McClaughry: Get ready for ‘Climate Strike’ disruption

By John McClaughry

Get ready for the “Global Climate Strike.” This will occur in Vermont, and around the world, on Sept. 20 and continue with “actions” throughout the ensuing week to publicize a frightening “climate emergency.”

The Climate Strike activists have been taught to believe that the Earth is relentlessly heading toward a climate disaster. This is said to be proven by “science,” evidenced by whatever calamitous weather event just appeared on your television screen.

John McClaughry

John McClaughry is vice president of the Ethan Allen Institute.

More than half of this trend since 1950 is said to be due to the emission of greenhouse gases by human activities, notably the combustion of carbon fuels to provide electricity, transportation, and home and industrial process heating.

Already the concentration of carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere is over 4 molecules per 10,000, compared to 2.8 in the 19th Century. Twelve years from now or by the end of this century — estimates vary— the climate will pass a “tipping point” and soon thereafter become uninhabitable. So they say.

The climate activists are striking to demand that governments mandate the rapid replacement of coal, gasoline, diesel, heating oil, natural gas and propane with renewable energy — wind, solar, hydro and biomass — no matter what the cost. This, they believe, will slow and eventually put a stop to “climate change.” (Why not rely on emission-free nuclear energy? Never mind.)

The Vermont climate strike movement is led by Bill McKibben’s 350VT and VPIRG, plus Extinction Rebellion and the Climate Disobedience Center. Its chosen technique is to persuade high schoolers to walk out of their classes on Sept. 20 and join workers walking off their jobs in demonstrations in towns across the state. This will heighten public awareness of the urgent need for banning the combustion of fossil fuels — let that one sink in — and achieving “climate justice,” whatever that may mean.

Citizens coming together in public spaces to rally support for their causes is a long and respected tradition in Vermont. The State House lawn has seen many such events, on all sides of a long list of issues. But this strike will be different; It will not be just speeches, signs and posturing to get media attention for their viewpoint, but also deliberately making other people pay for their indifference to the imperatives of “climate action.”

That is, to put it bluntly, civil disobedience, disruption, law breaking.

Already the sponsors have held three working sessions to train their faithful to practice civil disobedience. Already they have done three trial runs. In May, protesters in the gallery stopped the business of the Vermont House, the leadership of which suspended the session to express sympathy with the views of the protesters.

In Brattleboro, protesters blocked the popular “Strolling of the Heifers” parade. Progressive Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, on the reviewing stand, expressed his solidarity with their views while asking them to relocate their protest off of the parade route. Then on Aug. 1, climate protesters paralyzed traffic for an hour in the heart of downtown Montpelier, until escorted away by police. No arrests were made.

Motivated and emboldened, the climate strikers, sincerely concerned about what they have been told is the looming extinction of the human race, are now upping the ante. They will turn scientifically clueless teenagers loose to stop people from getting to and from work, attending meetings and making deliveries, and showing up for their medical appointments.

Citizens have every right to make their case through State House rallies, information booths, public meetings, media postings and political activity. They have the right, in my view, to disobediently protest oppression, humiliation and injustice as Rosa Parks did when she was arrested and fined for remaining seated in the white section of that Montgomery bus.

But they also need to learn that in a civilized democracy, you are not entitled to promote your demands by throwing yourself onto the street to stop traffic and disrupt the peaceful activities of your fellow citizens. Nor do you have a right to surround and attempt to shut down a 440 megawatt coal-burning power plant in New Hampshire (another project of 350VT), or employ any of the other coercive tactics taught by 350VT and VPIRG in their disruption training sessions. Those tactics are the antithesis of our democratic tradition.

The climate strikers need to learn that mob rule disruption will exact a price beyond being escorted to the sidewalk by polite police officers. My preferred price is a two week stay at a logging camp up in Ferdinand or Lewis, with no grid electricity or cell phone service, during which campers can plant trees 10 hours a day to defeat climate change, while reflecting upon the inconveniences and hardships they caused their innocent fellow Vermonters.

John McClaughry is vice president of the Ethan Allen Institute.

Images courtesy of Guy Page and John McClaughry

19 thoughts on “McClaughry: Get ready for ‘Climate Strike’ disruption

  1. Now we know where all the kooks, nit wits, morons, ignorant, misinformed, do gooders and royal pain in the you know where will be on September 20.

  2. Settled Science, which is a liberal invented term, means “we don’t want to talk about it anymore no matter if the facts prove otherwise”

    • It shows how ignorant our populace has become with because of our education system.

      A scientist would NEVER say it’s settled. Because if your scientific theory is strong, they want it tested over and over and over so by all the testing it proves the theory and becomes law.

      You can test the law of gravity all day long, the results should be consistent. And it doesn’t matter if you have “consensus” between the scientists……what scientist ever said that? One scientist can be right and all the others wrong.

      Ask Einstein, he had a pretty good discovery, the establishment didn’t even recognize what he had done until 4 years later. The entire consensus, close to unanimous scientific community said Einstein was wrong.

  3. “For those in Japan and Germany celebrating that the exit from nuclear is providing an opportunity to embrace solar and wind energy, a sad slap of reality has also occurred. Not only have energy costs skyrocketed wherever green energies been built, but the toxic waste caused by those photovoltaic cells far outpaces anything produced by the dirtiest nuclear reactor.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/japan-and-germany-hysterically-race-shut-down-nuclear-power-and-their-sovereignty
    Everything these Greenies want is actually worse then what we are using now.

