SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the it's-an-ill-wind-that-blows-no-good dept.
An overwhelming majority of scientists, including numerous UCLA researchers, agree that we have to take action to curb the effects of climate change.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block joined leaders in higher education from more than 35 states today calling on incoming president Donald Trump's administration to protect the Earth's climate.
Chancellors and presidents from more than 170 colleges and universities signed on to the open letter calling for "aggressive climate action."
Trump has at times described climate change as a hoax and proposed withdrawing from the historic Paris climate agreement signed at the annual United Nations climate conference in 2015. An overwhelming majority of scientists, including numerous UCLA researchers, agree that climate change is caused by humans and will result in dramatic, disruptive changes within this century. UCLA research has projected that without drastic action, Los Angeles will heat up an average of 4 to 5 degrees by midcentury.
"As a university," Block said, "we have a deep commitment to research innovative solutions for tomorrow, to serve the greater public good and to educate the leaders of future generations. Strong federal and international climate action is critical to this mission."
(Score: 3, Informative) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday December 23 2016, @04:22PM
Trump is a staunch denier of global warming... except where it threatens his investments. [politico.com]
I sometimes wonder if he himself actually believes anything he says, or if his opinion simply changes every now and again according to some recent input and as soon as he does so his brain immediately erases all memory of him ever having believed anything different.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @04:26PM
I sometimes wonder if he himself actually believes anything he says, or if his opinion simply changes every now and again according to some recent input and as soon as he does so his brain immediately erases all memory of him ever having believed anything different.
What you have described is the difference between lying and bullshitting. Liars know the truth and consciously make an effort to obscure it. Bullshitters have no foundational knowledge and just say whatever serves their interests in the moment. Trump is a consummate bullshiter.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 23 2016, @05:00PM
Modded up! This is a hugely important distinction, and one that people NEED to know. If the truth is a woman, then a liar is her rapist and a bullshitter is her pimp.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 23 2016, @05:35PM
I would say Trump is pure Id.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @04:27PM
Rising waters are a thing—certainly a potential thing; it makes sense to build up some kind of insurance against it.
However, that doesn't mean that you must accept the worse predictions of Global Warming, or that you must accept such outcomes as being solely due to the preventable actions of man.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 23 2016, @05:01PM
Yeah Cthulhu forbid we do stuff that grants us energy independence, cleaner air and water, and less pollution. What if we make the world a better place for no reason?! Hurrrrrr.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @05:06PM
"We"
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 23 2016, @05:12PM
Okay, you can go sit on the beach somewhere in Florida and drown slowly. That's absolutely fine by me.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 23 2016, @05:37PM
Don't worry, Trump and his buddies have a penchant for retiring to tropical islands. It's a problem that will solve itself, and will be a sorely needed laugh while the rest of us are bailing out our basements.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by fritsd on Friday December 23 2016, @07:21PM
This one is for you Azuma:
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/environment/ig/Environment-Cartoons/If-Global-Warming-Is-A-Hoax.1-Bh.htm [about.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday December 24 2016, @06:52AM
Yeah Cthulhu forbid we do stuff that grants us energy independence, cleaner air and water, and less pollution. What if we make the world a better place for no reason?! Hurrrrrr.
"What's good for General Motors is good for the US." This wouldn't be the first time that someone assumes that something they want is good for society.
The whole reason we have a disagreement in the first place is because... we disagree. There's a lot of negative consequences to climate mitigation and the abandonment of cheap fossil fuel infrastructure being ignored here.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 24 2016, @04:59PM
Yeah, all those poor starving bankers and oil magnates...whatEVER will they do without those fat subsidies they depend on? I thought you hated welfare queens...
We'll do what we always do in that vaunted free market of yours: we'll adapt.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday December 23 2016, @07:11PM
or that you must accept such outcomes as being solely due to the preventable actions of man.
Good thing nobody is claiming that, then.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fritsd on Friday December 23 2016, @07:16PM
In the book "the Authoritarians" by Altemeyer (PLEASE download it before it suddenly disappears or times out or is wiped to make disk room or Manitoba is conquered by the USA!), Altemeyer mentions something he called
"compartmentalization" [wikipedia.org], somethign all people have, but authoritarians are better at it,
and that is that if you believe two things but they are incompatible, just believe one after the other, never at the same time. You don't have to bring those two world views in alignment or consolidate them.
Those people really do believe that the sky is yellow and that the sky is blue;
If someone they trust talks about "the sky is yellow", then at that moment they really believe the sky is yellow, and if someone they distrust mentions "the sky is yellow", then at that moment they really believe that that's bullshit, everyone knows the sky is blue.