inequality and inertia L4

• ___= responding to climate impacts already ____ or already committed due to:

  • thermal ___ of the oceans

  • momentum from positive feedback loops

  • long-term climate commitments

adaptation, unfolding, inertia

• Adaptation = responding to climate impacts already unfolding or already committed due to:

  • thermal inertia of the oceans

  • momentum from positive feedback loops

  • long-term climate commitments

These impacts are largely unavoidable, so adaptation is about ____ systems, infrastructure, and societies to cope with effects that will occur __ of emissions cuts.

adjusting, regardless

• ___ = reducing the ___ of ___ changes, which then shapes how difficult future ___ will be.

Centered on cutting ____ emissions.

mitigation, magnitude, future, adaptation, GHG

• Mitigation = reducing the magnitude of future changes, which then shapes how difficult future adaptation will be.

• Centered on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

• Includes:

  • Conservation and ecological ____, especially expanding carbon ___ (“trillion trees” approach).

  • CO₂ removal technologies as a critical tool to avoid catastrophic ____ points.

Some argue for geoengineering, which would involve large-scale intervention in geophysical processes to slow warming.

restoration, sinks, tipping

Geoengineering & Carbon Removal

• The most plausible geoengineering front is atmospheric CO₂ ___.

  • Machines that “vacuum” CO₂ from the air.

  • CO₂ converted to solid form and stored in the lithosphere.

• Considered increasingly necessary due to the scale of committed ___.

removal, warming

The “Age of the Dithering”

• Described as a period of ___ _____—the world knows what must be done but moves too ___.

• Major structural changes are required to avoid crossing irreversible climate tipping points.

indecisive agitation, slowly

The Denial Industry: Origins, Tactics, and Influence

Origins

• Climate ____ emerged from a broader pattern of corporate _____ strategies.

• Early roots in the 1970s ____ industry, which pioneered:

  • _____ (exaggerating environmental responsibility)

  • Campaigns ___ the science behind environmental ___ (acid rain, pesticides)

denial, anti-regulation, PR, greenwashing, attacking, regulation

Greenwashing

• PR strategies used to celebrate ___ environmental actions while attacking regulation.

  • “Clean coal”

  • “Fiji water: every drop is green/clean”

• Goals: create ___ and weaken public ___ for environmental rules.

minor, confusion, support

Green Front Groups and Think Tanks

• Emergence of Astroturf ____groups: organizations with environmental-sounding names that actually ____ environmental protections.

• Think tanks instrumental in ____ climate ___ include:

  • Competitive Enterprise Institute

  • Cato Institute

  • Heritage Foundation

  • Heartland Institute

  • Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

environmental, oppose, denying, science

Green Front Groups and Think Tanks

• Emergence of Astroturf environmental groups: organizations with environmental-sounding names that actually oppose environmental protections.

• Think tanks instrumental in denying climate science include:

  • Competitive Enterprise Institute

  • Cato Institute

  • Heritage Foundation

  • Heartland Institute

  • Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

• Many received ___ from ExxonMobil, Koch Brothers, and other ___ interests.

  • Koch brothers - fortune came from coal, fought against climate science, funded organizations to try to discredit climate science, lobbied against environmental actions, funded projects to go against public transit

funding, ff

Political Lobbying

• Denial messaging amplified at:

  • ___ legislatures

  • Municipal governments

  • ___ policy arenas

• Fossil fuel–aligned groups ___ to:

  • ___ emissions regulations

  • block public transit expansion

  • undermine ___ energy mandates

Climate Disinformation Databases - Groups like DeSmog track connections between corporations, PR firms, and climate denial campaigns.

state, national, lobby, oppose, renewable

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

Core Tactics

1. ____scientific ___and attack legitimate expertise.

   • Leave people ___ and ____about the level of scientific ___

distort, evidence, confused, doubtful, confidence 

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

___ scientific ___—highlight ___ disagreements as if the entire field is ___.

exaggerate, uncertainty, minor, unsettled

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

Blur distinctions between genuine scientific ___ and ___ issues.

debate, consensus

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

Quote scientific __out of ___(“scientists admit they're not certain”).

debates, context 

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

Elevate fringe or ____ scientists (often from ___ fields and even former tobacco campaigners, like Fred Singer).

non-expert, unrelated

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

Attack ___ of climate ___, NGOs, and __ agencies.

motives, scientists, regulatory

4. Lessons Learned from the Tobacco Industry

Denial tactics are heavily borrowed from tobacco’s fight against regulation in the 1970s.

1. Promote __ such as:

   • “Real science vs. junk science”

   • “Environmentalists are alarmist or greedy”

   • “Scientists only push climate change to get grants”

   • “Watermelons: green on the outside, red (socialist) on the inside”

narratives

5. Post-Truth Politics

• The denial industry helped usher in a ____ era where:

  • ____ appeals outweigh scientific ___

  • ___ circulates faster than scientific ___

“Post-truth” became the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year in 2016.

post-truth, emotional, facts, misinformation, evidence

6. Targeting the IPCC

• The IPCC is a frequent target of ____theories.

• Denial groups ____ its motives and ___findings.

Main goal: sow ___ and delay action on fossil fuel reduction.

conspiracy, misrepresent, distort, confusion 

7. Why Denial Persists

Oreskes & Conway argue denial has one powerful advantage:

People prefer comforting ___ to sobering scientific ___.
A world where climate change “doesn’t matter” is psychologically ___ to accept.

This preference makes ___ emotionally appealing.

lies, facts, easier, denial

8. Internal Recognition by Fossil Fuel Companies

Despite decades of public denial:

• Internal documents from ExxonMobil acknowledged: “GHGs are rising due to the burning of fossil fuels. Nobody disputes this fact.”

• Internally, companies used this knowledge to purchase oil leases in regions they knew would melt due to warming.

McKibben’s Summary: Externally, fossil fuel companies attacked the ___.
Internally, they planned for a ___ world.

science, warming

9. The Profit Motive

• Fossil fuel industries recognize they will eventually lose the long-term battle, but:

• Their strategy is to ___ climate action as long as possible to maximize profits: “What this fight is really about [for fossil-fuel industries] is buying precious time to maximize profits from carbon sources.” —Kevin Knoblock, Union of Concerned Scientists

• Doing everything they can to delay the revolution because in the long run, the fossil-fuel industry is going to lose this war 

Bill McKibben: “The fossil fuel industry has been granted the biggest market subsidy ever—
the ability to dump its waste into the atmosphere at no charge.”

delay

10. Mounting Scientific Consensus vs. Political Inaction

• Scientific understanding of climate change is clearer than ever.

• Emissions rise rapidly (half of all carbon ever burned was burned since 1990).

• Yet, strong political action is ___at both the national and global levels.

• The result: a widening gap between what science demands and what politics delivers.

slow