Does Anybody Even Know What CO2 Is?
I do this thing that most people cannot comprehend. I actually listen to “news” sources from both sides of the political “spectrum?”. That is to say, I watch/listen to the right wing AND the left wing. It’s because I find that both sides make very compelling points. They are also both brazenly guilty of hyperbole, twisting truths to meet their narratives, omitting facts that do not support their agenda, etc.
It has been interesting in the last few years to see the right wing go into mass insanity mode by actually backing the complete moron who just left the oval office. The reasoned Republicans are increasingly being sidelined. In any case, I frequent the right wing radio shows to sort of keep my finger on the pulse, if you will.
That the Republican party has generally accepted the concept that if there is global warming, it has not been caused by humans,……is puzzling to say the least. This stance requires an astounding level of ignorance, denial, and stubbornness, to name a few descriptors of such a naive stance. Anyway, I was listening to Mark Levin the other day and my jaw dropped more than it ever has when doing so, and this is saying a lot.
He was engaged in a rant on global warming and CO2 levels. If you are familiar with him and his voice, I imagine you can hear that nasal angry pitch in his voice right now, that’s what I was hearing. But the actual words were truly astounding. He was saying, “Does anybody even know what CO2 is? It’s NOT a pollutant!”. He was rambling on about how greenhouses are these innocuous little rooms made of glass in northern environments to grow plants in. He went on about how people breathe out CO2 and plants breathe it in. During this diatribe he attacked democrats and called them “evil”. In this case I assume he calls them evil because they have made it part of the democratic platform to advocate reducing atmospheric CO2 levels.
It was truly a breathtaking several minutes of radio listening. I realize that many of you readers already know full well how obtuse he and many right wing and republican folks can be regarding science. But I bring this up because I think little about his personal ill informed misunderstanding of chemistry, but quite a lot about the massive audience he enjoys. It’s truly terrifying to consider the millions of people who agree with and adhere to this sort of plain stupid non-think. The ignorance and hostility is mind blowing, especially considering the real magnitude and consequences of the topic.
When a person such as Mark Levin, with the huge audience he has, spends meaningful amounts of time railing against the laws of chemistry and thermodynamic to an audience with no better sense than to lap it up, man we are in a bad bad place. I mean, who actually is the evil one here? It’s……just………shocking.
And this clown is just one little voice in a sea of ill informed bobble heads. For this reason, folks we are fucked. We can recycle and march and hope etc. all we want, but up against these kinds of forces, I don’t see a way out of this one. I’m gonna brace for whatever impact awaits us as best I can. Good luck everybody!