Tore and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Global Warming Day

A children's book about little boy who can't win a dogsled race because of global warming is making the rounds at the UN Climate Change Conference in Kenya, where our own Ron Bailey is standing by. The book, called Tore and the Town on Thin Ice, is trickling through the usual "outraged conservative" circles after being promoted as the "Majority Fact of the Day" today on the webpage of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

But the real outrage is just how bad the book is. The art is confusing and smeary (see the whole book here [PDF]), while the dialogue is peculiarly tone deaf. I can only hope that the book was originally written in another language:

Tore went to bed early that night, his head spinning with the news he'd heard. Soon Sedna appeared.

"What's happening, Sea Mother?" blurted Tore. "What can we do? And how can I help?"

"That's the spirit," said Sedna. "You can be my strongest ally."

"Think for a moment: What makes the modern world possible? What runs cars and snowmobiles, makes electricity for computers and factories, heats houses and schools?"

"Well, energy. Mostly oil and coal, I guess." …

"Rich countries use—and waste—an awful lot of energy. Huge cars. Too many cars instead of efficient trains and buses. Lights and machines that take more electricity than necessary. Heaters and air conditioners that run even when they're not needed…."

Tore should go into Wikipedia as the illustration for the entry on mission creep.