I=92ve been following the ECOLOG discussion on climate change "denial sc= ience" with great interest. Many of the climate change deniers have muc= h in common with those who deny that there is a conflict between economi= c growth and environmental protection. For example, both camps of denie= rs tend to be comprised of hirelings of, or were selected in a process s= trongly influenced by, "big money" (i.e., pro-growth, typically corporat= e and anti-regulatory entities). =
<?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:o= ffice" /> This point would be too obvious to be worth mentioning, except that now = we are seeing a fascinating denial dialog developing regarding the relat= ionship of economic growth and climate change. I noticed this at a clim= ate change conference yesterday, where the old CIA Director Woolsey et a= l., while fully concurring that climate change is upon us, and substanti= ally human-induced, are not yet ready to concede that climate change and= other environmental threats are fundamental outcomes of economic growth= . = = (While this is no place to elaborate, I have to at least note that, with= a >90% fossil-fueled economy, and ceteris paribus, economic growth simp= ly =3D global warming. And also that, with economic growth - increasing= production and consumption of goods and services in the aggregate - pri= oritized in the domestic policy arena, dealing with climate change means= not conservation and frugality but rather wholesale onlining of nuclear= , tar sands, mountaintop removing, etc., because, as Woolsey pointed out= , renewables such as solar and wind won=92t come anywhere near the level= s our currently fossil-fueled economy needs.) = So perhaps we could view "denial science" as lying on a spectrum, where = endpoints might be defined either in terms of hardness/softness of scien= ce (e.g., physics hard, climate change science medium, ecological econom= ics softish), or else in terms of political economy (e.g., from little t= o big money at stake). Denial would tend to be motivated pursuant to pr= incipals of political economy, and gotten away with in proportion to the= softness (or alternatively, complexity) of the science. = = Brian Czech, Visiting Assistant Professor = Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences National Capital Region, Northern Virginia Center 7054 Haycock Road, Room 411 Falls Church, VA 22043 = = Brian Czech, Ph.D., President Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy SIGN THE POSITION on economic growth at: www.steadystate.org/PositiononE= G.html . EMAIL RESPONSE PROBLEMS? Use [EMAIL PROTECTED]
