The fossil fuel industry has a lot going for it. An absolute imperative to have some form of energy. Long-standing relationships across the bureaucracy to get what it wants. Money. Power.
But one of its true secret weapons is the Useful Idiot.
A Useful Idiot can be relied upon to reflexively oppose any alternative to oil-and-gas, and on environmental grounds. While BP prepares to once again drill the Gulf of Mexico, and natural gas drillers destroy the water supply through fracking, having steamrolled their opposition, useful idiots are happy to stand in the way of any alternative.
Take Chris Clarke. Please.
Clarke, a self-proclaimed environmentalist and freelance writer, is also co-founder and sole employee of Solar Done Right, which has made itself a major opponent of solar development in the California deserts.
Clarke has some credibility in the environmental community. He hangs out at liberal blogs like Pandagon.
He should be on our side. Only he's not.
He's on the oil companies' side.
Solar Done Right claims it's not against solar, just big solar. Small solar is fine by Solar Done Right. Of course, without some big projects we know utilities relentlessly oppose all alternative energy proposals, and we also know that when opposition appears to small solar Solar Done Right magically disappears.
That's useful idiocy in a nutshell. It's easy to protest against something. It's much harder to protest for something.
This week Solar Done Right issued a scathing report against big solar, calling the Bureau of Land Management's 11,000 page report identifying potential energy sites “a grave mistake in need of reversal.”
Unfortunately we don't have a choice between small solar and big solar. We have a choice between solar and oil. When you fight a solar project reflexively you are doing the work of the oil companies, as surely as if you were a Koch Brothers employee.
Another bunch of useful idiots calls themselves Wind Concerns Ontario. Its cause is fighting wind projects in rural areas. They're actually appealing a recent court ruling which keeps wind turbines 550 meters (that's a third of a mile, folks) from buildings. They're organizing mass protests and promising to support anti-environmental candidates in coming elections.
And don't think that if you do solar instead of wind you're home free. Bernard Pope of Ontario Farmland Preservation says solar on farms destroys the usefulness of land.
Please.
By having Useful Idiots to fight alternative energy projects of all kinds, oil, coal and natural gas lobbyists have the best of both worlds. They don't have to get involved, just point out (gently) that energy is needed, in order to continue destroying our oceans, our water tables, and our planet in the name of their asset valuations.
But Useful Idiots will never know who the real enemy is until it's too late.
Dana Blankenhorn, You dear are a complete bubble head twit. You have spouted off on an emotional rant with no facts to back you up. You have disrespected over 2 million people in Ontario and scientists from around the world. No one will even bother to argue with you as it would be a complete waste of time. I would rather discus this with a cucumber than a Useless Feckless Idiot that can only rant and name call. You have actually helped our cause because even someone new to the discussion would recognize a shallow rant from an emotional air head. Keep up the good work dear.
Dana Blankenhorn, You dear are a complete bubble head twit. You have spouted off on an emotional rant with no facts to back you up. You have disrespected over 2 million people in Ontario and scientists from around the world. No one will even bother to argue with you as it would be a complete waste of time. I would rather discus this with a cucumber than a Useless Feckless Idiot that can only rant and name call. You have actually helped our cause because even someone new to the discussion would recognize a shallow rant from an emotional air head. Keep up the good work dear.
Dana – here’s a virtual quarter to toss to mmburkett so you can cross the bridge in safety.
Dana – here’s a virtual quarter to toss to mmburkett so you can cross the bridge in safety.
MMburkett: How do you think attacking me personally, rather than addressing the argument, helps your cause?
As I wrote, it’s not a question of pretty wind or ugly wind, urban wind or country wind. It’s a question, in Canada, of wind or oil shale, of wind or fracking for gas.
You’re not going to stop the search for energy. Choices have to be made. Every energy industry discomfits someone in some important way. In opposing large wind projects because they might spoil the view, you make the choice of fracking and oil shale, which destroy the whole planet, easier for policy makers.
This makes you of use to cavemen. We need farmers.
MMburkett: How do you think attacking me personally, rather than addressing the argument, helps your cause?
As I wrote, it’s not a question of pretty wind or ugly wind, urban wind or country wind. It’s a question, in Canada, of wind or oil shale, of wind or fracking for gas.
You’re not going to stop the search for energy. Choices have to be made. Every energy industry discomfits someone in some important way. In opposing large wind projects because they might spoil the view, you make the choice of fracking and oil shale, which destroy the whole planet, easier for policy makers.
This makes you of use to cavemen. We need farmers.