Aaron the Climate Skeptic – Why It’s Good To Be Skeptical Posted on August 21st, 2009
I find it interesting that I get more email through this site than I do comments on individual blog entries. Much of the email I get–like that I get from a couple of my more politically-oriented blogs–is hate mail. Here at Aaron’s EnvironMental Corner, the hate mail is almost always in response to a “anti-climate change” article or posting.
These attackers are usually the same two or three people (or at least the same 2 or 3 email addresses) and they usually have about the same thing to say every time: “You don’t know anything. You’re an idiot. That’s been refuted many times.“ Rarely, I think, do these people read the whole blog and not one time have they sent links, book titles, or any other information to support their loose claims.
Let me make something clear: I’m a skeptic about everything. I don’t latch on to every new piece of “global warming data” sent out because I’ve found that at least half of what gets printed in the press is just more climate change hoopla from those with a vested interest in climate change as a catastrophe. But I’m like that I with everything: politics, religion, medicine, whatever. Just because it looks scientific doesn’t mean it really is.
I’m sure anyone with a functioning mind has gotten the idea that my climate change/global warming skepticism posts are always written by someone else. There’s two reasons for that: first, I’m a neophyte when it comes to climate issues; second, these are views that are routinely ignored by nearly every other website about the environment. I feel that every side of every issue should be aired, vetted, and vented.
I have news for the hate-mailers: when all you do is immediately refute something because it goes against your viewpoint, you’re viewpoint is a religion. I don’t care what you “believe in.” As soon as you stop looking at opposing views as anything but something for you to attack, you’re no longer objective or scientific. You’re a religious fanatic.
There are just as many global warming religious fanatics as there are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists out there. Trust me, I’ve met them all. Many of the atheists I’ve met are bigger religious zealots than any fundamentalist from the traditional religions. Some of the most hardcore religious zealots I’ve ever met were Gorebots (aka “environmentalists”).
This doesn’t mean myself or other reasonable people aren’t environmentalists. Some of us are just a little more realistic and pragmatic about it.
My personal view, for those who may not have figured this out yet, is one of skeptical interest (and learning) coupled with my deeply-held (and hard won) knowledge that government is never a solution to anything. Consider this: just about every move we’ve seen from governments to allay global warming has done nothing of the sort. Usually, it causes more problems than it would ever solve and always it serves only to enrich those who promoted it.
I had someone come down on me when I announced that I’d accepted an award from the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation. This woman told me that I’m a hypocrite for accepting the award and that I should have refused it because I don’t believe in climate change.
Here’s the deal: I talk to Bob Williams, the GNF’s founder, via Twitter (@ZeroGreenHouse) regularly. I respect him and what he’s trying to do with the GNF and we have common ground. I may not agree with everything he has to say or everything he promotes, but I believe in enough of it to see that we can work together towards common goals.
In fact, in my continued education towards understanding the complex issues involved with global warming, greenhouse emissions, and so forth I’ve purchased a copy of Bob’s book and am reading it.
For those reasons, I accepted the reward offered by the GNF and am proud to do so. I don’t consider climate change irrelevant, and I’ve stated as much in the past (many times). Currently, I consider it secondary to the myriad of other things that we, as rampant consumers, are doing to our environment. Things that affect us daily and immediately.
I’m concerned with the fast-growing human population and, more importantly, the impact that the industrialized farming we undergo to feed that population is having on our planet. I worry about the huge amounts of garbage we produce in our consumer-oriented world and where it gets put. I fear that the unsustainable practices we continue to employ in agriculture, mining, energy use, and nearly all of our resource gathering efforts will come back to haunt us and require repayment.
Today, I spent much of the afternoon researching the pending “Phosphorous Peak” that will hit us well before Peak Oil ever could. That alone will mean industrial farming will cease abruptly. I’ve also spent many efforts in researching the extremely fast pace with which genetically modified seeds and crops have literally taken over the North American market and what implications that has.
The things I write about here, especially in do-it-yourself articles, are aimed directly at saving money. Why? Because I see money as the top of the resource pyramid. The less of it we waste, the less likely it is that we’re buying wasteful things. That, in turn, means we’re producing less garbage, taxing fewer resources, and are engaging these (and related) problems on a personal level.
It’s my view that the only way we will ever change the way we act towards our planet is by ceasing our individual mindset of raping it and make personal changes to overcome our addictions to the pillage-prone lifestyles we’ve cultivated.
That, my friend, is why I have this blog. If your number one goal is to give government more power to pretend it’s making decisions for our betterment and to begin environmental cleanup, then you’d be better off going elsewhere. There are plenty of other blogs that will agree with you. If, however, you agree with my viewpoint or at least are interested in why my ideas might be a better option, then please continue to participate in the discussion.
I’m open to free and honest discussion, but I’m growing weary of the constant barrage of useless hate mail whose only goal is to attempt to dissuade me from promoting non-conformist ideas for climate change and debate.
Related posts:
- Blog Action Day 2009
- Aaron Added to the Voices for Change Honor Roll
- The Sustainability Factor – Booklet Now Available
August 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Keep fighting the good fight, Aaron!