Column: To make climate progress, don’t be deceived by deniers’ tactics

Recent news has encouraged the citizens of Hawaii to pay close attention to the state’s clean-energy grid plan. This is wise, indeed, but it is just as important — perhaps even more important — that people pay close attention to deceptively titled organizations with deceptive motives designed to maintain the energy status quo in order to reach selfish ends that help a small number of people while harming the overwhelming majority of the population.

This description fits many climate change denial groups working to further the ends of corporations that profit from damaging the environment, and thus, the lives of innumerable people who live in it while masquerading as nonpartisan organizations concerned about the public welfare.

Star-Advertiser readers and the community at large need to be much more aware of when they are being hoodwinked. These types of groups are examples of the vaguely named organizations and self-proclaimed “think tanks” out there that are pushing agendas meant to maintain and increase corporate profits that are threatened by policies that help the environment.

They present climate denial disguised as data, often by misrepresenting facts, slanting them, or deliberately providing false or erroneous figures. Keywords in their group names that should elicit skepticism in the people of Hawaii include — but are not limited to — such words as “freedom,” “heritage,” “enterprise,” “America,” “prosperity,” “concerned,” “democracy,” and “practical.”

They make claims, for instance, that here in Hawaii we need to keep coal plants as a source of cheap, firm and reliable power, which is actually a smokescreen for keeping fossil fuels as the predominant source of energy, making no significant or meaningful changes, an excuse used over and over by organizations and politicians who want us to continue with business as usual. It is business as usual that has caused the climate catastrophes that are already manifesting themselves around the world and have brought us to the brink of tipping points and feedback loops we won’t be able to reverse. These are the strong messages from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and countless nonpartisan climate scientists everywhere.

The businesses that the these groups exist to champion have already created huge financial burdens on ordinary citizens, and thus it is dishonest for these organizations to claim to care about the finances of ordinary citizens in Hawaii, as they have been known to do in their pronouncements. The state of Hawaii and all but one of its counties have already endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that calls for ending the expansion of coal, oil and gas production. The state is also committed to decreasing our greenhouse gas impact.

In addition, we have been warned of the coming disasters — some are already here, just watch the news daily about extreme weather events on the mainland — by the United Nations secretary general, among others of repute. Even Pope Francis took a stand and said in a news conference on May 25 that world leaders must “end the era of fossil fuels.”

An intelligent approach to address climate problems, which myriad scientific studies have shown conclusively were caused primarily by fossil fuel use, strikes fear into people who profit from fossil fuels and those who do the bidding of their corporate overlords. They are scared that their excessive profits will decrease if people and governments like Hawaii’s try to do the right thing. Our citizens need to recognize this deception and speak up now about it so we can get on with the sensible business of saving the planet.

Henry Curtis is executive director of Life of the Land; Peter Greenhill is a network group member of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.