A BATTLE PLAN AS THE CLIMATE FIGHT INTENSIFIES

The climate change sceptics are winning

Liam Dennis, May 29, 2013 (UK Independent via Times of Oman)

“For the first time in five million years the proportion of carbon dioxide molecules in the Earth's atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million (ppm)…Yet for all the Nobel prizes and predictions of global apocalypse and destruction, climate change is still a niche issue. The environmental movement has failed to capture the public's imagination…[P]ublic opinion of the issue is ambivalent…[T]he scientific, civil and environmental lobbies are left preaching to the converted…[Tabloid newspaper] daily onslaught against the science of climate…is influential and damaging…

“…Changing the orthodoxy of the government, against a hostile media is no easy feat. Lobbyists for big business have louder voices…The green movement must re-evaluate what is working, and what needs to be done to get the public back on side…Energy bills are a major concern for the public. Decoupling the preconception that energy bills are rising due to green policies is imperative (Green policies account for 6 per cent of the average gas bill and 11 per cent of electricity bill)…”

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“…[Besides] debunking myths and celebrating positives, it's necessary to re-energise the public with the importance of action. There is a need to simplify the science and speak with a more united voice, to convey better what a 2C degree rise in temperature really means, and the dire consequences of a rise higher than this. It is important to engage with the public better and more inclusively, including via less traditionally friendly media…to justify tough choices and convince the public that inaction will be much costlier.

“For many in the know, 400ppm is another sleepwalking step towards catastrophe…The major concern is without a catastrophic wakeup call the issue could disappear from the political mainstream altogether and 400ppm will soon become 450, 500….The action needed to [reverse that] demands a societal transformation. This cannot be made by stealth and requires the mass mobilisation and support of the public. Navel gazing and arrogance will not do.”

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