Quick, while they’re not looking, write a comment about how the planet’s getting colder and loads of scientists think humans aren’t changing the climate. Don’t forget to use quotes from other denial websites, passing them off as scientific papers; and for God’s sake don’t say you work for an oil company – remember, we believe in AGW now.
Look! A response.
La! La! La! We can’t hear you!
It would be funny if it wasn’t so important: global warming denial is alive and well, on a blog, a forum, a chat room and a viral video near you. Now, before you make a comment like the one above, I just want to add that this article is for people who do believe that the activities of humans are changing the climate and all sorts of other natural systems. End of. If you don’t believe it then I really haven’t got time for your whining.
So, without further ado, if someone really is getting on your nerves, banging on about how “the science is uncertain” and “the climate is getting colder” and “the glaciers are growing” (all utter garbage, by the way), be they a corporation, a politician, or just someone you are getting sick of, then here is How To Win Any Argument Against A Global Warming Denier
(Don’t worry, even if they read this, they still won’t be able to do anything about it)
One
Hear them out — it doesn’t matter an awful lot what they say, but it’s polite to listen, even if it’s just to find out how entrenched their position is and therefore, how much effort you’ll have to go to in order to dig them out (it’s for their own good, and ours). Maybe they are just scared: after all, global warming is very, very scary and, just like someone who has been told they have cancer, a certain level of denial is a very common response. Maybe they are just repeating what they have heard verbatim just to say something, or maybe they are trolling (if it’s a web site). But, if they don’t admit any of this (and that’s almost certain) then you have to assume that they are in it to win it.
Two
Here’s the first part of your riposte: The history of global warming denial (or AGW / Athropogenic Global Warming denial, to be precise) is essentially a history of corporate lobbying since the early 1980s. It was the oil companies, the coal mining companies, the car manufacturers, the road constructors, the loggers and all the other corporations who would obviously not be able to carry on business as usual if they were found to be changing the climate, that did it first, and did it big time. The history of AGW denial is deep, dark and sophisticated and it involved some of the finest creative and persuasive minds that have ever graced the corporate and political stages. Corporations were responsible for and funded some of the most successful denial lobbies (think of the Global Climate Coalition, The Heritage Foundation, The Oregon Institute and The Cato Institute for starters) — here’s an excellent primer about their work — and some of the most successful advertising campaigns trying to convince the public that everything is fine and they should carry on doing what they do.
If the denier doesn’t agree with you here, then they are clearly deluded, and you are within your rights to say so. The facts bear this out and no AGW denier can deny this part without making themselves look foolish.
Three
A lot of denial — now that even the most corporate-minded politicians and dirtiest companies at least say humans are causing the climate to change — is now related to the amount of financial benefit it is claimed politicians, “green” companies and (get this) environmentalists will gain from a populace that believes humans are causing the climate to change. I make no bones about the awful behaviour of some companies and politicians that are using climate change as an excuse to sell more stuff, but look at what the oil and car companies and particular are also doing: they are using “green” credentials to try and sell more oil and more cars — the net effect being more global warming, not less. Bear in mind the history of denial being a corporate history, and you can see where this is going.
Now, here’s the crux of your argument: Who has the most to gain from a popular belief in anthropogenic global warming?
Politically, there aren’t any real winners: civilized humanity has screwed up the planet and politicians deservedly look shit because they have helped bring this upon us. Admitting AGW is real makes most of them look stupid and, in the eyes of a free-minded electorate, unelectable.
Corporations don’t win at all, unless they are able to greenwash sufficiently to make us buy more stuff, or do more polluting; but in the end, even the most effective greenwashers will have to admit that if we truly want to prevent climate change, their businesses are screwed. Admitting AGW is real makes corporations scared.
The Global Elites are comprised of corporate heads and leading politicians: all but the most paranoid conspiracy theorist, has to admit that there is no secret cabal formed of all-powerful elites that will benefit from a belief in AGW; we know who runs the cabals, and as I have already shown you, AGW is bad news for them.
Humanity in general. Hmm, now we’re on to something. If we truly believe that humans are causing the climate to change, and that we have to fundamentally change our behaviour, without the meddling of corporations and politicians, and that we do manage to avert catastrophic climate change then, yes, humanity as a whole will benefit, as will virtually every ecosystem on Earth.
So who’s pulling the strings to show, more so as time goes on, that humans are changing the climate?
Just a lot of climate scientists, concerned environmentalists, humanitarianists and other ordinary human beings who just want to find out the truth. People who have nothing to gain but their future on this little blue-green planet.