Pushers of the 'doubt' drug.

Don't call them Climate Deniers.

They’re really 'Pushers' of a Drug called 'Doubt'.

I had a nightmare about deniers. Truth deniers, and how honest people can get drawn to them.

My field of speciality is a big muddy field: humankind’s collective denial (by their actions) that there's any real climate problem. In this muddy field it’s important to remember there are two very distinct types of 'denier' animal that you will encounter. With totally different response strategies needed.

Actually "doubt pusher" may be a better name than 'denier'. Get this:

Doubt is a popular feel-good drug.

Whether we seek escape from the pain of being part of the species that 'allowed' the holocaust, or escape from the dull ache that we are now complicit in mass suicide and the future deaths of billions including our own children, we seek escape, distraction, cold comfort.

These are big emotional 'charges' in the air Dave! But watch out when the climate taboo next crops up in polite conversation. We are talking about (or not talking out) latent near-universal abuse of our own children's Home planet. Hardly small talk :-)

So what are these two types:

My hero Miles Kington used to say "There are two types of people in this world. People who divide people into two types. And people who don't." Think about it. I honestly don't know why but this is one of my favourite sayings of all time!

Here goes:

Type 1 (or Class A!) Upstream - misanthropic - clever - bad - aware they are wrong - the doubt pushers

and

Type 2 (or Class B) The carefully selected victims and prey of Type 1's: infected and used - the smidgeon of doubt addicts

Now it turns out that doubt takers, soon become doubt addicts, and some fast become doubt pedlars. (And of course some pedlars become pushers.)

Pedlars of doubt experience new found or fresh popularity - for the welcome relief they bring (e.g. at dinner parties) to the throbbing headache of dealing with the climate reality backlog. Think David Bellamy - one of my childhood heroes - and someone I still believe to be a good man.

I don't think there are that many Class A's left - but they are very toxic - very clever - motivated - and often superb at hiding what they do.

All we can do is help expose them, and hold them to what they have said.

And we need to hope less Class B's will get infected/poisoned/duped. Which is more likely if we love them. (Class A's are usually immune to this tactic.) This is a big learning point. You won't love a Class A into the light.

What also gives me hope is belief that someone like Ann Widdecombe is not rotten to the core, she's just been duped. (Not at all easy to do in her case, and certainly not easy for her to admit.) She will get there eventually. She might want to listen to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He doesn't suffer fossil fools easily.



Dominic Lawson though - I struggle to give him benefit of doubt. Maybe I'm wrong. But I sense a man who justifies his immoral stance as being in some way 'right'. Extreme right maybe! History will judge Class A's harshly, very harshly indeed.

All we can do is calmly and courageously expose them, and hold them to what they have said.


Dave Hampton is The Carbon Coach. You can sign up to his newsletter, Co2mmunique by visiting the Carbon Coach website and view past issues.

MAIL ME YOUR CARBON!

Hi. I’m Dave Hampton and I’m offering some free help. In schools I’m known as Carbon Dave, or, more professionally - “the carbon coach”.
Pssst. I'm a ‘carbon shrink’. You can tell me!
You speak your weight, and I'll hear you.

I am ‘trialing’ a 'Mail me your carbon' scheme, before I roll it out globally.. and beyond...!

I am offering this to Passion for the Planet listeners and blog readers. (I may have to ‘cap’ the offer, but I will take at least the first 30 to contact me.)

By participating, asking awkward questions or providing challenging feedback, you will be helping me to help others chip away at the carbon fat; leading the way for us all to ‘Cut The Carbon’

At the heart of all this is my conviction that to know our own personal carbon footprint is more important than we might think. Not knowing our number is potentially holding us back in all sorts of ways. Our carbon shadow (the CO2 emissions we are responsible for) without really knowing it - is ‘behind us’. It is much easier to face this shadow once we know it is always following us. Like in the panto!

I strongly recommend that you sign up for the 10:10 campaign as well - if you haven’t already! (10% footprint reduction by this time in 2010).

Mission Possible:

Email me your best estimate of your current overall carbon footprint and what you make of it. There are several carbon footprint 'calculators' but I recommend you use:

The Resurgence Quick Carbon Calculator

It is quick and simple to use – as well as educational and illuminating. It's also very friendly!

You can see the ‘working total’ (bottom line) start to add up, and you can see the carbon mount up - real time - as you enter your data.

Tell me how it worked for you, and which part you'd most like to tackle over the next 12 months.

I will reply. The heroes - in my book - are those who know their number. Confidentiality is assured.

If you find you are a 200 tonner (200 TCO2e per year) but you didn't realise it before, and you tell me, then you'll have made my day, by sharing this with me. Chances are you'll feel better too. After all, a footprint shared is a footprint halved - well almost! And you are nearly in the company of Prince Charles, who last year estimated his Estate at some 2800 tonnes! (And falling year on year impressively.) Don't be downhearted. I can help you find ways to reduce your carbon.

If you find you are a 20 tonner, that’s better, but you are above the UK national average of 13 tonnes.

If you are a 2 tonner, I salute you. We can learn from you.

Who me? Well, since you asked, I am coming in at around 5 tonnes on this estimator, which is around half the national average. And I’m working on further reductions.

Keep a copy of the email you send me - it will come in handy next year when you calculate whether or not you made your 10% reduction, and when you set yourself a new reduction target for next year.

One last thing! Happy Birthday Gandhi!!

On October 2nd it is Gandhi’s birthday and that day is also National Carbon Footprint Day!

Gandhi used to say “Be the Change that you would wish to see in the world” – and nowhere is this more true than with carbon leadership.

National Carbon Footprint Day was launched last year by Donnachadh McCarthy. The website is simple and functional. This time last year I entered my gas, elec, and water actual meter readings - on 2nd October 2008, along with my actual car milometer readings, and details of flight miles. Hey presto – the next year - it feeds all that info back to you - on Gandhi’s birthday, so you can keep track of the longer term trend in your carbon footprint.This is helpful, as you don’t need to keep the meter readings or do the working out.

So I warmly encourage you to make use of this NCFD site: use it to record where you were in 2009. Who knows, in 2012 we may look back with much pride at how much carbon weight we have lost!



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Past issues can be viewed here.