Back in November 2k6, I wrote my “Now we have won” post saying that the public landscape of ideas has changed, and that the Iraq war is now seen as an endless failure, and anthropogenic climate change is accepted as happening. (There were some stoushy comments that led to a followup “No, seriously!” post.)
That post was when i thought we’d hit tipping point. Some might say I was too early or too late, but it seems impossible to deny that we’ve tipped somewhere along the line.
The example that got me today was featured in the DomPost, sourced from the Washington Post – an article about climate change sceptics that gives them all the credibility of the Keystone Kops:
While the IPCC enlisted several hundred scientists from more than 100 countries to work over five years to produce its series of reports, the NIPCC document is the work of 23 authors from 15 nations, some of them not scientists.
or even:
Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, said he was not surprised that roughly 500 participants had gathered at the meeting. “I’m sure that the flat Earth society had a few final meetings before they broke up.”
This article simply wouldn’t have been printable a couple years ago. Thank heavens we’re over that nonsense.
(The DomPost version takes note of the fact that some of NZ’s own Clown Skeptics, Vincent Gray among them, made the pilgrimage.)
Ok, I’ll admit that I was one of the doubters. I’m still sceptical that there is true political support for it, rather than pandering to the electorate…but the difference in reality I suspect probably doesn’t exist.
So clap clap.