By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado
Have you heard of climate realism? It varies depending on who uses it, but in general the term refers to acknowledging that while fossil fuels are contributing to climate change, it’s not an existential threat demanding immediate, drastic action. It describes a view that the proper response to climate change is mitigating the downside while understanding that reliable, abundant and affordable energy from fossil fuels prevents a whole host of problems we could have if we simply left them in the ground.
This is the view held by recently appointed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, former CEO of Liberty Energy. I don’t think he coined the phrase “climate realist,” but it is certainly how he has described his own views on climate change.
Wright’s climate realism seems to have rubbed Colorado Public Radio’s (CPR) environmental advocate Sam Brasch the wrong way. In a recent article Brasch seems to set up an exploration of Secretary Wright’s views, and perhaps the concept of climate realism itself, but in the end is really there to tell us why this view is wrong. Along the way Brasch commits a major science error by playing fast and loose with the distinction between actual data and computer modeling. Hint: they are not at all the same.
Sleight of hand journalism
With the exception of the oddly-phrased description of Wright as a “fracking CEO” (at least in the audio version of the article), the CPR article actually starts out decently balanced. Wright’s views and past defense of fossil fuel production are given a reasonable airing, but this doesn’t last long. Near the bottom half Brasch opens the floor to those who will say what his editors presumably won’t let him say directly, that climate realism is actually (quoting one of the advocates brought in to do the dirty work) “lukewarmerism,” a view that allows for the worst kind of hypocrisy.
That is, climate realism allows for the wearing of the robes of climate change while denying the things we already know to a certainty: fires are getting worse, hurricanes more intense, and flooding is increasing.
This advocate’s words are bolstered later by Brasch linking to a Politifact (hardly considered an unbiased arbiter of truth) post questioning the notion that wildfires were worse in the past than now, and then the following quote (with link left intact), “Over the last few decades, however, more reliable information has shown that climate change has led to a steady increase in the total area impacted by fires globally.”
To say that Brasch lies here would not be correct nor fair. That said, Brasch is decidedly not being a forthright broker of information. There is some sleight of hand going on over data versus modeling that I’ll point out, because it’s something Brasch has done more than once.
READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COMPLETE COLORADO
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