“The Arc of Moral History is Long, but Bends Towards Justice.” - 259

Martin Luther King                                                                                            

I love MLK’s optimistic rhetoric. As a climate activist with 99% of the science world in consensus, a person would think I would be optimistic. The average citizen is getting involved in the climate discussion. Critical climate legislation, the IRA, was passed in Washington, DC. My optimism is tempered despite these signs of public scientific awareness and commitment to act.

To be objective, a person must include unpleasant facts. Martin Luther King’s personal moral arc was dramatically blown away when he was shot, and murdered. Such inconvenient truths temper a thoughtful person’s optimism. When studying history, it becomes evident justice is guaranteed only if the common person persistently stands up and protects his fellow man from abuses.

Climate and environmental justice, if enforced, protect all of us but especially the most vulnerable. It requires constant vigilance, responsible laws, and steadfast enforcement. Recognizing our commitment to the environment in the Constitution would make it easier to protect our land.  We could amend the Constitution to give our air, water, and land legal standing. You may think this a radical idea, but 100 countries have already done this.

In the USA, land and ecological protections are protected primarily by administrative law. Unfortunately, this means environmental law is in danger if a hostile political party does not respect the land, water, and air. Grossly misrepresenting climate science by oil companies is documented. The recipients of fossil fuel political donations, Republican politicians, are equally documented parroting climate science misinformation. Lying has been done without fear of repercussion in the USA.  Is this changing? A recent court case leaves me a wee bit more optimistic.

Is blatant lying on the wane?  A recent civil case gives me hope.  To win a civil case, a person must show lying by another person, or company has caused them harm. Lying or deceiving another is not unlawful. It may be immoral, but it is not against the law. But if a person is injured by lying and can prove it, then the guilty party pays restitution. Admittedly, the chances of someone injured being able to win, or even be able to gather the money to begin a lawsuit is low. But, sometimes, the lying is so profound, the legal system works.

Recently, liars were justly dealt with.  I have followed the sordid climate history of the Murdock family for years. (Rupert Murdock is the owner of Fox News and other media companies in Europe and Australia as well as the USA). When historians write their history books chronicling the corruption of the atmosphere, Rupert Murdock and his family will be on the short list of the Irresponsible Dishonor Role. They have provided climate deniers with a platform to spread science lies for decades.  

In a recent event, unrelated to climate, the Murdock media empire was held responsible for not only offering a platform to election liars but lying themselves. The Dominion case against Fox had nothing to do with climate injustice, but nonetheless, I take satisfaction that the largest promoter of climate lies just had to pay out the largest civil settlement ever. Murdock’s Fox News settled with Dominion voting machines agreeing to pay Dominion 787.5 million dollars. As a side note, I like the fact journalists include the .5. The .5 seems like a petty thing to include until you realize it is 500,000 dollars. In a country where most people in the USA have trouble building their savings account to $500, this is a thousand times more.

In an even more stunning move Rupert, the King of the Murdock Media Empire, fired his most popular Knight of Lies, Tucker Carlson. Is his dedication to misinformation waning?

I know 787.5 million is pocket change for Rupert and his family, and I know Fox News goes through personalities like a man with dysentery goes through toilet paper, but one must take pleasure where one can. And optimistically, maybe in the future those injured by the carbon dioxide we were deceived into thinking was harmless, will have the legal standing to take the Murdock Empire to court for promoting climate lies to win monetary restitution and then use the money to repair the planet.  

Does this event playing out in our legal system mean the arc of morality is bending toward justice?  Hardly! As I write the Republican House majority has proposed gutting the Inflation Reduction Act of its most effective climate programs. The motive, quite simply, is to protect the fossil fuel companies. These are companies spoiled by the billions of dollars of taxpayer money we give them in subsidies and are frightened new cleaner energy may replace them.  

