climate change deniers

Pope Francis today announced his long-awaited encyclical on the environment after weeks of speculation from pundits, and even the leak of an early draft by a reporter that caused a bit of Vatican intrigue. Vatican yanks credentials of reporter behind encyclical leak.

It really did not matter what the Pope had to teach Catholics in his encyclical on the environment to the mighty Wurlitzer of the right-wing noise machine, because they had already pre-emptively dismissed him as a Marxist, and settled on the talking point that Il Papa Francesca should just “Shut the hell up!” Conservative Media vs. The Pope: The Worst Reactions To Pope Francis’ Climate Change Encyclical.

Tea-Publicans in Congress have been using the talking point that “I’m not a scientist” (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night) to explain their “skepticism” of science — skepticism in direct proportion to the size of the political contributions that they receive from the Carbon Monopoly. They have sold their souls for thirty pieces of silver.

The New York Times reports, Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change:

Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action.

The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical Laudato si’ (24 May 2015) is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless exploitation and destruction of the environment, for which he blamed apathy, the reckless pursuit of profits, excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness. The most vulnerable victims are the world’s poorest people, he declared, who are being dislocated and disregarded.

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On Tuesday, Pope Francis hosted a major conference on climate change entitled “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity: The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development.“ The New York Times reports, Scientists and Religious Leaders Discuss Climate Change at Vatican:

[T]here was a sense of urgency at the Vatican on Tuesday when scientists, diplomats and religious and political leaders discussed climate change and its impact on the world’s poor.

“We are the first generation that can end poverty, and the last generation that can avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations said at an international symposium on climate change organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The event presaged a keenly anticipated papal letter on the environment that Pope Francis is expected to issue in June.

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This should be fun. Obama will visit the Florida Everglades on Earth Day — to talk about climate change:

In the President’s weekly Saturday morning address, he declared that he’s headed to the Florida Everglades Wednesday — Earth Day — to “talk about the way that climate change threatens our economy.”

“The Everglades is one of the most special places in our country,” the president said. “But it’s also one of the most fragile.  Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure — and an economic engine for the South Florida tourism industry — at risk.”

“Climate change can no longer be denied — or ignored,” said Obama.

This sculpture by Issac Cordal in Berlin is called “Politicians discussing global warming.”

Florida Governor Lex Luthor Rick Scott has unofficially banned state officials from using the term “climate change” because it’s a proven scientific concept that Scott has chosen not to believe. “There’s no such policy,” he insists.

But during a Florida Senate hearing last month, Bryan Koon, chief of the Florida Division of Emergency, stammered and smiled his way through a line of questioning when state senators tried to goad him into uttering those two magic words. He refused to take the bait. The video went viral. Video: Watch Scott’s Disaster Chief Refuse to Say “Climate Change”.

“Climate censorship” is now spreading to other Red States. Climate censorship gains steam in red states – Sun Herald:

While plenty of people found humor in the recent news that officials in Florida and Wisconsin are censoring state workers’ ability to talk about, much less work on, climate change, other states are not necessarily laughing. In fact, several political and environmental experts told InsideClimate News they could use it as a model to imitate.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott became the leader of this potential trend last month when news emerged that he had ordered environmental staffers not to use the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in communications or reports. Wisconsin established a similar policy this month, voting to ban staffers who manage thousands of acres of forests from working on or talking about global warming.

Experts now say that conservative lawmakers and public officials were far from embarrassed by the censorship revelations; they were emboldened by them. It could lead to a bevy of Republican lawmakers enacting similar policies in other states.

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It sounds like the set-up for a joke: “six Catholics and three Jews walk into a bar . . .” Only we are talking about the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s six Catholic members are: Atonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor.

The first five of these Catholics gave us Citizens United, declaring that corporations are people, and unlike you, can spend unlimited amounts of money to corrupt our political process.

It turns out that the “Felonious Five” are crosswise with Pope Frank on Citizens United. C’mon Frank! Make them repent and say 300 rosaries for penance. Jeanne Cummings writes at Bloomberg, The Pope v. Citizens United:

Campaign finance reformers have been on a steady losing streak in the courts and Congress. But they may finally have found a champion who can elevate their cause: Pope Francis. “We must achieve a free sort of election campaign, not financed,” the Pope told an Argentine magazine in an interview released this week. “Because many interests come into play in financing of an election campaign and then they ask you to pay back. So, the election campaign should be independent from anyone who may finance it.”

To drive his point home, the Pontiff added: “Perhaps public financing would allow for me, the citizen, to know that I’m financing each candidate with a given amount of money.”

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