Detroit, Mich. — Mother Nature, it seems, retains her sense of humor.

Green activist and author Bill McKibben was in Detroit on April 9 to speak to upper-crust, guilt-racked Grosse Pointe residents about global warming. His visit came the same day a spring blizzard dumped six inches of snow on the region, the latest salvo in what has been decidedly un-warm winter.

Fearmongers like McKibben have long used anecdotal weather incidents — the hot summer of 1988, Hurricane Katrina — to peddle their radical agenda. But as this year’s inconvenient weather proves, that trick can backfire.