6 Responses to Video: Kevin Anderson on denialism/skepticism,what is to be done, fracking etc.

1. Emma @ Energy Numbers says:

   January 14, 2016 at 10:06 am

   I’ve never really understood the psychology behind climate change deniers. Even if you don’t think that climate change is created by us (or even is a thing at all), how could you deny that fossil fuels are a limited resource that need to be phased away from? It boggles my mind.

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2. Greg Robie says:

   January 15, 2016 at 12:22 am

   Remember, the term “deniers” is not self-selected, but pejoratively given by, well, “warmists”. Here in the US, with our blue/red divide, an “ends justify means” strategy is in play re fighting ‘BIGgov’t”. Since addressing climate change is–rightly–assessed by those ‘dismissing’ AGW to be incompatible [with what I disciple myself to call] CapitalismFail. They are, with a non-rational ‘religious’-like belief, protecting and defending their sense of sovereignty against what is clearly a move toward a one-world-government. They are rallying resistence by any means necessary. This is, well, patriotic. Liberal’s rational interactions with them are little more than fodder for a late-night-TV-like entertainment script which liberals willing set themselves up to be the butt of the joking.

   Two separate iterations of motivated reasoning are in play relative to the past quarter of a century in which emissions have risen 60%. Together they accomplish what their common lifestyle with a carbon footprint twice that of the unsustainable one in Europe ‘religiously’ reqiures: a shelter for CapitalismFail. On the liberal side, those talking up the problem of climate are blaming those fighting for smaller government for not supporting expanding a government that is calling scientifically insignificant INDCs “leadership”.

   If the UK/Europe is serious about climate change, sanction the US. Forget trying to be rational with us. Speak our language. Put the fear of our god-of-greed in us.

   (And if £50 million are to be spent, offer it as a prize to the first church to successfully affect sustained behavioral change that accomplishes scientifically significant results among a population that is 10X its membership.)

   From the 5 shilling desk of Governor Bradford, Greg Cushman Robie

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   • manchesterclimatemonthly says:

     January 15, 2016 at 7:12 am

     ! Trade sanctions may eventually happen on climate, but it will be a bloody battle. I love the prize to a church thing!

     All best!

     Marc

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     • Greg Robie says:

       January 15, 2016 at 5:56 pm

       How seriousness are you about that “love”?

       To the degree CapitalismFail is, in the context of motivated reasoning, a functional religion, the logical tool to use to fight fire is fire. Why not crowd source that winning ticket…say for £70,000 &/or $100,000 &/or €100,000 etc.? And, perhaps relate the 10x membership figure to size of local community, i.e. 10x or 1/10 population, whichever is larger (proportionally expanding the contest’s prize to denominational administrative region level, if asked, and/or ramping up the prize as becomes possible). Either would be a phase II or III opportunity). A 10% shift in behavior is only one iteration away from 80-100+% systemic change (I’ve an interactive spreadsheet re math).

       And, while economic sanctions would be a war, it would not be a bloody one. Isn’t associating sanctions with “bloody war” the use of a colloquialism that hides a truth? The war sanctions would be part of is a non-violent one…i.e. like the war we are completely immeshed in. Systemically, within CapitalismFail, trade is [mostly] non-violent warfare…but for motivated reasoning’s capacity to blind us to the truth of this.

       “Capitalism[Fail] does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

       From the 5 shilling desk of Governor Bradford, Greg Cushman Robie
3. Jonathan Atkinson says:

   February 15, 2016 at 12:24 pm

   Really enjoyed these videos – apologies it’s taken me more than a month to get through them. Following up on Kevin’s point about money well spent on retrofit, in early February Marianne Heaslip of URBED and I presented a seminar to Tyndall on the deep retrofit work Carbon Co-op has been carrying out in Greater Manchester. It was an illuminating session and we’ll be further exploring these themes at the Carbon Co-op AGM on 7th April 2016 with Kevin, Marianne and Aneaka from Carbon Co-op – it’s free and all are welcome to attend: https://carbon-coop-agm-2016.eventbrite.co.uk

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   • manchesterclimatemonthly says:

     February 15, 2016 at 8:58 pm

     Cheers, do me a guest blog post about the AGM, and I will put it up a month or so before the day itself …

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