By Nelson Spear with Dustin Hull
NOTE: This original article was first published on January 17, 2014 on the Texas GOP Vote website, found here. On February 14, 2014, I was going door-to-door for my campaign. That afternoon I met Dustin Hull and his family. Dustin invited me to sit down and talk with him about the current issues. I eagerly accepted his invitation. After meeting his family, we began to talk. When I mentioned that I was a conservative write, he asked what I had written. I mentioned this article and how the extreme environmentalists are like characters from a fairy tale. He chuckled and then he got real quiet. He thought for a moment and said, you know these extreme environmentalists are also like the Pied Piper of Hamelin who is now piping our voters away not with the truth but some magical spell. I reflected for just a second and realized that he was right. After talking the idea through with each other, I asked if could add his idea to my article. He said yes. So, here is the article redux with proper authorship accreditation.
I am tired of all of the warning labels.
The latest one comes from California (I am not surprised. Are you?) where a local group is trying to get the California government to require notices to be posted on gas pumps that filling your car can cause … wait for it … yes, global warming. The problem with too many warning labels is that as the warning labels increase, our culture becomes desensitized to real issues like not smoking near a gas pump. I see it as a Chicken Little/Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem/Pied Piper of Hamlin problem.
It is a Chicken Little Problem. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. The American culture is bombarded and saturated with too many warnings (like the proposed warning). In fact, no credible evidence exists to support this particular warning. The sky is not falling. Most of these types of warnings are issued without little or no scientific basis. It is as if this obscure group who proposes the new warning had to find some new way to bring attention to their religion called man-made global warming. Reading the article about the proposed new warning carefully, this is what the group’s attention is all about.
It is a Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem. Every day we have a wolf alert about the environment when there has been no wolf. Extreme environmentalists, like Al Gore in particular, have lost lots of credibility with those that think and reason. Like other liberal extremists, the environmental extremists overstate the possible immediate consequences of their current target du jour. Unfortunately for those of us in the energy and mining business, we seem to be a frequent target. Some of their claims have been so wild that if there ever was something new about the environment that we should need to know, we could not and will not believe them because they have cried wolf way too many times. For example, in 2007, Al Gore predicted that the northern polar ice cap could be completely gone in as little as seven years, but at the most 22 years. That was seven years ago. Even by the most slanted scientific survey, the northern ice cap has not been diminished to the degree that Al Gore predicted. At present rates, every credible scientist would also agree that it would not melt in 22 years. Gore has yet to issue any explanation. Thus, the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem can be defined as repeatedly exaggerating a specific problem. In this case, the people will stop listening to you.
It is a Pied Piper of Hamelin Problem. Most of us remember the story of the Pied Piper. As a reminder to those who do not remember the story well, here is a synopsis. The town of Hamelin was plagued with rats. A piper with a magical flute came into town and made a deal with the town that in exchange for payment, he would lure the rats of out of town. The town agreed and the piper led the rats of out of town. When the piper returned for payment, the town refused to pay. In retaliation, he used his magical flute once again but this time to lure the children of the village away. In this example, Al Gore and others like him are the Pied Piper and their flute is man-made global warming. And these extremists have come to expect that every time that they pipe their magical flute that we should all follow them blindly without thinking or asking questions.
Let us not be like lemmings that blindly follow those in front of them to their own demise by listening to the magical flute. Gore has made a fortune by piping his magical flute. He has also made a lot of followers. Now, I am ok with another man’s belief so long it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, it does pick our pocket, especially those of us in the energy and mining industry. Whether it is fighting increased regulations or defending mineral development plans, proponents of man-made global warming have cost the energy and mining industry millions. It also has cost consumers millions of dollars because petroleum based products and precious metals are found in almost everything we use on a daily basis.
Conservatives have tried to point out these failed predictions; however, the mainstream media seems to have forgotten Al Gore’s predictions. Let me encourage all conservatives continue to be vigilant to point out these failures no matter what the mainstream media says.
