Focusing on worst case climate futures doesn’t work. It shouldn’t work.

Summary: After 30 years of failure to gain support of the US public for massive public policy measures to fight climate change, climate activists now double down on the tactics that have failed them for so long. This post explains why it will not work. Nor should it. Instead they should trust the IPCC and science, showing both the good and bad news.

“Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.”
— The basic text of Narcotics AnonymousDetails here.

Climate Change Choices

For over two decades the IPCC’s work was describes as the “gold standard” reports showing the consensus of climate scientists. After the publication in 2013 of the IPCC’s AR5 report, many US climate activists and some climate scientists abandoned the IPCC as “too conservative” (e.g., see Inside Climate NewsThe Daily Climate, and Yale’s Environment 360). That might have been the decisive moment in the US climate policy wars.  Since then activists have gone full doomster, all the time (with enthusiastic support of journalists) — and it’s been downhill for them.

We have seen false predictions of “the end of winter.” False predictions that the California drought (now over) would be permanent (or very long). False predictions of more and stronger hurricanes since Katrina in 2005. Despite about the almost daily hype, most forms of extreme weather have not increased. We have been told about an almost endless series of false “tipping points” (details hereherehere). Etc, etc.

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