  4. Of course it goes unreported when a portion of the climate strikers travel from outside Vermont to get here and ply their self righteous rhetoric

    Re GMP, how quaint….they use my ratepayer money to play along. As if we have choice of power suppliers. We can’t buy power from those companies we might prefer bacause they own the market, lock, stock and barrel

  5. Govt schools. They can’t write, spell, read cursive. They get awarded for normal expected behavior and have schoolwide celebrations if they all earn prizes for expected behavior. Whole school (including adults) show up in PJs to celebrate. Wow. In between this stupidity they learn how bad cars gas and cows are and the planet is dying. Sometimes they do a math worksheet. In a group. That won’t be graded. And can be handed in whenever you feel ready.
    I wonder why these idiots think walking out of work to protest some pie in the sky theory is no biggie.
    Imagine if all parents reminded themselves and their kids every morning that
    A) they are raising adults
    B) they are raising responsible resourceful citizens
    C) they aren’t victims and no one owes them anything
    D) there no such thing as a free lunch

    As parents we do need to ask a few things
    -are we being good parents by submitting our kids 8hrs / day most of the year to these humanistic and ridiculous studies
    – kids will be discipled and are going to establish world views and ideas…. are we going to trust the socialist nea government funded schools to shape these?

    You know Darn well the time you have between school pick up, dinner, sports – you never will have enough time to discuss what they were taught and explain your side and counter teach the indoctrination. That’s if you even know what they were taught. It’s so mixed into all subject now- with such craft ambiguity and gray it’s hard to always pinpoint entirely.

    We are the idiots if we send them to these socialist breeding ground and are shocked when in just a few years (starting very very young now) they remind us how evil we are for driving a 4wd suv, drinking from a bottle of water, using a straw, eating a burger and the list goes on and on

    Think about it. We really can’t blame anyone but ourselves as it’s our duty to protect, raise, disciple our kids and then we throw them to the wolves of the NEA.

    • There are fine private,as well as boarding schools that may more fit the politics your household.Taft School in Connecticut is very conservative leaning.Classes aren’t geared toward “special needs” or low grades either.The children are from better families,and it shows.

  6. Get ready for ‘Climate Strike’ disruption, these idiots may want to stay on the sidewalk
    if they want to protest with this nonsense, some of us still have to go to work and if you
    make me late ….. it won’t be pretty ….. yeah work, maybe they should try it !!

    Here an oldy but goodie called 3.5 days, these activists might want to give this a try, but
    I would only give them one day …….. Idiots.

    https://youtube/OAOrT0OcHh0

  7. There will always be useful idiots to participate in such events, but when I read the headline “Green Mountain Power to take a Supporting role in upcoming climate strike” one has to wonder.

    How fine is the line some are walking and does it condone or promote this kind of behavior without actually having to take responsibility?

  8. Just like their little nazi brothers they send the brown shirts out to disrupt the masses while promising to be the only ones that can fix the problem. Maybe we should send them all on a film the Iceless tour like the ship that just got stuck IN THE ICE at Hinlopen Strait, So now we’ve had one stuck in the ice at the south pole *last year” and one stuck in the ice at the north pole “last week”…where’s the ice melting? some baton work may pound some sense into the little dweebs if they attempt to delay your movement.. If the cops won’t do it citizens should…Impeding traffic use to be against the law and should still be as mentioned it could be fatal to someone needing to get help..

  9. I would like to suggest that these eco warriors could do the most good by blockading Rt 91 north at the Mass border on Friday afternoon. Thousands upon thousands of flatlanders engaged in unnecessary travel to their second homes in Vermont. Come on now, the driving, mostly in SUV’s, the second home?????? How much more of a carbon deposit could you ask for? I would however recommend not jumping in front of a semi with Quebec plates.

  10. Exactly, John.
    Students and sympathizers already stopped traffic in Burlington on Feb. 22 last year, paralyzing for hours the main thoroughfares in the city at the height of the evening rush hour. Chief del Pozo excused the unannounced civil disobedience but cautioned that should the technique become more common, police would enforce the law.

    I disagree with the chief’s very liberal approach. He explained his rationale to the Free Press, saying the student’s action had merit given the context. https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2018/02/23/why-didnt-police-arrest-uvm-protesters-burlington-chief-explains/368156002/

    My wife and were stuck from the inception but far enough away to have no idea what the fire trucks and police cars flying somewhere was all about, but it seemed some catastrophe had occurred. We were very concerned, looking for smoke over the sky by the airport. Clearly something terrible had happened. Every road was jammed and all cars immobile. We were late to our appointment, couldn’t sit in the car due to illness, but could do nothing about it. When we learned what really happened and the City’s and University’s lenient non consequential approach, we were not happy!

    Should it happen again, then yes, I would support citizen’s arrests, as some have recommended.

    • Surely the perpetrators of this mob action need to be held accountable. Unless that happens such goings on will certainly happen again, and again until an unfortunate situation occurs that will benefit no one.

      One more motivation for the civil dialogue that never seems to happen.

  11. They don’rt want to stop me for I will drive through them and if they do any damage to me or my car, someone might get hurt. The can protest all they want and that’s fine but they shouldn’t disrupt the law abiding citizens in the process. It’s illegal but that word doesn’t mean a thing in this State if you’re a liberal.

    • If I’m trying to get to the hospital for an emergency, these self-absorbed little snots best move out of the way or get run over.

  12. Some crazy pot smokers worried about climate change………..suffering from paranoia and anxiety. Oh sorry, I just read the article on the affects of marijuana first.

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