Bonus: Bagdhad Bob Visits Climate Town
What do Saddam Hussein’s information minister and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board have in common? Hint: it starts with a “d,” ends with “enial,” and isn’t just a river in Egypt. A new and virulent strain of climate denial could be called “doomer shaming.” Instead of acknowledging how logical it is to be distressed about the state of the climate , delusional boosters of the status quo would rather belittle people who worry about rising temperatures, wildfires, super-storms, and ecosystem breakdown. Jason, Rob, Asher, and Melody consider how to manage climate anxiety and use it in service of caring for planet Earth.
Warning: This podcast occasionally uses spicy language.
References:
- Video of Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf, aka Baghdad Bob
- Allysia Finley wrote this Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Climate Change Obsession Is a Real Mental Disorder”
- Nature article dismissed by Finley
- (21)00278-3" rel="nofollow">Lancet article dismissed by Finley
- Rebuttal written by PCI Advisor Leslie Davenport and published in the Wall Street Journal
- Rebecca Solnit’s article in The Guardian, “We Can’t Afford to Be Climate Doomers.”
- Survey on climate distress by the Yale Program on Climate Communication
- Gen Dread newsletter on climate distress
- Climate Psychology Alliance
- Good Grief Network
Played