Kolbert’s article focuses on the imminent (and present) effects of climate change on the state of Florida, especially in the city of Miami, and considers several factors that prevent the state from effectively mitigating or adapting to the issue, among them denial stemming from ideologically entrenched politicians, community leaders who displace the issue onto future generations, apathetic academics, and a misinformed public. In your discussion post, 1) put Kolbert’s article into conversation with any of the other assigned texts such as Campbell and Kay’s psychological study on “solution aversion” and the PBS video on climate denial. Those texts forward interesting theories that help us understand why the issue of climate change—despite the 97% consensus among the scientific community—is a contested topic in political and public spheres. Are the politicians in Florida motivated to disbelieve in climate change because of their ideology? Are our minds not adequately wired to respond to climate change because it does meet the P.A.I.N criteria discussed in the PBS video? Is there an optimism bias at play? confirmation bias? A mistranslation of “uncertainty” from the sciences to the political and public spheres?
After you’ve analyzed Kolbert’s article and contextualized it with the other sources, I’d like you to 2) share what you think the leading causes of climate denial and/or inaction are. You can choose from the ideas presented in the assigned texts and elaborate on them, or you can use sources you’ve found on your own or you can share your original theories about it.
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