My first climate column of the year for the Los Angeles Times…hope you’ll read and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>My introduction to climate change politics came via Al Franken.
>
>Yes, Al Franken, the “Saturday Night Live” comedian-turned U.S. senator who resigned from Congress amid accusations of sexual harassment. It was 2003, I was 11 years old, and I had stumbled across a copy of his new book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right,” drawn in by the catchy title.
>
>Global warming wasn’t Franken’s focus. But his references to the brewing crisis resonated with me.
>
>He criticized then-President George W. Bush for ditching the Kyoto Protocol, a predecessor to the Paris climate agreement. He slammed Fox News host Sean Hannity for refusing to acknowledge the role of SUVs in rising temperatures. He condemned then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s oil industry ties, and featured a New York Times front page with an article about melting glaciers.
>
>The more I learned about carbon pollution, the more obvious it felt to preteen me that something was deeply amiss with American politics. Why weren’t we quickly switching to renewable energy? How long could one of our two major political parties act like nothing was wrong? I had the same questions after going to see Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006, and after studying sustainable development in college, and after beginning my career as an energy journalist in 2014.
>
>I have the same questions now.
Again, I’d love if you could read and let me know what you think. You can sign up to get my future columns and news roundups in your inbox here: [latimes.com/boilingpoint](https://latimes.com/boilingpoint).
It’s far easier to choose to believe the minority of “experts” who contradict the majority than to sacrifice anything, like your pickup truck or large SUV.
2 comments
My first climate column of the year for the Los Angeles Times…hope you’ll read and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>My introduction to climate change politics came via Al Franken.
>
>Yes, Al Franken, the “Saturday Night Live” comedian-turned U.S. senator who resigned from Congress amid accusations of sexual harassment. It was 2003, I was 11 years old, and I had stumbled across a copy of his new book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right,” drawn in by the catchy title.
>
>Global warming wasn’t Franken’s focus. But his references to the brewing crisis resonated with me.
>
>He criticized then-President George W. Bush for ditching the Kyoto Protocol, a predecessor to the Paris climate agreement. He slammed Fox News host Sean Hannity for refusing to acknowledge the role of SUVs in rising temperatures. He condemned then-Vice President Dick Cheney’s oil industry ties, and featured a New York Times front page with an article about melting glaciers.
>
>The more I learned about carbon pollution, the more obvious it felt to preteen me that something was deeply amiss with American politics. Why weren’t we quickly switching to renewable energy? How long could one of our two major political parties act like nothing was wrong? I had the same questions after going to see Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006, and after studying sustainable development in college, and after beginning my career as an energy journalist in 2014.
>
>I have the same questions now.
Again, I’d love if you could read and let me know what you think. You can sign up to get my future columns and news roundups in your inbox here: [latimes.com/boilingpoint](https://latimes.com/boilingpoint).
It’s far easier to choose to believe the minority of “experts” who contradict the majority than to sacrifice anything, like your pickup truck or large SUV.
Individualism trumps collectivism.