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Are We Missing the Real Issue?
In his article, Don’t Call Me a Pessimist on Climate Change, I am a Realist, William E Rees explores the possibility that the switch to green energy sources will not meet our growing demands. Survival will ultimately depend on us facing hard facts about energy, growth and governance. In fact, he ventures to assert that existing policy for climate disaster-avoidance seems designed to serve the capitalist growth economy and make the latter appear as the solution rather than cause of the problem. “Unfortunately,” as University of Vienna public policy professor Clive Spash points out, “many environmental non-governmental organisations have bought into this illogical reasoning.” (Note that many NGOs are dependent on the corporate…
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The Chorus of Denial
The rise of populism surrounding global politics, most notably the American Election of President Trump, has the potential to be harnessed in order to weaken the messages of climate science. In the leadership rhetoric of several major global powers there is a disturbingly dominant discourse of anthropogenic climate change denial. Even when climate change is acknowledged, the measures sanctioned are far from decisive. Whether dismissing global warming as a hoax, questioning humanity’s role in it, exaggerating the unknowns, playing down the urgency of action, or playing up the costs, President Donald Trump and his team have served up every flavor of climate denial. Although the arguments varied—as if they were different shades…
