Leave it to MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews to go into creepy mode over the possibility one could be skeptical about the theory of anthropogenic global warming.
On his Dec. 11 broadcast, the same guy who got a thrill up his leg over President Barack Obama and made an awkward pass at CNBC host Erin Burnett on live television, used a bizarre portrayal to describe those who don't ascribe to the theory that man is causing the globe's temperature to increase (emphasis added).
"Well, what do you think when you read these miserable people in The Wall Street Journal op-ed pages? And I -- I picked The Wall Street Journal. I don't get it. There's some kind of culture out there that sits around and talks to itself, and pleases -- pleasures itself, I should say, over the argument that there isn't any climate change. What is in their breakfast that makes them do this? Why do they ignore science? Maybe they're the same people that ignore the evidence of evolution and millions of years of bones. What is it about them that just -- and they're -- and they're pandered to by the editors of The Wall Street Journal and other organs, like Fox News."
Matthews was interviewing Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, who trotted out the usual array of talking points on the ClimateGate emails, and that this is the hottest decade on record (a declaration that has been deemed inconclusive as government bureaucracies have been reluctant to make their data publicly available) and that Arctic sea ice was melting (although some contend it is increasing elsewhere.)
But Matthews was less concerned about those particulars and wanted Ekwurzel to illustrate a doom-and-gloom scenario for his viewers.
"OK, let's get away from style and aesthetics, to the simple question - if nothing is done, significantly, over the next 20 years or so about climate change, what's going to happen to this planet, on which all our children live, and some of us will still be here?" Matthews said. "What will happen if we don't do anything? Seriously, draw me the picture now for those watching this Friday night."
According to Ekwurzel, it will take 1,000 years for the earth to absorb excess carbon (even though New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman insists it's more like 3,000 years). But Ekwurzel contends it could mean bad news for coastal areas - including New Orleans.
"What's very important to remember is that the carbon dioxide we've emitted to the atmosphere, scientists have shown that it will take about 1,000 years for the earth to absorb this excess carbon," Ekwurzel said. "That means that we will be trapping heat for our children, ourselves, our grandkids. And this is something that has long-term consequences. Sea level rise can be profound for some small island nations, the Gulf Coast of New Orleans, Florida, parts of the Bay Area of San Francisco."
That wasn't a satisfactory answer for Matthews. He wanted something else to indict The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, since he claimed the alarmists were losing the debate.
"Let's assume that for the next ten years you don't win the argument," Matthews said. "I don't think you're going to win it in the Senate. I hope you do, but it may not happen like it did in the House. If nothing gets done, will it be -- when will it be evident to even The Wall Street Journal types and the Fox News types, where they can't lie anymore -- I'm sorry, you never know about motives -- they can't deny anymore. At what point will that happen?"
And according to the "Hardball" host, the last hope is for their cause is something tangible to force "the voices of inaction" to come to their senses.
"Maybe the kids will start talking to their parents when they sit around at the men's grill at the golf course, and sit around the train and the commuter train and agree with each other," Matthews said. "They ought to check in with the reality of the world. So far they've not. I look at people now in such powerful denial. They are beating you, Brenda -- doctor -- in this fight. They are beating you. The voices of inaction are beating the voices of action. I just wait to hear when the evidence is going to be so profound they can't deny it anymore."
