New bin Laden tape blames the U.S., developed world for climate change

The green movement just got a very unwelcome supporter. In a recording appearing today on the al-Jazeera network, terrorist leader Osama bin Laden sharply criticized the U.S. and industrial nations for continuing to damage the environment.

Unsurprisingly, the news immediately prompted conservative responses from media sources like Fox News, the Examiner and Drudge Report drawing parallels between bin Laden and American green activist and former Vice President Al Gore. Already it looks like this tape — even though its authenticity has yet to be proven — could be some pretty bad PR for the environmental movement in the U.S. and abroad.

Could it just be a coincidence that President Barack Obama spent a great deal of his State of the Union address on the challenges of climate change and need to grow a green economy? Did bin Laden produce this message in response to Obama’s remarks? Could Bin Laden’s end goal be to sap support from the green movement? Or consolidate support in the developing world against the U.S. and Europe? It’s unclear.

“All of the industrialized countries, especially the big ones, bear the responsibility for the global warming crisis,” bin Laden says on the tape, the second from him to surface this week. He blames many of these countries for continuing to pollute even after ratifying the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, implying that no global pacts will get the job done. He also pointed to the failures of Kyoto in a 2002 letter released to the press.

In response to the tape, the Pentagon says it will start to plan strategically around climate change and the world’s perception of U.S. efforts in this area.