Jock, So good to see you speak up. You expressed things so eloquently. Good job!
Paul Olivier On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 9:19 PM, Jock Gill <[email protected]> wrote: > Paul, > > The interesting question is why do people feel obliged to deny the science > of Climate Security / Insecurity? Politics and "culture wars" play a huge > part. For example, if global climate disruption is a real threat, then > governments will have an extremely important role in solving the problem. > To some, it is unacceptable for government to play any role in any > solution. For these people government has to be the problem and can never > be allowed to be part of a solution. Government must always be seen to be > failing. Hence the objections, for example, to government health Plans, > even though we know from other countries they can work at lower costs with > better results. > > On the political front, also consider the interesting role of the American > "Dixiecrats" who were fundamentally opposed to government imposed civil > liberties. The descendants of the Dixiecrats are alive and well in > Washington, DC and far too many state capitals. The recent hard turn to > the right in formally moderate North Carolina is a case in point. > > In short, people do not like to see their entrenched core values > threatened with significant change. The fossil fuel companies do not want > to be told they cannot monetize 100% of their reserves. Yet, if we want to > mitigate Climate Insecurity, we probably have to find ways to leave as > much fossil carbon in the ground as we can. Monetizing it all creates too > great a risk of globsl climate disruption. This, however, is unacceptable > to the likes of the Exxon and the Koch brothers etc. They will fight it > tooth and nail. As they have effectively "bought and paid for" far too many > elected officials, I expect they will prevail for some time to come. It > will be hard to convert from an extraction model to a stewardship model. > > So, until we have policy, incentives and education promoting Climate > Security, I expect very little to be done to creatively address the > daunting challenges to Climate Security that we are facing. As a result, I > am not sanguine about the future my grandchildren will inherit from us. > > Regards, > > Jock > > Jock Gill > P.O. Box 3 > Peacham, VT 05862 > > Cell: (617) 449-8111 > > :> Extract CO2 from the atmosphere! <: > > Sent from my iPad > > On Aug 22, 2013, at 8:05 AM, Paul Olivier <[email protected]> wrote: > > Ron and Josh, > > Take heart. An article appeared today in the New York Times entitled > "Welcome to the Age of Denial." The author, Adam Frank, puts things in > perspective quite nicely: > > http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/opinion/welcome-to-the-age-of-denial.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130822 > Frank is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of > Rochester. The language that he uses is not the language of religion or > politics. It's the language of science, and yet it is, at times, tough and > brutal. Let me quote just a few lines: > > *Meanwhile, climate deniers, taking pages from the creationists’ PR > playbook, have manufactured doubt about fundamental issues in climate > science that were decided scientifically decades ago.*.. > > *North Carolina has banned state planners from using climate data in > their projections of future sea levels... > > From one end of their educational trajectory to the other, our society > told these kids science was important. How confusing is it for them now, > when scientists receive death threats for simply doing honest research on > our planet’s climate history? * > > I encourage everyone to read the entire article. Let no one try to take > the high road and say that climate issues should not influence the way we > design stoves. > > Thanks. > Paul > >> >> >> -- Paul A. Olivier PhD 26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong Dalat Vietnam Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam) Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam) Skype address: Xpolivier http://www.esrla.com/
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