Posted on 12/19/2006 12:12:02 AM PST by gr8eman
Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley, has sent an open letter to Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-Maine) in response to their recent open letter telling the CEO of ExxonMobil to cease funding climate-skeptic scientists. (http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf).
Lord Monckton, former policy adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, writes: "You defy every tenet of democracy when you invite ExxonMobil to deny itself the right to provide information to senior elected and appointed government officials who disagree with your opinion."
In what The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail has called "an intemperate attempt to squelch debate with a hint of political consequences," Senators Rockefeller and Snowe released an open letter dated October 30 to ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, insisting he end Exxon's funding of a "climate change denial campaign." The Senators labeled scientists with whom they disagree as "deniers," a term usually directed at "Holocaust deniers." Some voices on the political left have called for the arrest and prosecution of skeptical scientists. The British Foreign Secretary has said skeptics should be treated like advocates of Islamic terror and must be denied access to the media.
Responds Lord Monckton, "Sceptics and those who have the courage to support them are actually helpful in getting the science right. They do not, as you improperly suggest, obfuscate the issue: they assist in clarifying it by challenging weaknesses in theconsensus argument and they compel necessary corrections ... "
Lord Monckton's Churchillian reproof continues, "You acknowledge the effectiveness of the climate sceptics. In so doing, you pay a compliment to the courage of those free-thinking scientists who continue to research climate change independently despite the likelihood of refusal of publication in journals that have taken preconceived positions; the hate mail and vilification from ignorant environmentalists; and the threat of loss of tenure in institutions of learning which no longer make any pretence to uphold or cherish academic freedom."
Of Britain's Royal Society, a State-funded scientific body which, like the Senators, has publicly leaned on ExxonMobil, Lord Monckton said, "The Society's long-standing funding by taxpayers does not ensure any greater purity of motive or rigour of thought than industrial funding of scientists who dare to question whetherclimate change will do any harm."
To the Senators, comparison of ExxonMobil's funding of climate sceptics with tobacco-industry funding of research denying the link between smoking and lung cancer, Lord Monckton counters, "Your comparison of Exxon's funding of sceptical scientists and groups with the former antics of the tobacco industry is unjustifiable and unworthy of any credible elected representatives. Either withdraw that monstrous comparison forthwith, or resign so as not to pollute the office you hold."
Concludes Lord Monckton, "I challenge you to withdraw or resign because your letter is the latest in what appears to be an internationally-coordinated series of maladroit and malevolent attempts to silence the voices of scientists and others who have sound grounds, rooted firmly in the peer- reviewed scientific literature, to question what you would have us believe is the unanimous agreement of scientists worldwide that global warming will lead to what you excitedly but unjustifiably call disastrous and calamitous consequences."
Yeah, but it's a close run thing...
British Lord Stings Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold Free Speech or Resign'
Thank you, Lord Monckton, for getting it right. And now, if you would, a follow up letter to Senators McCain and Feingold please.
"Was there no American political figure with the courage to write something like this?"
No.
And this lack of political courage is in my opinion responsible for our recent losses in the House and Senate.
Having convictions is of no use unless one is willing to stand up for them.
LOL!
--Was there no American political figure with the courage to write something like this?--
Senator Inhofe. Perhaps not quite as eloquent as an English Lord, but effective nonetheless.
Fancy that. This turned into a Bush bash thread.
I'm game.
You people are beyond ridiculous.
Why would the President know about R and S's letter to this British Lord?
If it was brought to his attention by someone, I trust he would let the arrogant, ill-informed Senators fight their own battles and get their noses bloodied by those whom they offended.
If Senator Inhofe commented on it, as someone said, that is much more appropriate, as these people are writing as U.S. Senators, not in any way connected to the WH or the Executive Branch.
Carry on, Mr. President.
Don't let those who engage in sheer idiocy get you down.
Lives up to all my expectations. Bet she's got little "man-hands" too.
Sounds good. Anybody who has the guts to put Rockefeller in his place is alright by me. Just too bad they had to come from such a faraway place. Shows how spineless our country is when none of our own people can stand up to the likes of him. They are so dern afraid of the Rockefeller power, money and the like, that they all of a sudden become cowering little sheep just a whimpering away...
Way to go!!
We all should writhe letters to WV and ME newspapers in this vain.
The earth cools and the earth warms.
prevent a wave from crashing to the shore or a sine wave from going up and down. Same thing
More Gasses were spewed out of MT ST Hellens than have ever come out of all the tailpipes in the the world ever combined!!!
There is one, though he was not responding to the same question about global warming.
"You have more censorship in the McCain-Feingold bill, which blocks the right of free speech about American campaigns than you have from the FBI closing down jihadists. We've already limited the 1st Amendment right of free speech by a set of rules that are stunningly absurd. In California, you can raise soft money to run negative commercials attacking your opponent through the state party and you cannot raise soft money to run a positive commercial on behalf of your own candidate. That's California state law. It's stunningly stupid and a clear infringement of free speech.
"So we've had a 30-year period of saying it's OK to infringe free speech as long as it's about politics. But now if you want to be a jihadist, and you want to go kill people, well who are we to say that's morally wrong? I think that's suicidal. I'm using the word deliberately. A country -- a Supreme Court justice once said 'The Constitution is not a suicide pact. This country has every right to defend itself, and you saw the same thing recently on this U.S. Airlines provocation, where you had six people go way out of their way to cause trouble, and then claim they were infringed upon. And I think, frankly, the President should invite that U.S. Airlines crew to the White House and thank them, because we ought to set a standard that if you're provocative about killing people, we're not going to show you any mercy.'"
-- Newt Gingrich, http://www.humanevents.com/winningthefuture.php?id=18533
Well, I haven't read the posts on this thread. It's been a few months since I've read poster comments on ANY thread, unless someone pings me to something in particular.
There is a growing group of ugly personalities who seem to try and outdo each other in ignorant and mean-spirited posts.
It's a shame that the forum has become what it has, but maybe it will change someday. In the interim, I'm just letting the Bush bashers have their little fun. It seems an awful lot of posters revel in their ignorance and stupid posts.
Thanks for replying. You don't have to read the posts. I don't blame you.
Just know that it started out as people mad that Senators Rockefeller and Snowe had sent a letter to a member of the British House of Lords who doesn't believe in global warming, and told him he should stop his efforts to convince people of his views, because they think he is just doing the bidding of EXXON MOBILE, and it quickly turned to a thread of the usual hostile suspects bashing President Bush because HE HAD NOT PUBLICLY CRITICIZED THESE SENATORS FOR DOING THAT.
I was asking what made them think he even knew about it, and even if he came to know, it would clearly not be his place to publicly criticize Senators but let them fight their own battles and get their come uppance from the person they sent the letter to (which they did, ha ha, the guy really let them have it).
And I started by telling them their bashing on this point was beyond ridiculous.
Good for Lord Monckton!
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