one of the most partisan global warming skeptic think tanks in existence; his bias shows. First of all, the NASA data he's talking about only refers to the warmest years *in the United States* --- if you take global temperatures (which really are the only relevant measure, since there are always transient local variations in temperature), the hottest year on record is 2005, and the ten hottest years (globally) are all after 1994. It's laughable to suggest, furthermore, that the fact that some areas are getting colder in any way discredits the science ---- the models all predict that, while the planet is warming overall, some areas will get colder, because of changes in weather, currents, etc. The North Pole is showing unprecedented warming, and many ice shelves in Antarctica have broken up --- all events that haven't been seen in a hundred years or more of observations. Finally, the ocean sensor data only covers the last five years, and it's a new experiment ---- it's not even remotely "discrediting" the science.
This article is simply wrong on the science and it's nothing more than an attempt at spin. It's disgraceful that a major newspaper would print such a blatantly false "opinion" piece from an exceptionally biased think tank.
Posted by: Mitsu | July 3, 2008 09:26 PM