What do we make of climate change denial?
On December 14, 2015 | 0 Comments | Blog Posts |

I read in a recent NYTimes article the statement, “The poll provided a snapshot of how conservative Iowa’s likely Republican voters are. Nearly six in 10 say climate change is a hoax.” That is a remarkable number, given the data available, the evidence, the hard science of green house gases trapping heat, and almost universal scientific consensus. And, that said, there are  reasons that it’s not surprising that some of us resist the information. Climate change and its causes force us to consider changes in behavioral patterns that have existed for millennia. These are not easy changes to make. They demand a kind of taking responsibility for our behavior on the planet that is not easy. Climate change is a kind of mirror for the species. As a group, as a generalization, we’re not always completely ready to look in that mirror. I don’t want to reveal the plot outcome of Last Stop Before Tomorrow, so I can’t say too much about how this plays out in the novel, but the tension between seeing, accepting, and acting, on the one hand, and resisting or denying, on the other is part of what drives the plot. I am interested in hearing from readers their response to the book’s ending. This story, our actual historical story, is not done. We are in the midst of its telling.