Anonymous Comment

     I received an email that notified me that I had a new comment on the post Fox News: Missing the Point Again. The comments on this blog come in a trickle, so new comments get me all excited. (After all, this blog is here so we all can have a conversation about Climate Change and the role the human race has on it.) But, I suppose "Anonymous" had second thoughts on publishing his comment because when I went to reply, the comment was not published on my site. (Based on the content, I don't blame him or her.) Luckily, the comment is emailed to me even if the author deletes it after it is posted. Since the author was...
anonymous, I figured I'd share it with you. Read on:

     "No, the point was that these "environmentalists" and "anti-oil" types....ABUSE the environment and make themselves look ignorant (which some ARE) of just WHERE those vinyl signs, plastic water bottles, foam food containers, nylon clothes, rubber for their 'sneakers'...or sandals ...came from ...OIL. Let's face it....they are just dumb childish DUPES of the money-grubbers behind the "Climate Change" movement. "Global Warming" didn't make it....(it hasn't warmed for almost 20 years) so they changed the name. When they found out that "Climate Change" is a NATURAL phenomenon....that occurs in cycles....they changed the name to "Climate Disruption". You can tell that these folks are 'true believers"....RELIGIOUS FANATICS....when they call anyone, including thousands of Prominent Scientists (with degrees in the sciences, unlike the "global warming" people..whose degrees are overwhelmingly NOT in the 'sciences') ...."deniers". when they disagree. ..like any other group of Religious Zealots would when you challenge their RELIGION."  Anonymous October 13th, 1:14AM

(Sigh...)

     First of all, this reader has it backwards: the overwhelming majority of scientists who study the Earth's Climate hold degrees in fields directly related to the geophysical processes and environmental interactions that make up Climate Science. Anonymous actually has it backwards; the overwhelming majority of people who come out and dismiss the studies and evidence and data and scientific observations of the Climate Scientists do NOT hold degrees in the fields directly related to Climate Science. Many of the people who deny that we are having a negative impact on the planet are paid by Fossil Fuel companies to say these things, if we are pointing fingers. You'd be surprised how many "Deniers" have direct ties to the Fossil Fuel Industry, and industry that has the most to lose if we stop burning oil and coal.

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml#overviewofthescientificmethod

     As for the change from Global Warming to Climate Change to Climate Disruption, well...that's just good science. Scientists first observed a warming trend, but after more observation, they realized it wasn't that cut and dry. So they adjusted the phenomenon to Climate Change, because a warming planet saw a myriad of changes in micro-climates and regional climates, brought on by human activities. Recently, due to the HUGE push back from non-Science types who point out that Climate is always changing so nothing is wrong, Climate Disruption has been used more and more to more accurately define and explain what we are witnessing. That's how science works. It doesn't stay static. Better definitions and terms arise as we learn more about the natural world. Perhaps Anonymous and others like him or her need to take a refresher course on the Scientific Method. 

     But, in typical political fashion (because this whole discussion has indeed become political) the people opposed to the idea that the human race is indeed warming the planet through its actions, stick to the same strategy, which is to ridicule and dismiss the terms the Climate Change movement uses instead of the message we are trying to send. We point out that how we treat the planet today is going to have major impacts on our society in the future, and are quickly regarded as religious fanatics by those who don't even try to understand how we came to our conclusions. We are taken to task by those who deny that we are having a negative impact on our world because we drive cars that use oil and use products made from oil-derived plastics, again deflecting from what we are actually saying. But, when we promote and point out the benefits of clean energy and reusable products, we are called socialists or communists or fascists, even. Because, according to people like Anonymous, oil and coal are the only thing that will power the world and there are no viable alternatives. They know this because Big Oil and Big Coal told them so. 

     Anonymous accused me and others like me of using the very oil and oil-based products that we are so against, yet forgot to ask whether I have made any attempt to reduce my oil consumption, or reduce my energy usage or reduce my household waste. The answer is yes! Yes I have, as a matter of fact. I switched to LED lightbulbs throughout my last two houses. I drive a hybrid that gets 60 miles to the gallon, and when I go on short trips, I ride my bike. I am building a house that's just a step down from a Passiv Haus, which is built with wood from sustainable forests and recycled materials, which also has a solar array and a solar hot water system that will reduce my electric bills to almost nothing. I only buy local raised meats and vegetables, that come wrapped in recycled paper and not plastic bags. If its not recyclable, I won't buy it. In fact, I took my shoes to a Shoe Repair shop the other day and paid $10 so I could continue to wear them instead of throwing them out and buying new ones. (My favorite shoes...so comfortable).

     Science is not about belief, its about testable hypotheses. Its about studying the natural world and trying to understand what's happening. Its about being open-minded and open to new information and new ways of thinking. Its not about toeing the party line and regurgitating tired and incorrect statements, like the one Anonymous shared that the Earth hasn't warmed in 20 years (despite the fact that the ice caps and glaciers continue to melt and the seas continue to warm). I call people like you "deniers" because you refuse to acknowledge what is happening in the world around you, and for that matter, because of you. People like you believe that burning fossil fuels doesn't do any harm because because CO2 is great for plants. But you fail to acknowledge that the human race has cut down more than 50% of the worlds forests over the past 200 years. You ignore the fact that our poisoned oceans lose their ability to absorb CO2 because there is less green algae to convert it to oxygen because we use the world's oceans as a place to dump our waste and ignore the damage that is being done. Deniers regurgitate incomplete and half data in hopes to make this idea of poisoning our planet go away. 
                 
     That's why I have this blog. That's why I encourage people from all walks of life to speak up and comment, to question and respond. That's why I wish Anonymous had left his or her comment up on the site and it is why I decided to post it anyway. If I can, for one moment, impress upon Anonymous or anyone else what a precarious position the human race is in at this very moment; if I can help you see past the bullshit rhetoric that has no bearing on the huge environmental task we have before us; if I can get you to consider that our actions have very real consequences and the time to act is now...then that is the point of all of this. Not to belittle and condemn, but to reach out and kick down those barriers and falsehoods that mislead so many. Its time to stop pointing fingers and do something before its too late. I invite Anonymous, whoever you are, to come back and talk. I encourage all of those who visit this site to post a comment and join the conversation.