U.S. Campaign in the "Perfect Storm" : What About Climate Change?

As hurricane 'Sandy' is headed towards the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast the United States, it is supposed to be a 'historic killer storm,' a hybrid system - a super storm even - hence the nickname 'Frenkenstorm' (an allusion to Mary Shelley's gothic creature of synthesized elements.). A perfect name for the Halloween season!In case major weather phenomenon might not be dramatic enough, the U.S. media love to hype it up by giving it a scarier-than-though name to get people's attention,. In the end, this could really be counterproductive. Think of last year's Snowmaggedon (Snow+Armaggedon) or Snowpocalypse which turned out to fail catastrophic expectations.

Let's use this event as a good opportunity to pause and talk about one topic that has been completely left of the presidential campaign: climate change. 
Of course, not one single event can be directly linked to climate change but factual trends show higher water temperature in the Mid-Atlantic which can cause more intense storms. This should be a concern at least (here), and yet, the possible link is left silent in US politics and in the American press.Does this mean that Americans do not believe in climate change? Surprisingly, no. In fact, on this question, they don't seem so far apart from the French.According to this latest poll of worldwide opinion on climate change: 

• Most French (82%) and Americans (72%) feel that climate has changed in the last 20 years.
• Most French (69%) and Americans (65%) believe that climate change has been proven by science.
• Most French (77%) and Americans (67%) are either very or somewhat worried of the possible consequences.

And even more interesting:

• A majority of people in either country (58% in the U.S. and 81% in France) think climate change is mostly the result of human activity, and that their government/country is mostly responsible (78% and 82%).

Other polls have shown similar results (here, here, or here), including the support of clean energy policy (here).

So how come this issue is not even mentioned once in the presidential campaign? Worse - how come no policy, not even the cap-and-trade bill has been passed to cut CO2 emission in the U.S.? After all, this was one of President Obama's promises which is supported by a majority of Americans.
 A simple answer: the failure of the current American democratic system where lobbies and money trump over the will of the people.
This may sound harsh and rather extreme, but this is also the conclusion you will draw from watching PBS Frontline 'Climate of Doubt' last week.

Their  show was not actually on the topic of climate change but more interestingly on the the chilling power of climate change deniers through ideological pressure groups (The American Tradition Institute) funded by private interests such as oil companies (Exxon) and industrialists (The Koch Brothers).This may sound harsh and rather extreme, but this is also the conclusion you will draw from watching PBS Frontline 'Climate of Doubt' last week. Their  show was not actually on the topic of climate change but more interestingly on the the chilling power of climate change deniers through ideological pressure groups (The American Tradition Institute) funded by private interests such as oil companies (Exxon) and industrialists (The Koch Brothers).


The way these global warming deniers operate is simply  fascinating and uniquely American. It is very much like what religious groups have done with the theory of evolution or the tobacco industry with cigarettes:

1. First they attack the scientific community:
- Science become a matter of opinion, and as such they claim that the views of climate change skeptics should be taught in school (as it happened in Tennessee) as any other 'opinion'. When confronted to scientific data, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, who is also vice Chair. in the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, says "they are entitled to their opinion".
- They use the scandal of a few scientists' hacked emails taken out of contexts to undermine the entire field (forgetting to mention that 9 subsequent investigations showed no tempering with data). They use the "freedom of information act to pressure scientists in making their emails available.  
- They also say that scientists have a political agenda 'green is the new red' says one of them. 


2. Then, they create their own science:
- they make scientific data match their agenda, by using partial findings. They call it "the science that makes good sense" (i.e. that fits their political agenda)
- They come up with phony but authentic looking documents (such as the Oregon Petition), using anyone with a bachelors degree as a "scientist".
- They use organization that sounds serious )such as the Science and Public Policy Institute) which are in fact political pressure groups. 
At the same time, they reframe the issue: CO2 becomes a "gas used by beautiful trees" or "plant food". It is "what we breathe out and plants breathe in" (Exxon), thus using the same tactics as the tobacco industry. 


3. Finally, they pressure the legislative body. Ideological groups such as the Tea Party, use the tactics they have used on other issues by pressuring the more moderate Republicans who might be inclined to believe in climate change, thus instilling fear in the party. (Such as former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis, who was defeated in a Republican primary in 2010.). 

Of course, this is not necessarily going to work with a majority of Americans, but it seems to work with the Republicans. The issue of climate change, which should be primarily a scientific issue has been successfully framed into a political issue of government expansion, the hot button issue for conservatives that blinds them from any reasonable discussion.: only 44% of Republicans believe the U.S. should work to combat global warming. 



















There is hope - swing voters go green: 

The immediate consequence of this strategy of doubt was that even though the cap-and-trade bill passed in the House, it was blocked by the Senate, and there is nothing that the president can do about it. not sure there is much he will be able to do in the future, because as John Kerry says in the documentary, the impact of money is too strong. Unfortunately, once the will of people on this issue becomes stronger than money, it might be too late. Of course, the current economic context is also an opportunity to push back on climate change, instead of being an opportunity for transformation. 


NOTE: meanwhile, France, who signed the Kyoto Protocol, has reduced its CO2 emission by 11% in 20 years. (source here)

THIS WEEK: bin Laden, Le Pen, Mother's Day, Climate Change, Game of Thrones and David Barton.

