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You might have read this article from The New York Times: 'Ok Doomer' and the Climate Advocates Who Say It’s Not Too late. Doomers are described pejoratively as a group of depressed doom scrollers who have been paralyzed into nihilism:
“‘It’s too late’ means ‘I don’t have to do anything, and the responsibility is off me.’”
The article describes this attitude as something that needs to be combatted as “focusing solely on terrible climate news can sow dread and paralysis, foster inaction, and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Mainstream climate scientist Michael Mann sees doomerism as dangerous “because it can be used against those trying to make progress in sustainability by those seeking to undermine climate action.”
I strongly disagree with the definition and the characterization of doomers by both The New York Times and Micheal Mann.
Doomers are far from people who have given up. They are clear eyed realists who see the writing on the wall. Environmental collapse is here and now. Yet, policy makers and elites are doing nothing but ensuring the continuation of their power and privilege.
Evidence of this came just days after the recent IPCC report warned the world of imminent disaster. This is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the launch of the third Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report:
The jury has reached a verdict. And it is damning. This report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a litany of broken climate promises. It is a file of shame, cataloging the empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unlivable world.
We are on a fast track to climate disaster. Major cities under water. Unprecedented heatwaves. Terrifying storms. Widespread water shortages. The extinction of a million species of plants and animals. This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Talk about the”litany of broken climate promises. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit minister, declared that he supported “exploiting every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea” the day the report was released. Days later, the Canadian government approved a $12 billion offshore oil project proposed by Norway's Equinor ASA (EQNR.OL), after an environmental assessment concluded it would not cause significant adverse effects.
Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice Chair of the IPCC’s Working Group III stated that approximately 1-4 trillion dollars of fossil fuel infrastructure will have to be abandoned in order to achieve the stated goal of 1.5°C above the preindustrial baseline. It is telling to see how world governments are responding to the report by building even more infrastructure. It is naive to think that the governments and power brokers of the world will not extract every drop of oil and gas.
Doomers are often castigated as alarmists when they vocalize their disagreement with the ‘solutions’ espoused by scientists like Micheal Mann and other mainstream media pundits. This is done to silence them.
It is my contention that Doomers are actually people who see the disconnect between science and the talking heads. They see the litany of lies for themselves and are not afraid to tell the truth.
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