ClimateGate

This photo (Figure 1) tickled my sense of humour when I came across it on this site.

Figure 1

Here is the text that accompanied the photo: 

U.S.—A fun new "Greta on the Shelf" doll will watch you every day and fly back to the UN each night to report your climate sins to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

The doll is equipped with eye sensors programmed to detect activities that are harmful to the environment. 

"Greta sees you when you're sleeping, she knows when you drive your SUV to the store instead of taking public transportation," the manufacturer said. "She knows if you've been bad or carbon-neutral, so be carbon-neutral for goodness' sake!" 

One couple in Portland proudly displayed their new doll and lectured their children on the true meaning of Christmas: fighting climate change. "We're gonna play a fun game for the holidays this year -- try to be good little carbon-neutral children, or Greta will tell on you!" 

"How dare you!" the doll chanted as the kids of the household left the door open while the heater was on. "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood." The doll then blasted off toward UN headquarters using its jet engines to report on the naughty children, who will receive coal in their stocking. They will be snitched on again, however, if they burn the coal for warmth. 

Greta is programmed to detect activities including these:

• Leaving the light on when you exit a room
• Leaving the fridge open
• Driving an SUV
• Parents participating in illicit activities that may lead to the creation of more humans
• Using a plastic straw instead of sticking your face in a beverage and slurping
• Forgetting your reusable grocery bags at home
• Getting a cut-down Christmas tree
• Getting a carbon-heavy plastic Christmas tree
• Turning on any electric appliances
• Using the heater instead of rubbing two sticks together for warmth

Children have responded enthusiastically to the doll so far, saying things like, "Mommy, I'm scared," and "Make the bad girl go away."

I shared this image and associated text on Facebook so it will be interesting to see what sort of response I receive, if any. Of course, some people take her seriously and may well be offended. She has just been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year (Figure 2).

Figure 2

I was led to the image shown in Figure 1 by going to a website called CLIMATE DEPOT. It is run by or associated with a certain Marc Morano who boasts:

Study in Journal Nature tries to ‘blacklist’ skeptics – Ranks Climate Depot’s Morano as NUMBER ONE ‘climate contrarian’ in the media! (#1 out of 386 skeptics).

I came across him when we he was been interviewed by James Corbett on the latter's YouTube channel:

Marc Morano has written a book called "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change" and it looks like it should be well worth reading: