Meet the people who are killing the planet (and putting an end to the "global warming is a myth" conversation)

Rolling Stone decided to start the year off by kicking ass and taking numbers...or rather, announcing names and pointing fingers in their article, The Climate Killers Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.

It's about time there was a public hit-list of people who aren't for the planet. (After all, it's very publicized technique used by several climate change deniers who will not be named). Over all  it's an informative article that examined the influence of thoughts, money, and action across sectors. The author clearly had fun creating clever nicknames for the offenders, such as the Flip Flopper (Dick Gephardt) and The Arm Twister (David Ratcliff). Unfortunately I found the tone of the piece off putting in the moments when it came dangerously close to stooping to name calling. The way I see it, we (the people who are actively in the pursuit of securing a way to live sustainably on the planet) do not have time for name calling.  Everything that is said and written needs to be impeccable and supported by facts, not just emotion and a sense of, "this is just the right thing to do." (I realize this is ironic coming from someone who spews nothing but opinions. Shoot. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be undeserving of a t-shirt that says, "Hi. My name is pot. I call tea kettles black.")

But here's what kills me, after an article that names some of the most dangerous polluters in regard to the environment and ideas, the first comment on the article says, "global warming is a myth." I keep wondering what can we do to shift the conversation? HEEELLLOOO~ they just listed 17 people that are in the active pursuit of hurting the state of the planet and the entire conversation resorts to the broken record statement of "global warming is a myth". It feels like there is no way out of the "Yes!" "No!" shouting match about the legitimacy of if climate change will affect people's ability to survive on the planet. It is pointless to engage in a conversation about if Al Gore's plan is to take over the planet and rule the economic system.

So (gasp), what would happen if we turned in a different direction and focused on making sure we have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, clean soil to grow our food in? What if we replace "global warming" with "healthy planet"? Would it change the conversation? Would we still get the same number of people saying, "Healthy planet is a myth!!" And if so, how would that influence the conversation? Would it refocus us on the task at hand and give our minds a break about conspiracies, lies, and motivations?

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