Marco, not so dumb as all that. Without the tinfoil (and me, I love the stuff), it is nevertheless so that GW is scientifically complex, can legitimately, within a certain window, be argued about, etc. etc. It is also clearly an issue of the Commons, which most ordinary people like (even if for. ex. Siberians might prefer to sunbathe more..); it is, for many, experienced (or felt to be experienced) in a proximal way; it induces a kind of shared or blanket guilt; etc. It has a lot going for it as an important issue. So even without deliberate manipulation or ‘conspiracy’ GW distracts from PO, or camouflages it, PO being tied up to big biz interests, international politics, war, etc. in a pointed way that many would prefer not to look at. PO may have short term devastating effects; GW are the natural conditions around us, it is a backdrop, a general ‘force’ as I heard someone say the other day, and is not related to precise evil doing, even if it is generally seen as the outcome of human action - human collective action, that is. So far, GW has not killed any Iraqis.

Would Al Gore have made a movie about energy use, production, and distribution? (I mean specifically not a scary movie about PO.) I think not.

Noisette (same person as Noizette.)