The Three Types Of Global Warming Critics

Posted at 3:53 pm on Friday, November 3, 2006, in Uncategorized.

There are three types of global warming critics, from what I can tell, and the worst kind is actually the best kind of republican — the moderate. Here they are…

Critic 1: A person who feels there is no need to study global warming and the possible effects humans have had on global warming;

Critic 2: A person who feels that global warming research is inconclusive and that further research is necessary to prove a link between human actions and global warming; and

Critic 3: A person who understands that global warming is a concern, that humans have had an effect on global warming, but that the U.S. shouldn’t proactively do anything because that would give India and China a greater competitive advantage.

Critics (1) and (2) are not the threat — even though (1) is very difficult to deal with. (1) and (2) can be educated on the issue, and over time, with more research and more empirical evidence, these two critics can be won over (or, at least a large portion of their respective populations).

The scary critic is (3) — he knows there is a problem, he knows that humans play a part, but he does not wish to take steps to remediate because of economic fears. There is no educating this critic (from the scientific standpoint). Ironically, this is typically the liberal’s favorite republican — the moderate. This person understands the science, but business interests rule the day; this person doesn’t “deny” global warming, he just doesn’t think it is smart to do anything about it.

The only solution to win over (3) would be to convince India and China that it is in their best interest to curb global warming now. But both of these nations have more than one billion people each, and as the saying goes, “Once you have one billion people, you’re screwed.” (I know what you’re thinking, “That is one of my favorite sayings.” Mine too.)

No related posts.