I was going to say "of the oil industry" but on second thoughts he really is just a tool. Not a big one mind, more a little pink acorn nestling in a thatch of black pubes.
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| Certainly bullied at school |
He's grasped onto a second tranche of emails from 2007 that he feels undoubtably smash the global warming conspiracy. The fact that they're just bit pieces of emails that could be relating to the University of Anglia's Christmas party for all we know is neither here nor there.
One of the emails compares selling Climate change to the world with selling unleaded petrol to an unwilling public back in the 70's & 80's. This is something I've felt for a long time. I'm not really that phased by global warming, I think it's happening and it's happening because of increased Carbon Dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This is the accepted science by the vast majority of respectable scientific organisations, it's also the line a lot of big corporations are taking - and they won't do that lightly as there's a cost associated with that stand-point. However there are people who are vehemently against it as if it's true it will upset their comfortable existence.
So in order to keep their life on an even keel they pick at the science and scientists through popular press and (nowadays) the blogosphere. You don't have to invest time and money into scientific research in order to demonstrate your point, you can just insert some uncertainty into the science that means you're going to pay more to drive to the newsagent.
This is what James Delingpole does, well he doesn't do it personally, he ctrl c/ ctrl v from other's who have the brains to pick out little "Ah but how do you know?" points in the same way people did (and still do) with lead in petrol, lung cancer from cigarettes, CFCs depleting the ozone layer and evolution. This is what was mentioned in the email he quotes and he knows it's a legitimate point to be put against climate change deniers. So he goes for a direct hit and questions the wisdom of removing lead from petrol.
I know what you're thinking - there's data coming out of your ears that show what a great thing this was - blood lead levels have dropped
massively in countries that have taken lead out of petrol and this has had great benefits to the
health of children. It's even been postulated that the removal could have had a
positive impact on crime rates! But yet still JD bangs on about the cost - £600 on the price of a new car - being too much. It appears you can put a price on your child''s health and it's related to the cost of a Ford Escort.
And this is why he's a tool. He's can't bare the thought that someone knows better than him and will tell him what to do. He can't bare the fact he's wrong about anything and he'll whine and bitch until he's puce in the face that he's right. You just know what sort of spoiled brat he was at school and you've got to feel for his parents.
