Interesting article by Michael Shellenberger in Forbes.
I was not previously familiar with him, but he says this about himself:
Climate change is an issue I care passionately about and have dedicated a significant portion of my life to addressing. I have been politically active on the issue for over 20 years and have researched and written about it for 17 years. Over the last four years, my organization, Environmental Progress, has worked with some of the world’s leading climate scientists to prevent carbon emissions from rising. So far, we’ve helped prevent emissions increasing the equivalent of adding 24 million cars to the road.
So far, so good. But the main point of his article is that while the danger is real and action is necessary, inaccurate or unfounded assertions are counterproductive. As examples of unfounded assertions, he says:
Environmental journalists and advocates have in recent weeks made a number of apocalyptic predictions about the impact of climate change. Bill McKibben suggested climate-driven fires in Australia had made koalas “functionally extinct.” Extinction Rebellion said “Billions will die” and “Life on Earth is dying.” Vice claimed the “collapse of civilization may have already begun.”
and goes on to say:
Few have underscored the threat more than student climate activist Greta Thunberg and Green New Deal sponsor Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The latter said, “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change.” Says Thunberg in her new book, “Around 2030 we will be in a position to set off an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control that will lead to the end of our civilization as we know it.”
to which he replies:
. . .let’s look whether the science supports what’s being said.
First, no credible scientific body has ever said climate change threatens the collapse of civilization much less the extinction of the human species.
I am inclined to agree with Shellenberger at this point, while acknowledging that continuing new information will probably change the picture (as it always does). I have often said that it is not good to fight error with equal and opposite error, and in this case the best way to fight the error that “everything is fine as it is” is not to exaggerate the problem, but to stick to the facts (which are plenty scary enough without any embellishment.)
But thinking about this article got me to wondering how other readers would react to it, so I wrote a user poll: