Arguments
2015 SkS Weekly Digest #30
Posted on 26 July 2015 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
The importance of good climate communication: a recent Arctic example by John Mason attracted the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. Global warming deniers are an endangered species by Dana drew the second highest number of comments.
Quote of the Week
Climate deniers who claim that thousands of scientists are engaging in a global fraud are "one step way from a conspiracy theory" that is too fantastical to be even feasible, he added.
"Think about it. We have an administration that could not roll out a proper health care website. You think they can manage a global scientific conspiracy? They could not do it if they wanted to," said Titley*, who also holds a doctorate in meteorology. And he scoffed at the idea that scientists are deliberately lying about climate change just to obtain short-term research grants.
*David Titley, Ret. Rear Adm., U.S Navy
Navy climate change expert sees opponents ignoring science by Brian Nearing, Times Union (Albany, NY), July 22, 2015
Toon of the Week
Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists
He Said What?
The billionaire businessman (Donald Trump) doubts the reality of climate change as well as policies that attempt to address it, judging by past statements and his twitter feed. He has said “the EPA is an impediment to both growth and jobs.” He supports fracking and has a long-running vendetta against wind farms that are within sight of his properties.
“I’m a huge believer in clean air,” he told Jake Tapper last month. “I’m not a huge believer in the global warming phenomenon.”
When Tapper responded that most scientists say it’s real and man-made, Trump said “there could be some man-made too, I’m not saying there’s zero, but not nearly to the extent — when Obama gets up and said it’s the number one problem for our country, and if it is, why is it that we have to clean up our factories now and China doesn’t have to do it for another 30 to 35 years?”
Trump admitted he was being sarcastic when he tweeted that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
The Most (And Least) Extreme Republican Presidential Candidates On Climate Change by Ryan Koronowski. Climate Progress, July 26, 2015
SkS in the News
The 5 telltale techniques of climate change denial by John Cook was posted on CNN and its affiliates on July 22, 2015
SkS Spotlights
GreenFaith's mission is to inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse religious backgrounds for environmental leadership. Our work is based on beliefs shared by the world’s great religions - we believe that protecting the earth is a religious value, and that environmental stewardship is a moral responsibility.
There are three core values that guide the work that we do, and define us as an organization:
Spirit: We believe that religious traditions see the sacred in nature and that people grow spiritually through a strong relationship with the earth. Through environmentally-themed worship, religious education and spiritual practices, religious institutions have many opportunities to celebrate creation and strengthen their members' connection with the earth. To access resources on Spirit click here.
Stewardship: We believe that our consumption habits can help heal and restore the earth. From energy and transportation, to food, water, and other areas, religious institutions and their members use a lot of resources - and therefore have many opportunities to lessen their impact on the environment. To access resources on Stewardship, click here.
Justice: We believe that all people deserve a healthy environment, regardless of their race or income. The world's great religions share an ethic of social justice, and GreenFaith is committed to fighting environmental injustice and racism. Educating around the topic of environmental justice and advocating for change is a vital area of engagement for religious institutions. To access resources on Justice, click here.
To learn more about what GreenFaith believes, click here.
Coming Soon on SkS
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #30D (John Hartz)
- Daily Mail conservative ideology mucks up its climate maths (Dana)
- The most influential climate change papers of all time (Roz Pidcock)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #31A (John Hartz)
- Guest Post (John Abraham)
- How This El Niño Is And Isn’t Like 1997 (Andrea Thompson)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #31B (John Hartz)
- The pope as philosopher: faith, climate change and public reason (Lawrence Torcello)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #31C (John Hartz)
- 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #31 (John Hartz)
Poster of the Week
via EcoWatch
SkS Week in Review
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #30C by John Hartz
- Scientific consensus and arguments from authority YouTube video by Potholer
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #30B by John Hartz
- The importance of good climate communication: a recent Arctic example by John Mason
- Global warming deniers are an endangered species by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus-the 97%, Guardian)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #30A by John Hartz
- NOAA State of the Climate report: Which seven records were broken in 2014? by Robert McSweeney (The Carbon Brief)
- The oceans are warming faster than climate models predicted by John Abraham (Climate Consensus-the 97%, Guardian)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #29 by John Hartz
- 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #29 by John Hartz
97 Hours of Consensus: Shaun Marcott
The fossil fuel industry has profits in the billions and reserves worth trillions, so they have great incentive to push denial and doubt about climate science.
Scientists are smart people. If they were driven by greed, they would probably be bankers or lawyers or some other more lucrative occupation. They are scientists because they quest for knkowledge, not riches.
The idea that fossil fuel industry funded people are telling us the truth and scientists are lying conspiritorists is beyond crazy.