#climate change denial

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The leader of the BC Conservatives is standing behind his controversial views on climate science, even though that claim is what got him kicked out of the party he’s planning to merge with. [...] The BC Conservative party’s official “climate policy” explicitly rejects the idea that climate change is a “crisis.” Rustad did not directly answer the question, but reiterated the BC Conservatives are “not changing” what they “stand for”: “As the Conservative Party of British Columbia, we are welcoming this opportunity to be able to work with the United Party.  As I have said all along, we are not changing our principles and the values that we stand for, we’re going to fight for what we think is right for the people in British Columbia.”

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[reasonsforhope]

How can I stay positive regarding the wildfires?

It can be really hard in the face of so much destruction. I don't know how much anyone can specifically stay positive in the face of disasters like this -

but I can give you some thoughts about how to let hope live alongside everything else you're feeling about this, and how to avoid spiraling and remember that this is not proof that we're doomed.

Possibly relevant note lol is that I've lived my whole life in California, so suffice to say figuring out how to move forward among the consequences and destruction of massive wildfires is something I'm definitely not new to.

I remember walking to my classroom in elementary school, about 20 years ago now, and it was literally snowing ash around me. This too shall pass.

Take a few deep breaths. I know it's cliche but it's also important

Zoom out in terms of perspective: Wildfires can make the sky look apocalyptic (like I said, I have lots of experience with this!), but they are regional, and they always end. These wildfires are awful but this specific wave of fires is happening in just one country in a huge, huge world. There's far more land that isn't burning

Canada is about to get substantial international aid in fighting the wildfires - there are already 200 additional firefighters headed over from the US and France, and Canada (Quebec specifically) is also already in talks with Costa Rica, Portugal, and Chile about additional firefighters/resources. Help is on the way and these numbers really will make a big difference, and as the disaster continues (unfortunately it is uh...pretty early in fire season), more help will be sent. People are doing what they can to help, because in the face of disaster, that's what we're wired to do

There are actually MUCH better fire management plans than just about anyone is using, esp in North America but that we COULD implement and increasingly WILL going forward. A lot of the wildfire situation these days is because of the West's incredibly wrongheaded derision toward traditional Indigenous land and ecosystem management practices, including cultural prescribed burns that keep massive wildfires from happening. California in particular is already partnering with several First Nations to revive prescribed burns, to significant success. As fires continue to be terrible, more and more places will get on board with this. We can and will implement practices that will truly change our situation

Cultural burns work because, ironically, the reason for the wildfires is that "is that we've been so good at putting out every fire possible that it has led to overly dense forests and a buildup of burnable material like branches and dry vegetation" that makes wildfires much worse in a number of ways. At lower intensity, however, as with cultural burns, forest fires can actually have huge environmental benefits

Finally, every time a natural disaster happens like this, as awful and destructive as they are, it serves as a wake-up call for thousands of people and adds both ever-mounting urgency and ever-mounting evidence to the importance of fighting climate change, which really does translate into action. For a lot of people, "saving the environment" feels super distant - but you know what feels super immediate? Saving their homes from burning down (or getting flooded or otherwise destroyed, etc. etc.) In 2021, the UN ran the world's largest climate survey, across 1.2 million people and 50 nations, and almost TWO-THIRDS SAID THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL EMERGENCY THAT WE NEED TO WORK HARDER TO ADDRESS. Imagine that 10 years ago! That other third of people aside, this really is real and massive progress

Also, every time there's a big disaster like this, climate change deniers look more and more baldly ridiculous. Think about it: How often did you hear US Republicans bullshitting about climate change denial 10 years ago? And how often do you hear them doing it now? In fact, there's increasing evidence that Republicans really are shifting on climate change (mind you they're managing to do it in an obnoxiously somehow pro-fossil-fuel way, but it's still a major sea change). Some of them are literally calling for a clean energy transition, and Kevin McCarthy himself (guy in charge of the US House right now) created a task force for to a conservative climate change agenda that acknowledges climate change is real. There's now a conservative climate conference that does active lobbying and a House Conservative Climate Caucus, which somehow has SIXTY MEMBERS. Again, something that would've been unimaginable just six or seven years ago.

Every acre that the fires burn this year is an acre that's pretty guaranteed to not burn next year, for what that's worth. (And I do think it's worth mentioning, esp with such a high number of acres)

The battles are going to be hard, but I truly believe that even the ones we lose often bring us closer to winning the war.

Fires burn, but life always grows back.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why Nobody Talks About The Ozone Hole Any Longer

Something I have come across more and more in the last two years or so are right wing climate change deniars going: "Oh, it is typical for liberals to make a big thing out of nothing. I mean when have you last heard about the Ozone hole?! Just another meaningless outrage."

And of course everyone who actually follows science will sit there: "Uhm, yeah. We do not hear about the ozone hole anymore anymore, because... we fixed it. We enacted politics, they worked, the Ozone hole is fixed. Hurray. NOW PLEASE CAN WE DO THE SAME FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?!"

