I stumbled across this website, Global Warming Hoax: http://www.globalwarminghoax.com/news.php
This site even has a little slogan - "Where only the truth heats up" (and note on their website that it's been trademarked). They claim to have "arguments based on science, news and common sense." Beneath this, the website states:
This site is non-partisan and non-religious based. In fact we fight the new faith based religion of global warming. Don't keep arguing the subject, just tell them to go to GlobalWarmingHoax.com!
I'm assuming by "them," the site is referring to the "enemy" - aka, people who believe in global warming. As a member of the "enemy" category, I have to admit that I found this website pretty unconvincing. Any site that pairs a picture of the bald eagle with Earth behind it as their logo makes me kind of uneasy. But the articles the site includes certainly build an interesting case. The site lists off the purchase of a new "Mac Mansion" by Al Gore and a video about killing coworkers and children in the name of climate change. Feeling that this was way too Crichton-esque to be true, I watched the video.
According to Global Warming Hoax, it's written by the same screenwriter who wrote "Blackadder" in the UK and "Notting Hill." At first, I thought maybe it was a tongue and cheek short with dark British humor throughout. A teacher introduces the idea of the 10:10 program to get people to cut their carbon emissions by 10%. Most students agree that they are willing to try this and those that aren't are magically blown up when the teacher presses a button, all with gross sound affects and splattering gore, terrifying the other kids in the classroom. It continues on, in an office setting, on a football/soccer field. Then the video cut to title slides, showing the large amount of support for the 10:10 program. "Care to join us? No pressure," the narrator (Gillian Anderson from The X Files, actually) says with a sort of eerie threat in her voice. Then at the end of the video, Gillian Anderson herself is blown up for not being involved enough in the program.
Okay, I admit that British humor is difficult for me. It's either a total hit or miss, in my opinion. But I can't tell if this was meant to be humorous or just disgusting. In the context of this website, obviously it's seen as threatening and dangerous. Global Warming Hoax describes it as, "'No Pressure' celebrates everybody who is actively tackling climate change... by blowing up those are aren't." But I wonder what this video would have been like in a different context. Less terrifying? Less insulting?
I sort of doubt it. The makers of this video ended up having to pull it from their own website (according to Global Warming Hoax, at least). No matter the context, I think it would be in poor taste. But I don't want to align myself with the Hoax website either (especially as I can't find who contributed this video to the sight, their about page makes the website sound like some sort of entity, devoid of actual people posting things behind the scenes, and a "donate" button is constantly lingering on the right side of the page. "Donate to what? To who?" I wonder). But this argument has delved into a strange arena, split into two unlikable sides - people who are crass enough to blow people up in videos to (threateningly) support cutting carbon emissions, and people who believe that global warming supporters are out to brainwash and kill those who don't support them. There are certainly no "facts" in this situation and it's impossible to have a serious discussion when these are the options for support. It's a "friends versus enemies" battle to the extreme, and one that doesn't allow for any sort of middle ground or explanation. "Either your with us or against us." But what if I'm against them both?
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