Climate Corner: Frustration!

Apr 12, 2025

Vic Elam

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

If a team of master mechanics told you that your brakes are severely worn and that if you continue to drive without making the necessary repairs you run a serious risk of brake failure and a resulting accident, would you instead agree with the 1% or 2%, who work for the brake rotor company that benefits from replacing rotors that have been destroyed by worn out brake pads, and take your family for a drive through the mountains? Would you instead accuse your mechanics of being conspiracy theorists? Would you insist that the mechanics do not know what they are talking about, that the mechanics have ulterior motives? Would you insist that brake wear is a natural occurrence, not caused by everyone’s usage, and nothing to worry about, or that it’s all China’s fault? The point being that even though there are some unscrupulous mechanics out there, would you bet your family’s life that they are wrong.

Climate scientists have no skin in the game when they tell you the planet is warming because of human activity and that we are on our way to global devastation without prompt action. Petroleum industries and many others that do have skin in the game have been fighting to sow the seeds of doubt in our minds in support of their continued financial interests for decades.

Even if you think your mechanic might be just trying to sell you some new brakes, are you going to take that risk with your family? Worse yet, we are destroying the brakes for generations to come.

Those of us who care deeply about you and your family as well as ours, who try to make you understand that this is real and ask what harm there is in taking action even though you may not be convinced, find it frustrating to be met with excuses not to take action that are not wise or based in any real science.

Even though the scientific evidence is overwhelming, corporations that stand to lose from the adoption of policies and measures that combat climate change are well organized, well funded and well connected to allow the spread of disinformation. Disinformation, in this sense of the term, is the intentional spread of outright false claims, or as is often the case, taking a nugget of truth and misconstruing or spinning a tale that destroys the credibility of climate information that is instructive.

It is usually relatively easy to refute disinformation with a little investigating, but many of us don’t have the time or willingness to invest the energy to get to the truth. Many people are conditioned to believe what they want to believe is the truth and they seek news outlets that epitomize that belief and are not exposed to the truth. Often the truth that people want to believe is associated with their perception of what is in their best interest. If it is in your best interest to not pay money for brake repairs, and you can find a narrative that says that brake repairs are unnecessary and for losers, you might adopt that disinformation as the truth.

The frustration for many of us who accept climate change as fact is that we cannot fix this problem without everyone getting on board and it seems that many of us are perfectly content to drive with the risk of failing brakes. The several writers who contribute to this column are aware that most who read it are those who really don’t need to read it. Our only hope is that we reach an occasional reader who is open to the realization that science can be trusted and should be trusted to provide us the ability to make informed decisions about our actions and make the needed change that we all need to make to protect our environment.

I hope that if you have been out there driving with worn brakes that you can relate to this analogy and make better decisions for all of us.

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Vic Elam is an avid outdoorsman and contributor to organizations that share his concern for our environment, including Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.