The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy's Artificial Global Warming Hoax

[BenBurch]

A number of Conservatives here and elsewhere assert that there is a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy (VLWC) to pretend there is a scientific consensus proving global warming - motives unclear - but its an immense Conspiracy that involves multiple world governments, NGOs, The Media, Scientists, and thousands of "shills" on "the internets."

Now, here is my question; Does this qualify as a Conspiracy Theory?

 

[TriskettheKid]

Yes.

The basis of it seems to be the thinking that those involved in the VLWC are trying to make money by promoting such an agenda, because of something with oil companies and car companies.....or something like that.

 

[Brainache]

I think the VLWC is more about stopping the good old US corporations from making their entirely innocent profits than making any money for itself. Those damn commie scientists don't care about money, they just want to stop honest God-fearing Oil companies realising their manifest destiny as the saviours of the free world. Damn Hippies!!

 

[eromitlab]

Alex Jones is pushing global warming denial and some of his followers are sloganeering with "taxation for respiration"... so yeah, I'd anoint it a CT.

 

[Achán hiNidráne]

Being a former conservative and global warming denier I can give you some insight on this. Brainache is more or less right. Conservatives tend to believe that global warming and other ecological problems are either invented or exaggerated as a means to impose a Marxist/neo-luddite dictatorship and destroy American capitalism, or just make things more difficult for business. They either take criticism of coporate pollution from mainstream environmentalists way out of context, or focus on the quotations and acts of actual eco-radicals claiming that Earth First! or ELF represents the view of the person who recycles and drives a Prius.

Even with the USSR long gone, red-baiting is still very popular tactic of the Right.

 

[BenBurch]

... to impose a Marxist/neo-luddite dictatorship and destroy American capitalism ...

No wonder I confuse the hell out of them when I propose we built thousands of nuclear power stations! Its not what they expect to hear.

 

[OldTigerCub]

Yes.

The basis of it seems to be the thinking that those involved in the VLWC are trying to make money by promoting such an agenda, because of something with oil companies and car companies.....or something like that.

Well, since I'm a charter member of the VRWC, I'm looking forward to driving my 3/4 ton - 10 mpg - big honkin' Dodge pickup truck around the block 4 or 5 times before I go to watch the football game....3 blocks down the street....

 

[BenBurch]

Well, since I'm a charter member of the VRWC, I'm looking forward to driving my 3/4 ton - 10 mpg - big honkin' Dodge pickup truck around the block 4 or 5 times before I go to watch the football game....3 blocks down the street....

Its true. I want you to have to do that with synthetic carbon-neutral fuel made with nuclear energy.

 

[uk_dave]

I heard on the radio today that apparently we have also reached 'peak uranium'.

This guy thinks there's not enough uranium ore left for nuclear power, so we'd better go 'tide power'.

I say, what happens when we run out of moon?

JAQ

 

[BenBurch]

I heard on the radio today that apparently we have also reached 'peak uranium'.

This guy thinks there's not enough uranium ore left for nuclear power, so we'd better go 'tide power'.

I say, what happens when we run out of moon?

JAQ

Nonsense. We have enough Uranium and Thorium to fuel a breeder cycle for 400 years at present rates... Not to mention the plutonium from all those H-bomb triggers that I would rather we burn as fuel! And even though I think Fusion is harder than we think even now, some time in the next two centuries we WILL nail down how to do it.

 

[volatile]

For reference:

It's like his stance on Global Warming. It's not that he's wrong, or that the evidence doesn't support him, it's that there is in fact a vast conspiracy in operation to suppress the truth of the matter, which he "knew" was right all along.

Indeed.

And just so.

Can you prove there ISN'T a vast conspiracy, on either count?

No?

But maybe you are right, maybe I am simply an irrational, far rightwing loon.

In either case if you, as a professional researcher of any sort write that there are differences between men and women or write that climate change is not being caused by humans, you will never see another dime in funding and will likely be driven out of academia.

This is a given.

So, what would it look like if there really WERE a Vast Conspiracy?


Tokie

 

[uk_dave]

Nonsense.

Hey! It was an anonymous caller to a radio show, so he must be right, dammit.

My second favourite caller was some guy who wanted a huge program of coal fired power station building because "global warming is rubbish". He was (obviously) well 'ard.

You want the 'any answers' link on this page...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/anyquestions.shtml

and this was quite interesting too.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/costingtheearth.shtml

 

[BenBurch]

Hey! It was an anonymous caller to a radio show, so he must be right, dammit.

My second favourite caller was some guy who wanted a huge program of coal fired power station building because "global warming is rubbish". He was (obviously) well 'ard.

