By K. Daniel Glover
Unlike Al Gore, Ann and Phelim love a good debate about the excesses of environmentalism, and they proved it this week at the National Conservative Student Conference in Washington. Most of the crowd at the Young America’s Foundation event applauded the message of Not Evil Just Wrong, which exposes the lies about global warming and the DDT scare tactics that inspired today’s environmentalism. But there were a few skeptics who engaged Phelim and Ann in debate both during and after the event. One woman asked whether today’s technology could ensure that DDT does not hurt the environment if used to fight malaria. “There is no evidence that DDT has caused harm to anyone, anywhere, ever in the world,” Phelim said. “But it’s been a very good propaganda campaign.” Ann added that environmentalists aren’t above lying. “You’re safe enough,” she assured. The bluntest exchange occurred a when a man from the Young Britons’ Foundation, who said his father is a member of the British Green Party, made the case for protecting “green spaces” in London. “I would like us to grow up in a world that has green spaces and wildlife and all of the rest of it,” he said, asking Phelim and Ann their views on aviation expansion. Phelim reminded the audience that Gore “has an electricity bill 10 times the average American” and that stopping airport expansion in London also means stopping it in poor countries that need more of that kind of progress. “I really, really, really want to see the day when everybody in Africa and London has Al Gore’s electricity bill,” Phelim added. “It will mean the end of poverty. … And we’re not going to end poverty by stopping airports expanding.” Ann scoffed at the notion that the world is on the verge of losing all of its green spaces, a concept pushed on children in the 2008 animated movie WALL-E. And she praised the value of big cities like London, which contribute to the arts, education and medicine. After the speech, Ann chatted with several college students. One of them, also from Britain, insisted that mankind is to blame for “climate change.” He characterized himself as a moderate and distanced himself from both anti-pollution legislation and environmentalists who say there are too many people on the planet, but he said carbon dioxide emissions are a problem. Ann peppered the man with questions about why the earth was warmer before and whether the United States should impose regulations to address his concerns. Toward the end of the debate, the man noted that he hadn’t tried to escape. “Al Gore walks away,” Ann said in response. “What do you make of that?” “If I had studied the issue in depth and I was armed with facts and statistics [like Gore],” he said, “then I’d stay and argue.” The British student is definitely the exception to the rule. As Ann noted in her speech, environmentalists love to talk about “settled science” and shut down rhetorically whenever they are challenged about the havoc they have wreaked on poor children. After they “do their whole emotional thing about the lemurs,” she said, “they will eventually walk away because they have no answer to your question.”
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