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Remember John Stossel?

For those who don’t remember him or never heard of him, Stossel made it big a generation or two ago when he was the co-host of ABC’s show “20/20.” He became most famous for his piece at the end of each weekly show. It was called “Give Me A Break.” Each week, he would focus on one issue that challenged conventional wisdom in our society. His pieces were described as some of the most thought provoking of a television reporter on the issues of that time. His work took on many of the trends in our culture. After 22 years with ABC’s “20/20,” he left because his role was no longer appreciated after he had stepped on too many toes with his reports and specials.

He went on to be a best-selling author of such books as “Give Me a Break” and “Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.” In recent years, he has done specials that deal with how the media scares us with issues blown out of proportion such as bogus claims of junk science and the battle between censorship and free speech.

Most recently he is asking questions about climate change and how it is being presented. As one CNN anchor warned, “There will be irreversible damage to the planet.”

Joe Biden refers to this change as an “existential threat to life.” He proposes that he will spend $500 billion each and every year to fight it.

The fact is that, in our world today with 24-hour news available every day of the week, each source must hype their news to keep listeners tuned to their station. Almost every issue is looked at as a life-or-death issue. Consider just a few in the last several years: flesh-eating bacteria, Ebola, SARS, bird flu, killer bees, West Nile virus. If that does concern you, consider everything in our lives that some group has claimed is the cause: coffee, microwave ovens, power lines, cellphones, computer terminals, herbicides and plastic residues, just to mention a few. In fact, according to Stossel, some say we are in the midst of a cancer epidemic despite the fact that cancer rates are declining.

With this backdrop of disaster headlines and news stories, Stossel is now asking what is the real story about global warming, and what does it mean. Stossel concedes that climate change is real. He considers it’s a problem, but doubts that it’s “an existential threat.” He believes that if we set all the rhetoric aside, we can deal with the issue more rationally than some propose.

Stossel cites the new movie by Marc Morano titled Climate Hustle 2, where some of the “accepted knowledge” is questioned. Moreno points out that much of what is being taught throughout our schools from kindergarten to high school is inaccurate, however, it has brainwashed a generation of school kids so that they are totally indoctrinated. Those young people are completely resistant to real scientific study and real facts.

If Morano attempts to speak, activists do everything possible to stop him from speaking. Daily KOS calls him “evil personified.”

Morano argues that politicians use fear of global warming in order to gain power. Climate Hustle 2 features Senator Chuck Schumer shouting, “If we would do more on climate change, we’d have fewer of these hurricanes and other types of storms. Everyone knows that.”

But according to Stossel, “Everyone doesn’t know that.” Many scientists refute it. Congress’ own hearings include testimony about how our warmer climate has not caused increases in the number of hurricanes or tornadoes. “Climate Hustle 2” includes many other examples like that.

Morano’s movie frustrates climate activists by pointing out how hypocritical some are. He uses the example of actor Leonardo DiCaprio saying he lives a “green lifestyle using energy-efficient appliances and drives a hybrid car.” Then he flies to Europe to attend a party.

Stossel and Morano have it pegged. The issue of climate change is less about saving the planet and more about elitists wanting to call all the shots. Their vision is to create a scenario where they will be in charge and pick winners and losers in our economy, just as they are currently doing with COVID-19. In the end, government picking winners will destroy capitalism.

FRANK RUFF JR. serves as the 15th District senator in Virginia. He can be reached at Sen.Ruff@verizon.net, (434) 374-5129 or P.O. Box 332, Clarksville, VA 23927.