Circular Reasoning of the Day

We know that global warming makes liberals say stupid things. And that some liberals are crazy. Now, an Australian lobby group links the two.

The Climate Institute is:

a non-partisan, independent research organisation that works with community, business and government to catalyse and drive the change and innovation needed for a low pollution economy and culture.

Our vision is for a resilient Australia prospering in a low carbon global economy, participating fully and fairly in international climate change solutions.

Last week, CI published a new paper called "A Climate of Suffering: The Real Cost of Living with Inaction on Climate Change":

Scientists warn that a failure to reverse rising carbon pollution levels will see Australia’s inherently moody climate become even more volatile. With inaction or delay on pollution comes a sharp rise in the frequency, intensity and extent of heatwaves, bushfires and drought, as well as more torrential downpours, and tropical storms with increasing ferocity.

The damage caused by a changing climate is not just physical. Recent experience shows extreme weather events also pose a serious risk to public health, including mental health and community wellbeing, with serious flow-on consequences for the economy and wider society.

This paper’s purpose is to raise awareness of the mental health consequences of extreme weather events and climate change. By reviewing the evidence and expert opinion, it is hoped that governments, businesses and communities will be prompted to act early, to avoid further unnecessary suffering and cost.

As recent disasters like Cyclone Yasi and the Eastern Australian floods have shown, many people prove remarkably resilient in the face of a disaster. But people’s responses to disaster are complex. With the right support, many communities can pull together and pull through, and Australians rightly celebrate this apparent strength. However, for many, the dislocation and suffering caused by extreme events can linger for years, long into the 'recovery'.

Just how much Australians’ mental health burden grows in the future depends significantly on how quickly and substantially we act on climate change now. Seeing action on climate change as an investment in preventative health care is an important first step. After all, prevention is always better--not to mention cheaper--than treatment.

As much as I hate to admit it, this approach is just crazy enough to be brilliant. Because CI's not just pointing to the physiological effects of warming, it's also claiming that continued inaction on global warming is driving people mad.

In other words, all the alarm created by warming alarmists is, well, alarming. Therefore, we must do something to soothe those who liberals have stirred up. It's the perfect progressive perpetual motion machine.

(via TigerHawk)