covid-19

Peter Dykstra: Stop, you’re killing me

Denial is taking a toll.

Tens of millions of my fellow Americans are trying to make me sick, in more ways than one.


The often-ludicrous reasons for today's vaccine avoidance have their ancestors in other health, science, and climate crises.

Deepwater denial 

The late Rush Limbaugh was such a reliable gusher of whoppers, quarter-truths, and loopy conspiracy theories that it shouldn't be this easy to pick any single one out, but here's mine: A week after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, Limbaugh told his radio audience that "environmentalist wackos" had doomed the rig and killed 13 of its crew. Never mind that rig operator BP admitted blame two days earlier.

Non-peer-reviewed literature

Former 11-term Illinois Congressman John Shimkus has quoted the book of Genesis and the Gospel according to Matthew as guarantees that overrule the prevailing science, and that climate change will "not destroy this Earth."

God's word, the Congressman says, is "infallible, unchanging, perfect."

Shaving the truth

Paul LePage was an obscure small-town Maine mayor who became governor in 2010 on an anti-regulatory platform. But he wasn't your run-of-the-mill science hater. Even a decade ago, when warming coastal waters posed a threat for Maine's lobster industry, LePage embraced the science.

But as the Maine Legislature considered a measure to restrict endocrine-disrupting bisphenol-A (BPA) in 2011, LePage said he'd reviewed the science on BPA, and offered this (it's at 1:30 of this video.)

"If you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. And so the worst case is some women might have little beards."

Ummm .. come again, Paul?

"Where you now have cows, you will have fish"

In 1990, The Washington Post reported that J.R. Spradley, a U.S. delegate at an international climate change conference, told the Bangladeshi delegation that their nation getting swamped by sea level rise won't be such a bad thing. "

The situation is not a disaster; it is merely a change. The area won't have disappeared; it will just be underwater. Where you now have cows, you will have fish."

"Think of the clearcut as a temporary meadow"

Fifty years ago, Patrick Moore was an eager graduate student who crewed on the first Greenpeace voyages to oppose nuclear weapons tests. Over the next decade, he became a leader in the growing group's triumph and turmoil. He quit in 1986, showing up a few years later as a paid spokesman for Greenpeace foes –vinyl makers, logging multinationals, a nuke plant trade group, and more. Here's a wet kiss to the timber industry:

"Taken in the right light, clearcuts can actually look quite pretty. Think, for just a moment, of the clearcut as a temporary meadow."

Some climate yucks from Fox News

As I cited a few weeks ago, Fox's in-house comic, Greg Gutfeld, gifted us with 10 minutes of climate mirth earlier this month.

It turns out that since a recent study cited more global deaths from excessive cold than from excessive heat, that a little global warming is a great thing.

So ... don't we all feel a little better?

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo credit: christopher catbagan/Unsplash

environmental justice

LISTEN: Robbie Parks on why hurricanes are getting deadlier

"In places where there are high minority populations they bear, by far, the most burden of deaths from tropical cyclones."

Dr. Robbie Parks joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast for a bonus episode to discuss how hurricanes have become deadlier in recent years and how we can better protect vulnerable communities.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
wind energy climate inflation reduction act
Image by Peter Dargatz from Pixabay

The Inflation Reduction Act is reducing U.S. reliance on China

Don’t get fooled by a common myth. The reality: The landmark IRA includes provisions to incentivize domestic clean energy manufacturing and reduce U.S. dependence on China.
uaw strike electric vehicles energy
Image by LEEROY Agency from Pixabay

What the UAW strike means for EVs

The UAW is seeking better pay and benefits — and an uncertain transition to electric vehicles is underpinning a lot of their concerns.

Extreme plankton bloom creates marine 'dead zone' off eastern Thailand

Marine scientists say some areas in the Gulf of Thailand have more than 10 times the normal amount of plankton, turning the water a bright green and killing off marine life.

electric vehicles climate health
Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

Electrifying a fraction of vehicles in the lower Great Lakes could save over a thousand lives annually, studies suggest

New research reveals that even a “mid-transition” to electrified transportation could have outsized health and economic benefits for Black and Latino residents.
climate heat map united states
Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash

How maps can protect children from extreme heat

Heatwaves claim tens of thousands of lives each year. Now a US mapping project is revealing those most at risk so they can get the help they need.

climate energy new mexico protection
Photo by Joonyeop Baek on Unsplash

BLM wants to protect the Placitas area from oil and gas extraction

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wants to withdraw nearly 4,213 acres of public lands from oil and gas extraction for 50 years “to protect, preserve, and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values, and wildlife habitat connectivity within the Placitas area,” according to the six-page draft proposal.

From our Newsroom
children nature

Opinion: When kids feel the magic of nature, they will want to protect it

Improving our quality of life starts with the simple of act of getting kids outdoors.

birds climate change

In the Gulf of Maine, scientists race to save seabirds threatened by climate change

“I could see that, if successful, the methods developed could likely help these species."

fracking economics

Appalachia’s fracking counties are shedding jobs and residents: Study

The 22 counties that produce 90% of Appalachian natural gas lost a combined 10,339 jobs between 2008 and 2021.

Marathon Petroleum y una ciudad de Texas muestran una  potencial crisis de comunicaciones sobre sustancias químicas

Marathon Petroleum y una ciudad de Texas muestran una potencial crisis de comunicaciones sobre sustancias químicas

En los últimos tres años, Marathon ha violado repetidamente la ley de Aire Limpio y tuvo tres emergencias en el semestre de febrero a julio de 2023.

WATCH: How Marathon Petroleum and one Texas city show the potential for a chemical communication crisis

WATCH: How Marathon Petroleum and one Texas city show the potential for a chemical communication crisis

Marathon in Texas City has repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act and had three emergencies in the span of a six month period.

air pollution heart attack

ER visits for heart problems plummeted after Pittsburgh coal processor shut down

Levels of one highly-toxic pollutant fell by 90% and ER visits for heart problems decreased by 42% immediately after the shutdown.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.