"The end of slavery would mean the end of our way of life!" No matter how immoral or destructive we know slavery to be deep down in our hearts, our short-term interests must outweigh all. As for our children and their children's children: fuck 'em!"

"The end of slavery would mean the end of our way of life! No matter how immoral or destructive we know slavery to be deep down in our hearts, our short-term interests must outweigh all. As for our children and their children's children: fuck 'em!"

...that if and when the revolution finally comes, the Chamber of Commerce is going to be number one on the deathlist.

Number one with a bullet.

This isn't to dispute the stupidity and scare-mongering tactics of the ad in question, but I would like to say--as an American living in Sydney for two years--that climate change itself probably wasn't the decisive factor in the recent Australian election. The biggest issue seems to have been Work Choices, the Liberal Party's attempt to put negotiating power in the hands of employers and to remove collective bargaining from the workplace. Polls here show that to have been a major wedge issue, but even so, without Kevin Rudd at the head of the Labor Party, that might not have been enough to turn the tide against Howard and the Liberals. (American readers take note: Liberal is not the same as liberal. Liberal: Republican::Labor: Democrat.)

"And American consumers will be forced to pay as much as $6 billion to cope with carbon constraints."

Really!? That's less than $25 a year for each of us each year.

That is supposed to scare me?

Can’t these Bozos even get their visuals right? If it was truly cold in that house, Joe Dufus would not have unzipped his coat to mid-chest and gone without head and neck covering. I guess these geniuses have never experienced life outside the thermostat zone. Probably a nonissue since very few Americans ever venture into temperatures below 40F or above 90F.

I notice they also didn’t show the roads full of people cycling to work since someone might see how cool it would be to fill the roads with clean, efficient bikes instead of CARcinogen-spewing SUVs. I lived in a town that had that in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. It was glorious.

By the by, when oh when will we stop talking about cap and trade and start talking about individual carbon quotas? Probably not until we get serious about climate change

This would sure fix the American obesity problem.

But why the coats? It looks warm and sunny outside where they live!

It is 20 degrees and snowing here in Minnesota and I make do with a hoodie when I'm walking outside. Sheesh.

However, that is one seriously lame ad.

Folks:

It's not just the national US Chamber of Commerce group that works hard to derail sustainable living legislation. Your local Chamber group is actively involved in your local government, defeating smart planning ordinances, acting as "community" watchdogs on various local boards to block funding of programs they don't like. And on and on. . .

These folks are everywhere in your community, skewing the local community discussion in a direction similar to the television ad described in the article. Be forewarned.

Cheers.

The US Chamber of Commerce has also been the leading opponent of instant background checks for employment. By blocking the Basic Pilot program (and now the E-Verify program) from becoming manditory for all workers they have helped millions of illegals get jobs thereby fucking up our educational system, environment, economy, etc. I think they would sell their momma for a bowl of porridge and tell you it is diversity.

The rest of us will cheer for "a wholesale transformation of the American way of life."

This is an odd (if not absurd) assertion. Isn't it necessarily a minority position to desire the wholesale transformation of the American way of life? They only way I could imagine that the majority would desire this (without having already done it) would be if they were total slaves and had absolutely no control over how they live their lives.

It won't change my life much. I bike to work. I put plastic over my windows in the winter. I pay ~$30 a month in electricity bills and save several hundred dollars from my paycheck -- so even if my electricity prices double, I'll barely notice.

"We're sorry, this video is no longer available."

I wonder why?

I notice they also didn’t show the roads full of people cycling to work...

Everyone knows they needed the visual of a mule pulling a car (as in a Twilight Zone episode). Of course, since the affected are red-blooded Americans, it'd be pulling an SUV, and the animal would have long since collapsed, foaming at the mouth, a la Black Beauty.

C'mon, CofC, you can scare me better than that!

BTW, isn't the CofC a tax-exempt entity? Let's talk about that.

A more responsible organization could just as easily turn this argument on its head and produce a commercial depicting the opposite: the effects of unchecked global warming on the American way of life. Talk about a Dark Age for America -- and a far more hellish one.

I find it hard to believe that anyone will actually "get" the "message" of that advertisement. It's too hammy! It looks too much like a skit from a bad comedy show -- I kept expecting Dave Chappelle to pop up!

Also, I have to respond to this:

American readers take note: Liberal is not the same as liberal. Liberal: Republican::Labor: Democrat.

I see what you did there, but that's frankly as misleading as it is informative. On the old "left-right" scale, the four parties would be:

Australian Labor Party -> Liberal Party -> Democrat -> Republican

America has two right-of-center major parties; Australia has a center party and a slightly left-of-center party. Or, more accurately, BOTH Australia's major parties are significantly left of the Democrats.

I know it hurts Democrat (and probably Republican!) ears to hear the Democrats described as right-of-center, but any objective look at the actual policies of the Australian Liberals and the Democrats will show it's not an inaccurate description.