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Monday, April 27, 2009
John McCaslin :: Townhall.com Columnist
'Green Fatigue'
by John McCaslin
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'GREEN FATIGUE'

Stephen Drucker, the creator of the New York Times Sunday "Styles" section who after steering Martha Stewart Living is now editor-in-chief of House Beautiful, says the "whole subject of 'green' wants to make the top of my head come off."

Lecturing at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Mr. Drucker said "green is complicated" and "comes around every thirty years."

For proof, he displayed an entirely "green issue" of House Beautiful devoted to the environment dated October 1949. "The Scientists Behind Climate Control," blared one of the headlines 60 years ago. Another: "How to Fix Your Private Climate." One article suggested Americans move to the suburbs to escape "indoor pollution."

A green issue of House Beautiful was also published in 1979, asking: "Energy: Oil, Sun or Wind?"

On the same day this columnist attended Mr. Drucker's lecture, Katherine Bagley of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) wrote: "Another year, another Earth Day, another wave of 'Green Issues' on newsstands … or not. After three years, the springtime fad seems to have run its course, with a number of magazines cancelling and cutting back their special editions on the environment."

She suggested “green fatigue” has swept the nation. Indeed, only last year CJR reported that the number of special environment issues had nearly doubled since 2007.

"This year, the tide turned mightily," she wrote, with Outside, Vanity Fair, Discover, Mother Jones and others canceling green issues. Time and Newsweek even stepped back. Only U.S. News & World Report, Miss Bagley reported, produced "this year's only truly cover-to-cover green issue."

POLITICS ON FILM

It might not have the star power or glitz of Sundance and Cannes, but in this increasingly politically charged culture of ours, the world's top moviemakers - in surprising numbers - have embraced Washington's first-ever political film festival to be held May 7-10.

"We are excited with the response from filmmakers - almost 100 film submissions from around the country and the world. And for an inaugural event that is quite humbling," Gayle Osterberg, co-chairwoman and chief operating officer of the Politics on Film festival, tells Inside the Beltway.

The former vice president of corporate communications for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) says up to 15 films have been selected for screening during the festival. "We will announce them on Tuesday ... and we are really excited about all of them," he says.

"Movies are art and communication forms for our time, and it made sense to provide a platform in the nation's capital," Ms. Osterberg says, "to bring people together to talk and debate and have a meaningful conversation. The hallmark of any good film is if you are talking about it afterwards ... and if it promotes a thought or idea or perspective you didn't have before. Most of these films fall into that category."

Honorary chairwoman of the festival is Mary Margaret Valenti, widow of longtime Hollywood lobbyist and MPAA President Jack Valenti, while Ms. Osterberg's fellow co-chairmen are Philip DuFour, former social secretary to Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore; and Washington film and political veteran Lee Johnson, chief executive officer of the festival.

"I began to think about this concept when I was working on a project for the MPAA - I produced a video for them two years ago about members of Congress and their favorite movies," says Mr. Johnson, who interviewed 25 lawmakers and spliced together their favorite movie scenes.

"I was thinking in a very focused way about politics and movies," he tells this columnist. "I began to ponder whether such an idea could be combined and organized as a film festival. I thought that the long fascination and love affair between Hollywood and Washington must have resulted in something similar being developed somewhere along the way.

"However, I did some research and was surprised to learn that this was not the case," he says. "Lots of focused film festivals with specific themes, many of which were politically motivated or focused, but none that covered the whole range."

Prime sponsor and partner of the film festival is the Bipartisan Policy Center, established in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell. On Wednesday evening, Dan Glickman, the MPAA's chairman and CEO, is set to lead a roundtable discussion of what makes a movie political, with the festival's opening-night party to be held the following evening.

A-MAIZE-ING

An Inside the Beltway reader named "Rich" wasn't impressed with a Pew Research poll finding that, in light of the economic crisis, 1 in 5 American adults "are following the example of first lady Michelle Obama and are making plans to plant a vegetable garden to save money on food."

He writes: "People have been planting vegetable gardens long before Michelle Obama was born. She is the one following the example of everyone else."
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About The Author

John McCaslin is a contributing columnist on Townhall.com and author of Inside The Beltway: Offbeat Stories, Scoops, and Shenanigans from around the Nation's Capital .

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(17 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 7:58 PM EST
Paranoidmystic in Ca
Grow up Liberal Moron and quit baiting conservatives, your insane ramblings are nonsencical anyway. In your case its much beter to let people think you!r crazy than to open your mouth and remove all dought.
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Reply # 2
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 7:34 PM EST
Yes, it is complicated...
...and yes we have been talking about "going green" for 100 years and will continue talking about it for 1,000 more (if we manage to survive that long).

