(Climate change) The window of opportunity to do anything significant to head off climate change is closing quickly. Rather than embrace the momentum on this issue created by international agreements and improved renewable energy technologies, we are now sliding backward with government policy actively undermining some of the progress made. Climate is already changing dramatically and we are losing precious time while some politicians and a handful of outlier scientists deny that the change is human-caused, defending the status quo.
We definitely need to find a way to stop the backsliding. I think if regular voters just studied the available information, they would understand the reality of climate change, but most aren’t motivated to do it.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that ordinary voters already believe that the planet is warming. However, most are unable to judge how serious it is. The activists are painting nightmare scenarios, the conservatives downplay it.
Instead of leading with the science, maybe the place to start is with very basic, even philosophical issues. Like, why should we care about generations in the far, far future? Would rising sea levels end civilization, or would we adapt? Can our puny human-sized efforts really make a noticeable geologic difference in the long run?