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This makes me wonder if the current political “backlash” against global warming is because many politicians are ... old. If they were taught in school that the

by Swizec 7y ago

This makes me wonder if the current political “backlash” against global warming is because many politicians are ... old. If they were taught in school that the earth is cooling, and we know from research that people are very unlikely to change their mind about things after 35 ... well why would they believe it’s now warming?

civilian 7y ago
You're strawmanning the position. It's not that those skeptical politicians believe what they were taught in school-- it's that they see that the science can change, and that calls of doomsday can turn out to be wrong. Even Al Gore's doomsday predictions in the late 90s turned out to be woefully inaccurate. I'm all for being a good steward of the planet, but I think it's reasonable to wait in order to: - Make sure this is a serious risk, and not just something we can adapt to - Let technology develop so we can combat climate change effectively and without bankrupting the world. Furthermore, I see environmentalists who are anti-nuclear, anti-iron-fertilization, and anti-atmospheric-sulfur-injection. If global warming is truly an _existential_ threat, then why aren't these projects appreciated by the run-of-the-mill environmentalists?
- KirinDave 7y ago
  Okay, but some of that technology exists. Why aren't we adopting it aggressively?
- fooblitzky 7y ago
  For the last point - you need to stop emitting before you deploy your hail-Mary countermeasures. Otherwise you only delay the inevitable for a few years.
- hn23 7y ago
  I would say it is pretty risky to run a nuclear power plant you cannot cool because the river is dry or too warm... happenend in France last Year. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-nuclear-reactors-shut-down-edf-europe-heat-wave-a8477776.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-nucle...
pmoriarty 7y ago
"This makes me wonder if the current political "backlash" against global warming is because many politicians are ... old." It's more of a mix of anti-environmentalism (as environmentalism is closely associated in the public mind with the global warming denier's boogeymen -- liberals and the left), ignorance of climate science, anti-intellectualism, conspiracy theorizing that's rife on right-wing media, a desire to recklessly exploit natural resources, and a belief that counteracting global warming will harm businesses and cost taxpayer dollars, which they'd rather spend on the military or on handouts to corporations.
iak8god 7y ago
Or maybe it's this [OpenSecrets - Oil & Gas: Money to Congress | https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=e01&cycle=all&recipdetail=S&mem=Y https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=e01&c...]. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." ― Upton Sinclair
- roenxi 7y ago
  Cause and effect is a bit of a baffler here though. The summary stats/top 20 figures suggest there is a TX bias to funding which in turn suggests to me that oil companies are funding politicians from their own states. Ted Cruz, Ted (R-TX) and Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) combine to a disproportionately large $1 mil, and probably represent a lot of people who are quite happy in the oil industry. So it seems reasonable that despite the money the people who are receiving it might rationally support O&G regardless because it is great for their constituents. It isn't because of what they were taught in school though, that much is pretty clear.
  - iak8god 7y ago
    > suggests to me that oil companies are funding politicians from their own states This makes sense. I assume they're expecting more out of this package than some stubborn climate change denialism.
Gibbon1 7y ago
Well two things. Fossil fuel industries are spending large sums of money to promote backlash. Same as was with smoking and Freon. Typically people stop updating their world views as they get older.
spaceprison 7y ago
I think there's something here, just like how you stop liking new music. There were a bunch of articles in the 70s talking about the potential of an ice age. So much so that I remember my dad (69yo) talking to me and my brother about global cooling/ice age when we were kids in the 80s. He bought the articles in his 20s but now can't be bothered by climate change, because "it was just cooling 40 years ago..."

by Swizec 7y ago

civilian 7y ago

You're strawmanning the position. It's not that those skeptical politicians believe what they were taught in school-- it's that they see that the science can change, and that calls of doomsday can turn out to be wrong. Even Al Gore's doomsday predictions in the late 90s turned out to be woefully inaccurate. I'm all for being a good steward of the planet, but I think it's reasonable to wait in order to: - Make sure this is a serious risk, and not just something we can adapt to - Let technology develop so we can combat climate change effectively and without bankrupting the world. Furthermore, I see environmentalists who are anti-nuclear, anti-iron-fertilization, and anti-atmospheric-sulfur-injection. If global warming is truly an _existential_ threat, then why aren't these projects appreciated by the run-of-the-mill environmentalists?

KirinDave 7y ago
Okay, but some of that technology exists. Why aren't we adopting it aggressively?
fooblitzky 7y ago
For the last point - you need to stop emitting before you deploy your hail-Mary countermeasures. Otherwise you only delay the inevitable for a few years.
hn23 7y ago
I would say it is pretty risky to run a nuclear power plant you cannot cool because the river is dry or too warm... happenend in France last Year. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-nuclear-reactors-shut-down-edf-europe-heat-wave-a8477776.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-nucle...

pmoriarty 7y ago

"This makes me wonder if the current political "backlash" against global warming is because many politicians are ... old." It's more of a mix of anti-environmentalism (as environmentalism is closely associated in the public mind with the global warming denier's boogeymen -- liberals and the left), ignorance of climate science, anti-intellectualism, conspiracy theorizing that's rife on right-wing media, a desire to recklessly exploit natural resources, and a belief that counteracting global warming will harm businesses and cost taxpayer dollars, which they'd rather spend on the military or on handouts to corporations.

iak8god 7y ago

Or maybe it's this [OpenSecrets - Oil & Gas: Money to Congress | https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=e01&cycle=all&recipdetail=S&mem=Y https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=e01&c...]. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." ― Upton Sinclair

roenxi 7y ago
Cause and effect is a bit of a baffler here though. The summary stats/top 20 figures suggest there is a TX bias to funding which in turn suggests to me that oil companies are funding politicians from their own states. Ted Cruz, Ted (R-TX) and Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) combine to a disproportionately large $1 mil, and probably represent a lot of people who are quite happy in the oil industry. So it seems reasonable that despite the money the people who are receiving it might rationally support O&G regardless because it is great for their constituents. It isn't because of what they were taught in school though, that much is pretty clear.
- iak8god 7y ago
  > suggests to me that oil companies are funding politicians from their own states This makes sense. I assume they're expecting more out of this package than some stubborn climate change denialism.

Gibbon1 7y ago

Well two things. Fossil fuel industries are spending large sums of money to promote backlash. Same as was with smoking and Freon. Typically people stop updating their world views as they get older.

spaceprison 7y ago

I think there's something here, just like how you stop liking new music. There were a bunch of articles in the 70s talking about the potential of an ice age. So much so that I remember my dad (69yo) talking to me and my brother about global cooling/ice age when we were kids in the 80s. He bought the articles in his 20s but now can't be bothered by climate change, because "it was just cooling 40 years ago..."