The Propaganda of Fear

It takes an impending catastrophe, so the idea goes, to inspire a change in the status quo. Though we have collectively discussed things such as alternative fuels, reduction of consumption, even drilling in the Alaskan Wilderness Reserve to harvest our own oil, we never really took such ideas seriously until our prices of gasoline skyrocketed past $3.00-$4.00 per gallon. Some of these ideas showed promise: GM began working on the VOLT concept, a commuter-friendly electric car...people gave up driving their massive Hummers...carpools became much more prevalent. Ever since the prices became more affordable, though, it seems we are back to resting on our laurels. Hummers are back on the road with a vengeance. The VOLT has been delayed. Carpooling rarely happens any more, and again it rarely occurs to us to seriously think about re-adopting our conservation mindset.

George Morton, during his drunken speech on pages 128-129, outlines the massive achievements by the environmental movement over the previous few decades: "We have witnessed the creation of the EPA. We have seen the air and water made cleaner, sewage treatment improved, toxic dumps cleaned up, and we have regulated common poisons like lead for the safety of all. These are real victories my friends. We take justifiable pride in them. And we know more needs to be done" In nearly every one of these cases he stated, it was because of a disaster or series of newsworthy events presenting the matter in a catastrophic light that these things were changed. Without bestowing the subjects with a sense of urgency, it is unlikely such changes would ever have come about.

Ironically enough, Mr. Morton also succinctly presented a quote from Michel de Montaigne, who was thought to be highly influential on thinkers such as Descartes: "Nothing is so firmly believed as that which is least known". To control the knowledge of the truth through manipulation of facts and the use of propaganda is to wield true power to change the world.

It is easy for me to understand, then, and even be a little empathetic, with the drastic measures taken (both in real life and in the book) to make the picture on climate change as bleak as possible. Sure, it's manipulative. It may not be entirely candid about all the facts, but the facts chosen to be presented are not patently false, either. The thing is, the world may not be coming to an end; as Mr. Crichton shows, the world is an endlessly complex interplay of a vast number of factors that don't all come together in support of global warming. Page 95 sums this complexity up nicely--we can't simply measure sea levels with a stick and a marker. What about the geoid? "Glacio-hydro-isostatic modeling? Eustatic and tectonic effects on shoreline dynamics? Holocene sedimentary sequences? Intertidal foraminifera distributions?..." etc. etc. ad nauseum. (I don't think half these terms really apply for climate change measurements, but we'll indulge him.)

Truth be told, I want people to think we are on the brink. It creates a mindset that we have to change right now. Yes, many are simply on the 'Green' bandwagon nowadays because it has become fashionable, not out of a noble sense of conservation. I'm okay with that, however, because a selfless motivation is not necessary be a part of the revolution. If we can bring conservation into vogue, and people simply follow the example for personal prestige, so much the better for those of us who truly believe in taking care of our finite resources.