Sinatra Was Right, Fairy Tales Do Come True and the Extreme Environmentalists Are the Central Characters Redux
By Nelson Spear with Dustin Hull
NOTE: This original article was first published on January 17, 2014 on the Texas GOP Vote website, found here. On February 14, 2014, I was going door-to-door for my campaign. That afternoon I met Dustin Hull and his family. Dustin invited me to sit down and talk with him about the current issues. I eagerly accepted his invitation. After meeting his family, we began to talk. When I mentioned that I was a conservative write, he asked what I had written. I mentioned this article and how the extreme environmentalists are like characters from a fairy tale. He chuckled and then he got real quiet. He thought for a moment and said, you know these extreme environmentalists are also like the Pied Piper of Hamelin who is now piping our voters away not with the truth but some magical spell. I reflected for just a second and realized that he was right. After talking the idea through with each other, I asked if could add his idea to my article. He said yes. So, here is the article redux with proper authorship accreditation.
I am tired of all of the warning labels.
The latest one comes from California (I am not surprised. Are you?) where a local group is trying to get the California government to require notices to be posted on gas pumps that filling your car can cause … wait for it … yes, global warming. The problem with too many warning labels is that as the warning labels increase, our culture becomes desensitized to real issues like not smoking near a gas pump. I see it as a Chicken Little/Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem/Pied Piper of Hamlin problem.
It is a Chicken Little Problem. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. The American culture is bombarded and saturated with too many warnings (like the proposed warning). In fact, no credible evidence exists to support this particular warning. The sky is not falling. Most of these types of warnings are issued without little or no scientific basis. It is as if this obscure group who proposes the new warning had to find some new way to bring attention to their religion called man-made global warming. Reading the article about the proposed new warning carefully, this is what the group’s attention is all about.
It is a Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem. Every day we have a wolf alert about the environment when there has been no wolf. Extreme environmentalists, like Al Gore in particular, have lost lots of credibility with those that think and reason. Like other liberal extremists, the environmental extremists overstate the possible immediate consequences of their current target du jour. Unfortunately for those of us in the energy and mining business, we seem to be a frequent target. Some of their claims have been so wild that if there ever was something new about the environment that we should need to know, we could not and will not believe them because they have cried wolf way too many times. For example, in 2007, Al Gore predicted that the northern polar ice cap could be completely gone in as little as seven years, but at the most 22 years. That was seven years ago. Even by the most slanted scientific survey, the northern ice cap has not been diminished to the degree that Al Gore predicted. At present rates, every credible scientist would also agree that it would not melt in 22 years. Gore has yet to issue any explanation. Thus, the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf Problem can be defined as repeatedly exaggerating a specific problem. In this case, the people will stop listening to you.
It is a Pied Piper of Hamelin Problem. Most of us remember the story of the Pied Piper. As a reminder to those who do not remember the story well, here is a synopsis. The town of Hamelin was plagued with rats. A piper with a magical flute came into town and made a deal with the town that in exchange for payment, he would lure the rats of out of town. The town agreed and the piper led the rats of out of town. When the piper returned for payment, the town refused to pay. In retaliation, he used his magical flute once again but this time to lure the children of the village away. In this example, Al Gore and others like him are the Pied Piper and their flute is man-made global warming. And these extremists have come to expect that every time that they pipe their magical flute that we should all follow them blindly without thinking or asking questions.
Let us not be like lemmings that blindly follow those in front of them to their own demise by listening to the magical flute. Gore has made a fortune by piping his magical flute. He has also made a lot of followers. Now, I am ok with another man’s belief so long it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, it does pick our pocket, especially those of us in the energy and mining industry. Whether it is fighting increased regulations or defending mineral development plans, proponents of man-made global warming have cost the energy and mining industry millions. It also has cost consumers millions of dollars because petroleum based products and precious metals are found in almost everything we use on a daily basis.
Conservatives have tried to point out these failed predictions; however, the mainstream media seems to have forgotten Al Gore’s predictions. Let me encourage all conservatives continue to be vigilant to point out these failures no matter what the mainstream media says.