Doubting Global Warming Could Be Treason

At the Live Earth Concert at Giants Stadium, one of the non musical acts, Robert Kennedy Jr., shouted himself hoarse. He called those people who doubt either that global warming exists or that it is man-made or that it matters traitors and that they should be dealt with as such.

"Get rid of all these rotten politicians that we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies for companies like Exxon and Southern Company. ," shouted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "These villainous companies that consistently put their private financial interest ahead of American interest and ahead of the interest of all of humanity. This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors." Kennedy went on to attack John Stossel, a journalist working for ABC news, as well as radio talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glen Beck for being "flat earthers", "corporate toadies", and "liars." Kennedy is the president of Waterkeeper Alliance and Robert F. Kennedy's son.

It may be useful at this point to understand what treason actually is and how traitors are dealt with. Treason is actually defined in the United States Constitution in Article III, Section 3.

"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

It is pretty certain that the United States has not declared war on global warming or even authorized the use of force against it. One supposes that if there was a real war against global warming that it would mean that the military would start bombing fossil fuel burning power plants, not only in this country, but overseas. Since China has recently become the biggest polluting nation, due to their adherence to coal fired power plants, such a war against global warming would have serious consequences. The United States would be at war with China and any other country that insists on using fossil fuel burning power plants.

So how are traitors dealt with? The United States Code states, "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States."

In other words, if one disagrees with Robert Kennedy Jr. about global warming, Kennedy would conceivably have one put to death or at the very least locked up for a long time and suffer heavy fines.

For the record, this author is a global warming skeptic. So if this be treason, let us make the most of it.

One irony is that Robert Kennedy Jr.'s record on global warming is not as pure as one might imagine. Kennedy has involved himself in the Cape Wind controversy. Cape Wind is a proposed project to establish a wind farm in Nantucket Sound to generate electricity for the region. The Cape Wind project would replace a number of antiquated coal firing plants in the area, thus presumably alleviating global warming.

Robert Kennedy Jr. is opposed to Cape Wind, along with the rest of the Kennedy clan, because it would "spoil" the view from the luxurious beach side homes that a number of rich New Englanders, including the Kennedys, enjoy in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Thus, when it comes to his personal convenience, Robert Kennedy Jr. is himself a global warming traitor.

Now, while fun is fun, the practice of trying to criminalize political discourse is a very serious one. It's designed to shut ones opponents up rather than to meet their arguments with better arguments. Applying the word "traitor" to people who disagree about global warming is especially pernicious and even silly.

If one wanted to turn it around, one could make a better case that opponents of the War in Iraq are traitors. First of all, we are talking about a real war against a real enemy, Al Qaeda. Presumably efforts to force a retreat from Al Qaeda in Iraq could constitute, "adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." Al Qaeda considers Iraq a central front in their efforts to overthrow the West and to establish a Universal Caliphate, ruled by sharia law.

Yet no one is actually proposing that folks like Cindy Sheehan and Harry Reid should be marched off the prison to face trial and possibly execution. There was a time in the distant past when opponents of a war against a remorseless enemy would have been considered treason. Abraham Lincoln and even Franklin Roosevelt, to name two previous war time Presidents, dealt with opponents of their wars harshly. But we live in kinder and gentler times. The bar for treason is raised higher than political disagreement or even legislative action.

Robert Kennedy Jr. might want to remember that the next time he is tempted to use such language as "treason" and "traitor." He who sows the wind could very well wind up repeaping the whirlwind, and that wouldn't be a good thing at all.