Robert Rippberger

Here’s what’s repulsive about the climate change movement to so many of us. Its branding is fearful, negative, and disempowering. Radical climate activists keep telling us how we need to do less. Have fewer kids. Use less energy. Stop eating meat. Stop killing the planet. Humans are cancer. Ruin art for attention. It feels anti-human. It feels weak. Like the sky is falling, and we need to be scared. Then, when disasters happen, politicians point at the climate so we don’t point at them. The truth of climate change is undermined by the fear around it. Many of the same scared zealots who tell us to be afraid of climate change also get in the way of nuclear energy. Which is one of the best solutions to it, but crippled by fearful regulation. China understands this. That’s why they shamelessly use fossil fuels now, but aggressively invest in nuclear for the future. Technology and growth will save us, not restriction and contraction. Regulators won’t save us, creators will. People are tired of being told how bad they are. People want to feel inspired and empowered. We don’t want to be shamed into scarcity. We want to be inspired into action. We don’t want to run away from fear. We want to run toward a vision. It’s not that we think climate change isn’t real. It’s that we know fear is also real, and we want nothing to do with it.