Conspiracy!

No, not with Russia.

And not a Clinton tale of crimes and ill deeds gone unpunished.

The real conspiracy, the genuine article of a unified, organized conspiracy, is the one suggesting there is climate change and it is largely caused by human activities.

And it is taking place right in front of us. Newt Gingrich calls this conspiracy, “The newest excuse to take control of our lives by left-leaning intellectuals.”

Rush Limbaugh, political commentator, called the climate hoax, “One of the most preposterous hoaxes in the history of the country.”

Well, we know not to trust intellectuals, right? Because so many of them are left-leaning, therefore unable to be believed ever.

And as for possibly the biggest hoax in the history of the country, of course Lefties would try to trick us into treating the planet better. As if it is the only place we must live!

Perhaps the most informed voice on the subject, President Donald Trump, says, “People like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.”

So, there you are, there is doubtlessly a conspiracy by radical leftist scientists, democrats and people of lower intelligence than our Great Leader to trick Americans into caring for the planet.

Fortunately, for all of us, we have a president seeking to turn back the clock on coal.

Yes, coal, that fossil fuel that burns in a way that poisons the air we breathe, that costs more than its alternatives and that fills the air with carbon monoxide. That coal.

And our president has encouraged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lessen those pesky regulations that have cleaned up our environment from the days of rivers catching fire, because fire does, after all, burn off some of the poisonous sludge on the surface of the waterways.

And, are we not fortunate to have a president that faces down the entire planet of leaders on the Fake News Climate Crisis, and pulls the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords, accords founded by an earlier version of the U.S.?

There are but a few counter arguments to the massive conspiracy to trick us into doing something about climate change:

But for American Republicans, virtually no one on the planet denies climate change nor its human causes. No one. No nation anywhere on the planet.

The evidence for climate change is in our oceans, in our fires, our floods, our storms, our temperature changes. It is a question of what will you believe, Republicans, or your lying eyes and the research on climate change?

Climate deniers, those smarter than the average bear, believers like Trump, attempt to argue that their “belief” actually matters. It does not. The argument is not about beliefs, but about facts, knowledge, research on one side, and “I just don’t believe” on the other side.

It is not to argue that the few humans on the planet that deny climate change and its human contributions are arguing ignorance against truth, though they are making exactly that argument. The real issue is, is it not about time to stop listening to dumb folks with nothing more than political intent and start saving the planet?

The worst case is saving the planet makes our home cleaner and better for humans. The best case is human innovation is a renewing and unifying plan to make renewable energy become all our energy.

Newt and Rush and Donald really are the Luddites of today. They may choose to spit into the wind against human progress, but we need not watch or listen.

 

Jim Crawford is a retired educator, political enthusiast and award-winning columnist living here in the Tri-State.