Crony Socialists Unite To Save the Planet. Or Something.

The Climategate 2.0 emails are proving to be a treasure trove of confirmatory evidence for things we "deniers" have long suspected known.

Ace beat me to the punch on the BBC story (that used to be the first part of this post). But is finding the media aligned with a lefty pet cause really that shocking?

What may be more surprising to some, however, is the participation of big business in this scam. On the surface, it would seem that they'd be staunchly in opposition since they frequently find themselves in the crosshairs of anti-CO₂ measures like Kyoto. But not so much.

One of the major themes of The Hague was the continued evolution of private sector initiative in advancing both the policy and reality of market mechanisms. Some of the best-attended of COP6 side events were those which brought together industry panels to discuss actions and opportunities to get out in front and make these emerging markets work. Traders are trading; buyers & sellers are buying & selling; and companies/accountants are looking systematically at how to standardize documentation to facilitate those market activities. It is all happening in spite of the lack of concrete action defining a global framework. It is the private sector gearing up to seize the moment as government regulators find themselves both challenged by the magnitude of their emission reduction task and tantalized by the possibility of harnessing global markets to advance to that end. (emphasis added)

Ah yes, the private sector and government joining forces to give us all a good screwing. Tantalizing indeed, if you're one of the beneficiaries.

Who wrote this, you ask? H/t to a commenter at Watts Up With That?:

THOMAS R. JACOB
Government Affairs Manager, Western Region
DuPont Company

Tom Jacob is responsible for DuPont’s relations with state governments of California and the other Western states. He manages legislative and other activities from a newly established office in Sacramento. His responsibilities extend across the spectrum of DuPont’s science-based business interests. Prior to returning to California in late 2005, Tom spent the previous decade managing DuPont’s involvement with environment-related intergovernmental negotiations, ranging from the World Trade Organization to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. This has included extensive direct involvement with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and various chemicals-related treaties and negotiations.

Tom began his DuPont career with the Economics & Policy Division of its
former petroleum subsidiary, Conoco…. http://www.cicc.org/pdf/Jacob_bio.pdf (emphasis added)

DuPont is one of many companies that has engaged in the process of "greenwashing" its business. They're not an eeeevillll, polluting chemical company anymore, and they spun off that icky Remington Arms Co. nearly 20 years ago. Now they're a trusted steward of Gaia, contributing to environmental causes and committed to saving the planet. I mean, they still make all those chemicals ... but they do it with a heart.

And DuPont is a master at this. Back when the ozone hole was the new hotness, guess who was arguing in support of the Montreal Protocol that banned Freon, among other CFCs? As luck would have it, DuPont just happened to have a replacement waiting in the wings.

A good list of fellow bullshit artists can be found here: U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).

I actually don't mind greenwashing much. It's just PR spin, and isn't much different than any other positioning that companies do. But USCAP is greenwashing on steroids. Rather than just polishing up their image for the public, member companies joined together with enviro-nut groups like the NRDC to advocate for climate change legislation.

We know the cost of such legislation would run into the trillions of dollars, so why would they do such a thing? Because those trillions come out of your pocket, with many finding a home in theirs, that's why.

They see an artificial market opportunity just like DuPont did with its Freon replacement. Why compete in the free market when you can have government put its heavy thumb on the scale?

But something happened on the way to the cash register. The cratering of the economy made the public's concern about an entirely different kind of green front and center. And despite the "nothing to see here, move along" stance of the organizations involved in Climategate, blind trust in consensus science has passed its peak.

Why, it's almost enough to make a greenie politician begin to rethink this thing:

Steve Hilton, [U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's] director of strategy and ‘green guru’, is the latest person to admit to doubts about climate change.

‘I’m not sure I believe in it,’ he announced at a meeting of the Energy Department, prompting one aide to blurt out: ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’

Crony Socialists Unite To Save the Planet. Or Something.&bodytext=The Climategate 2.0 emails are proving to be a treasure trove of confirmatory evidence for things we "deniers" have long suspected known. Ace beat me to the punch on the BBC story (that used to be the first part of...&topic=world_news"> posted by Andy at 05:15 PM

| Access Comments