Sometimes the obvious just isn't. Different groups of people can see the same situation with complete clarity and in completely opposed ways. Or they can be selective, according to their initial prejudices, about which observable things they use to make their judgments.
Even with irrefutable evidence that global warming is upon us, and already changing the weather in catastrophic ways, and that we humans are causing it, and that we U.S. citizens are causing more than our share -- even then, people are slow to notice, slow to believe, and agonizingly slow to react.
In trying to figure out how to galvanize the citizenry, Tom Friedman at the New York Times has been crafting his columns methodically, always banging the alarm bell, but also trying to appeal to as many sensibilities as possible, by relating and mixing the various urgencies of oil, energy, and environment. Some of the themes are practical and concrete, some are some psychological. Always, it seems, Friedman is thinking, "What will wake them up? What theme can I use this time? What angle can I take to get through?"
If you've read the last couple of posts here, also read Friedman's piece in the Times April 15 magazine section, April 15, "The Power of Green." The attitudes from the military, the media, and public are really beginning to dovetail.
~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch
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