The BBC reports:
The government of the Maldives has held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation.
The Maldives stand an average of 2.1 metres (7ft) above sea level, and the government says they face being wiped out if oceans rise.
“We’re now actually trying to send our message, let the world know what is happening, and what will happen to the Maldives if climate change is not checked,” President Nasheed said.
On the skeptics-and-scoffers side of the debate, Sunday marks the worldwide release (at a series of, gulp, “Cinematic Tea Parties”) of “Not Evil Just Wrong,” described as “the film Al Gore and Hollywood don’t want you to see. It reveals the true human cost of Global Warming hysteria.”
I suppose it’s unfair to judge a film by its trailer but, um, talk about hysteria…
There seems to be a strong suggestion that anyone interested in alternatives to fossil fuels (especially Al Gore) is an elitist who wants to shut down all industry and create massive unemployment just so a few birds can live.
Someone asks: “Why do they [i.e., environmentalists and especially Al Gore] want to go back to the dark ages and the black plague?”
Gives a whole new meaning to the word “strawman.”
If it’s wrong to favor fossil-fuel alternatives for environmental reasons, is it at least OK to favor them so that regimes in oil-rich places like Iran and Saudi Arabia won’t be able to make so much trouble for their own people and others?
Update: The New York Times reports:
Saudi Arabia is trying to enlist other oil-producing countries to support a provocative idea: if wealthy countries reduce their oil consumption to combat global warming, they should pay compensation to oil producers.
The oil-rich kingdom has pushed this position for years in earlier climate-treaty negotiations. While it has not succeeded, its efforts have sometimes delayed or disrupted discussions. The kingdom is once again gearing up to take a hard line on the issue at international negotiations scheduled for Copenhagen in December.
The chief Saudi negotiator, Mohammad al-Sabban, described the position as a “make or break” provision for the Saudis, as nations stake out their stance before the global climate summit scheduled for the end of the year.
…..
Petroleum exporters have long used delaying tactics during climate talks. They view any attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by developed countries as a menace to their economies.
(Hat tip: Petra MB)