[Coral-List] Climate Change perceptions

Steve Mussman sealab at earthlink.net
Tue Nov 10 09:53:31 EST 2009


We may not agree on which strategies are best 
to implement change in public opinion relating to AGW,
or if in fact change is necessary, but a vigorous 
discussion is certainly justified.

Some may believe that individual actions are 
the best way to represent the changes they wish
to see in the world around them. Others may hold 
out for larger scale actions, but an examination
of all possibilities is appropriate. 

Asking “why people are adverse to the idea of AGW”
leads to the consideration of several factors which
differ from country to country. 
In the U.S., these elements certainly contribute:
 
  The public relations campaign undertaken by affected
industries is monumental in scope.   Follow the money.
  The skeptics and deniers (in this country) have effectively 
promoted their agenda in the main stream media.
(ex. George Will had yet another op-ed piece this past Sunday)
  Most people find change discomforting and function best
in normal routines focused on short-term objectives,
not in changing the world for the better.
  The fact that our economy is in recession and we are involved
in foreign conflicts certainly further affects the
prioritization of the issue.

Under such circumstances playing on fears inherent in change
is a simple and effective advocacy.

Personally, I no longer believe that change will come
from the balanced examination of scientific facts. 
More likely a transformation will result only from a 
combination of governmental policy urged on by the
potential for economic opportunity. 

If alternative energy technologies become the next
boom industry and replace information technologies
as the engine of emerging economic growth,
positive change will follow. 

We simply have not yet reached this “tipping point” 
and the old guard will not go down without a fight. 

We can only hope that these changes evolve before
too much damage has been done. 




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