The Republicans are hypocritically using the national debt as a foil to destroy climate-saving laws. This effort to portray themselves as financially responsible flies in the face of fact. During the Trump-Republican years when they could have done the work of balancing the budget, they instead gave a tax cut to the wealthy. This mushroomed the debt. In a desperate attempt to derail climate justice, they now threaten violence against our economic foundations.

Republicans are threatening to murder the economy if the climate protective programs of the IRA are not removed. This action would be economic murder in the short term and have dire consequences for the planet in the long run.

Action to protect the climate, now often referred to as climate justice, is also a struggle to squash out misinformation. Recently the climate scientist most respected for his brilliance, integrity, and grit, scientist Michael Mann, was disparaged with misinformation in this newspaper.

To give you historical background, in November of 2009 at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, a fabricated news release accused Michael Mann of Penn State and Professor Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia of falsifying climate information. This was labeled as the “Climate Gate” by climate deniers.  This prompted immediate and thorough investigations by eight committees. Here were the results of ALL eight committees: “Exoneration”. The accusations against the scientists were false.

Mann’s pioneering work, called The Hockey Stick was also vindicated. Scientific teams have reviewed, duplicated, and expanded upon his work. It is the gold standard. Quote from Wikipedia: “More than two dozen reconstructions using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records support the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph”.

Lies have been flung at him like terrorist bombs, but he has stood firm and withstood the barrage. As a result, Michael Mann has been continuously promoted and repeatedly honored with awards.

He is a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He is also the director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media.

Here are a few of the Awards he has earned:                                                                                                                                                             

1.      Hans Oeschger Award by the European Geosciences Union                                                               

2.      Made a Fellow by the American Geophysical Union                                                                                                                                               

3.      AAAS Engagement with Science Award                                                                                            

4.      Awarded Membership in the American Meteorological Society                                              

5.      AGU Climate Communication Prize                                                                                              

6.      Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement                                                                                   

7.      Awarded Membership in the National Academy of Science                                                                

8.      Noted as 1 of the worlds 50 most Influential People by Bloomberg Markets                                    

9.      Awarded the Achievement Award for Science by the Wildlife Federation                                           

10.   Made a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.                                                                                                                  

11.   Honored with Title: “Friend of the Planet” by the Center for Science Education                                                                                                              

12.   Awarded the Climate Communication Award from the Commonwealth Club of California                                                                                                   

13.   Received the World Sustainability Award from the MDPI Sustainability Foundation                                                                                                                

14.   Presented the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award by the American Physical Society                                                                                                                                

15.   Named the Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association                                                                                         

16.   Awarded the James H Shea Award by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers                                                                                              

17.   Recognized as 1 of the 50 leading science visionaries by Scientific American                                                                                                                     

18.   2007 NOBEL PRIZE Recipient as a member of the IPCC

If someone is questioning Mr Manns credentials or his ethics you, in turn, may first question the credentials and cognitive competence of the accuser. There is one heck of a lot of reputable science and environmental organizations awarding him memberships. And when they are not voting him into their ranks, they honor him with coveted awards.

If you are curious about climate and want to learn from a decorated scientist recognized not only for his brilliance but for his depth of character, you can. Harvard University has teamed with the UN to create free online courses. Michael Mann was invited to create a climate course, “Climate Change: The Science and the Global Impact.” Here is how to access it: Simply go to “edx.org” and search Michael Mann.

If you are like me and not a child of the computer revolution, go to your local library. The librarian will get you started. Do not be shy. It is their job to help and I have never met a librarian who didn’t love to help people.

If you are a senior, you can take science courses at Gogebic Community College for free. Gogebic is staffed with smart, young, competent, dedicated, science instructors. I have taken courses there and have been pleased.

Quite frankly, if we want to bend the arc of human history towards justice, all of us must work a whole lot harder. It is disheartening to read disparaging and baseless accusations made against the world’s most responsible people. On the positive side, these unsupportable statements force me to dig deeper and work harder to verify the truth and defend people of character.


            

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