Remember this?
After a major earthquake killed more than 300 people in L’Aquila, Italy, a court in 2009 convicted half a dozen scientists of criminal manslaughter for failing to predict the disaster–and sentenced them to six years in prison (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-earthquake-court/italian-scientists-convicted-over-earthquake-warning-idUSBRE89L13V20121022). A government official was thrown in jail with them on the same charges.
All seven defendants were members of a government agency, the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks.
Well, that’s the problem right there. Who can forecast an earthquake, let alone prevent one? But if you set up an official body “for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks,” you’re going to make people think you really can forecast and prevent major risks–and they’re going to be mighty angry with you when you don’t.
Suppose they had declared that a major earthquake was coming, and urged the populace to evacuate the city. And then suppose the earthquake didn’t happen, after all. Guess who gets thrown in jail for falsely spreading panic–to say nothing of the expense entailed in a full evacuation. A false alarm would be no joke.
Of course, our own Climbit Change mob has nothing to worry about. If we don’t give them colossal new powers and trillions of dollars, they can always say “We told you so” if anything goes wrong. And it if doesn’t, they’ll be sitting pretty. “See? Thanks to the fantastic new powers we have over your lives, and the vast new taxes we have made you pay, we’ve prevented the disaster and nothing bad has happened! Just keep on paying, keep on obeying, and we’ll do the rest…”
That’s what makes it a perfect scam. Unlike the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, the Climbit Change wallahs don’t have to deliver anything but lots and lots and lots of gab.
