Like Rich, I’m a sucker for charismatic megafauna. Even if this Jeff Corwin op-ed in the LA Times on species extinction is exaggerated by 50 percent, the picture he paints is still bleak. Even if global warming is proven to be a complete fraud, our oceans will still be in trouble. Over-fishing and poaching are a real threat. If I could be persuaded the U.N. could manage such a task, I’d be open to them taking a more serious lead in such areas. Blue helmets might not have a great track record at peacekeeping, but they might be useful at keeping poachers from killing tigers and elephants so some superstitious Chinese millionaire can have “natural” Viagra.

I’ll say it again: The great moral scandal of global warming hysteria is that — even if it’s a real danger — it steals political and financial capital that might be spent on addressing far more immediate problems and spends it on ideological schemes that empower global elites.