Interview with Author of The Deniers

Regular readers will remember that I recently posted twice about a major new global warming book, Lawrence Solomon's The Deniers, here and here. The American Spectator has just published an interview with the author by Shawn Macomber, "A Time to Deny". Here's a sample:

One of the things you talk about in the book is the tendency of politicians to say, as John McCain frequently does, that we should somehow regulate carbon emissions because, to paraphrase, if global warming is real action will ensure we won't all drown in boiling oceans and if it isn't we'll basically have a cleaner planet. What's wrong with that?

LS: Kyoto is not benign environmentally. It is spawning destructive policies such as carbon offsets, which lead to the conversion of farmland and forests in the Third World to carbon-intensive eucalyptus plantations. Kyoto is also promoting uneconomic nuclear plants and hydro-dams, which flood fertile river valleys upon which millions of people in the Third World depend. In McCain's case, and probably Lieberman's, a chief motivation for their support for emissions reduction is national security. They see climate change as a weapon in their arsenal. They hope climate change reforms will reduce Western dependence on potentially hostile oil exporting nations such as Russia and Iran, and at the same time weaken their despotic regimes economically.

Anyone who studies this subject objectively is struck by the quasi-religious nature of the Global Warmist doctrine. The True Believers are actively proselytizing,and concentrating their efforts on the malleable minds of our children and grandchildren. They have, in effect, declared that their belief system is the One True Belief System. Thus, it should not be surprising that they are exerting such a stupendous effort to convert heretics, and to marginalize those they cannot convert. Why else would they be launching a $300 million advertising campaign to sell their ideas?

If, as they claim, the science were truly settled, why on earth would they feel the need to spend such an enormous sum convincing people of the obvious? Wouldn't that money be better spent on any number of truly worthy projects? After all, no one is spending any money to sell us on the Law of Gravity.

Lots of influential people, particularly journalists and politicians, need to read Lawrence Solomon's excellent book. After you read this interview, I think you'll agree.