Renewable Energy, Climate Change, and Right-Wing Radio

I did a radio show yesterday on an ultra-right-wing talk program whose host wanted to explore the issues of new energy, climate change, etc.  The guy, a gentleman by the name of Charles Heller, did a really good job, but the experience served as a reminder of a profound truth:  people gravitate to sources of information that tell them what they want to hear.

But let’s be honest:  Who can object to that?  Or, more importantly, who can escape from that?  I don’t spend a lot of time watching Fox News, and trust me, the radio station that hosted yesterday’s show made Fox News look like a bunch of Marxist pot-smoking hippies.

The problem here lies not in our opinions, but in our facts.  During the second half of the hour-long interview, we took calls from listeners, the first of whom was a fellow who went on about how the amount of ice on Earth isn’t changing (untrue).  The next one went on a rant about the fact that carbon is an element (true) and that, therefore, climate change is a hoax, as if there is some logical connection.  A third asserted that only God, not man, can destroy the Earth.  As I’ve mentioned before, this is true for those who take the book of Genesis literally.  But I cautiously pointed out that humankind is not actually “destroying the Earth”; we’re just changing it for the worse in a big way.  I took a further risk in pointing out that my conception of a loving God is one who encourages us to take care of the planet He made for us.

Obviously, not a single listener was impressed.  This didn’t work in any way whatsoever.  I appreciate Charles Heller, the host of the show, because I believe he truly walks the walk, i.e., he sincerely believes in what he’s doing, and in the motto for his show, “Let the other side be heard” — in fact, he displayed his conviction to this point several times during the hour.  I’m similarly flattered that he wants me back on the show.  But this isn’t a productive use of time for me, for him, or for his listeners, and so I declined his invitation.