Talk to me about the environment. Climate change fanatics focus on how the oceans will rise a half inch 50 years from now and how the economy will collapse 100 years from now. Some of the claims are hard to believe, particularly any economic projections that far in advance, and the messaging of this has been poorly done and divisive. What people should be talking about, and what I would be interested in, is the environment that exists right now. People can see those problems and we can personally do something about them right now and this can be explained in a way that unites rather than divides people. It makes me wonder why the people concerned about climate change people didn't start or stay there.
Perhaps that's a reason why I have so little interest in climate change. The environment used to be important. Then there was a hue and cry about the Ozone layer being depleted and how soon the Earth would die from that. Then the crisis became global warming. Now global warming is climate change - I guess the theory that the whole globe is warming didn't hold up.
As for the projected economic impact - c'mon. Economist can't agree on what will happen next year and we're supposed to believe a projection about 100 years from now?
And then there is the messaging. First we have the offensive phrase "settled science." Climate change exists, that is settled science. Newton's laws of physics were settled science until someone proved them wrong. The Earth was flat and the sun and stars revolved around the Earth until someone proved it untrue. Einstein predicted that his Theory of Relativity would eventually be proven flawed. Science is not math. This isn't 1+1=2 kind of stuff.
When someone does have the audacity to challenge the settled science they are degraded and insulted. I admit I have not seen the universe of all conversations on this topic but I've seen enough and the reaction of climate change supporters to anyone who opposes them turns me off and turns me away from supporting doing something about climate change. And since when did challenging scientific theories become unscientific? And I don't like people who are rude and treat others badly, so why should I get excited about supporting something they support.
What ever happened to people just being concerned about the environment? If you want to get my support on something talk about the oceans being filled with trash, the dying coral reefs, the vanishing rain forests, or the extinction of African animals. Closer to home talk about the fact that the only reason rivers and lakes have fish is because State Fish Commissions raise the fish in Fisheries and then stock those bodies of water. Talk about the EPA Superfund sites that are still not close to being cleaned up. Tell me about the trash littering our countryside or the fact that each year in cities across America there are days when the air quality is labeled unsafe to breathe.
Does anyone disagree those are real problems? Is anyone opposed to fixing those problems? Does anyone disagree that those are problems that can be fixed now or in the very near future?
Those are issues people can rally around if our Government and media focused on those issues and not the divisive topic of climate change. We used to focus on them until that focus was changed to Global Warming and then to Climate Change. I'm willing to bet solving the problems I listed would help solve climate change.
I'm also willing to bet people who want to solve Climate Change will react by saying "but that's the kind of stuff we want to do." My answer is no it's not. You frame the problem as climate change, and all the focus is on "climate change" and anyone who questions climate change is met with rude and offensive remarks and the discussion never gets to any of this. Rather than focusing on topics that are unifying in order to advance their goal, climate change advocates focus on a topic that is divisive and make it more divisive by their answers to any who question them. And my final question is if you really want to fix the world, why are you approaching the issue that way?
Perhaps that's a reason why I have so little interest in climate change. The environment used to be important. Then there was a hue and cry about the Ozone layer being depleted and how soon the Earth would die from that. Then the crisis became global warming. Now global warming is climate change - I guess the theory that the whole globe is warming didn't hold up.
As for the projected economic impact - c'mon. Economist can't agree on what will happen next year and we're supposed to believe a projection about 100 years from now?
And then there is the messaging. First we have the offensive phrase "settled science." Climate change exists, that is settled science. Newton's laws of physics were settled science until someone proved them wrong. The Earth was flat and the sun and stars revolved around the Earth until someone proved it untrue. Einstein predicted that his Theory of Relativity would eventually be proven flawed. Science is not math. This isn't 1+1=2 kind of stuff.
When someone does have the audacity to challenge the settled science they are degraded and insulted. I admit I have not seen the universe of all conversations on this topic but I've seen enough and the reaction of climate change supporters to anyone who opposes them turns me off and turns me away from supporting doing something about climate change. And since when did challenging scientific theories become unscientific? And I don't like people who are rude and treat others badly, so why should I get excited about supporting something they support.
What ever happened to people just being concerned about the environment? If you want to get my support on something talk about the oceans being filled with trash, the dying coral reefs, the vanishing rain forests, or the extinction of African animals. Closer to home talk about the fact that the only reason rivers and lakes have fish is because State Fish Commissions raise the fish in Fisheries and then stock those bodies of water. Talk about the EPA Superfund sites that are still not close to being cleaned up. Tell me about the trash littering our countryside or the fact that each year in cities across America there are days when the air quality is labeled unsafe to breathe.
Does anyone disagree those are real problems? Is anyone opposed to fixing those problems? Does anyone disagree that those are problems that can be fixed now or in the very near future?
Those are issues people can rally around if our Government and media focused on those issues and not the divisive topic of climate change. We used to focus on them until that focus was changed to Global Warming and then to Climate Change. I'm willing to bet solving the problems I listed would help solve climate change.
I'm also willing to bet people who want to solve Climate Change will react by saying "but that's the kind of stuff we want to do." My answer is no it's not. You frame the problem as climate change, and all the focus is on "climate change" and anyone who questions climate change is met with rude and offensive remarks and the discussion never gets to any of this. Rather than focusing on topics that are unifying in order to advance their goal, climate change advocates focus on a topic that is divisive and make it more divisive by their answers to any who question them. And my final question is if you really want to fix the world, why are you approaching the issue that way?
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