Greenpeace Resurrects JFK for Global Warming Ad Campaign

     There’s something a little creepy about historical figures being brought back to life to promote climate change alarmism, but the over-the-top environmentalists at Greenpeace have no qualms with using it as a tactic.

     A video posted on Greenpeace’s YouTube site portrays former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, making a plea for environmental activism to save the planet from the perils of global warming.

     “When man first walked upon the moon, it defined a generation,” Kennedy is depicted saying. “As this new millennium dawns, we face a greater challenge – climate change threatens our very existence. What further disasters will convince world leaders that the existing technology and renewable energy offers the last remaining hope for sustainable future?”

     The ad is part of a Greenpeace campaign labeled “Energy [R]evolution” that sets greenhouse gas goals far in excess of the Kyoto treaty. The ad promotes [1]the eradication of coal-fired plants, [2]using more expensive unproven sources of energy, [3]blames industrialized nations for the plight of poor nations, and [4]calls for a radical overhaul of the European auto industry.

    Other [5]aspects of the campaign include an energy policy based on “equity and fairness,” reduction of greenhouse gas emission by “up to 30 percent below 1990 levels,” “strict mandatory efficiency standards” for home and office appliances and the phasing out of nuclear power, which has been deemed as [6]a greenhouse gas-free energy solution to the climate change issue by some.

     The ad makes an emotional plea by linking climate change disaster scene after disaster scene, including a post-Hurricane Katrina shot from Reynoir St. in Biloxi, Miss, followed by shots of children, calling for an “energy revolution.”

     “Hollow words and spineless resolution have failed,” the voice continued. “Now is the time for an energy revolution. Will we look into the eyes of our children and tell them that we had the opportunity but lacked the courage? Will we look into the eyes of our children and tell them that we had the technology, but lacked the vision? Or, will we look into the eyes of our children and tell them that we faced our challenge and that we fought – we fought for the energy revolution?”

     Kennedy is considered by [7]some historians to be a great orator. However, the choice to use his likeness in the ad is curious because, although he is credited for [8]laying some the foundation of modern federal environmental policy, it was his Republican rival and successor, President Richard Nixon, [9]who made the Environmental Protection Agency a reality in 1970.

     This isn’t the first time environmental messages have been linked to historical images. Al Gore’s “We Can Solve It” campaign had one commercial spot that began with video from the [10]D-Day invasion of Normandy and included clips from the moon landing and the civil rights movement. Time magazine doctored the famous Iwo Jima photograph by Joe Rosenthal of the Marines raising the American flag and replaced the flag with a tree to push the [11]“war on global warming.”

     The use of deceased celebrities in advertising has been considered controversial by some. A recent DirectTV ad starring Craig T. Nelson as the father in the 1982 movie “Poltergeist,” shows the daughter – played by Heather O’Rourke – reciting the movie’s memorable line, “Theeeyyy’re heeerrre” However, O’Rourke died in 1988 and [12]some critics claimed that crossed the line.