I’ve just finished reading The New Climate War by Michael T Mann.
It gives a fascinating insight into the ways that the fossil fuel industry continues to obstruct and delay action on climate breakdown.
With rising atmospheric Carbon dioxide and the resulting climate change already bringing droughts and floods around the world, you would expect that everyone is asking what they can do to reverse this trend and tackle the crisis.
The book shows that this is not the case, and exposes the tactics and strategies of those who still wish to profit from disaster and continue to pursue, what amounts to a war on the planet.
In the face of clear scientific evidence, many of the groups who denied climate change have had to acknowledge that it is happening.
The book describes how their opposition has transformed from outright denial into “downplaying the damage, deflecting the criticism, dividing the opposition, delaying action and despair-mongering. These are the multiple fronts of the new climate war.
Any plan for victory requires recognising and defeating the tactics now being used by inactivists as they continue to wage war” [p225]
The book is well researched. It gives a good history of the campaign of denial and its similarities to other global health issues such as smoking
