“We’re on a mission from God.”

At least Jake and Elwood had a fallback, something they could lean on when in need of a little moral support.    When it comes to “climate change”, what and where exactly is President Obama’s support?

Addressing climate change just doesn’t rank very high with voters.   Amongst the top ten “most important issues” listed in a recent Rasmussen poll, climate change was not to be found.  And the trend on what people believe is the root cause of global warming has the planets beating the people pretty handily.

But with the remarkable live feed from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico still showing the sickening sight of oil belching into the water, one can not help but think of that please-gimme-a-Mulligan phrase from Rahm Emanuel, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

Dealing with the oil spill is one thing.   Making the leap from there to push a a costly “cap-and-trade” energy policy faintly associated with climate change is quite another.   It seems that rather than confronting a supposed “inconvenient truth”, Obama is attempting an inconvenient non sequitur.

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From the never-to-be-covered-by-The-New-York-Times department….

It has always stuck me as highly plausible that scientific researchers writing grant requests needed to convey some sense of urgency in order to motivate their potential funding sources into action.   Big need, big problem, big money.   Likewise, at the local newsstand, which cover story would more likely catch your attention:  “Earth’s Changing Climate: Same As It Ever Was…”  or, “Warming Climate To Radically Alter Life On Earth!!!”?

Hysteria sells.

Amidst perhaps the grandest, most globally-coordinated legislative campaign ever devised, that to impose “climate change” legislation, we have what should be considered an equally massive bombshell:  apparent proof that the research of dissenting scientists was systematically withheld from public consumption, lest it ruin the funding party for everyone else.    Do yourself a favor and listen to this exchange between author and radio host Laura Ingraham and climatologist Patrick Michaels from November 23rd, and then do the right thing and urge your friends to do the same.   Note that in the leaked e-mail exchanges, Michaels is singled out for some of the harshest criticism (in his role as party-crasher) by his fellow researchers.

On a far more serious note, all of this would would border on the comical if the consequences of blindly following such biased research were not so damaging to the most vulnerable people in the world.   Because at the end of the day, if the man-made global warming proponents have any concern for their fellow man, they will realize that man’s ability to adapt to an ever-changing climate is first and foremost an economic problem. It is really one of poverty, as it is the poorest people who are most unable to adapt.    Therefore, the solution is to create more of the opposite of poverty, which is wealth.   So instead of pouring our passion and funding into global warming, we should instead be fighting for global liberty.

Liberty and globalization, defined in this context as freedom in all forms, free trade, property rights and the rule of law, have done more to lift people out of poverty and better positioned them to deal with an ever changing world than any headline-grabbing, heartstring-tugging, Polar Bear-hugging, income-redistributing, Save The Planet campaign ever has, or ever will.

In this regard, Copenhagen Consensus Director Bjorn Lomborg has recently published two highly poignant commentaries in the Wall Street Journal, “Global Warming as Seen From Bangladesh” and “The View from Vanuatu on Climate Change“.   They should be required reading for anyone who feels “global warming” is the number one issue of modern times, or even amongst the top ten.