WHICHEVER WAY THE WIND POWER BLOWS: And now I read this Roger Ebert piece and I think I better see AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. But seriously: Is global warming a great hoax, or doomsday? Are there really Republicans out there who'd rather have oil money today and let their grandchildren fry alive tomorrow? That's the part that sounds crazy to me. Are the oil companies truly made up of people for whom greed trumps all? In all my experiences dealing with soft drink marketers and pharma execs and entertainment people, I've yet to meet any of the jackals that are supposedly behind these enterprises. Actually, as I think about it, I've met many former Royal Dutch Shell guys, and they were kind, gentle, intelligent souls. Where...what...is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but? Maybe "err on the side of caution" is the best path...? Color me perplexed. Guess I'll see the movie.
2 comments:
I don't think that anyone in those industries is evil in the Hollywood blockbuster, laugh maniacally as our hero is dropped into the alligator pit kind of way, but instead view the world (as most of us do)through their own filter of self-interest. Most of what I've seen and read in terms of individual studies have shown a clear bias that global warming does exist and does have a negative impact, but generally not a catastrophic one. Taken as a whole, however, the impact becomes much greater and even more conclusive.
I think a second point is that these people absolutely believe in doing the right thing and see up close the efforts that their industries are taking to reduce the problem. What is not often acknowledged is that many times these efforts are driven by the outcry raised by people like Gore. It's not unlike the alcoholic who's proud of cutting down to only getting drunk twice a week instead of daily; the people who care about him the most will rightly applaud the efforts but insist that more needs to be done.
Interesting perspective, Bart. It's kind of a market-based filter, whereby the Gores balance out the Bushes, so to speak. You need 'em both. One pushes the envelope on one side, the other pushes it on the other side, etc.
I marvel at consipiracy lovers who think the soft-drink companies are filled with kid-killers. Having spend the better part of the last few years working with a ton of soft-drink folk, I find they're just as interested in the well-being of children -- their own and other peoples' -- as anyone else. In fact, many of them spend a huge part of their waking hours devoted to finding new products, marketing campaigns, etc. to introduce healthy alternatives to the market. Trouble is, the market doesn't always want the healthy stuff. The market -- people -- sometimes really enjoy being fat. And what's more "liberal" than being allowed to act in our own self-interest, no matter how misguided your neighbor might think you are...?
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