Notorious climate denier Lord (or Viscount, according to the Guardian) Monckton caused heads to shake on Wednesday when he referred to youth climate activists as "crazed Hitler Youth" for crashing an event sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, the infamous Big Oil-backed front group that is trying to kill climate legislation (and an international climate agreement too, it seems), health care reform, and workers' rights legislation. Check out the awesome (in terms of the youth, not Monckton) video of that incident:
(More here on how last summer's town hall mobs were brought to you by Big Oil and Dirty Coal.)
Monckton then doubled down on his comments in a subsequent interview yesterday:
(As a reminder, Monckton has been a favorite of House Republicans. And Glenn Beck and others have been comparing Al Gore to Hitler and youth activists to Hitler Youth for years.)
Sadly -- and shamefully -- it didn't end there. Yesterday, Monckton then attempted to ambush SustainUS youth climate activists here in the Bella Center. In fact, not only did Monckton not apologize, he tripled down -- and then some -- on his inexcusable remarks:
Full transcript of the exchange between SustainUS's Ben Wessel and Monckton (about 2:30ish in to the video), courtesy of the Guardian's environmental blog:
Ben Wessel: [of the Sustain US youth delegation] First of all my name is Ben [sticks his hand out to shake].
Monckton: No, no. I'm not going to shake the hand of Hitler Youth. I'm sorry.
Wessel: Sir, as a Jew I'm not really sure how I should take that.
Monckton: I'll tell you how you should take it. You should take it.
Wessel: My grandparents escaped the Nazis growing up in Germany.
Monckton: Because of the biofuel scam, world food prices have doubled. That it because of the global warming scare, which you won't look at the science of. As a result of that, millions are dying in third world countries because food prices have doubled because of the biofuel scam, because of the global warming scare.
And you people don't care. And until you start caring I will call you Hitler Youth if you ever again interrupt any meeting at which I am present, where we are trying to have a private conversation.
Monckton: [talking over everyone] Tough luck. So now you know what it looks like when you do robotic chants of the sort which the Hitler Youth used to do in Copenhagen when they occupied this city.
Unidentified youth: Sir, you just need to grow up!
Monckton: I have cited scientific papers ... So I think you should all just chill out and accept that if you ever behave like that again I will call you that again in public. You're already now known and your faces around the world are known as members of the Hitler Youth, or people who do as much damage to the poor as the Hitler Youth did. And you have got to accept that if you are not willing to take it, then you shouldn't give it. And don't you go around invading people's meetings again.
Thank you very much. Good day to you all.
[Monckton walks away and Wessel follows]
Wessel: I think it's good to not try and drown out other people's opinions and I do agree with that.
Monckton: That's what you did. That's what you did. That is what the Hitler Youth did. And if you behave like the Hitler Youth, I'll call you what you are - Hitler Youth.
And you'll like or it or you'll lump it.
Wessel: Okay. I'll let you know how I feel about that personally in a second.
Monckton: Tough ....
Wessel: I would like to tell you though, that for as long as I've been alive ... the past 20 years, the science has been settled.
The two debate the science of anthropogenic climate change.
Wessel: I would like to give you my card, if you would like to discuss this.
Monckton: I do not wants the cards of the Hitler Youth. No.
Wessel: Sir, as a Jew, again ... I think ... this is absurd and I'm just getting a little frustrated ...
Monckton: I have just seen what has happened for instance in Haiti because of people like you, shrieking in public meetings and propagandising so as to try and push an agenda which has nothing to do with looking after the poor of this planet, who are now dying in large numbers of starvation. Because people like you act just as those they were - the Hitler Youth. So I will call you what you are and you will like it or lump it. And don't you dare ever invade any meeting of mine again and behave in that childish, boonish, Hitler-ish fashion. Do I make myself clear?