| | | Is there criminal liability for climate change denial?
December 11, 2018 By Bill Adams
urbdezine.com
… In the scientific community, there is no debate about the existence of man made climate change, whether it is dangerous for the planet, and most importantly, whether humans must take immediate and large scale corrective action.
Nevertheless, there are important actors in government, in the media, and in fossil fuel funded “think tanks” who continue to pump out misinformation about climate change in order to to convince the public it doesn’t exist and poses no threat. A must read for anyone seeking a full understanding of the history of climate change politics is Nathaniel Rich’s excellent NY Times narrative, Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change. In it, he details the decade between 1979 and 1989 when scientists raised the alarms about climate change spurring an honest bipartisan effort, ultimately to be buried in a campaign of deceit and cover-up.
However, many of these purveyors of misinformation are not merely exhibiting a genuine disbelief in the science of climate change. Rather, they intentionally deceive the public. The evidence of intent? There is no reasonable basis for the assertions they make.
Additionally, many of these professional climate deniers are in positions that give them greater access to the facts and science of climate change. Exxon and Shell’s own scientists were among the first to sound the alarm about climate change, as detailed in Rich’s ‘ Lost Decade’ article. Only later did Exxon begin its cover up, as detailed in the 2015 InsideClimate News series. Now, when professional deniers make assertions contrary to the conclusions of well over 95% of the scientific community, it’s not reasonable. Nor is it genuine. … |
|
