The head of Optimum Population Trust has set a new record for comments in one day. Should we feel complimented?
by Ian Angus
Simon Ross is CEO of Optimum Population Trust, the UK-based group that recently adopted the more PR-friendly “working name” Population Matters.
In that capacity he has to keep his celebrity patrons happy, and keep OPT’s substantial bank account topped up by constant fundraising.
He has to defend and promote OPT’s weird “PopOffsets” program, a carbon-offsetting-by-contraception scheme that the Head of Climate Change at Friends of the Earth has called “repugnant.”
Above all, his job involves using environmental arguments to promote birth control for poor people in the third world, along with immigration restrictions to keep those same people out of Britain.
In short, he is a very busy man. He can’t have much spare time.
So I suppose that when he takes time from his busy schedule to post comments criticizing articles in Climate and Capitalism, we should feel complimented.
If we don’t feel complimented, it’s because Mr. Ross has what we might call a drive-by shooting approach to commenting. He pops in, posts a few words, then goes away for a few weeks. He’s not here for discussion, just to fire off a bon mot or two.
Yesterday he set a new Climate & Capitalism commenting record, posting six comments on five articles in just 49 minutes.
Sadly for anyone who hopes for serious discussion of the issues, all six comments were just his standard talking points — he repeated things he has posted here previously, in virtually the same words.
Still, some readers may be interested in reading what the head of Britain’s most influential population control organization took the time to tell us. The products of Simon Ross’s latest comment blitz can be found following the articles listed below, along with replies from me and others.
Please feel free to join the conversations.