Which is asinine. The real question is, "What are we giving up if we fail to save our society by acting to preserve our planet's ecosystem?"
It's questionable whether this event on Monday really had a major impact on the conversation, because, sadly, even though I followed it myself and dutifully RT-ed posts that I considered particularly on-point, I somehow didn't immediately think of #Up4Climate when the time came to do my regular-ish "Climate Sunday" post. But maybe this is a gradual movement that just has yet to pick up momentum, so I hope the Senate, and the House Democrats, and other politicians, keep this in mind--
We have just this one planet. There is a hell of a lot of money donated by people very economically-invested in the exact industries we know to be environmentally problematic. That being said, much skepticism needs to be placed at the feet of those who, despite the overwhelming evidence, happily deny the science and run campaigns on that denial. Why do they do it? Think about that.
I know full well why Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has turned his attention of late to the Koch Brothers. But their tactics aren't just bad news for the Democrats--they are pretty bad for the planet. And locally (isn't it said, "All politics is local?"), similar industry rich folks are polluting water (like the Duke Energy Company in NC) and fracking up some earthquakes hither and yon. It's time politicians got concerned about the fears and concerns and needs of consumers, citizens, and homeowners. A change in how we talk about climate science could do some real good.
2 comments:
Hey, here's an idea! Lock 'em up!
http://theconversation.com/is-misinformation-about-the-climate-criminally-negligent-23111
The article makes a very good point, Alicia--I can't help but think about the right-wingers who went hard after climate researcher Michael Mann over alleged fraud (who was exonerated multiple times by different investigations). There is a pattern of overt dishonesty with denialists (especially the paid shills). But I'm kind of leery about using force to chill out debate.
What I will say is, criminal penalties definitely need to be considered for the kinds of folks who deliberately introduce poison into our water and air. The climate science debate is difficult for some to grasp--but the idea that you don't poison people has to be pretty well understood--if I dropped a little arsenic into Granny's evening chamomile even in a non-fatal dose, I would go to jail. People who dump radioactive materials, coal ash, etc, shouldn't be just fined. They should see jail time.
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