Yeah, but you should have seen my dad....
People a extremely susceptible to propaganda. It's best to remember that lest you succumb to it.
Hard for the sheep to admit they sat on their hands while the Earth slow burned. Something about blindly following the rich and acting like temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
What are you doing StepOil
Stepbro, I'm stuck in the Hormuz strait!
Why is admitting that without oil, we can't have 8 billion people?
Because that is simply not true.
for a bunch, it's that their entire personality is wrapped up in burning carbon. they know it's bad. they're not completely stupid, they simply think their hobbies - vroom vroom bullshit like cars, bikes, trucks, dune buggies, rock-climbing jet skiing etc, they think it shouldn't count because some other asshole is producing even more carbon than they are.
the cult of vroom vroom is gonna watch cars race in circles until we don't have a breathable atmosphere, and they'll never admit they're the fucking problem too.
Rock climbing?
My grandma litterly said "i cant hear it anymore"
But the big thing just said, "Snort." "Oh, you are not my mother," said the baby bird. "You are a Snort.“
Because it's all about money.
I'll speak for the voices I hear around me because I hear this all the time in my conservative area:
Climate has demonstrably always been changing Our region has been cooler than average for all of the 2000s People don't trust when the solution is always "give us more money and power"
I get that this post is a bit of a satirical question, but as a serious answer to the question. I think it's because for a lot of people it is impossible (or feels impossible) to not consume fossil fuel products. If we then label it as bad then we feel like we are thus the bad guy while we feel powerless to not be that.
Basically people are forced to be something they don't want to be thus to cope they make it their personality because that gives a sense of control over choices we really do not have a say in.
It's simpler than that. Left leaning folks exist within the contradiction just fine via harm reduction.
Right wing people just will never admit they are wrong about anything. That's really it. They will simply invent an entirely different reality before they will knock over a single card in their card house.
IMO you're much too charitable. I think these are the reasons (at least for American conservatives), roughly in order of what I consider to be the most to least sympathetic:
- A fondness and nostalgia for fossil power. To be clear I think if this is the reason you're supporting fossil fuel use when lives are on the line you're crazy, especially when museums and motorsport categories for older engine technologies can (and already do) exist, but I can at least understand it.
- Anxiety about change. While there are lots of reasons to think that renewables will put us in a better position than fossil fuels (they're cheaper, can be less centralized, and better insulated against geopolitical instability) a lot of people are very anxious about things like EV range and grid instability. If they're a "low information voter" or have been fed a steady diet of oil industry propaganda then they probably have a very exaggerated view of these issues and a very poor understanding of how the world works.
- The entire idea of anthropogenic climate change and things like a circular economy directly contradicts the Christian worldview they're operating under. For one they don't believe in climate change for the same reason they don't believe in herd immunity from vaccines or systemic racism. Cumulative effects, dynamic systems, and tipping points aren't part of how they think the world works. Secondly, they view the world as something their god gave to humanity to conquer, dominate, and exploit. Telling them that they can't suck the world dry and throw away the husk come judgment day is tantamount to telling them their religion is fake.
- For a portion of the population the above three attitudes have metastasized into conspiracy theories and fascist ideologies. Things like a belief that "15 minute cities" means they will be put into open air prisons, or that wanting to reduce resource consumption means that they will be subjected to population control so that black people can replace white people. I don't feel like writing a giant comment examining the core of the reactionary mind, but suffice it to say that things like language and truth are very fluid for them. If something makes them feel bad then it must be bad, literally and physically. The conspiracy theories are created to justify the feelings.
- In addition to the above plenty of people want to hurt others. The fact that large powerful vehicles kill people, the fact that they're loud, inconvenient for others, and spew black smoke, makes them more appealing. The fact that oil use creates wars that kill children is a bonus. All of this is tough and manly. It makes them feel good.
Do not, my friends, become addicted to oil. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence!
Also, for many, their livelihood and how they provide for their family is directly tied to fossil fuels and the price of fossil fuels.
Also, for ~~many~~ nearly all, their livelihood...
Almost everyone lives by moving vehicles with fossil fuels, making or moving petrochemical plastics, growing things with fertilizer sourced from oil processing, etc...
i mean we need both the nitrate/nitrite i forget which and the phosphate fertilizer to maintain a good healthy soil and i think the shit is the phosphate one.
Because it’s a tactic used to influence and control people. Heres how it goes....some outlets don’t just argue climate policy, they moralize it. When it becomes ‘if not for the planet, what will you do it for,’ and it turns into a loyalty test.
And if you’re religious, you might also believe that God has the power to address global challenges like climate issues, just as He restored the earth after Noah’s flood.
"I'll have you know my great-great-great-great*10^8^ ancestor turned into oil recently, have some damn respect for my deep family history!" /s
Propaganda works. Is why.
Many people have as an immutable axiom "I am a good person"
When you suggest they are doing something bad, like contributing to climate change, this clashes with that axiom.
That clash causes discomfort. Most people are, frankly, lazy cowards. They could accept that they are not being a good person all the time, and update their axiom. But that's scary and feels bad. They could also try to do something about climate change (or whatever the topic is. see also: veganism), but that's also hard. It's far easier to just lash out at the source of discomfort.
The oatmeal did a comic on basically this topic: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe
The back-fire effect explains why so many people love to watch Fox News, even when they've admitted in court that they're not news and no rational person would take them seriously. Reinforcing beliefs through propaganda is comforting - and no amount logic or fact checking is going to change it.
... yeah we're basically fucked as a species.
The yt channel Technology Connections made a video on solar and made a great point that stuck with me
If oil was so precious and valuable and important why do we light so much of it on fire?
I mean, I think it’s precious for its ability to be lit on fire
We still need things like grease, lubricants, and plastics. We rely heavily on oil products that are not burned and oil is a finite resource, yet we like to light most of it on fire anyway even though we have energy alternatives that are more cost effective in the long run.
I'm about to start my own political party and call it "The Gas Price Party'". Since it's the only issue that matters for 75% of the population, I bet I could get elected just because of the name.
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