LOL!

Gotcha.

Problem with coal goes beyond CO2; Here in the USA we no longer mine coal in pits; we use many tons of dynamite (which is really cheap) and literally blast the whole tops off mountains to expose the seams, and then just scrape up the coal with earth-movers. Sometimes this is done for seams only 8" thick. The tailings (edit: spoil is the right word here, tailings are the byproduct of ore extraction, and I knew that...) are then dumped into the nearest valleys where manganese and other metals contaminate run off and sicken people who depend on ground water. It's not pretty. If we are going to continue to mine coal we need some fully-robotic mole machine that can burrow in and do that job without blasting off the mountain.

Given the choice between nuclear plants and destroying the Appalachians, I'll take the nukes!

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

No wonder I confuse the hell out of them when I propose we built thousands of nuclear power stations! Its not what they expect to hear.

I'll admit, it's not normally what one hears from the left. You have this conservative behind you on that one.

I heard on the radio today that apparently we have also reached 'peak uranium'.

This guy thinks there's not enough uranium ore left for nuclear power, so we'd better go 'tide power'.

I wonder if he was aware how ironic it is to mention "peak uranium" and "tide power" in the same sentence?

It is estimated that 4.7 million tonnes of uranium ore reserves are economically viable, while 35 million tonnes are classed as mineral resources (reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction).[33] An additional 4.6 billion tonnes of uranium are estimated to be in sea water (Japanese scientists in the 1980s showed that extraction of uranium from sea water using ion exchangers was feasible).

And when that runs out, there's enough thorium lying around to last until the end of time.

 

[Diamond]

A number of Conservatives here and elsewhere assert that there is a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy (VLWC) to pretend there is a scientific consensus proving global warming - motives unclear - but its an immense Conspiracy that involves multiple world governments, NGOs, The Media, Scientists, and thousands of "shills" on "the internets."

Now, here is my question; Does this qualify as a Conspiracy Theory?

Evidence?

There isn't a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy or a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy on Global Warming or the Environment.

On the other hand, this is a conspiracy theory from Greenpeace that Exxon Mobil is funding climate skeptics to Deny Man-Made Global Warming. In fact Greenpeace is rather fond of conspiracy theories composed of people who don't agree with Greenpeace. Even founding members of Greenpeace are not excluded from this dread Conspiracy to end Conspiracies.

 

[BenBurch]

Evidence?

There isn't a Vast Left Wing Conspiracy or a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy on Global Warming or the Environment.

On the other hand, this is a conspiracy theory from Greenpeace that Exxon Mobil is funding climate skeptics to Deny Man-Made Global Warming. In fact Greenpeace is rather fond of conspiracy theories composed of people who don't agree with Greenpeace. Even founding members of Greenpeace are not excluded from this dread Conspiracy to end Conspiracies.

Evidence of the ASSERTION? I think one example was cross-posted above.

EDIT: and you yourself just provided another...

 

[Architect]

Even if it turns out that anthropometric causes aren't behind global warming, I'm kind of finding it hard to see a down-side to a series of policies which seek to reduce energy wastage, pollution, and the like.....

 

[twinstead]

Even if it turns out that anthropometric causes aren't behind global warming, I'm kind of finding it hard to see a down-side to a series of policies which seek to reduce energy wastage, pollution, and the like.....

I feel the same way. How can we go wrong by reducing pollution, no matter what the motivation?

Win/Win

 

[soylent]

Nonsense. We have enough Uranium and Thorium to fuel a breeder cycle for 400 years at present rates... Not to mention the plutonium from all those H-bomb triggers that I would rather we burn as fuel! And even though I think Fusion is harder than we think even now, some time in the next two centuries we WILL nail down how to do it.

Uranium deposits are still fairly unexplored because it's just too damned cheap.

Natural uranium is a tiny quantity of the cost of fuel elements. If you consider breeder reactors using a sane fuel-cycle the nuclear industry is nearly impervious to the cost of uranium. If you increase the cost by a mere factor of 10 the number of places that make economical sense to mine vastly expand.

With a sensible fuel cycle your average chunk of granite is more energy dense than coal. "Peak uranium" is ultimately more likely to be about abandoning fission power in favour of a "better" power sources.

 

[rwguinn]

Even if it turns out that anthropometric causes aren't behind global warming, I'm kind of finding it hard to see a down-side to a series of policies which seek to reduce energy wastage, pollution, and the like.....

Yeah--
but you see--
They've all gone in with Al Gore to sell energy companies short.
They NEED GW. Follow the money!