Culture Wars
Getting Naked to Save the Glaciers
by Clay Staggs
No, that wasn’t a typo. And, yes, this is going to be as blazingly stupid as the title suggests. In fact, when trying to categorize this entry, I was sorely tempted to create a new category called “Too Dumb to Believe.” Honestly, sometimes I read real news stories and wonder if I’ve accidentally clicked over to the Onion.
So earlier this month, a group of 600 (probably frozen) morons decided to get naked and have their picture taken on a melting Swiss glacier. It’s hard to say what’s the worst aspect of this whole spectacle. It could be the fact that the photographer, who’s done lots of shots of large groups of naked people in public places, seems to have a very weird obsession with what would ordinarily be considered indecent exposure. It could be the respect that the AFP writer pays to this highly questionable cause, referring to the photographees as “eco-conscious volunteers.” It could be the nauseating self-congratulatory do-gooder pose that the organizers of the event strike:
Volunteers for the Swiss photoshoot were asked to turn up by train and cable car, to avoid generating carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.
But, winning by a nose is the brain-numbing illogic of stripping naked on a glacier to “draw[] attention to melting Alpine glaciers, one clear sign of global warming and of man-made climate change… .” Can someone please explain this to me? Is there anyone that really and truly looks at this and thinks about global warming? I dare anyone to see this picture and think of anything except the fact that there are a bunch of naked doofuses on a sheet of ice. I think the local mayor’s quote pretty well sums it up: “There’s no need to get undressed, I can show you very nice pictures of the glacier.”
Oh, and I LOVE the agenda journalism - the melting glaciers are a “clear sign … of man-made climate change.” Note the immediate leap to the conclusion that because the glacier is melting (as glaciers have been since the last ice age), it’s man’s fault. BUT WAIT! According to researchers in Norway, moose flatulence produces more greenhouse gases than driving a car. So I guess those “eco-conscious volunteers” took the train for nothing.
All this is just so ridiculous. It’s like all semblance of logic has left public debate. The emperor, literally this time, has no clothes.
Posted by Clay Staggs at August 24, 2007 09:39 AM
Clay, I don’t think I can really try to trump that post with more eco-madness. However, maybe I can offer some level-headed comments by Michael Griffin (NASA Chief). He was criticized for his comments about global warming on NPR. You can listen to the 4 min interview here; http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10571499
His comments are excellent.
Contrast that to NEWSWEEK’s cover issue of August 13, 2007: The cover says “naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence. Inside the denial.” The editorial and the cover story are filled with giant presuppositions, bad logic, and irresponsible investigation. Bloggers (including some heavy-hitting scientists, as you can expect) took not-so-polite exceptions to the magazine’s superficial treatment of Global Warming. If you get a chance, read some excerpts from the magazine. It overtly implies that you are a simpleton if you do not believe that man can change the “trend of gloabl warming.”
I read about the moose contribution to global warming in yesterday’s news. Maybe the environmentalist should go shoot some moose…but then, there’s PETA out there, too. Could be quite a standoff!
Still laughing, I can only repeat Jeff Miller’s comment from last week: “I love this blog!”