I would like to try a new feature on this blog - smaller comments on more topics. I'll call call it, my Miniposts series. :

THIS WEEK'S MINIPOSTS : 

THE DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN (spelled ben Laden in French!) was definitely the big news this week, and not just in the U.S. It was also all over the news and talk shows in Europe.

My first reaction was relief (and a sense that the demonstrative cheering was too much – making his death look like football victory trivializes the whole thing).

My second reaction was great satisfaction that it happened under President Obama’s leadership because now many of his Republican critics who claimed he was more a “professor-in-chief and not a commander in-chief” (cf. or Sarah Palin or Bill Kristol) ought to be eating their words, even if they won’t. (And yes, Obama was right not to release the picture – conspiracy theorist will still believe it is fabricated anyway.)

The Republicans have pathetically tried to seize the moment by putting torture on a pedestal again and thus claiming that this no Obama’s victory but that it is G. W. Bush’s of course, even though evidence suggests it does not work see the NYTimes or Huffington Post)

This should actually be a great opportunity to pause and reflect on the bin Laden effect, how Osama bin Laden has changed America. The once open and trusting America seems long gone and the new America “keeps looking over its shoulder”, as The Economist puts it. It has become less tolerant, more intrusive and willing to compromise on some of its founding principles. Let’s hope more Americans will reclaim their soul soon. 

UPDATE: Here's another example of the bin Laden Effect! 
UPDATE 2: Good article on a linguistic explanation of why people get OBama and OSama mixed up! 

INTOLERANT FRANCE - Unfortunately, it is not only the US that has become less tolerant. The France of 1998 used her national soccer team that won the World Cup as a potent symbol of integration (nicknamed the "black-blanc-beur", i.e.black-white-Arab squad.), whereas the France of 2011 has its soccer federation discussing capping the number of 12- and 13-year-old black and Arab hopefuls at sports academies to 30%. in a secret recording. A major scandal that's been all over the news France.

An isolated incident of a few bigots?I doubt it.

The far-right National Front Party is so high in the polls since Marine Le Pen changed the National Front into a 'kindler gentler' party (NYTimes) that it may very well repeat its success of the 2002 elections and "secure a place in the run-off at next year’s presidential election." (The Economist). Marine may have put a nicer face on the party but her platform still smacks of xenophobia and nasty populism (based on anti-immigrant feeling,  Euroscepticism, disillusion with the elite). She may prove more dangerous than her father as her ideas are becoming more acceptable. 

It is about time that France admits it too has a problem with race.

MOTHER'S DAY is celebrated today (Second Sunday of May), whereas in France la Fête des Mères is on the last Sunday of May. Interestingly, it started as "a  a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. (Wikipedia). There's plenty irony about this - it became an official holiday in 1914 in the US. and was popularized in France by American WWI soldiers who sent  mail back to their country for Mother's Day  . In France Mother's Day was also popularized by the Vichy government who used it to promote its natalist policy. Since then, it has become widely commercial both in France and the U.S

CLIMATE CHANGE. A record number of Super tornadoes, severe floods, and huge wildfires, in the U.S; record temperatures (with this April the hottest month in 300 years in both Germany and Britain), drought in France (I had not heard of water restriction in April before) and wildfires in Western Europe.... 

I am no scientist and maybe this is just the effect of globalized news, but sill, it is hard to believe that some of that is not related to global warming.

Personally, I find the change in the weather pattern a lot scarier than Osama bin Laden or any Al Qaeda terrorist attack ever was. And I'm just amazed that the news don't report this much more than they do. I am particularly upset at the French media who keep saying how great it is for the tourist industry and ice-cream sellers. It is like driving a car 200 miles an hour to a wall and rejoice about the manufacturer! 

TV SERIES: This is indirectly related to climate change... The new HBO fiction GAME OF THRONES may have had too much hype and the bloody violence and the sex may also be too much dejà vu and unnecessary to the story, but still, it is one of the best shows on TV these days and I love watching it.  

It has plenty to offer : great political intrigue, good psychology, and sleek visual design - not unlike "The Tudors" or "The Bordias". It is sort of a a sexied up version of "Lord of the Rings". One of the most intriguing idea is that seasons in this world seems to last years. ("summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime,) and the characters seem to brace for the coming winter which may last for years. I can't wait to see what it's going to be like.

UPDATE: Apparently Game of Thrones has already produced "a messianic fervor among viewers". Good - it means there will be more seasons to come (HBO has already announced a second season)

STUPID COMMENT OF THE WEEK: By David Barton (the self-taught historian / social conservative activist who wants to turn the US into a theocracy) during a conversation with Jon Stewart on whether the U.S. is a Christian nation :
Jon Stewart : "Through the founders' wisdom we have kept that [Christianity] from becoming a state religion so that their vision of all people created equal could flourish..."
David Barton : "And that's a biblical vision by the way - that all men are created equal. You don't get that from a secular world. France didn't believe that."
Or how to say something incredibly stupid with a lot of authority.
The whole show is definitely worth seeing to understand the minds of conservative evangelical Christians.