John’s Blog/Newsletter: SEA LEVEL RISE NOW

Political response to Climate Alarm shows progress on 7 Stages of Denial

The chorus of alarm about climate change is growing. This week it was in the headline news due to the just released National Climate Assessment. In today’s Los Angeles Times, Doyle McManus has a very good piece describing the Republican response. “The GOP does the climate Change Dance”.

The stages of “climate change denial” have been described by several writers in recent years, listing five or six stages in roughly similar terms. (Joe Romm, Daphne Wysham, Michael Mann, and Steven Running are several that I am aware of who deserve credit.)

My version would be “7 Stages of Climate Denial”

Global Warming is not happening. This is all a hoax.
Climate Change is happening, but it’s natural. Humans have no impact.
Perhaps we are having an impact, but what can we do?
Addressing climate change as ‘Problem #1’, would hurt our economy.
The government should provide more subsidies, emergency relief, and compensation.
We need to do something drastic, regardless of the cost attempting to correct the problem. It’s a question of survival.
Economic, agricultural, weather, and human health impacts are so catastrophic, that government and economies have collapsed.

As noted in the Los Angeles Times column today, even the knee-jerk reaction by Senators Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio, seems to indicate they are at now stages 3 and 4. Unfortunately, in this situation, we can’t really consider this “progress.” Still, it is worth noting that their abandoning stages 1 and 2 is a good thing.

With the likely increasing weird weather and continuing impacts from record level droughts, rain, snows, storms, and flooding streets as our climate destabilizes, we can expect to see more of the skeptics advance through stages of denial. (For a short perspective on “climate destabilization” that explains the surprising conflicting manifestations, see “3 Reasons Why Global Warming Yields Record Snows“) Hopefully we will not get to stage 7 when there is a true breakdown of our institutions, creating anarchy and chaos.

We still have time to avoid that. It is just a question of political will.

By John Englander May 10, 2014 Sea Level Rise

6 Comments

Glenn Klotz

- 11 years ago

DENIAL

Had people like Rubio and McConnell been on the Titanic 100 yrs. ago my guess is that they'd have been selling the best seats on the lifeboats by now. They'd also be making sure the rabble on the steerage decks were tightly locked down as to not disturb the 1st class passengers while they attended the auction on the seats. These folks know damn well what's going down here, I'm no longer amused nor fooled by their game. Its fairly common knowledge that the Oliogarchy is already buying up all the best land far away from the soon to be drowning coast lines and with the land the best water. China just purchased huge tracts of African farm land as an example and rumors are some American Oliogarchs have purchaed huge tracts in So. America. The race to survive is on all the denial propaganda is just to keep the herd quiet as the auctions proceed. All the rest is just so much shuffling around of the deck chairs. Oh and for those noisy increasingly miltant types that insist we actually do something to forestall this oncoming calamity were still busy building 125 bil. fleet Carriers and drones etc. The steerage customers are going to be kept in lockdown no matter what.

John

- 11 years ago

Glenn — thanks…

Glenn — thanks. Your point about people purchasing huge tracts out of harm’s way is very interesting. Something I haven’t really looked at yet.

Richard L. Bailey

- 11 years ago

Meeting the challenge of stage 4

The revenue neutral way to get deniers past stage 4 and address climate change as problem # 1 is to enact a “Carbon Fee with a Dividend” as proposed by Jim Hansen and the “Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL). For a 2 minute video on the concept, watch: youtu.be/ADMuW3jYjnA via YouTube.

The fee would be assessed on the carbon in fossil fuels at the source (mine, well, port). It would use market forces to eliminate the external costs of fossil fuels. A dividend from the fee would then be passed on to every household, thus offsetting their costs, and making the program revenue neutral, something that Republicans can support.

The CCL annual conference will be in Washington, DC in late June. I think I may go.

klem

- 11 years ago

Understand this folks, there

Understand this folks, there is no such thing as a revenue neutral tax. Even the most ardent Republican could not sell this idea to fellow Republicans, they are not going to support a tax on carbon.

If there is going to be a tax placed on carbon, as Obama plans to do, it will be hung around the necks of Democrats for the next 100 years.

Enjoy

John

- 11 years ago

Richard – No disagreement

Richard – No disagreement from me on this. Thanks for your efforts and voice on this issue.

Richard L. Bailey

- 11 years ago

Revenue Neutral carbon tax

The tax on carbon with a dividend would be revenue neutral because none of the money would go to the government. Being returned to each American household, it would utilize market forces to reduce the external costs of fossil fuels (the costs we all pay for black lung disease, mountaintop removal, fracked ground water pollution, climate change including sea level rise and ocean acidification etc.). This is an alternative to Obama’s regulations. This would not limit carbon emissions directly. Industry would have time to plan and to shift from fossil fuels to solar, wind, geothermal etc. Do you really think the fee would bankrupt them?

This is not complicated cap and trade. This is a simple, economic concept. You, the American household, would get a monthly check which you could spend any way you want, but your Hummer would cost more every year.

Only economic market forces are powerful enough to slow the cascading costs of climate change. Without this force, we will be at the mercy of rising seas, reduced agricultural production, climate refugees and climate related wars. The military, 97% of climate scientists and the pope all know this. So should we. Politicians of all stars and stripes should support a carbon fee with a dividend.

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