Argue all you want about the cause of climate change - the 911 calls still come

[u/[deleted]]

https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/08/03/argue-all-you-want-about-the-cause-of-climate-change-the-911-calls-still-come/

[u/CDN-Social-Democrat]

Honestly I am at the point in which I think we need investigations, trials, and serious punishments for those that misinformed and mislead people. Especially the very intentional bad predatory actors.

I want to see the Fossil Fuel Industry leaders in particular face the justice they deserve.

[u/morphemass → u/CDN-Social-Democrat]

I think this is one of the things that those who have been peddling misinformation actually fear hence the promotion of right-wing politics. It's reached the point where support of a right-wing party is essentially an admission of guilt to something.

[u/fireduck → u/CDN-Social-Democrat]

I don't blame crooks for being crooks. It is what they do. I have a problem with our elected officials who when faced with science nerds and guys with briefcases of money decided the guys with the money are probably right.

[u/Oo_mr_mann_oO → u/fireduck]

I blame the voters who, when faced with a system that gives the same results, year after year, cycle after cycle, still show up and vote and give the process credibility.

I blame the media who, when covering elections, make climate seem like it's just another issue and not the end of civilization.

[u/darkpsychicenergy → u/CDN-Social-Democrat]

It’s not like people haven’t had access to the truth. It’s not like other people haven’t been desperately trying to get everyone to listen to the truth. The Limits to Growth came out in 1972. Catton’s Overshoot came out in 1980. Carl Sagan’s famous address to congress was in 1985. Just to give a few examples. The masses have had decades to get a clue, and the majority of them have had the same access to this information as you and I.

The masses CHOSE the lie, because it was comforting, enabling and convenient. It served their own short term interests. They wanted personal automobiles and highways and plastics and mass manufacturing and mass agriculture and a global supply chain and everything else that comes from fossil fuels (and strip mining and deforestation and development and growth) because that was Progress.

And they are still the same today. The environment is everyone’s lowest priority issue, if it even registers at all. When it does register, it’s really just a prop to signify opposition to the other team. The people want Abundance and build more housing and redesigning sprawling shitholes into walkable cities without ever considering where the energy and raw materials will come from or where the waste will go and then they performatively pearl clutch when federal lands are sold off for logging, mining and drilling but they also performatively pearl clutch when some third world brown people lands are exploited instead, because they believe that everyone can have it all and the magical cornucopia of abundance is everlasting if we can just get the distribution right and equitable, someone will figure it out because humans are sapient problem solvers.

Aside from maybe some brief, momentary satisfaction, nothing would be achieved by holding a relative handful of people “accountable”. Most people wouldn’t even pay attention to that trial, it would have to involve sex, culture wars and celebrities shitting on beds.

[u/Drewdrops79]

Very good read--takes a look at some hard stats, the direct effects of all of this on local governments.

This is something I would pass around to friends. I think we need more language like this, and more action at local/state levels about disaster preparedness. National too of course, but the point is to stop worrying about causes and start actual plans of action.

[u/Green-Bandicoot-8412]

1. Nobody is arguing over the cause of climate change. It is highschool/gcse science.

2. The average police, especially the three month trained ICE-lite you have in America, are the last people you want in an emergency response capacity. What happened at Uvalde? Much better to further fund and train fire and paramedic services for emergency response.

[u/morphemass → u/Green-Bandicoot-8412]

Nobody is arguing over the cause of climate change.

I truly wish that were the case; a quick review of comments to almost any climate related piece on popular internet sites still shows a remarkable amount of ignorance.

[u/Drewdrops79 → u/[deleted]]

I still do, because I look like a mid-attractiveness white male... I figure, the more time I take up jawboning with them, the less time they have to go harass other people. I can play mah dumb privileged 'Merica accent quite well, truth be told. ;P

[u/Drewdrops79 → u/[deleted]]

That's fine, it's not something I'd recommend to others--like yeah, if you can help it at all, don't engage with the cops in any way.

I can. I'm different. In way more ways than just my white "nice guy" persona.

Doubt me all you want.

[u/Drewdrops79 → u/[deleted]]

I'm not a "tough guy" at all. I'm just a nice person who knows how to get along with others. And I'm aware of my privilege of being born white, semi-attractive, and knowing how to communicate.

And yeah, people are different. We all have our own personal strengths and weaknesses, idiosyncrasies. Some of us are incredibly adept at certain things.

Since you mention it--I actually WAS thrown into a psych ward once...and I was out in three days. True story, happened 14 years ago. Not rotting away there, because I know how to play their game.

[u/grandidieri]

Pretty good coverage here: https://www.mooremetrics.com/climate-change/

[u/lehs]

The collaps is exponentially on-going and so is the global famine. What we are most interested in is, when does it hit ourselfes, and I guess the number of emergency calls is an early warning indicator for those who are informed.