Constitutional Peasants
“Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.”
Climate Change & Science Fiction
A couple of interesting debates on climate change over at the Strange Horizons site, for those of you are interested in the subject. All of it is very good stuff.
It’s what Niall mentions in his post that had me really wondering about climate change in SF, however:
As mentioned in the previous post, this week we have some discussion of writing climate change fiction; and if, as Vandana Singh says in her final comment, it is “increasingly important to write about climate change as passionately and creatively as we know how”, we might also ask: how are we doing for criticism that calls attention to and examines such writing?
A quick survey of the critical resources available to me suggests not all that well.
I wondered if there was little criticism because there simply isn’t much Science Fiction being written about the real effects of climate change in the first place? That there isn’t much to really interest Science Fiction writers?
I mean, aside from the sea levels rising, there isn’t much for Science Fiction wow-porn. Climate change is the slow, steady evil that will effect everything else in our lives. There is no instant Hollywood apocalypse. It is causing heavier rainfall in certain areas, droughts in others. It will see food prices rocket. It will see people die and suffer from disease on a wider scale than we’ve seen previously. And some of these health effects can be very subtle. There are no wars over climate change, but there are wars over the effects.
See what I mean? Not exactly the stuff that a Science Fiction writer, certainly not one interested in big concepts or ideas, can really use all that easily. Climate change is the mother of all evils, and the effects are profound; but they are subtle and complex and not easily dealt with in a novel concerned with the big idea. I’m not even sure Science Fiction is really the field that should be dealing with climate change.
Climate change is reality – it is happening right now, it was while I studied it at university, and has been for decades. Perhaps there is material for the effects of climate change being a backdrop for a novel, but shouldn’t mainstream authors be dealing with this, rather than Science Fiction authors?
I’d also say that most of these effects will be felt most shockingly in the developing world. Authors who write predominantly about the West, and Western concerns, will not likely be all that bothered.
Anyway, food for thought.
Don’t Flush Tiger Forests
It’s got more relevance to the US, but this is always a worthy topic to highlight.
Denial and the Heartland
Incase you hadn’t yet seen it, a right-wing think-tank has been reported as funding climate change denial on a massive scale:
The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks…
The papers indicate that discrediting established climate science remains a core mission of the organisation, which has received support from a network of wealthy individuals – including the Koch oil billionaires as well as corporations such as Microsoft and RJR Tobacco.
Essentially, as these reports are suggesting, scientists (who are not climate scientists) are being paid to spread lies throughout the media and to even stop science being taught in schools, by rewriting various courses. Those who read environmental news all thought this kind of thing went on, but this appears to be the money trail that demonstrates it. The Guardian does a splendid job in revealing who gets paid what. This is making headlines all over the world, too, which is much needed – climate change denial tends to bleed into the US, Australian and British media.
I hope this gets back to the UK very soon. The BBC (which have not yet covered the news item) always wheels out Nigel Lawson, climate change denier extraordinaire, to talk about the environment. I’m not sure why, because he knows nothing about the environment. However, Lawson works for the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which has connections to the Heartland Institute. That connection will be under scrutiny, I hope.
Always follow the money…
EDIT: The BBC has now reported this. Also, the Heartland Institute has also responded with the classic smoke and mirrors technique:
Those persons who posted these documents and wrote about them before we had a chance to comment on their authenticity should be ashamed of their deeds, and their bad behavior should be taken into account when judging their credibility now and in the future.
Bless.
I’m A Climate Scientist – Extended Version
How the hell did I actually miss this? Climate science does need to get its shit together in the media, and become a little more clever at what it does. The science it settled; the media is full of imbeciles. So I think I like it, despite it being a little bit cringe-inducing (in the best possible way). Feel free to link the video on the blogs of denialist clowns. Contains naughty words.
Child Labour in the US
A gallery. Just think, US readers, you could update this gallery if a Republican wins the presidential election.
Turning Tidal
Given the massive newspaper and corporate campaign to make wind power more unpopular (which isn’t working), it’s worth also looking at what else fills the renewable energy portfolio.
I’m starting to think that if people don’t want a wind farm to spoil their view, and neither do they want a nuclear or coal power station in their back garden either, then those houses should not be allowed to have electricity. But that’s the snarky old man in me speaking.