Staying Sane in an Insane World

Do you ever feel like you’re the only sane person in an insane world? I don’t want to believe that climate change and peak oil and peak fish and ocean acidification and various other looming catastrophes are coming. Who does? That would be psychopathic. At the same time, ignoring real-world evidence and shouting down scientists seems rather…crazy.

It’s easy to start questioning your sanity when so many act as if nothing is wrong. Here I am, fighting to get action on peak oil and climate change, and there goes Joe the Plumber, commuting to work in his brand new Hummer with a Support the Troops bumper sticker. And it’s not just people who could, possibly, be excused for not knowing any better. The Canadian Conservative Party, U.S. Republicans, and Libertarians everywhere – all loudly turning a blind eye to reality.

Is this not crazy? I have asked for contrary evidence from credible sources, and all I get are:

• Variations on “You’re crazy”; people calling me paranoid, sex-deprived, too stupid to even talk to, and so on
• Sources that are clearly not credible; look, if some guy is not a climate scientist, receives funding from oil companies, has a history of being funded by corporations and pushing their view against that of the vast majority of scientists and accumulated evidence, HE IS NOT CREDIBLE

I suppose people are desperate to believe what they want to believe. Perhaps many of them think that by shooting the messenger, the message he carries also dies. I wish it were true.

How do you keep your sanity in a world where so many lie to themselves and others? One fellow sent me a list of supposed climate scientists who deny that climate change is happening, or agree that it is but say it’s not dangerous, or agree that it is happening and is dangerous but we can’t do anything about it anyway so let’s make as much money and whoop-it-up while we can; I can’t remember. There are so many such lists and so many conflicting claims. The problem that I have found with them is that they are bullshit. When I pointed out to the man who sent me his particular list that, on the very first page were numerous people with zero qualifications in climate science (some management consultants, a couple of engineers, economists, retired stock promoters and so forth), he immediately shot back with “Well, what about all the other people on the list?”

This is intellectual dishonesty. Look, if you are relying on a list of supposed credible sources, it is your job to validate your sources, not mine. When I see a list where it is instantly obvious that many on it are not credible, don’t expect me to go through the entire list. I’m throwing the whole thing out.

Peak oil denial is even more incredible. Obviously the oil will run out someday; there was a fixed supply to start with. To deny that is to confirm your foolishness: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

Given the massive dependence of our entire economy on oil, it seems rather dumb not to plan for it running out – or even to make the slightest attempt to determine when it will. That’s like piling your family in the car and driving off into the wilderness without ever once checking the gas gauge. I would call that a really stupid thing to do. Crazy. Nuts. Idiotic. Irresponsible. Yet that is exactly what highly paid people whose job it is to check the gas gauge have been doing.

So who’s the crazy person here? Am I loony because I only listen to credentialed, peer-reviewed climate scientists? Is it nuts to ignore people paid by oil companies, who just happen to be pushing views that maximise short-term profits for oil companies, and who have a documented history of doing the same thing for tobacco and other industries? Who’s the kook? Me, who insists on credible sources, on actual data, on common sense, or the people who say the oil is not going to run out now because it’s just not. Why? Because. It’s like talking to a three-year-old. In a thousand-dollar suit.

If a sane person were locked in an airtight room, one of his first thoughts would surely be, “How long will the air last?” The answer to that question determines your response. Do you have minutes, hours, days? If one of these peak oil or climate denier twits was locked in that airtight room, I suppose he would sit passively, secure in the knowledge that the air fairy would provide.

For non-twits

There are several very good websites and books that provide credible information on peak oil and climate change. Here are some websites:

Peak Oil:

• The Oil Drum
• Energy Bulletin
• Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) International

Climate Change:

• RealClimate: Climate Science from Climate Scientists
• Grist
• The Guardian’s Environment section

And some books: