Allegedly in the dark on climate change

Why don't Americans get global warming?

There are a lot of reasons, according to an article in the current issue of Columbia, the magazine of Columbia University. It isn't something we can taste, smell or feel like polluted water or dirty air. The dangers it presents are relatively distant while humans are programmed to respond to immediate threats. And our current president has been slow to even acknowledge global warming.

But one big reason is that certain interests, among them Big Coal, have worked very hard to make Americans very ignorant on this topic. They've also had enormous success blocking legislation aimed at limiting the effects of global warming.

And despite our recent election, that may not change.

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But the biggest irony may be that the Big Three could be revived by building a new generation of electric trolleys, or light rail, or high-speed trains, or electric bus rapid transit.