Nothing that global-warming bedwetter Thom Hartmann would like more than to see energy execs prosecuted in show trials.
In lieu of that, the left-wing radio host will gladly accept public shaming instead for those with the audacity to run such scurrilous enterprises, even if the modern world couldn't function without them. (Audio after the jump)
Hartmann on his radio show Monday cited the specific form of humiliation he has in mind (h/t, audio, Brian Maloney at mrctv.org) --
When those brave firefighters are laid to rest later this week, their funeral costs are most likely gonna be paid for by their family members, and that should not be the case, because it was the fossil-fuel industry in this country that killed these men, and the fossil-fuel industry should be responsible for paying for their funerals.
These deaths are just the latest example of the overwhelming negative externalities associated with America's addiction to toxic and dirty fossil fuels. A negative externality -- this is fancy economic-speak -- it's a cost borne by all of us that was produced by a private entity and then dumped on us.
Fossil fuels are produced by private entities "and then dumped on us," Hartmann claims. I doubt I'm alone in saying I've never seen fossil fuels "dumped" on anyone. On the contrary -- in the most frequent occasion for me to encounter fossil fuels, buying gas for my car, I often wait in line behind other people fueling their vehicles. Not much "dumping" going on, but plenty in the way of buying. The company that sells me heating oil, to cite another example, has never forced its product on me or anyone else that I'm aware of. On the contrary -- it's always me calling them to ask that they bring it. I developed a much greater appreciation for what they sell after we lost heat and electricity for three days last winter following a massive blizzard.
In many locales around the world, cheap energy costs make the difference between people barely scraping by and lives worth living. Fossil-fuel companies don't have to "dump" their products on anyone because they've been in steep demand for decades and this will continue into the foreseeable future. Unless, that is, Hartmann and his ilk succeed in nationalizing energy companies and "dumping" the inevitably higher fuel costs that would follow on everyone else.
