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Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Hyperbole is a
greenhouse gas
zy Jim Corneliud
News Editor
President Donald Trump’s
decision to withdraw from
the Paris Agreement on cli-
mate has fogged the earth
with an unprecedented emis-
sion of hyperbole.
The withdrawal from a
non-binding accord is going
to save millions of jobs and
trillions of dollars … or…
it’s going to precipitate an
extinction-level event.
If hyperbole is a green-
house gas, we’re screwed…
Trump’s action is more
stunt than substance, a high-
profile way to throw some
red meat to a base that fig-
ures that if liberals and
Europeans like an agree-
ment it’s ipso facto bad for
America. As historian Max
Boot (neither a liberal nor
a Europhile, by the way)
notes, “President Obama
pledged fairly aggressive
action by the U.S., includ-
ing significant reductions in
emissions from power plants
that run on fossil fuels. But
it would be easy to undo his
proposed cutbacks without
leaving the Paris agreement.
In fact Trump has already
done that…
“So why provoke a global
firestorm of criticism? Why
join Syria and Nicaragua as
the only nations to renounce
the Paris agreement? For
Trump, the criticism is pre-
cisely the point. It’s an easy
way for him to signal to his
base that he is implement-
ing his campaign rheto-
ric of ‘nationalism’ over
‘globalism.’”
In other words, it has
nothing really to do with the
environment or the economy.
And, Boot argues, the with-
drawal is likely to further
damage America’s stature.
“If the U.S. pursues a
‘me first’ policy, then every
country in the world will do
the same — and the result
will be international law-
lessness,” Boot writes. “…
Ultimately we are likely to
be drawn into conflicts that
could have been avoided had
we maintained our position
as Leader of the Free World,
a hard-won achievement that
Trump appears intent on frit-
tering away with his char-
acteristic recklessness and
thoughtlessness.”
On the other hand, many
“climate activists” approach
the subject with a kind of
messianic fervor, raising the
spectre of apocalyptic sce-
narios worthy of the Book
of Revelation and fetishiz-
ing alternative energy as if it
is holy, and wholly without
negative impact or cost.
A rational cost/benefit
debate about climate and
energy policy (which would
require honesty both about
the failures and successes of
public investment in alterna-
tives and about the degree to
which we’ve subsidized fos-
sil fuels for more than 100
years) would be a wonder-
ful thing. Unfortunately, that
does not seem possible in
our disordered and dysfunc-
tional political climate.
Merely musing in these
pages on the benefits of “red-
teaming” climate science
— testing assumptions and
consensus in a public adver-
sarial process — has drawn
scorn from those who assure
us that the debate is settled.
Nevermind the potential that
if the consensus in fact holds
up under a red team assault it
becomes stronger — and the
public better informed and
more capable of informed
consent on policy enacted to
address the brutally difficult
and complicated social, cul-
tural, political and economic
challenges the future holds.
Forbidding questions is
the tactic of puritanical zeal-
otry, not of science.
Meanwhile, there are
more than a few people in
Sisters who are walking the
walk without much talk —
making rational, thoughtful
choices about the way they
live, not for ideological rea-
sons but because they are
seeking a better way, some-
thing deeper out of life.
National Review colum-
nist Charles C.W. Cooke
acknowledges that there is a
serious discussion to engage
in, posing the environmen-
tal costs of our civilization
against the material benefits
reaped from the Industrial
Revolution, a worthy debate
to be had over what sac-
rifices in liberty and what
opportunities attend choices
to modify our way of life,
should we decide it is neces-
sary to do so to protect the
health of the planet.
“People can disagree on
the answers to these ques-
tions in good faith. But it is
harder and harder for them
to do so amid the hyste-
ria that grips this topic,”
Cooke writes. “…It’s unsur-
prising that people who
have more nuanced views
choose instead to go to the
pub.”
Well, that’s an option.
And, luckily, Sisters has a
fine array of watering holes
to choose from, where you
can enjoy your beer, wine
and spirits — hold the chaser
of hyperbolic gas.
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
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