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Monday 18 March 2013

Manipulators of Children as Political Tools for the Great CO2 Exaggeration Threat are Now 'Alarmed' Themselves

 Here's a revealing sentence in yesterday's good news piece in the Guardian about proposed guidelines which remove explicit mention of  'sustainability' and its stalking horse 'climate change':

'The move has caused alarm among climate campaigners and scientists who say teaching about climate change in schools has helped mobilise young people to be the most vociferous advocates of action by governments, business and society to tackle the issue.'

 Some of those who promoted alarm over CO2 were grossly irresponsible because they ignored the very frail scientific foundations for any such alarm.  Some were naive in treating 'climate scientists' pushing alarm as if they were to be trusted, and the same applies to those who felt the same about the IPCC.  Some were no doubt genuinely alarmed and distressed by taking the speculations seriously as if they were indeed 'settled science'.  But some were cynical and contemptuous of the well-being of the children they deliberately targetted with scare stories and calls to action - mostly by means of their pestering their parents (examples here, here, and here).  The ugly and utterly disgraceful video called 'No Pressure' by the zealots of the 10:10 organisation was a low point of this arrogant and aggressive approach.  

 Now, when some attempt is being made to protect children under 14 from such abuse by making the curriculum a little less suited to being a vehicle for it, 'alarm' (of all things!) is said to be affecting 'climate campaigners and scientists' according to the above report.  Not before time.  Those who have pushed alarm into schools or in other ways at the young have behaved abominably.  They ought to be dismayed by any indication of more responsible adults fighting back.  It may just be a sign that their game is up, that this shameful period in education, in politics, and in science is beginning to end.  Let us hope so.  And let us hope that more and more teachers and parents previously persuaded that 'there must be something in it', will see that whatever that was, it was never enough to justify scaring their children.

 Note added later on 18 March:  Here is a report today of some of these campaigners taking umbrage at being challenged: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/18/climate-change-schools-backlash

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