Global Warming Activist Laurie David Fined for Wetlands Violations—Oh, Never Mind

by Pam Meister

News broke last week that Laurie David, former wife of Larry David (of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame), was fined for wetlands violations at her Martha’s Vineyard home – and it wasn’t the first time, either:

The property owned by Ms. David off North Road was the subject of a series of wetlands violations in 2005, when construction of a stone fire pit, barbecue grill area and wooden stage for a children’s theatre with seating was begun in a wetland without a permit.

Ms. David, as you may recall, produced the Goracle’s epic documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.  She also wrote The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming for children (doing her part to convince one in three frightened children that the earth will implode before they grow up), and went on a much ballyhooed bus tour with fellow greenie Sheryl “One Sheet” Crow in order to help Save The Earth™ a couple of years back. How riding around the country in an exhaust-spewing bus and using up oodles of electricity for Sheryl’s musical stylings was supposed to “help” is beyond me. But wait, the bus was powered by vegetable oil instead of that dastardly fossil fuel, and pal Sheryl is committed to being green by driving a hybrid and using cold water to wash her clothes. Forgive my cynicism; I’m convinced.

Fortunately for Ms. David, her contractor was fully prepared to take the heat:

The new infractions occurred during the construction of a tennis court. Workers installed a makeshift road with boards and stones and drove heavy machinery across the resources area making a path to the tennis court site. Attempts to reach Ms. David were unsuccessful but Bart Thorpe, who said he is the contractor on the job, took full responsibility for the violations yesterday.

“She’s obviously a very busy person and she trusted the contractor, just like last time,” he said. “And I inadvertently made a mistake. It’s something she had no knowledge of and had nothing to do with, and it’s a minor thing.”

Perhaps, as “the boss,” the buck should stop with Ms. David. But it’s all in a day’s work for the “do as I say” celebrity set. David’s in good company with folks like Arianna Huffington for her penchant for flying on corporate jets while decrying the evils of SUVs and the like.

That’s okay, though, because as Laurie herself once said:

“Yes, I take a private plane on holiday a couple of times a year, and I feel horribly guilty about it. I probably shouldn’t do it. But the truth is, I’m not perfect. This is not about perfection. I don’t expect anybody else to be perfect either. That’s what hurts the environmental movement – holding people to a standard they cannot meet. That just pushes people away.”

Frankly, it’s hard to know what she expects. She seems to be all over the place.

But perhaps Ms. David is unaware that these days, more people are concerned about the fate of the economy than their culpability in so-called anthropogenic global warming. Being able to afford gas in order to get to a job that may be in jeopardy has become more important.

And as for the claim by global warming activists that the “debate is over” among scientists, she obviously hasn’t spoken to Dr. Jim Buckee, who says that:

…far from warming, the Earth is set to enter a 20-year cooling period. Dr Buckee believes human behaviour has no effect on the climate and the vast sums spent by governments trying to promote renewable energy to cut greenhouse gas emissions are being wasted. Far from being a key cause of climate change, he says, carbon dioxide emissions have little or no impact. … Instead of human activities being responsible for the warming climate over the past 100 years, Dr Buckee insists there is a natural explanation, based on the activity of the Sun. Solar activity can affect the cosmic rays that reach the Earth’s atmosphere, and this in turn affects the climate, he says.

Then again, it’s no longer chic to call it “global warming.” A switch to the term “climate change” conveniently covers all bases, so it’s still naughty to drink out of a plastic bottle or purchase a car larger than a golf cart – or purchase any car at all, for that matter. (No worries, our glorious leader is taking care of that with his big plans for GM.)

Homes on both coasts, ski trips to Aspen, irresponsible home improvements, and a member of the private jet set – yep, Laurie David is just the one I plan to call when I have serious questions about the environment.


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Posted Jun 3rd 2009 at 8:11 am in Celebrity News, Politics | 75 Comments