Dear Fictional Editor:

I was sipping my organic, free trade coffee, enjoying my break at work, listening to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Sweden. I must say that it is a very impressive event, but I am chagrined that not only did Al Gore get one of their prestigious awards, but also he used the platform to once again evangelize for the global warming propaganda. I don’t think Gore is deliberately trying to deceive, at least I hope not; but it is frustrating to hear him present one view and one interpretation of the available statistics.

He had a well-written speech (whether he wrote it himself or not), and he is a fine orator if you get past the slight whine. He was passionate and presented his talking points like a pastor out to convert the unbelieving heathen. Sorry to say, I wasn’t converted.

Now I must say that I recycle; I avoid plastics; I use reusable grocery bags; and I don’t use toxic pesticides (well, maybe a little, but only when the AV ant count in my kitchen reaches 100 or more). I’m a health nut, and I really try to be a good steward of the earth. But some of the governmental, and hence societal changes, that Gore and his allies are calling for could be destructive to the economy of our Westernized nations while at the same time giving a pass to quasi-developing nations. And when there are disasters and help is needed, it is the “rich” benevolent West that runs to the aid of the underprivileged. And, yes, that is how it should be! But change must be incremental and done in such a way that livelihoods are not destroyed for the cause of an idea—an idea which is disputed and not unanimously held by all scientists everywhere.

I read a book called State of Fear by Michael Crichton of Jurassic Park fame. Within his plot line, which is obviously fiction, he includes a plethora of factual information and graphs that show there is another way to interpret the “facts” bandied about. While Gore is showing a melting glacier in South America, a supposed result of global warming, on the other side of the same mountain range is a glacier that is growing. His dire assertions that the seas are rising and millions will die are contradicted by scientists who fail to see any change in the water levels on the Southern Hemisphere islands he references. For many of his talking points and dramatic photos in his movie, there are other photos and explanations that bring greater balance to the panic. But we hate to think of the cute polar bears suffering and heading to extinction. We see the graphic, so we buy the propaganda.

I had an aunt who was a history buff. She had news clippings dating back to the mid 1800s when at least two different years snow fell every month of the year back in Canada where I’m from. It was devastating because farmers couldn’t plant their crops. But it passed. It was a cycle. Much of what we are seeing is the same. When I was in college (the first time), we were freaked out about global cooling and overpopulation. The world was supposed to have ended by now! But please not before a latté refill. That is not to say we should sit and do nothing about pollution. We should, as a people, be constantly seeking ways to be good stewards of the earth and use technology in a more responsible and healthy way.

What concerns me, and I think someone at your paper ought to do some investigative reporting on this, is that it is profitable for certain entities to keep the panic button pressed. In Crichton’s book, he hypothesizes that since funding for these environmental agencies is dependent on there being a crisis, it is necessary to create a “state of fear” to keep the money flowing. Sometimes, we tend to think that environmentalists are all poor, tree hugging hippies with long beards, who eat tofu and meditate—one with the earth. But the environmental agencies created in the 50s and 60s are multimillion dollar corporations with huge budgets and they need our fear to stoke the fires and keep the cash flowing in.

Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Tipper Gore