When we were babies we didn't understand how to poop so we just shat our pants and cried about it.

Then we grew up, and now we have to constantly evaluate our poop potential and take action when necessary. It doesn't go away tomorrow because we worked it out today.

The environment and "being green" is the same. It's a lifestyle, it's a movement - there's no end goal, but a process. This kind of article shows baby-brains and people who agree with it are relying on other people to come by and change the diapers.

Grow up, conservatives!
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Reply # 3
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 5:02 PM EST
Green fatigue
No doubt we should not destroy things maliciously. But this whole movement that has it's roots in the U.N. is a farce to make America conform to "World or Global Standards" I don't give a rat's behind what Europe wants to do to conform this country to it's standards. There are 2 major oceans surrounding us that for long has separated us from what goes on over the other side. This country was not made great using the standards of third world countries. We are a young nation per se to Europe and we in a short time have far surpassed anything they have ever accomplished. Healthwise and nationwise including war.
To get rid of this green slime we need to get out of the U.N. and I personally would be willing to donate some money for a one way trip to the Wacko environmentalist to go to the Europe they so long to be like if Al Gore were to ask first.
Instead of wasting time worshiping "Mother Earth" try worshiping "Father God", who controls it all anyway.
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Reply # 4
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 4:05 PM EST
The global warming hysteria is reaching
the point of diminishing returns. Of course, 30 years ago, it was the coming ice age. Only difference then was that the left hadn't co-opted the concern into reasons to destroy the free economy.

A recent issue of National Geographic had its first 80 some pages devoted to droughts and other issues "related to human-caused global warming." It's enough that I won't be renewing our subscription.

Even a science-based magazine like Scientific American is filled with global warming dogma. It doesn't seem to matter that there IS some scientific controversy on the issue -- you won't hear it in Scientific American. (Another magazine I'll probably not renew.)

Yes, fatigue has set in. Especially when every environmental problem can only be "cured" by "a more egalitarian society" -- which apparently means, a society where leftists control us all.
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Reply # 5
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 6:06 AM EST
They Now Want to Pollute
For 30 years or so, they've had sulfur trading to reduce sulfur emissions. Now they want to put it back:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97ECHLG1&show_arti cle=1

NASA also:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=30475

and:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/warming_aerosols. html

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Reply # 6
Date: Apr 28, 2009 - 12:27 AM EST
The hallmark of any good film is
The hallmark of any good film is to entertain.

Nothing more than escapism into another world.
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Reply # 7
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 11:39 PM EST
Calling InTheMajority!

I love you as a human being.

I detest your political views.

I want you to have the best of health.

I want you to be wealthy.

I want you to speak freely.

I would rather have my fingernails ripped out if it would spare your life.

I would prefer a terrorist to be "tortured" for you and any American if such prevents another terrorist attack.

I would love for all "top secret documents" going back to George Washington to be released, if one American could be saved.

I support the freedom of speech, press, and religion.

I support civil unions.

I adore the 2nd Amendment.

I hate “Big Government” and the Federal Reserve.

And, I wonder what the White House was thinking when it sent a low flying mock-up of Air Force One over NYC this morning scaring millions to death and using tax dollars, to boot.
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Reply # 8
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 9:20 PM EST
Liberals do love their fads

If you want try to gain some insight into the thought processes of the Left, the first thing you should do is go to your local middle schools and high schools and observe the behavior you see there. Young people, especially teens and pre-teens are highly motivated by how they appear to others, and this is the same for the Left. Ideally, as people mature they become less concerned with show and more concerned with substance. In the case of far left liberals, however, this maturing process never occurs, and the ‘green’ fad is perfect proof of this.

As a woman who loves decorating magazines I have long been disgusted by the ‘green’ movement, not because I don’t care about the environment but because of the ridiculous farce that it is. Here’s a typical article: Hollywood couple buys an older home in a canyon near L.A. and embarks on a ‘green’ renovation. They tear down most of the 4,000 square foot existing home in order to increase its size to a more ‘livable’ 8,000 square feet. They take two years to redo every surface in the home with the help of a multitude of workmen using loads of energy; they buy all new furniture and appliances and incorporate a 40,000 gallon heated pool. Then they pat themselves on the back because they used countertops made from recycled diamonds and solar heat for the pool (when it’s warm enough to do so). It’s a joke. They are treated as heroes in these magazines, setting the example for the rest of us slobs. In the meantime average Americans use far less energy in their homes and don’t throw away usable items every few years to redecorate, but they receive no recognition at all.

