There was a time not long ago that Osama bin Laden was the world’s most feared man. The 9/11 mastermind was “Wanted: Dead or Alive.” He was the devil incarnate.

Now, he’s an environmentalist. From the Washington Post:

CAIRO — Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called in a new audiotape for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming.

In the tape, aired in part on Al-Jazeera television Friday, bin Laden warns of the dangers of climate change and says that the way to stop it is to bring “the wheels of the American economy” to a halt.

He says the world should “stop consuming American products” and “refrain from using the dollar,” according to a transcript on Al-Jazeera’s Web site.

The new message, whose authenticity could not immediately be confirmed, comes after a bin Laden tape released last week in which he endorsed a failed attempt to blow up an American airliner on Christmas Day.

Soon, bin Laden will be complaining about Tiger Woods’ affairs, Heidi Montag’s plastic surgery and debating the outcome of the Super Bowl. He’s becoming Americanized. And in doing so, his videos have devolved into Greenpeace presentations.

Still, one would hope that someday John McCain will share his foolproof plan to catch bin Laden. McCain does have a re-election campaign coming up, so maybe this is the year he’ll share his plans with Barack Obama and the U.S. military.

--WKW

Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles