Guest essay by Eric Worrall
US Television Personality Bill Nye thinks the younger generation will save the world from Climate Change, by forcing the Republican Party to embrace climate narratives to win their vote. But there are a few factors Nye is overlooking.
“Don’t be surprised, after the conservatives, the Republicans, pick somebody, this person goes, well, I’ve been thinking about it and climate change is a big issue. Because I don’t think they can quite get enough — I don’t think the party can quite get enough votes without millennials. Climate denial is almost entirely generational. Only now and then do you meet a young person — nobody your age is a climate denier. Very few. It’s all old people.”
Read more: http://uproxx.com/news/bill-nye-millennials-gop-climate-change/
Is there any evidence to back Nye’s claim that climate skepticism increases with age? The answer is yes – but the correlation is weak. Other factors such as political affiliation are stronger predictors of climate views – though the correlation between politics and climate views is not as strong as a lot of people assume.
It would be fascinating to see whether people who believe in dangerous anthropogenic climate change retain that belief as they age, or whether the demographic stays more or less stable. According to Gallup, there has been a slow rise in climate alarmism since 1997, which supports Bill’s assertion that millennials will shift the balance of concern about Climate Change.
However, when asked to rate lists of concerns in order of priority, Climate Change consistently comes last. Young people who say they are concerned about climate change, generally don’t support taking action to combat climate change, when given other choices.
See http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/07/17/despite-the-urgency-of-paris-a-u-n-sponsored-global-poll-rates-climate-change-dead-last/ for more information.
Is Bill Nye right, that climate will eventually force the capitulation of skeptical politicians to public climate concerns? In my opinion, the answer is that Bill Nye is wrong.
The evidence suggests that people care most about issues which affect them every day. Even if the younger generation retains their climate concerns, daily concerns about safety, financial security and that pothole at the end of the street which nobody has fixed will continue to trump the climate issue.
At most politicians will begin to pay more empty lip service to climate concerns, but even this is far from certain.
If you were to draw an age related demographic of belief in the tooth fairy, you would find tooth fairy skepticism is also correlated with age. Older people tend to see through the lies they were fed in their youth.
As long as WUWT and other skeptical organisations can continue to point out the flaws in alarmist narratives, skeptical messages will reach enough voters to at least defuse belief in the alleged urgency of the climate issue, so that expensive, socially and financially harmful policies designed to combat the imaginary climate threat will continue to be obstructed.
“In my opinion, the answer is that Bill Nye is wrong” Bill Nye is always wrong…a modern day Pied Piper.
The whole argument of AGW and climate change is politically driven as a means of redistribution of wealth and the diminishment of the power of western nations and the preeminent status of the United States. Included is the non-articulated but implied need for vast population reduction in the misguided opinion of certain UN sub-groups. Having said that, I argue that there is a much bigger problem looming ahead which could be used as a challenge to the younger generation and certainly to school children. I have set forth my rebuttal & challenge to Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and the rest, in this well referenced article: “Global Warming – Climate Change –Is Not The Big Problem; What Really Must Be Done & Why” at: http://fusion4freedom.us/climate-change-not-the-problem/
Reminds me of something.
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
― Mark Twain
Paying attention to life as you age is not a guarantee of wisdom…but it helps.
You’ve heard many people say many things that didn’t pan-out.
Youth haven’t had the time to see what didn’t pan-out.
The big step for the young and old is to admit, “Maybe I was wrong.”
I think that was Mark Twain’s humorously made point.
(It doesn’t apply to all, but the phrase, “Young and dumb.” comes to mind.)
(Mods, Thanks.)
Mods,
I just made a comment that has disappeared.
Maybe I used an “auto-bit-bin” word. Maybe I messed up on my end.
Could you please check?
Here’s the quote without my added comments.
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
― Mark Twain
Stereotypes are valid in some circumstances.
Stereotyping is ingrained in humans; it is a survival skill, which helps humans determine which outside groups (unknown to the tribe) might be dangerous, and which are not.
But we should always be careful when lumping everyone into one group, especially nowadays, because it can lead us astray in our thinking and our perception of reality.
I think the divide over alarmists and skeptics is politically related, not age related. There are real smart young folks who are skeptics, and there are sadly uninformed young folks who are alarmists. 🙂
The sooner we stop talking about Bill Nye the sooner he can go back to being Speed Walker, Super Hero (Google it).
Reliable data rulez, and AGW ain’t got any.