That, in a nut shell, is the way of the Left. Welcome back to high school.
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Reply # 9
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 7:08 PM EST
WAR is just another righty propoganda
devise for taking the bulk of your money and sending it to Halliburton and controlling your life.

AGW is just another scientific fact that confounds the less knowledgeable.
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Reply # 10
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 1:50 PM EST
MGW is just another lefty propaganda
devise for taking your money and controlling your life.
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Reply # 11
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 1:13 PM EST
Want to have some fun?
Ask your “green” friends to explain these two articles from Time and Newsweek published in the mid – 70s. Every liberal knew that an ice age was coming – fer sur!

http://denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm

http://www.junkscience.com/mar06/Time_AnotherIceAge_June241 974.pdf


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Reply # 12
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 12:42 PM EST
People control
So Gore refused to debate another climate scientist- go figure.

Between the UN and the pop media, one is likely to think that we are all gonna die! Well, I ain't buyin' it. There is no "consensus" about global warming and it's a crock. It's about controlling people and giving that idiot Gore something to do.

I love asking global warming morons "So, just what IS the optimum temperature of the earth supposed to be?"
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Reply # 13
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 12:38 PM EST
Too Green
Isn't there a good reason why persons feeling nauseous turn green? And why the socialists and their friends are "Green with envy"?

I didn't participate in the first Earth Day, which happened just as I returned from a round the world cruise for my final semester at University, and I have proudly ignored every single one since then.

Well, I have 'participated' in the same way as I did the first one. In that one everyone at my university who could beg, borrow, rent or get a ride in a car showed up on campus on wheels, which were parked everywhere from the front doors to the street. When the tree-planting began, everyone with access thereto began to honk their car horns.

It was that kind of school.
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Reply # 14
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 12:08 PM EST
Comic Propaganda
I collect comic books which are issued for propaganda or advertising purposes. My favorite is "Debbie and Donnie in Sardineland", but any Green propaganda is not far behind. What is amusing about the older ones is that every single prediction of doom they made about the environment was wrong-- every single one, with no exceptions. They have lots of 'scientific' references, plenty of graphs and charts, all the accoutrements of serious discourse-- and not one prediction that came true.
AGW isn't about science-- it's a religious belief, as it has been for forty years now. They tell the same old green lies and they pack out their same old green church, but their prophecies never come true. So why would they be true now?
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Reply # 15
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 12:03 PM EST
Goreligionoly
If you trust the Goreligionists...

Do you remember our air pollution concerns? Well, if you don't, it was basically the 1970 version of global warming and the fear mongers of today. From the first Earth Day in 1970, scientists said then that, quote, air pollution is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in just the next few years alone. By 1980 the life expectancy of all Americans will be 42 years. By 1985, air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth by 1/2.

Now, consider that since 1970 the population is up 50%. Miles driven has increased by 159% and real GDP has increased 159% and here's how the air pollution, you know, that has reduced our life expectancy to 42 years, my gosh, I've been dead all these years and I didn't even know it.

Here's how the air pollution is played out. 91% decrease in the lead air quality from 1980 to 2007, 76% national decrease in carbon monoxide air quality 1980 to 2007, and 68% national decrease in sulfur dioxide air quality. And here's what's really weird about all this. We were able to do all those things without a cap and trade transfer the wealth system or any lobbyists there that were saying we're all going to burn to death in a fiery flood. But you know what, don't look at those results. You know, there's look, there's something shining over there! Is that a new Al Gore book? Oh, jeez, we're in a crisis; we need cap and trade now, everybody!

Well, hot damn!

This Zombie just broke one of those new thermometers and I have to call a Hazmat team!
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Reply # 16
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 11:57 AM EST
It’s time to go…
BROWN. I think I am going to find a web site that will print custom bumper stickers and make up my own GO BROWN sticker. Then I think I’ll run a few tanks of gas through my old smoky lawn mower and burn some junk papers and other garbage in my back yard. Let’s crush the greenie weenies with our big, heavy carbon footprints!
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Reply # 17
Date: Apr 27, 2009 - 11:18 AM EST
The hoax
When, oh when will the gigantic global warming algore hoax finally be confirmed for what it is? It is a huge attempt to destroy our economy therefore turning the U. S. into a third world country and controling the lives of all Americans. Luckily, we fired the moron Jimmeh Cotta before he was able to complete his plans along these lines, but it appears that this current bunch of fools presently in power have so much help from the slobbering main stream media and their brain-dead followers, that they are able to move much faster. God help us!




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