The Linguistic Bait and Switch of Climate Change

How politicians went from actively attacking the problem to merely managing expectations for the end of the world.

Below is a response I wrote on Medium, talking about America’s overall response to climate change.

If anyone pays attention to environmental news, the key word went from “sustainability” to prevent climate change to “resiliency” to protect from its effects.

Now we’re using “adaptability” and “accommodation” since we’re finally realizing that a) we’re way past the point of no return and b) the effects of climate change will be bigger than any response or preparation we can muster.

It’s a political bait and switch, using semantics to try and keep ahead of the public’s realization that they were duped for decades, while simultaneously training the public to accept the reality of climate change without pointing the blame at our elected officials.

I wrote a quick article about the insanity of watering the desert in the Southwest, and how its coming back to bite us and the millions who live there. The responses to that story mostly echo what I wrote above, meaning people are finally realizing that the truth that decades of climate denial have left us with a very precarious future.

That precarious future is already here, as seen by these stories over the past few years.

• Billions of snow crabs have starved to death
• Heat Wave Killed An Estimated 1 Billion Sea Creatures, And Scientists Fear Even Worse
• “It’s Like Our Country Exploded”: Canada’s Year of Fire
• Western “Megadrought” is the Worst in 1,200 Years
• Unprecedented Heat Wave in Pacific Northwest Driven by Climate Change

These are not warning signs that, “we need to do something.” That time is over.

These are supernova-sized signals that we’ve already screwed ourselves, and now we need to figure out how to survive the coming onslaught brought on by our past mistakes.

Because here’s the thing. Human nature being what it is, there is no turning back.

We’re not going to stop driving cars from air conditioned McMansions to air conditioned offices, buying fast food for lunch with meat raised on a factory farm, then spending some time buying clothes off Amazon made by some kid in a Bangladesh sweatshop.

About the only thing the developed world is doing right is slowing down on having kids, which has nothing to do with ecological reasons. Rather, we just can’t afford to raise a family anymore.

We’ve Seen This Before

About the best we can hope for is that our reaction to climate change will mimic that of tobacco.

• Prior to the 1960’s, no one knew that smoking caused cancer. Sure, they might have had a clue that inhaling smoke was dangerous, but they remained blissfully (self) ignorant.
• In the mid-1960’s, after the surgeon general’s warning, most everyone succumbed to Big Tobacco’s disinformation campaign about the safety of smoking. They didn’t want to believe that something they liked was bad for them, so they clung to any idea that smoking was safe, however farfetched.
• By the 1990’s, businesses realized that the tide had turned against smoking. More people were getting off the fence and quitting. More importantly, fewer people (mostly kids) weren’t starting to smoke.
• In 2021, we now have a decently sized, but still much reduced, population who smokes, but they are socially stigmatized and financially punished through sin taxes and the overall cost of smoking.

We will probably follow a similar path with climate change. In fact, it’s already started.

• Prior to the 1970’s, the average person didn’t care about the environment. However, the government was galvanized when Lake Erie caught fire, and President Nixon soon created the EPA.
• The late 1980’s and 1990’s saw global warming become mainstream, as 20+ years of data mining and computer modeling were finally being accepted. The Cold War receded, and the population was itching for another war to fight. Highlights to “combat” this issue included The Montreal Protocol of 1987, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, and the Kyoto Protocol of 1997.
• The late 1990’s and 2000’s saw multiple financial crises and 9/11, which completely erased any through of preventing climate change from most everyone’s minds.
• In 2021, we still haven’t changed much in our daily living habits. Sure, scientists, engineers, and other smart people have made strides in energy conservation; but the end result is that now we just use more energy efficient stuff, totaling our past energy usage.
• Sometime in the 2030’s, already hot areas will become uninhabitable, resulting in the first round of climate refugees. Crop failures due to drought will become an annual event, showing up in agricultural projections alongside pests and disease. More people will take notice and switch to paper straws, but nothing can prevent what’s coming.
• The 2050’s will see the first major sea level rise as the ice shelf melt accelerates exponentially. By this time, popular opinion will have turned to reducing GHG’s, but not enough people will be on board. A decently sized, but still much reduced, population will continue ignoring reality, becoming the loudest voice in the room, and threatening governments with anarchy if they pursue environmental goals.

It’s the old Potomac two-step.

And here’s the thing, government will not help. In fact, they’ve been at the heart of the problem for years and are now just trying to cover their asses.

The Mission Has Changed

I went to college in the early 2000’s, dropped out, then went back during the late 2000’s. In just the few years I was out, “sustainability” was already starting to be replaced with “resilience”.

After a couple of entry-level jobs, I got a position with a municipal sustainability office, and part of its job before I even got there was preparing the population for some of the smaller effects of climate change in the ensuing decades.

However, in just the span of 18 months, we had a 500 year storm and 1,000 year flood, which pushed the entire City focus resiliency.

That made everyone realize that climate change will not just be a few small effects, like enduring a few brown patches in your lawn or opening the windows during the evening instead of running the A/C.

Not at all.

Rather, climate change was going to have massive impact, and people needed to be ready to fend that off.

Governments around the country started realizing this truth and changed their messaging.

Now, with the megadrought in the West, Canadian wildfires, and crop failures throughout the world, start reading deeper than just the headlines. You’ll find the message starting to change again.

No more resiliency and absorbing climate change where you are.

Now, it’s about “adapting” to a changing planet, being prepared to uproot your entire life due to climate change.

Most of the population is none the wiser of this shift in language, and we will never know the disruption of our lives was known about all along.

The Takeaway

Climate change is real, and it makes sense to prepare for it now.

If you’re looking for a place to live, find somewhere higher in elevation, ample ground water, and a smaller population.

I might be starting to sound like a doomsday prepper, but I bet anyone who moved to Seattle recently is second guessing their decision.

You need to start thinking long-term now, so you can flourish later when things go sideways.