Conversation with my CONservative neighbor... subject, climate change!
She started by describing a cell call she got from a friend in New Jersey who'd weathered that storm. She said the bad part is we're supposed to be having these storms more often now. Then she talked about some reading she'd done about climate change, and how the temperature increase in the Atlantic is affecting these storms. And she mentioned how the Arctic is melting.
Then I said "I just read something about that, too! I read an extensive quote from Al Gore from "An Inconvenient Truth" that detailed ALL of that. He must be psychic or something!"
She: (shaking her head and sneering) - no, he's not (turning away).
Me: Yeah, looks like he is. He said, years ago, what you just pointed out, now, too!
She: Well, I've heard two different versions... (blah blah blah) some scientists who say we haven't done that much to cause it.
Me: Yeah, the deniers have their side, too, it's like "you get your psychiatrists, I'll get mine..." They can always find someone to spread this stuff, but they're just WRONG. We have the most venerable and respected scientists in the world, GROUPS of scientists and researchers, the most respected in the world, with all the data and research to back them up, who all say it IS a reality.
She: Well, I don't agree with that idea that it's all us doing it, in this country.
Me: But that's true, too. It IS human-caused. It's not cow farts. It's not the polar bears causing the Arctic Ocean to melt. It's our pollution and overpopulation and over-stressing the planet.
She: But it's also India and China and so many other countries where they don't care and they don't do anything and they're polluting too.
Me: Absolutely! You're totally correct about this - it's ALL of us people, in those countries AND in OURS. But shouldn't we have true leadership on this? Why CAN'T it be us, leading this? Someone has to take the lead in confronting this problem! I can't think of a better or more magnificent country than OURS to take the lead on this and lead the world out of this crisis! We HAVE TO. It HAS TO be done.
She: But the economics of it - we can't afford it.
Me: But can we really afford NOT to?
That's where it ended. She sorta shrugged but didn't have a comeback for that. That's my point. This is horrible. And yeah, it's expensive. What's the latest damage estimate - 50 BILLION? FIFTY BILLION? And that's probably low-balling it. Wonder if my neighbor the republi-CON tightwad is ready to face a price tag like that every two or three or four years or so with some weather-related disaster like we've never seen before (until the next one, the likes of which we've also never seen before)? Because we're sitting on our asses and arguing about whether there's really climate change going on?
I got the last word. I was determined to do so. Hope it gave her something to think about. The tone was quite civil and we were both out walking our dogs at the same time. You can't wear blinders all the time. Pretty soon they start pinching your brain.
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