Peter Dykstra: The only thing we have to fear ...

Peter Dykstra: The only thing we have to fear ...

Well, we have a lot of things to fear. But on climate, it's gullibility, spread far and wide.

On Tuesday, the president and the cable news network that were both built on twin foundations of fear and gullibility turned their mutual attention to climate change.


Fox & Friends, the morning gabfest that counts President Trump as both a regular viewer and unquestioning Tweeter, hosted Patrick Moore for a discussion aimed at reviling the Green New Deal.

I know something of Pat Moore, or at least his 20th Century version. He was an early and divisive leader of Greenpeace until his fellow leaders encouraged his exit in 1986. I worked there till 1991. He spent 15 years with Greenpeace, and has since spent more than twice that stretch — a prosperous 33 years — in the role of a converted, scorned environmentalist.

Cashing in on his man-bites-dog reformed Greenpeace leader story, Moore has hired out to an endless rogue's gallery of industries with environmental image problems – salmon farms, timber mills, vinyl manufacturers, atom splitters, carbon burners, and more.

Thus does the genial Canadian become the ideal Fox News vessel to present the Green New Deal to America's most gullible audience. I won't think the less of you if you say you never watch Fox News, but take five minutes to watch his gentle grilling by the show's triumvirate of couch stooges.

Pat Moore pushes nearly every climate denial button, extolling the wondrous benefits of carbon dioxide while exposing the naked avarice of the grant-grubbing science community.

Go ahead and watch. If the most powerful man in the world could take five minutes to watch this, who are you to demur?

Of course, within minutes of the segment came the Presidential Tweet:

Donald Trump's Twitter following equals the entire population of Italy. This missive got more "likes" than the entire population of Mayor Pete Buttagieg's city, South Bend, Indiana.

Pat Moore to Fox News, Fox News to Trump, Trump to his loyal millions, all without even a smidge of critical thinking.

Sociologists call it "motivated reasoning," but it's extremely generous to suggest that actual reasoning is a part of the equation.

To Trump's cherished "base," climate denial is now a faith as unshakable as the "lock her up" and "build the wall" mantras that carried him to power.

But gullibility's only home these days isn't in the Land of MAGA.

Advocates of climate action are supremely prone to their own brand of gullibility: The tempting notion that common sense, or screamingly obvious science, will guide public opinion and public policy any day now — or that climate denial will soon dry up and blow away.

I've been hearing that since Jim Hansen's landmark Senate testimony made some of the first climate change headlines in 1988. An early climate denial opus was the half-hour 1992 documentary The Greening of Planet Earth, which conceded the rise in atmospheric CO2, but like Pat Moore in 2019, schooled us that more CO2 is what plants crave.

Climate denial, whether deployed by the sincerely gullible or the supremely cynical, is alive, well, and a mortal threat.

The notion that it's on its last legs is as dangerously naïve — even if denial were not the rule in the President's house, his cabinet, and many corporate boardrooms.

Before we even get to the immense task of tackling carbon emissions, we still need to tackle ourselves.

A flooded playground surrounded by bare trees, in black and white.

Trump’s NOAA nominee backs deep budget cuts amid rising disaster toll

President Trump’s pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defended sweeping budget cuts during a Senate hearing, just days after deadly floods killed more than 120 people across three states.

Georgina Gustin reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
The U.S. Senate building during daytime.

Democratic senator says fossil fuel lobbying has silenced climate action in Congress

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse accused fossil fuel companies of orchestrating a decades-long misinformation campaign and urged Democrats to confront the industry's political influence more aggressively.

Mark Hertsgaard reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Solar installer with wind turbines in the background.

Megabill triggers uncertainty for solar and wind power developers

Developers of solar and wind energy projects have just 12 months to begin construction in order to retain key federal tax credits, following the passage of a new law backed by congressional Republicans and signed by President Trump.

Jeff St. John reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
Doomsday Clock Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Credit: chughes/ BigStock Photo ID: 20162111

We’re 89 seconds from midnight — and it’s not just the nukes

The Doomsday Clock now ticks just 89 seconds to midnight, with climate change, AI, nuclear weapons, and disinformation all pushing humanity closer to catastrophe.

Al Letson reports for Reveal and Mother Jones.

Keep reading...Show less
An illustration of three office workers who are carrying their belongings in boxes after layoff and a chart showing some people crossed out in red.

Trump administration moves forward with federal layoffs after Supreme Court ruling

Federal workers at science and environmental agencies are bracing for large-scale job cuts after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a legal block on President Trump’s plans to shrink the federal workforce.

Robin Bravender reports for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
Aerial view of a home that has been damaged by a tornado or other natural disaster with debris scattered widely..

Texas flooding puts scaled-back FEMA under scrutiny

Flash floods in Texas that killed more than 100 people over the Fourth of July weekend are testing the federal government’s new, limited role in disaster response under President Trump.

Patrik Jonsson reports for The Christian Science Monitor.

Keep reading...Show less
Two children in rain gear playing in a puddle.

Texas flood disaster reveals rising human cost of climate-fueled extreme weather

The July 4 flash flood in Texas killed at least 109 people, including children at a summer camp, and highlighted how climate change is accelerating catastrophic weather while federal protections unravel.

Abrahm Lustgarten reports for ProPublica.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.