Catch the left violating their own "book of rules" in the climate debate By Tom Harris If those of us who do not believe in the so-called "climate emergency" are to win the day, we need to take a page out of "Rules for Radicals – A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals." Written in 1971 by Chicago-based community organizer Saul D. Alinsky, "Rules for Radicals" included the crucially important Rule #4: "Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules." I also discussed how we must hold leftists to their own book of rules when it comes to social justice, especially caring for the poor, the elderly and those who are disadvantaged in society. We do this by pointing out that, of the $1.27 trillion USD spent on climate finance in 2022/2023, only a paltry 5% went exclusively to helping poor people adapt to climate change, however caused, a clear social justice violation. Similarly, progressives need to be held to account for the violations in social justice that occur as a result of:
Another item in climate alarmists' "book of rules" is the requirement that they are helping protect the environment and wildlife when they promote wind and solar power and grid-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Yet nothing could be further from the truth and we should hold them to account for this in public meetings, etc. In their 2021 book, "'Clean' Energy Exploitations: Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses That Support 'Clean' Energy," authors Ronald Stein and Todd Royal explain:
Lithium ion-based batteries used in BESS systems rely on a mix of materials that require massive amounts of energy to mine, transport, process and refine, far greater than the extraction and transport of oil and natural gas. Consequently, while batteries are often portrayed by manufacturers as generating no greenhouse gases, even the left-leaning Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has pointed out that: "Mining and processing the minerals, plus the battery manufacturing process, involve substantial emissions of carbon." The CBC cites Jennifer Dunn at Northwestern University's Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience, who explained: "The material that helps power the battery is produced from a number of different metals, things like nickel and cobalt and lithium." And of course, China controls most of the lithium and cobalt, which are often produced with no environmental standards, and often employ child labor and near-slave labor and follow practically no health and safety safeguards. University of Houston Professor Larry Bell reports ("China Targets US Weakness for Afghan Rare Earths, Taiwan Chips," America out Loud, September 25, 2021): "China has amassed stunning control over 70% of the world's lithium supplies and 85% of rare earths supply chains to dominate global industries and jobs that depend on them." Mining and mineral processing of lithium also requires large volumes of water and can pose contamination risks from mine drainage and wastewater discharge. Readers are encouraged to watch the 2020 documentary film "Planet of the Humans" by left-wing film producer Michael Moore. This 2-minute clip from Moore's movie demonstrates that, when you consider how these machines are made, and the huge volumes of toxic waste that is released when they are manufactured, wind and solar power may very well be the dirtiest and most environmentally destructive energy sources on the planet. But perhaps the greatest lie we hear from "green energy" advocates is that the contribution of Industrial Wind Turbines [IWTs] to bird and bat mortality is negligible. In reality, IWTs cause mass slaughter of these animals, especially raptors such as golden eagles, which the Ontario government labeled as "Endangered." Here are some statistics:
And the situation is no better in other countries. Mark Duchamp, President, Save the Eagles International Chairman, World Council for Nature, tells us that birds are killed in Spain at a rate of about 200 birds per turbine per year. It is twice that number for bats, which die simply by flying in the low-pressure zone beside the blades which causes their lungs burst. The slaughter of birds and bats by wind turbines is a powerful issue to bring up in public meetings with politicians. Click on the following image to watch a superb example of a member of the public—retired teacher Karen Bourdeau—confronting candidates for Ottawa mayor with this issue. Note especially the pathetic answer from the leading candidate for mayor, climate activist Catherine McKenney: Ms. Bourdeau was so effective because she applied, not only rule #4, "Make opponents live up to their own book of rules," but also rules #2 and #3 which are: Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty of your opponent. As one would expect of a teacher, Ms. Bourdeau did her homework before asking her question and so knew far more about the issue than any of the candidates for mayor. Consequently, she came across as strong and confident while McKenney looked hopelessly uninformed. Saul Alinsky must be rolling over in his grave that concerned citizens from the right of the political spectrum are using his rules to defeat the left. Let's keep doing exactly that! ____________________ Note: In part 3 of this series on the use of Alinsky's rule #4, I will discuss how to take advantage of the left's supposed support for:
Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition.
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