‘Nations are concerned about themselves, not about the planet, and this kind of problem will keep coming at us as we discover more and more such potential catastrophic consequences.’
Carl Sagan 1984
The words of Carl Sagan, quoted early in Gerald Kutney’s book, encapsulates the geopolitical issues that have been identified over the last seventy years, following the end of the Second World War. Global solutions are needed for global problems and challenges. A change in mindset to a more open cooperative one, will help mitigate the worst of the impacts of the emerging climate crisis.
Kutney deftly structures his text into a clear roadmap which focuses and charts the climate action progress- often the lack of progress- in the United States of America over almost the last century. He interweaves the experiences and encounters he has had on social media over the last decade, with historical testimonies of Congress hearings and legal acts dating over the decades. He notes the changing of the Presidential guard and the hopes and dashed hopes following each appointment, as politics became the obstacle to progress.
‘Climate denier’
Kutney logically starts by defining the label of ‘climate denier’ and acknowledges that this is simply a new incarnation of an older problem. ‘Climate denialism is a modern problem, but it is rooted in science denialism which has been around for ages.’
He notes the attempts by climate deniers to position themselves as victims and ‘martyrs’ against a system. An attempt which is primarily founded on ideological terms, intended to contrast ‘belief’ and therefore religious belief, against scientific evidence and pitting these two ‘ideologies’ against each other. This positioning neglects to acknowledge that people can be persons of faith and also climate scientists at the same time. The most well known climate scientist in recent times to fall into this category must surely be Professor Katharine Hayhoe, who embraces both these foundations and uses them to complement each other. It is timely to introduce Prof Hayhoe, who has highlighted that the number of ‘Dismissives’ of human caused climate change has stayed resolutely around 10% of people polled in North America. This is perhaps an early criticism of Kutney’s text, that perhaps he allows climate deniers ‘more space at the table’ than they even warrant.
Although he does note: ‘Climate denial is increasingly being recognized as a lost cause, and climate deniers are becoming a dying breed.’
As well as religious loyalties, Kutney also emphasises that political loyalties can hold huge sway with views on scientific discovery. ‘The other major motivation behind climate denial is political ideology, namely conservatism.’ He cautions that climate deniers try to create their own narrative as ‘victims’ by suggesting that they are merely asking ‘genuine questions’ to challenge science and not denying scientific evidence. He evidences his internet interactions of those who falsely claim to be ‘skeptics’, while actually aiming to delay climate action by using a respected methodology and value of the scientific world against them.‘The time-honoured tradition of skepticism in science should not be marred by confounding it with denialism.’
Kutney begins to head towards his core argument- that business profits and ‘business as usual’ is the primary aim of ‘Big Oil’ and the shifting sands of denial positioning have only one aim – to keep their profits as high as possible for as long as possible. ‘Whenever science threatens profits, the proliferation of denial begins.
Kutney warns that awareness of the efforts and tactics of the bad actors is necessary in online spheres and in government spheres, as the stakes could not be higher.
‘Of all the various manifestations of science denialism, climate denialism will have the most catastrophic outcome.’
Climate Science in Washington
Kutney then methodically charts the early attempts to bring climate communication and climate action into the public domain and government policy. He comments on the initial plans to explore the weather as a potential weapon of war, especially against the backdrop of the Cold War, as countries jostled for global leadership. He traces the changing administrations through the decades and the positioning on human caused climate change.
He quotes the Swedish scientist Bert Bolin, who warned in 1976 that,, ‘We must accept that there are limits to the exploitation of the Earth’s resources. One such limit is set by the principle that man’s natural environment must not be changed drastically and irreversibly.’
The formation of the IPCC as a vehicle to mitigate and adapt against the impacts of the changing climate and to better understand these ‘limits’, is hailed as Kutney as ‘an historic moment’.
Climate Denialism in Washington
‘We can never say that science did not warn us.’
The wasted years of the Bush administrations are lamented by Kutney, as he lists the emergence of the new breed of “skeptics”, who constantly shifted the goalposts about the standard and level of evidence which they would accept and who deliberately used weather events as ‘evidence’ against global warming. Before the emergence of the internet as an everyday tool, used by millions and billions, these individuals were backed by right-wing think tanks supported by ‘dark money’. However, they did not yet have the army of bots that the internet could utilise, so aimed to discredit the scientists themselves on multiple occasions.
‘The greatest environmental challenge of the new century is global warming.’ With these words in his final State of the Union, President Clinton’s warning fell largely on deaf ears. When even the President could not drive through climate policy through Congress, climate deniers rejoiced. Al Gore’s 2006 documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ met fierce political resistance- another opportunity missed for emergency action. Congressional hearings began to feature more and more individuals who had no climate science training, but who could package up a narrative that could be amplified by senators and fossil fuel backed groups.
When President Obama and then later President Trump began using social media directly and unfiltered as a means of communicating with the public, the climate views of the administration were apparent. With President Trump removing America from the Paris Climate Agreement, yet more time was lost in the race to adapt and mitigate and move away from fossil fuels.
Only in recent years, with President Biden, have we more concretely returned to the climate messaging of President Clinton. ‘It’s the number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me…Climate change is the existential threat to humanity…’
Kutney then conducts a thorough exposé of what he terms the ‘Denial Cabal’ and ‘Denial Machine’, focusing on the actions of individuals and administrations, where he stresses that apathy was almost as dangerous as climate rejection. He details the actions of President Trump on social media and argues that ‘President Trump took climate denial to a radically dark and dangerous political level.’ Kutney warns against those who deliberately seek the limelight by promoting ‘junk science’ positions and climate denying positions, knowing that fossil fuel backers can help promote and spread their views. Kutney argues that ‘Until their [the energy-industrial complex] propaganda is muted, the necessary political negotiations will not happen on the climate crisis.’
The similarities between the ‘doubt is our product’ actions of the denial machine and the actions of ‘Big Tobacco’ are outlined by Kutney, but he points readers to ‘Merchants of Doubt’ for further information.
‘Propaganda is the voice of tyranny, not democracy.’
Although, on one level, the book feels that it is missing a conclusion, perhaps a formal conclusion is not needed. Kutney’s intention is perhaps to raise our attention to the environmental pledges and promises of presidential candidates in the upcoming election and to remind us of the need to exercise our democratic freedoms where they exist to vote for candidates who will not set us back further.
Kutney returns to the simple, yet powerful words of Carl Sagan to draw out a solution and conclusion, which could bring change to American politics, but which will also offer global momentum.
‘The solution to these problems requires a perspective that embraces the planet and the future, because we are all in this greenhouse together.’
Climate Thoughts with Brian 