The climate change issue has drawn in a lot of people who just don't seem to think too deeply about the issue. Climate scolds, like leftists in general, seem to be predominantly driven by emotion, rather than facts; they are swayed by emotional arguments, not rational discourse. That's true not just on climate change and environmental issues, mind you; this general rule applies to a range of things from gun control to economic issues.
What's remarkable is that once in a while, a person who actually does expect a fact-based argument, who actually thinks about issues and looks for evidence, can reverse their previous position on an issue.
This brings us to a former - yes, former climate scold named Lucy Biggers. In a recent interview with the YouTube channel Triggernometry, Ms. Biggers explained the transformation in her thinking.
First, she read, and chose two authors in particular, authors that she knew wouldn't agree with her existing opinions.
Schellenberger and Koonin
One of the major turning points came around 2020, when she began secretly reading books that directly challenged the apocalyptic climate narrative. Specifically, she cites Michael Shellenberger’s Apocalypse Never and Steve Koonin’s Unsettled, the latter of which opened her eyes to the idea that extreme weather patterns are not matching the catastrophic claims pushed by the media.
Key concept: Intelligent people, to my thinking, challenge their own options, their own biases, their pre-conceived notions. That's why I read The Nation, Mother Jones, and, on occasion, watch MSNOW. Not only is it important to know what the opposition is thinking, the better to counter it, but one never knows when someone on the other side makes a good point. (Granted, with the outlets I mentioned, that almost never happens.)
Read More: Why More Cows Mean Less Carbon: The Rinderpest Lesson
Cracks in the Climate Consensus: 46 IPCC Insiders Challenge CO2 Panic
Next, the COVID debacle gave Lucy Biggers a stark look at what overbearing government control looks like.
Glimpse at dystopia
Secondly, the 2020 lockdowns provided a massive wake-up call regarding what “Net Zero” measures actually look like in practice. She realized that despite the global economy completely shutting down and individuals losing their freedoms, global carbon emissions only dropped by about 5%. This made her question the authoritarian nature and feasibility of the movement’s goals.
The COVID lockdowns were an eye-opener for a lot of us. All of us lucky enough to be Americans are used to being able to come and go as we please, dress as we please, and in the event of a flu outbreak, which this was, to decide for ourselves what measures to take. When COVID-19 hit, many of those options were taken from us. We were compelled to wear masks, grocery store aisles became one-way streets, and restaurants and gyms closed. The one bright spot was that leftists, who never saw an overbearing government action they wouldn't take to the next level, became even easier to spot: They were the ones driving alone in their personal car or walking down a sidewalk alone on a warm, sunny day - wearing a mask. And, as Ms. Biggers came to realize, this was precisely the kind of control the climate scolds were advocating in favor of - all the time, viruses or no viruses.
Finally, Ms. Biggers realized that the climate scolds were, in effect, an apocalyptic cult.
Realization it’s a destructive mindset
Thirdly, having her first son in 2022 forced her to establish healthier emotional boundaries and take stock of her values. She realized she did not want to pass down a destructive mindset of existential dread and perpetual guilt for consuming resources in a modern world to her children.
Dread and guilt; I've been writing and speaking about climate change and environmental issues for many years, and that's as apt a description of the mindset of these people that I've seen. But there's one more aspect: Control. If you're familiar with the tortured arguments the climate scolds make, it is at first hard to understand what they hope to gain - until you realize that it's all about control. It's always about control. It always has been about control.
In this great interview, Lucy Biggers comments on several other factors, such as the climate scoldery being a psychological and ideological rationale; if you have followed this issue through the years, you will have noticed that (like so many left-wing causes) climate scolds are overwhelmingly white, urban liberals. These are the same people who rattle on endlessly about "oppressed peoples" and the evils of capitalism. Thus, climate scoldery gives them a perfect platform for a progressive trifecta: More control, more repression of capitalism (that is, freedom of commerce), and more virtue signaling.
Virtue signaling, indeed, is at the very heart of the matter. There is a high degree, as Ms. Biggers points out, of attention-seeking and self-importance in the most vocal climate scolds:
…you get the nihilism, you get addicted to the nihilism, you get addicted to your your own sense of self-importance, you get addicted to the fact that you are right and other people are wrong and then the engagement you receive on social media—it’s a constant feedback loop.
What's missing in all this? Evidence. Facts. Analysis. But the political left has never cared too much about those things. Lucy Biggers does, though. That is why, now, she is a former climate scold. It's amazing to see the result of someone learning to look at an issue rationally.
You can see the entire 70-minute interview here.
