The two regulars had entered the commune to give Earl a chance to make amends to a former stoner name Woody (played by Christian Slater). They (and the audience watching at home) ended up getting lectured about the evils of climate change complete with charts that looked like they came from Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Here’s just a snippet:
Slater/Woody: “As a result of fossil fuel use, and if the glaciers keep melting at this rate, in 20 years, Camden County will look like this! [showed an illustration of big blue waves with caption 'Camden County Under Water'] And because of warming, deadly diseases like West Nile are spreading like wildfire and will kill you. Now, do you want to die a virgin? Sorry, that's in there for the high school kids. Really shakes them up. And this is what CO2 levels will look like in 10 years. Do you know what we do then? Nothing! 'Cause it'll be too late. We'll all just sit around and watch each other fry like we're bugs in a zapper. Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!”
As Earl explained “By the end, I was freaking out” and so was his brother Randy. “Hey, this is messed up, man. Does anyone else know about this? 'Cause we should tell the president,” Earl exclaimed.
Afterward, Earl became a complete convert and purchased a litany of lefty loot – “Florescent bulbs that use less electricity. Reusable hemp bags for shopping. And look. Shampoo that's not tested on animals. I feel bad for those lab animals running around with dirty hair, but if it's better for the environment, that's the sacrifice they have to make.”
He then vows to he’s “going to fix” global warming and went to his ex-wife Joy’s house to convert her. When she mentioned her husband had planned to pour used oil into the creek, Earl became one with Gore: “You can't pour oil in the creek. If you do, the bar graph goes up, the pie chart gets bigger. The next thing you know, you got a big picture of the Earth with a sweaty forehead and a sad face.”
Only Joy’s new husband Darnell dared to question the propaganda with this line: “I do care. I'm just not sure global warming is caused by man. I think it's a bit anthropocentric to think humans could have that much effect.”
Finally, Earl had a complete “meltdown” while the Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” played in the background. (“Paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”) Earl returned to the commune where he got sage advice from Woody/Slater one last time to “think local” and just spend five minutes a day helping the world. Just as it seemed he might actually make sense, Woody/Slater threw out another left-wing lunacy: “Oh, and, uh, you know what they said about eating an apple a day? Don't, 'cause they're loaded with pesticides.”
