Kerry Trueman: Have The Merchants of Doubt Sold Us Out?
I attended the conference and was scheduled to interview Oreskes afterwards, but fittingly enough, global weirding got in the way; the freak pre-Halloween snowstorm that blanketed the Northeast forced us to abandon that plan and do the interview via email.
...[KT} The real mystery, then, is how to persuade American skeptics that we face profound disruptions in our own lifetime and that of our children. Can you describe, in a lay-person friendly way, some of the scenarios we might anticipate?NO: Well, the best example is the "monster storm" that just hit Alaska, described by one media outlet as a storm of "epic proportions." Climate change is underway, it is affecting American citizens, and it is going to become increasingly costly and disruptive.
...
KT: You're not an advice columnist. But you are an expert on denialists, so perhaps you'll have some insights into this dilemma: a close friend of ours is dating a climate change denialist. He seems like a smart, nice guy, and she's smitten, though she's perturbed by his views on this issue.We're just hoping it doesn't get serious. You dedicated your book to your two daughters with the admonition that "it's in your hands now." What would you do if one of them started dating a denier?
NO: Well, that would never happen! Or if it did, you can be sure my daughters would change their minds.
Other residents there came together and did traditional Eskimo dances used during whaling season to seek good weather. [Wait a minute: If the weather in Alaska was always so good before my iPhone charger ruined it, why would they ever have felt the need to dance for good weather?]
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