Sunday, April 1, 2012

Earth Hour satirized on Rod Quinn's ABC radio show

Had the wireless on in the wee hours of this morning. Was channel surfing and I ended up on ABC Local. Rod Quinn was chatting to a bloke about Earth Hour. It seemed like it was a dinkum, prearranged interview.

Anyway, this guy said his name was Nick Day, and he was a member of the International Coalition of Earth Hour Supporters. He sounded like your typical garden variety climate change catastrophist and I thought he was the real deal. But then he turned it up a notch, saying that turning off the lights should be mandatory for all citizens, and that the power stations should be shut down for Earth Hour. 

That's when I started to sense a piss-take. Among other things he said that if transport accidents caused by these national shutdowns resulted in deaths they were a "small price to pay for saving the planet". He advocated the widespread use of candles, and more fondue style cooking. When Quinn quizzed him further on this he became indignant, railing at the imputation that he had anything to gain financially from this position. 

It was actually pretty funny in a sly, wry way. This bloke, whoever he was, carried it off well. And Quinn played his part convincingly. I didn't twig while it was happening, but in retrospect I now realize that it was an April Fool's Day prank. 

I continued to listen for a little while after this and those callers I heard responding to this segment mostly seemed to have taken it seriously. Just one guy I heard suspected Day "was having a bit of lend".

This cheeky, prearranged satire of Earth Hour zealotry was a small but not insignificant sign that the warmist mindset at their ABC is shifting somewhat. If a late night presenter can do this on one day of the year when irreverence is expected then more prominent broadcasters in the organization might one day follow suit, maybe even at any time they feel like it.

2 comments:

  1. Psst, it was an April Fools Day joke!
    Elmo, Central Coast NSW

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  2. Yes, I realized that minutes after completing the post, when I was away from the PC. Have amended it now.

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