Did you celebrate Earth Day, Truthseekers? Did you walk instead of drive? Plant a tree? Pick up litter or start a recycling program? Maybe you watched some of the inspirational, educational TV programs celebrating Mother Earth and emphasizing respect for our fragile ecosystem, like the BBC's fascinating seven-part series called "Frozen Planet" on The Discovery Channel. Alec Baldwin narrates a dramatic and devastating portrait of the Earth to come. A world in which global climate change has altered life at the poles to the point of a near extinction-level event for polar bears, penguins, and, ultimately, all life on the increasingly unstable planet.
It does seem odd, however, that the series focuses on the effects of climate change without addressing the cause. And it seems this decision was made by BBC and Discovery so as not to "alienate" American audiences who might be uncomfortable with the idea that all these radical and scary changes were occurring as a direct result of human activity. Or rather, poorly-regulated corporate activity.
We don't like to think badly of ourselves, the entertainment media has decided, so they delayed the release of the sole episode that dealt with the human factor of climate change -- entitled "On Thin Ice" -- until after the series had ended, which is an improvement, at least, over their original plan to skip it entirely.
The New York Times reports:
"One of the seven episodes, 'On Thin Ice,' was devoted to climate change. It placed the narrator of the British version of the series, David Attenborough, in front of the camera to show how warming trends are affecting humans and animals in the Arctic. Shown standing at the North Pole, Mr. Attenborough told viewers: 'The days of the Arctic Ocean being covered by a continuous sheet of ice seem to be past. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing, of course, depends on your point of view.'"Mr. Attenborough then noted the new opportunities for energy exploitation and commercial shipping. But he did not note that the vast majority of scientists believe that human activities are contributing to the warming trends evident there.
"That hasn't gone unnoticed. Greg Brian, a television writer for Yahoo, wrote earlier this month that by sidestepping the climate change science, Discovery has created a perception 'that even bringing it up will bring a bevy of angry letters, protesters, or (worse) defectors from ever watching the particular cable channel again.'
"Others said that the series was a lost opportunity for climate change education.
"'It's kind of like doing a powerful documentary about lung cancer and leaving out the part about the cigarettes,' said Bill McKibben, a scholar and climate change activist. 'There's no scientific mystery here: the poles are changing because we're burning so much carbon.'"
...Or a Sex Ed video about pregnancy that didn't mention sex. You know the Neocons can't abide science-y anything. That's pointy-headed libel atheist nonsense. In their way of thinking, the last legitimate President didn't buy into that pseudo-science horse-hockey about carbon "benoxide" or the Kyoto protocols, so that's by golly good enough for them!
Besides, maybe God is ready for the polar bears to rapture up to heaven! Maybe the oceans are supposed to rise as a part of His plan for the End of Days! Who can know the mind of God?
