Year 2, Month 2, Day 6: Rule, Britannia!

The Guardian notes that in England, the citizenry continues to be concerned about the climate, to the tune of 83 percent — even in the wake of the various non-scandals that have captivated low-information Americans.

I write to the Guardian often. They write on this subject often, which makes them relatively rare in the world of major media outlets. This letter is just a fairly standard “American media sucks, big-time” screed — not that that diminishes its relevance, of course.

Britons’ comprehension of the dangers posed by runaway climate change is a powerful contrast to the state of affairs in the United States, where a media system heavily influenced by Petrodollars has made a reality-based discussion of climate issues essentially impossible. The irresponsibility of American broadcast and print media is astonishing; given the likelihood of major infrastructural disruptions from worldwide sea-level rise and increased storm activity, it would seem only reasonable for our public figures to treat this threat as a threat, rather than a political football. But at this point, the notion of a responsible American media establishment is oxymoronic; US citizens are offered stenography in lieu of reportage, specious false equivalence instead of hard facts and expert analysis. It’s unsurprising that despite the drastic uptick in storms and extreme weather events, ever fewer Americans accept the actuality of climate change. Why confront an expensive reality when illusions are cheap?

Warren Senders