Climate Depot Banned in Louisiana! State official sought to ‘shut down’ climate skeptic’s testimony at hearing

Commissioner Foster Campbell of the Louisiana Public Service Commission is demanding to know why a witness skeptical of man-made global warming was not “shut down” during a May 13, 2009 hearing in Baton Rouge.

According to an article in The Times-Picayune on May 19, 2009, Campbell was irate that Climate Depot’s executive editor Marc Morano was invited to speak at the hearing by Commissioner Eric Skrmetta. The paper reported: “Campbell criticized [Chairman] Boissiere for not shutting down Morano’s presentation.” [Morano note: This is eerily similar to the event that occurred in Congress on April 23, 2009. See: Democrats Refuse to Allow Skeptic to Testify Alongside Gore At Congressional Hearing ]

Campbell, a Democrat who ran for governor, attempted to verbally grill Morano during the hearing and has since publicly accused the Climate Depot editor of being a “phony” and a “hack” who is part of a “fringe group” and he accused Morano of “deception” and taking “quotes out of context.” (See Times-Picayune article: Global warming presentation prompts Foster Campbell to ask for PSC testimony under oath )

Campbell, who engaged in a testy back and forth during the standing room only hearing with Morano, is now apparently demanding any future witnesses that challenge his scientific understanding of global warming be promptly “shut down.” [Morano note: Campbell’s low-brow insults and impulse to cut off debate only serve to diminish his reputation.]

The Times-Picayune reported: “After a presenter at last week’s Public Service Commission meeting asserted that global warming is a hoax, Commissioner Foster Campbell said Tuesday he plans to introduce a motion at the June meeting requiring most people testifying before the commission to do so under oath.” [Morano note: The paper is incorrect; I never testified that global warming is a “hoax.” ]

Campbell’s call for future witnesses to be sworn-in is apparently his attempt to scare off any future skeptics of man-made global warming fears from testifying. Campbell implies “swearing” in witnesses would somehow force witnesses to change their dissenting views of climate change. [Morano note: Sadly, it seems as though Campbell actually believes that if you present scientific evidence refuting Gore’s climate view, you must be a liar. I would be delighted to return to Baton Rouge to testify again under oath and allow Campbell all the time he would like to question my presentation. ]

The paper reported that Morano’s testimony

Flashback: Cameron Diaz ‘lauds traditional tribal lifestyles, which lack running water, electricity’ on MTV Enviro Series

Celebs Ignore Death, Poverty on MTV Enviro Series

May 5, 2005

(CNSNews.com) – A new MTV series features Hollywood celebrities praising the developing world’s primitive lifestyles as earth-friendly — despite those poor nations’ high infant mortality rates and short life expectancies.

The eco-tourism show, called “Trippin’,” premiered on March 28 and was heavily promoted in the runup to Earth Day. The show encourages environmental awareness and lauds traditional tribal lifestyles, which lack running water, electricity and other basic infrastructure.

The MTV series features actress Cameron Diaz and a rotating crew of “her close, personal friends [who] think globally and act globally.” They tour developing nations, including Nepal, Bhutan, Tanzania, Honduras and visit remote villages in Chile.

Actress Drew Barrymore, who reportedly earns $15 million a film, told MTV viewers in one episode that after spending time in a primitive, electricity-free Chilean village, “I aspire to be like them more.”

Barrymore, apparently enthralled by the lack of a modern sanitary facilities, gleefully bragged, “I took a poo in the woods hunched over like an animal. It was awesome.”

The 32-year-old Diaz, who earns a reported $20-million a movie, boasted that the cow-dung slathered walls of a Nepalese village hut were “beautiful” and “inspiring,” and she called the primitive practice of “pounding mud” with sticks to construct a building foundation “the coolest thing.”

Diaz also criticized the lifestyles of many Americans after visiting an indigenous village in Chile. “It’s kinda gotten out of hand how much convenience we think we need,” she said.

Despite the celebrities’ praise for the primitive life, “Trippin'” shows them flying on multiple airplanes and chartering at least two helicopters and one boat to reach remote locations over the course of the first four episodes.

The series also showed the celebrities being chauffeured to the airport in a full-size Chevy SUV — despite several on-screen, anti-SUV factoids noting how environmentally unfriendly SUVs are.

Diaz, who starred in “Charlie’s Angel’s” and “There’s Something About Mary,” travels the world “in the name of the Mother Earth” with a host of different celebrities including Barrymore, actresses Eva Mendez and Jessica Alba, rapper Redman, and rocker Kid Rock.

Environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council also are featured in the series, to provide commentary and analysis on environmental issues.

The first four episodes of the MTV series made scant mention