Cooler Weather Heats Up Debate

Global warming alarmists appear to be retrenching after revelations that the climate stopped warming of its own accord more than a decade ago.

It is clear that the government will confirm an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in some form next year however it is still unclear how much this will cost businesses and ordinary people? The biggest fear for the tourism and accommodation industry is not global climate change itself, but the extent of government regulation.

Dr Muriel Newman is the founder and Director of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research (NZCPR), a web-based think tank that takes a research-based approach to public policy matters and encourages the free and open debate of political issues.

Dr Newman has previously commented on Qualmark's "mindless and costly environmental doctrine"

This week's publication comments on a briefing paper for US government that suggests ways to “re-frame” the global warming debate in order to build stronger public support for climate change legislation.

"Re-framing is a technique used by politicians to make radical ideas more palatable to the public by replacing controversial expressions with language that evokes empathy, cooperation, and a sense of interconnectedness.

...Terms like “global warming” turned people off because they fostered images of “shaggy-haired liberals, economic sacrifice and complex scientific disputes”.

The report suggested that rather than talking about ‘global warming’ they should be discussing “our deteriorating climate”. They went on to recommend that instead of using the term the “environment”, they should use “the air we breathe, the water our children drink”, rather than “energy efficiency” which made people think of “shivering in the dark”, they should be saying “saving money for a more prosperous future”, and instead of confusing people with “cap and trade”, they should be using terms like “cap and cash back” or “pollution reduction refund.”

The report stressed the need for aspirational language and shared ideals like “freedom, prosperity, independence and self-sufficiency while avoiding jargon and details about policy, science, economics or technology”.

We can recognise that the language above is slowly filtering its way into the New Zealand vernacular and is being used within the tourism industry in order to qualify environmental doctrine.

Of concern to New Zealand businesses and ordinary folk is why is the government is still running global warming policies a decade after global warming stopped?

For more on Dr Newman's article: Click HERE