After having a drought in the Incredibly Stupid Statements File over the past couple of weeks, we have two entries in two days!
Today's contribution comes to us from Ted Turner, the former CNN titan who now uses his bazillions to indulge in politics, environmental issues, land hoarding, entertainment, gypsy travels, curious collectibles and sorcery of all kinds.
Not really. But it seems like it.
Turner told PBS host Charlie Rose that not addressing global warming "will be catastrophic," and not just for the polar ice caps:
TED TURNER: Not doing it will be catastrophic. We’ll be eight degrees hottest in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there’ll be no more corn grown. Not doing it is suicide. Just like dropping bombs on each other, nuclear weapons is suicide. We’ve got to stop doing the suicidal two things, which are hanging on to our nuclear weapons and after that we’ve got to stabilize the population. When I was born-(OK, I have to write fast ... I've got the people in Idaho on the phone and I'm talking to them about a shelter.)
CHARLIE ROSE: So what’s wrong with the population?
TURNER: We’re too many people. That’s why we have global warming. We have global warming because too many people are using too much stuff. If there were less people, they’d be using less stuff.
Whew. I felt like I was watching some B-movie about the end of the world.
Here's a link to a funny post about Turner's comments, including a clip of the interview. Read the comments at the end. Some of them are really funny and made me laugh out loud, including these:
When Howard Hughes and Hugh Hefner went stupid, at least they stayed in bed with pajamas on. What’s wrong with Turner? Can’t he find any nice pajamas?Also of note is a list of climate change-related quotes from the late 60s and 70s, posted by "Alden Pile" ... Verrrry interesting. Check it out!
The Aztecs were cannibals. The earth must have been warmer then ...
I'll let you go now, because I know you have to run to Wal-Mart and buy some of those energy-saving lightbulbs ... Clarice.
