Climate change has become an issue that is beyond argument here in the UK. That is a fact as far as all layers of government are concerned, as well as main stream media such as TV and radio. I see it in all our council reports. It is evident in seminars I attend with our water companies, electricity companies, etc. etc. I believe it is virtually unanimous across industry and business. The idea that we must reduce our CO2 emissions is never challenged in such places or at such events. To do so would be like suggesting that paedophilia should be legalised at a child protection event. In fact it is much more acceptable to call for the legalisation of cannabis than to suggest that cutting CO2 emissions is a waste of time and money.
Of course that is not to say that public opinion cannot be changed. In fact there are a lot of people who do not believe that climate change is an urgent issue, or even a serious problem at all, but the current culture prevents them from bringing this up at formal meetings. This is in complete contrast to what people say in small informal gatherings, where I find that scepticism is a widely held view.
A few years ago I attended a political meeting where a well known politician was the guest speaker. During the question and answer session he was asked to give his view on climate change. Before giving his view he asked the audience to put their hands up if they were sceptical of it. Astonishingly, nearly everyone put up their hands. The so-called consensus was reversed among a politically active (conservative) and well-informed audience. I had a similar reaction when my council colleagues passed a motion urging the government to reverse its policy on climate change. There was a question on this back in 2014.
A recent political TV programme had a segment on the latest IPCC report which has announced that urgent action is required to reduce CO2 emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. When you look at the video you can see that the USA spokesman, Myron Ebell, was rudely interrupted when he attempted to put across his answer by refuting the claims in the report. It was a classic example of 'argument from authority'. At the start of the clip the short film was simply propaganda with no statistics to back up the extreme predictions. The other guests were no more qualified scientists than Myron, but their views were 'on message' so no interruptions were called for.
Of course that is not to say that public opinion cannot be changed. In fact there are a lot of people who do not believe that climate change is an urgent issue, or even a serious problem at all, but the current culture prevents them from bringing this up at formal meetings. This is in complete contrast to what people say in small informal gatherings, where I find that scepticism is a widely held view.
A few years ago I attended a political meeting where a well known politician was the guest speaker. During the question and answer session he was asked to give his view on climate change. Before giving his view he asked the audience to put their hands up if they were sceptical of it. Astonishingly, nearly everyone put up their hands. The so-called consensus was reversed among a politically active (conservative) and well-informed audience. I had a similar reaction when my council colleagues passed a motion urging the government to reverse its policy on climate change. There was a question on this back in 2014.
A recent political TV programme had a segment on the latest IPCC report which has announced that urgent action is required to reduce CO2 emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. When you look at the video you can see that the USA spokesman, Myron Ebell, was rudely interrupted when he attempted to put across his answer by refuting the claims in the report. It was a classic example of 'argument from authority'. At the start of the clip the short film was simply propaganda with no statistics to back up the extreme predictions. The other guests were no more qualified scientists than Myron, but their views were 'on message' so no interruptions were called for.
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