But let me quickly talk about what happened with the ozone hole. Because it was a frustrating thing, that was badly communicated for the most part.

Long story short: In the 70s scientists notized that the ozone layer surrounding our planet was depleating. It is a layer within the atmosphere mostly filled with Ozone (O3), that acts as a big filter for harmful radiation reaching our planet from space. Mostly it is interesting because it filters out some of the harmful radiations that get to our planet from the sun.

Those scientists figured out too, why the ozone layer was depleating: Certain chemicals that we were using made their way up to the atmosphere and reacted with the ozone, and with that creating new molecules, which depleated the ozone. Some of the main chemicals were chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Now, again, this was in the mid 70s, and the first thing that happened was a familiar story: The scientists went to politicians, told them about them, and the companies using the CFCs were like: "But do you know REALLY?" And of course all needed almost 10 years to get the ball rolling.

Still, by 1985 some European countries started to put up laws that regulated the use of CFCs and some other chemicals that were used in ACs, in stuff like hairspray, and in refrigerators. And by '89 the world came together and put in an actual international action plan to do something about it.

So yes, most of us who are on this website were actually born at a point where this already was being politically addressed. And while throughout my own childhood and youth the ozone hole was still a bit of a problem, the new laws managed to fix the issue. The ozone hole has mostly closed up.

Which is why the real reason is more like: Why did we manage that and somehow are so incapable of fixing climate change? Because yeah, the ozone hole was a problem - but not comparable to the bloody climate change!

But yeah, the reason why we don't talk about the ozone hole anymore? We listened to scientists, enacted new politics, and we fixed the problem. Hurray us.

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

Project 2025 would all but dissolve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Violent storms…make clear that America’s national security is only as strong as our ability to accurately predict the weather, especially as natural disasters and extreme weather rise in our warming climate. Scientists around the globe use all of this information. Its collection is proof of human-induced global warming. It’s fitting, then, that the agency would be a target of hard-right activists and the Heritage Foundation, which has received fossil-fuel funding."

[mysharona1987]

[ceevee5]

Folks have this idea that climate change is something that happens one day in 2045. It’s now. And it’s going to get worse, quickly.

[impulsivelycontentious]

A reminder to everyone who is still on the "I need to punish democrats my not voting" bandwagon; the republicans want to CUT disaster relief and various monitoring services. Even as hurricanes ravage the nation. They also want to combat the 'climate alarmist industry'.

Understand we won't get BETTER out of letting this go.

Letting even more people die - all around the world - for this is not ok. This is a serious issue currently ravaging our own shores but not unique to here and it is going to kill so, so many more.

You need to vote against that or it will be a problem and it will be your own fault.

Voting isn't some hope filled, loving experience where you go for what makes you feel good. It's maintenance. It's harm mitigation. It's picking the party less likely to murder you for protesting against them.

And that's important right now if none of the other rights matter to you at all and having a man who once asked why we can't just use nuclear weapons dealing with Israel isn't enough. It CAN be worse. It will be worse.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

President Biden on Tuesday called denying the effects of climate change “really, really dumb” and said that extreme heat and other weather disasters fueled by rising global temperatures have cost billions of dollars and thousands of American lives.

“Ignoring climate change is deadly and dangerous and irresponsible,” Mr. Biden said. He warned that temperatures have already shattered records this summer, and are expected to climb, as he proposed new protections for workers exposed to dangerous heat on the job.

Mr. Biden spoke at the District of Columbia’s emergency operations center, where he and cabinet officials were briefed on extreme weather developments across the country. His remarks were some of the most forceful he’s given on climate change, and he used the moment to denounce Republican lawmakers who oppose his policies.

“How can you deny climate change for God’s sake? Mr. Biden said. “They must be living in a hole somewhere.”

“Anyone who willfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a dangerous future and either is really, really dumb or has some other motive,” he said.

The proposed regulation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration comes as a heat wave settles over California this week and triple-digit heat is also expected to scorch Portland, Ore., over the July 4 weekend. That follows an early heat wave last month that had much of the country sweltering.

Mr. Biden noted that extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States, responsible for more deaths than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. Climate change, driven by the burning of oil, gas and coal, is causing heat waves to last longer. Last year, the hottest in recorded history, brought 2,300 heat-related fatalities in the United States, most likely an undercount because heat exacerbates other health conditions, while emergency room visits for heat illnesses surged.

The regulation, if implemented, would for the first time require employers to monitor workers and provide rest areas and water when the heat index reaches 80 degrees or higher. Employers would also be required to establish heat safety plans. The rule could apply to about 35 million Americans who work both indoors and outdoors.

[quotesfrommyreading]

Greenwashing is everywhere—from buying clothes to taking vacations to offsetting carbon footprints by planting trees. But it very much exists for once-climate denying industries, especially fossil fuels. 

