New York Times hits out at ‘climate denier’ Rick Perry

September 7, 2011 By 21wire 353 Comments

Patrick Henningsen 21st Century Wire September 7, 2011 Few can doubt that 2011 has been the worst year yet for the global warming movement. Scandal after scandal has rocked the climate alarmist camp, with the Utopian mantra of ‘green jobs for everyone’ buckling under the weight of blind subsidies and economic realities. Still, the mainstream media gatekeepers continue their vain attempt to keep the mythology of anthropogenic global warming alive. In a bizarre twist today, The New York Times launched a full-frontal attack on GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry, whom the paper of record believes is “the most vocal denier” of global warming, and is one “who insists that climate change is an unproven theorycreated by a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects.” That Perry finds himself in the cross hairs of the climate camp is somewhat ironic considering that the Texas Governor had previously ran point in the 1988 Presidential election for Al Gore, the progenitor of global warming and patron saint of drowning polar bears. Rick Perry once fought in the trenches for Al Gore in 1988 It is not clear why the New York Times singled out Rick Perry in a GOP field that- almost across the board, rejects the popular mythology of man-made global warming and climate change. Their editorial board states:

“Never mind that nearly all the world’s scientists regard global warming as a serious threat to the planet, with human activities like the burning of fossil fuels a major cause. Never mind that multiple investigations have found no evidence of scientific manipulation. Never mind that America needs a national policy. Mr. Perry has a big soapbox, and what he says, however fallacious, reaches a bigger audience than any scientist can command… The others flatly repudiate the science. Ron Paul of Texas calls global warming “the greatest hoax I think that has been around for many, many years.” Michele Bachmann of Minnesota once said that carbon dioxide was nothing to fear because it is a “natural byproduct of nature” and has complained of “manufactured science.” Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, has called climate change “a beautifully concocted scheme” that is “just an excuse for more government control of your life.”

Putting aside the vaudevillian political journey and obvious aping tendencies of Rick Perry, what is clear from this New York Times climate skeptic hit-piece, is that there is now a clearer line than ever drawn between the Democrat and Republican fields on the issue of climate change. During the 2008 campaign, few candidates dared to question the prevailing climate orthodoxy of the day. Not so true today. This recent hit-piece is an indication that the establishment owned-media will try to use the injured climate movement as a wedge issue in order to polarize voters into a controlled left vs right paradigm during the coming 2012 election. The paper goes on to implore that the 2012 candidates do the right thing and take up the green torch stating, “The nation badly needs a candidate with a coherent, disciplined national strategy. So far, there is no Republican who fits that description.” So do not be surprised that come 2012, part of the electoral conversation will be framed as such, “Democrats are green” and “Republicans are for fossil fuels”. No matter that just this week, after managing to embezzle a half billion dollar Federal government-guaranteed stimulus handout, Obama’s champion green pet Solyndra was put to sleep via Chapter 11 bankruptcy. What we are witnessing here are the last desperate revolutions of a set of wheels that are in the process of falling off climate change’s chuck wagon gravy train. In times of real economic strife, one hopes that the commodity of common sense increases in valuable. Recent shifts in opinion on climate change have certainly reflected this. If that pattern continues, then it spells very bad news for the fabulous carbon economy.