Michael Mann: Climate “Deniers” are Exploiting the Lifestyle Change Movement

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

According to veteran climate conspiracy theorist Michael Mann, climate “deniers” are deflecting attention from large scale societal reform by deceiving people into focusing on climate friendly lifestyle changes.

Climate change deniers’ new battle front attacked
‘Pernicious’ campaign is unfair on well-meaning people who want to help – expert

Robin McKieScience editor
Sun 10 Nov 2019 06.02 AEDT

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Mann told the Observer that although flat rejection of global warming was becoming increasingly hard to maintain in the face of mounting evidence, this did not mean climate change deniers were giving up the fight.

“First of all, there is an attempt being made by them to deflect attention away from finding policy solutions to global warming towards promoting individual behaviour changes that affect people’s diets, travel choices and other personal behaviour,” said Mann. “This is a deflection campaign and a lot of well-meaning people have been taken in by it.”

Mann stressed that individual actions – eating less meat or avoiding air travel – were important in the battle against global warming. However, they should be seen as additional ways to combat global warming rather than as a substitute for policy reform.

“We should also be aware how the forces of denial are exploiting the lifestyle change movement to get their supporters to argue with each other. It takes pressure off attempts to regulate the fossil fuel industry. This approach is a softer form of denial and in many ways it is more pernicious.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/09/doomism-new-tactic-fossil-fuel-lobby

I’m sorry to confess that for once Michael Mann is right.

All these years the Vegan and other lifestyle change movements have been climate skeptic fronts, a secret attempt by skeptics like myself to distract attention from real climate action, an effort to make climate action seem so unpalatable, ordinary people give up and accept fossil fuel into their lives.

Now that the brilliance of Michael Mann has exposed our plot, there seems no point continuing the Veganism charade.