| Conservative Climate Activists |
 
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Who Are We?
We are a
A lot of the people who are drawn to this group are not conservatives, and they misunderstand the purpose of the group, thinking that it is to persuade conservatives to embrace the existing environmental movement, warts and all. That is not the case, and such a goal is neither achievable nor desirable:
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The Case
for a Conservative Environmentalism
the Failings of the Environmental Left This article in National Review sums up the many failings of the environmental left, and why, if the environment is to be preserved, conservatives must get involved. Some liberal readers objected to the article criticizing the environmentalist goals of "dismantling white supremacy" and "smashing the patriarchy" and felt that National Review was saying that "white supremacy" and "patriarchy" were good things that should be preserved. That's not quite the right interpretation -- to a conservative, phrases like "white superemacy" and "patriarchy" are not accurate descriptions of reality, but rather, hyperbole that is bandied about by silly people who should not be taken seriously. |
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Facebook Group
Click here to apply to join the group and join in the conversation. Facebook requires us to have a Facebook page (as opposed to a group), but pages are useless because only the organizer is allowed to speak there. Once you join the group, you'll be allowed to make posts and comment. Most of the discussion in the group is about engineering, trying to solve the problem of "How can we decarbonize the economy with minimal disruption to our standard of living and way of life?". |
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What
Is the Evidence?
The evidence is very strong and most of
the public is convinced that global
warming is happening, is man-made, and a serious
problem. If you're not sure about that, we can discuss it:
click here.
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Cost / Benefit
Analysis
In recent years, the debate has shifted, with relatively
few people arguing that climate change is not happening,
but rather that the effects will not be very problematic
while the expense of decarbonizing the economy will
be much higher.
To see economic analysis of cost / benefit analysis, click here. |
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What
Should Be Done?
Most of the environmental movement in this country leans very far-left, and they're the ones proposing most of the solutions to climate change. Typically, these proposals are drafted without anyone to the right of Elizabeth Warren in the room. As a result, the solutions one usually hears being bandied about are downright horrifying to the political right. And, as we shall see, the solutions do not have to be market-hostile. For a discussion of solutions, click here. |
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The Case for
Nuclear Energy
The environmental movement has a long history of opposition to nuclear energy, but most of that stems from misinformation, irrational fear, and ignorance. Al Gore said in one of his books that when he was trying to get people worried about global warming in the early 1990's, a lot of environmentalists were opposed to talking about it because they feared that a desire to reduce our carbon emissions would lead to support for nuclear energy. Many engineers feel that we don't have much hope of decarbonizing the economy without a heavy reliance on nuclear. The case for using nuclear energy as a major part of the solution to global warming is very compelling: click here. |
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People who want aggressive action on climate change are to be referred to as "climate activists". The people on the other side are to be referred to as "climate skeptics". This includes not only people who claim that no warming is going on (such people are becoming pretty rare), but also people who believe that warming is occurring, but no action of any kind is warranted. We will try to avoid the term "climate deniers". Calling someone a "denier" is no way to start a remotely civilized conversation. Climate skeptics are welcome to attend, but people who are rude, shout, or interrupt will not be tolerated. |
 
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We take what Al Gore says with a grain of salt. He's a politician with a background in law, not a scientist. He's also not very careful -- it a dozen scientists say a dozen things, he'll take the scariest prediction and talk about it like it's the consensus. He's been doing that for awhile now, so he's chalked up a pretty substantial track record of being wrong about things. Geoengineering will be discussed, but only in terms of something that is not currently being done, as a possible future strategy to reduce warming. We will not be discussing conspiracy theories about how white trails currently seen behind jets in the sky contain anything other than water vapor. Many environmentalists think that the whole problem will be solved if we just buy a lot of solar panels and windmills. It's nowhere near that simple -- the transition of our energy sector is a difficult and fascinating problem, and we will be discussing the engineering and economics of alternative energy. |
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Stanford professor Mark Z Jacobson has a plan to completely decarbonize the economy by 2050 without using nuclear energy, but many peoople say his plan won't work. |
 
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Online Discussion
We encourage discussion on the meetup event pages and in the Facebook group. Rude comments will be deleted at the organizer's discretion, as will comments by people who won't be attending, especially if they are running down the topics.
Video Policy Links to videos more than 10 minutes long will be allowed in the Facebook group or on the meetup message boards, but not on pre-event discussion on meetup events (the organizer will delete them). The problem with people posting long videos is that they aren't skimmable, often go on and on without getting to the point, and deter attendees from showing up because they feel unprepared unless they sit through them. If you want to share a video, do so in the Facebook group, or create a thread for it on the meetup message boards or on the Facebook group, mentioning why you think it is worth watching, and hopefully, how much time in to skip to for the part that you feel is relevant. |
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Differences Between 1.5 and 2.0 Degrees C of Warming Why is a target of 1.5 degrees C preferable to one of 2.0 degrees C? See chart here. |
  One Free Beer or Soda For Attendees! |
Former Lecture
Series
This group used to hold regular events / lectures / get-togethers / discussions in New York City prior to changing from a local organization to a nationwide one. Past Events:
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Marc Morano Famous Climate Skeptic |
Climate Hustle
In 2016, the climate skeptic movie Climate Hustle was released for a one-day showing in theaters. We have this detailed written review and rebuttal to the movie. In addition, we have a 40 minute video presentation of rebuttal to the movie, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. |
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Visit our links page to find information sources and interesting organizations. |
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Organizer: Bill Chapman Email the Organizer, Bill Chapman |