Fuel the fear

Two craphead eco-nut reporters managed to get front page space in the SMH today with a story entitled:

Revealed: polluters' fear tactics on climate

I'm talking big headline, right there across the front page. The SMH should just rename itself to Green Left Daily and be done with it.

Let me re-write some paragraphs.

The SMH version:

BIG greenhouse polluting companies around the world, employing thousands of lobbyists, are exerting heavy pressure on governments to weaken climate change laws at home and slow progress on an international climate agreement in Copenhagen, a global investigation reveals.

My version:

BIG green lobby groups around the world, employing thousands of lobbyists, are exerting heavy pressure on governments to strengthen climate change laws at home and speed progress on an international climate agreement in Copenhagen, a global investigation reveals.

SMH:

In Australia, 20 companies who have already won the most concessions from the Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme employ 28 lobbying firms with well over 100 staff, many of them former politicians, political advisers or government officials.

Me:

In Australia, 20 charities who have already won the most concessions from the Rudd Government's Dept of Climate Change employ 28 lobbying firms with well over 100 staff, many of them former politicians, political advisers or government officials.

SMH:

While lobbyists for the renewable energy industry, the carbon traders and environmental groups are also becoming more prominent, the report finds that their voices ''can barely be heard above the clamour of the older, well-capitalised and deeply entrenched industries that have been lobbying on climate change for more than 20 years''.

Me:

While lobbyists for the the carbon traders and environmental groups are also becoming more prominent, the report finds that their voices ''can barely be heard above the clamour of the older, well-capitalised and deeply entrenched green groups like Greenpeace and the WWF that have been lobbying on climate change for more than 20 years''.

I don't know how the SMH can call the tactics of industry associations "promoting fear" when Al Gore has made himself a multi-millionaire by scaring the shit out of people for a decade. Tim Flannery has also jumped on the greenwagon and is raking it in by promoting fear and loathing.

As for industry having deep pockets, I'd like someone to compare how much industry has spent on campaigning against this crap as opposed to how much Greenpeace etc, plus untold lunatic flat earth government agencies have spent on trying to make CO2 scarier than Freddie Kruger.

I think they would find that industry has been outspent perhaps 1000 to 1.