For example, Chevron may have set some goals for minimizing emissions, but the vast majority of its footprint comes from scope 3 emissions (all of the emissions associated with making and delivering a product) which isn’t addressed anywhere in its climate goals. Instead of accounting for emissions associated with oil and gas, according to environmental law group Client Earth, the company “will develop a renewable energy business, invest in ‘low-carbon technologies’ and sell offsets ‘to our customers around the world to help them achieve their own lower-carbon goals.‘ ” Still, Chevron’s shiny advertisements and rampant use of the terms net-zero and sustainable fuels don’t give the slightest clue that it hasn’t revealed how, or even if it plans to, move away from fossil fuels.

A similarly concerning trend is “wokewashing,” where corporations pose as champions for people of color and women through advertisements. Exxon’s ad, which centers around the story of an immigrant from India who now works for the fossil fuel giant, is one example.   

“Big oil companies now spend a lot of money to convince us that they are dealing with the problem, although their claims are highly misleading,” says Maibach. “They have large advertising and PR budgets which they use to convince us that they are responsible actors who are working to solve climate change.”

  —  The new age of climate denial, explained

[cookie-nom-nom]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/10/climate/natural-gas-utility-climate-change-lawsuit.html

50 billion lawsuit for fossil fuel company's misinformation and contribution to climate change

"The complaint alleges that Exxon, Shell and other companies, now including NW Natural, had schemed to “rapaciously” sell fossil fuel products and cover up what they knew about the risks to the planet, and that the companies bear responsibility for the effects of climate change including a deadly heat wave in 2021 that killed at least 69 county residents."

[allthecanadianpolitics]

With Alberta Premier Danielle Smith set to lift the province’s seven-month moratorium on renewable energy projects this week, wind and solar developers are urging the provincial government to refrain from introducing “punitive” and “arbitrary” regulations that impede the industry’s growth. Smith nevertheless introduced sweeping new rules on Wednesday, including a minimum buffer zone of 35 km around protected areas or pristine views. She framed the regulations as good for wind and solar, saying “We must grow our renewable energy industry in well-defined and responsible ways.” But Smith has recently met in private with an Alberta organization called Wind Concerns that’s called wind development “grotesque” and claims that the mainstream scientific consensus on global temperature rise is “ridden with fraudulent data and outright lies.”

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Tagging @abpoli

[boymanmaletheshequel]

Much of the American southeast has just been destroyed by hurricane Helene. Over 120 people are dead and at LEAST 600 people are currently missing. And as expected, nobody is talking about why this is. Climate change. And even those who are responsible for it are now attempting to normalize it. I want to make something VERY clear: Normalizing climate change is how mass oil production corporations, Agriculture conglomerates, and the big emission industries get away with it in the end. If it’s considered normal, nobody will see it as the anomaly it is, and they won’t be required to change until it’s too late, in fact, it already is. Basically, we are capital F Fucked. Please love the earth, we may be the last generation to get to see her the way she is now, and that breaks my fucking heart.

[my-only-chance-my-only-appeal]

I get so tired of talking about ways to counteract climate change and other people being complacent and saying “it’s too late to do anything about climate change so why bother”. Like honestly pisses me off more than the people who outright deny it. Both groups have completely fallen for propaganda in their own right, but to genuinely just believe and spout “hey we’re doomed anyway so let’s not even try” is so fucking frustrating. Even if there already is irreparable damage done, why wouldn’t you at least want to put for effort to keep it from getting worse?! Like you aren’t denying CC is real and extremely dangerous, you’re on the right track, but then you gotta fuck it up and just outright give up. You’ve fallen for the most obnoxious propaganda around CC. The one where capitalists and billionaires realized people were actually believing the science despite their efforts to deny or minimize CC, so they took a different route to just say “well it’s too late, we’re past the point of no return, you may as well let us keep absolutely demolishing the environment and killing the planet!” And ppl were just like aw that’s too bad, keep doing you ig :/ LIKE HOW GULLIBLE CAN YOU BE????

[negrolicity]

[hedgewitchgarden]

transcript: Twitter user Natalie Shure (@nataliesurely):

PLEASE STOP framing climate change denial as matter of ignorant yokels disbelieving science. It's a deeply coordinated propaganda campaign bankrolled by right-wing owners of capital, whose interests would be threatened by any legitimate effort to curb emissions. Treat it as such.

[beautiful-basque-country]

That anti-climate change guy was a bot.

(Also milankovitch cycles are super cool, mostly to do with star-patterns and what is our current north star, they don't have much to do with climate change, I actually wrote a very boring science children's book about them. They have nothing to do with climate change, because they only make summers/winters harsher for one hemisphere (atm, the southern) and have effect on the global climate system as a whole, but they're really cool. We're actually in a period where milankovitch cycles should be making northern hemisphere winters/summers milder, so that guy's an idiot.)

Kaixo anon!

It seems too articulate to be a bot, my guess - based on their bio - is they are part of the alt-right and deny climate change because they know the real science. No, the international scientific community don't, they know. Anyways, they're blocked now, I won't let my posts to be used as a tool for their discourse.

(That's so cool! I've actually read about the cycles before, not in depth though. It seems to be one of climate change deniers' favorite theories to handpick)