The Trojan Horse of climate ‘skepticism’ penetrates the walls of the indy media

Anthony Black
Canadian Dimension blog
September 27th 2010

After having written ‘The Politics of Doubt: How climate skeptics have abused both science and the public trust’, I have become increasingly aware that the ‘denialist’ stance, though entirely the result of a quintessential, corporate right-wing conspiracy—i.e. sourced almost completely by a by a dozen or so Cold War anti-communist scientists with political connections reaching directly into the White House, and by a slew of right-wing US think tanks (and their bought and paid for phalanx of stooge lawyers and scientific hacks), duly communicated by the servile corporate press, and all financed by the likes of Exxon Mobil and Philip Morris—has penetrated substantial sectors of the ‘progressive’ independent media.

These include such icons as Global Research, Counterpunch, and Brasscheck TV.

Now, not only are these sites seemingly oblivious of the political context of the entire anti-anthropogenic global warming movement, (i.e. as mentioned earlier, a extremely well organized attempt to undermine any science seen as potentially threatening or damaging to ‘free market’ profiteering), but they are operating under the preposterous hypothesis that it is the few thousand or so climate scientists (from all over the world, of differing political persuasions, and working more or less completely independent of any centralized ideological and institutional bias or vested interest) who are in a conspiracy directed against the world at large…but specifically in competition with the globally ascendant corporatist / capitalist ruling power structure on this earth. What an amazing, what a wiley, what a diabolical group they (the scientists of the IPCC) are.

[I am always a bit in awe of this ever fecund argument, i.e. that the world is constantly going up in flames as a result of the poor, the powerless and the downtrodden pushing the wealthy, the mighty and the ascendent around—rather than vice versa.]

Indeed, these few thousand scientists are, apparently, much like the shadowy ‘UN cadres’ who have orchestrated the takeover of the US (a beloved myth of the good ‘ole boy civilian militia yokels) now vying with the global elites for world power…and all for some as yet unspecified gain—perhaps, acontinuation of their government research grants, or perhaps tenure with dibbs on the Department secretary.

Meanwhile, the free market fundamentalists, though having lost in the actual scientific arena, have nevertheless succeeded, not only in delaying any substantive policy action until it is likely too late…but are enjoying a damn good laugh to boot watching as their arch enemies, the ‘progressive, anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist’ indy media, through the auspicies of an uncritical inveterate contrarian-ness, accept their (the corporatists’) well-funded, zealously constructed and criminally insane Trojan Horse of ‘skepticism’.

Ah, the smell of irony in the morning.